Chapter 49
After the maids left, her large room became quiet in an instant.
I sat on the sofa and opened Volume 2 of
.
She was reading books a lot these days to distract herself from Victor's thoughts.
The book's protagonist, the foolish knight Dordovin, was searching for a sword that could cut anything.
He was on his way to the Dragon's Nest.
[…The big wolf scratched his head. ]
“Why the hell does a human need to go to a dragon’s nest?”
Dordovin, covered in dirt, answered confidently.
“The treasure you want, my lady, is there.”
The wolf snorted loudly.
[“Poor man, that lady wants to eat you whole!”]
I turned the page.
Every time she read this book, she thought of Victor.
It was because of the content, but above all, it reminded her of how Victor had told her he loved this book.
The idea of young Victor turning the pages of a book until the cover was worn made her feel strange.
Victor's smile was genuine when he said he loved books.
It was hard to believe that the passion with which he kissed her and the affection he whispered to her were all lies.
Really, she didn't know anything about the "real" Victor.
She had just lost her mind in his arms.
She fidgeted with the book, trying to control her overwhelming emotions.
She was scanning the text of the book but not really reading it, when suddenly someone opened her door and ran out.
"my lady!"
It was Mary.
"What happened?"
Mary answered with a very strange expression.
“There are some rough-looking people in front of the castle looking for ‘Malacan’?”
Omarion was startled and jumped.
***
- “Search for Malacan when you learn more information about the abnormal behavior of the monsters.”
I forgot half of the promise I made with the mercenaries on the way to Morti.
However, Mary seemed to remember her previous request to be informed if anyone came looking for 'Malacan'. As soon as I heard the news, I immediately woke up.
Omarion ordered them to wait in the hostess's tea room, and left the room hastily.
Sir Raoul, who was guarding her door, was astonished.
"Where are you going in such a hurry, ma'am?"
“I have guests who are probably from the Right Leg Ghoul mercenary group.”
“…Why did these people come to visit the lady?”
Raoul frowned.
As a former mercenary, Raoul seemed to know who they were.
They were an intelligence unit under the direct control of the Mercenary King.
It was strange for these people to visit the Grand Duchess.
As she descended the stairs, she explained briefly.
On the way to Morte, they encountered orcs, after which they went to a tavern to find mercenaries.
They used the orc's poison gland to pay for the information, and promised to find it as soon as more was discovered.
After hearing her story through to its end, Raoul reacted in a similar way to Victor.
"Did you do that?" Why did the lady look for them like that?"
“How could I send any of you to such a dangerous place?”
“...Madam...”
Raoul looked like he wanted to say more, but, as always, he quickly understood.
“Well, maybe it's safer who dares to argue with the devil?”
Raoul muttered to himself.
Suddenly, they arrived at the tea room.
Raoul opened the door politely.
"Let's go, ma'am."
I moved forward slowly.
***
The hostess's tea room, which was rarely used, was nevertheless beautiful.
Elegant white tiles, an opal chandelier, and pure white wolf skin sofas were scattered throughout the room.
A marble vase filled with fresh lilies decorated the elegant tea table.
I admired the view again as I approached the sofa.
A tall woman and a man with a shaggy beard, whom she had met previously at a bar, sat on the sofa.
She decided to call them "tall" and "fat."
When her steps stopped, the mercenaries rose and bowed gracefully.
"I'm here to see the Black Lion's steward, the Grand Duchess of Morte."
"Raise your head."
They slowly raised their heads.
Then the fat man opened his mouth.
"So...this is your house?"
"Yes." "I am the Grand Duchess of Morte."
The mercenary's eyes grew to the size of saucers.
They were surprised and couldn't speak properly.
She became a little embarrassed and grabbed the hem of her dress.
She didn't expect them to be so surprised.
“Should I have told them I was the Grand Duchess?”
In due course, her maids came with tea.
Omarion and the mercenaries sat awkwardly, watching the cute desserts being served.
As soon as the maids left, the fat one spat.
“If you had asked us to kill a woman just because the Grand Duke was looking at her, we would have done it without hesitation!” Please know that!”
“Relaxedly, I was really surprised. Didn’t you say that you were a mercenary before marriage? How could someone like that become a Grand Duchess...?”
Omarion laughed lightly.
"I wasn't exactly a mercenary. I often worked with them."
“This is more suspicious. What kind of noble women work with mercenaries?”
“...Wait a minute. If you are the Grand Duchess, then the man who came to pick you up...”
Chubby delayed.
Omarion understood the meaning of his words and nodded meekly.
"That's right, my husband, Grand Duke of Morte."
"Oh, my God!"
The fat one opened his mouth in shock, and Longin burst out laughing.
Omarion tilted her head to the side.
"What's so funny?"
Long clapped the fat man's back forcefully and burst into even louder laughter.
“Death was walking and running, worried that his wife would run away. Isn’t it something you never imagined?”
“I'm a little scared... I keep imagining he's going to slit our throats.”
“Then the mercenaries will consider us legends!”
Tawilin laughed again.
Omarion smiled as she watched them.
To be honest, after only interacting with the polite maids in the castle for so long, these mercenaries were a nice change of pace.
The mercenaries were ignorant and proud, but they were polite when they needed to be.
Seeing her expression, Fatty apologized briefly.
“I'm sorry I heard rumors that a death walker took a woman, but I didn't know it was someone like you.”
“I understand who would have imagined that the Grand Duchess was a mercenary?”
“Yes, that was very...”
After thinking for a moment, he asked.
"What the hell is this?" Why did you act like a mercenary at that time?"
Omarion hesitated for a moment.
In fact, she didn't have an answer.
She was neither a famous knight like Victor, nor a famous mercenary, nor a high-ranking noblewoman.
She was just a girl from the country who knew how to use a sword.
At that time, Raoul, who had been silent, took a step forward.
"I'll tell them, ma'am. Before the marriage, Omarion was an Amari."
I looked at Raoul in wonder.
It was because she couldn't figure out why he introduced it to her.
However, the mercenaries' mood changed in an instant.
The tall one asked, smiling.
"It's Amari I'm thinking of, isn't it?"
"Yes, she is Amari's successor in the north."
Tal's eyes widened.
It was the same with the fat one, but it was difficult to see his eyes because of his dark, bushy eyebrows.
After looking at her face for a while, he sighed.
“It was a ridiculously big shot.”
"What do you mean?"
“Many mercenaries still tell your story.”
I frowned.
Didn't really understand.
She certainly worked with quite a few mercenaries.
Amari was always short of soldiers, so in the winter, when waves of monsters came down from the mountain, she used all the money she had saved to hire mercenaries.
This was why she knew where the mercenaries were gathering.
To be honest, they only had the skills of an Amari Knight, but they knew how to capture monsters.
They often talked to her and told her stories, but other than that, they never did anything together.
So why were mercenaries telling her story?
Everyone in the room, except her, was very serious.
The fat one stroked his beard.
“If it is Amari, it is understandable that she is concerned about the condition of the monsters. We only came with simple information, which makes us feel ashamed.”
“Yes. "If you had given us your name, we could have gathered news from your hometown."
"Don't do that!"
She hurriedly shook her head.
Mercenary information was expensive, and she didn't have the coin to pay for it now.
Diederik still runs the castle's books.
The mercenaries looked at her with thoughtful faces and then opened their mouths.
“...In that case, we will give you the information we brought with us.” In short, the northern part of the empire is now in disarray.”
Tall pull map.
It was a crudely drawn map of Morte and the northern region.
Small letters and numbers were written everywhere.
“Here… the special places are where monster activity has increased. There are monsters that we have never seen before, and there are those that appear in places that are not typical.”
“Was it like this before?”
“Well, the numbers go up or down every year, but this is the first time they've increased so much.”
Omarion examined the map anxiously.
Morty's geography was still unfamiliar, but she could see that the situation in the east was particularly dangerous.
she asked, furrowing her brow.
"What do you think is the reason?"
***
• End of chapter •
To be continued •••
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