Even as she stepped outside, Ashika kept looking back.
The empty, desolate corridor. Though luxurious frames filled the walls, no lights were on. Only the brilliant illumination from outside lit the interior.
‘Why is there such a space in the Imperial Palace?’
She couldn’t even remember how she got here. Realizing this belatedly made her feel dizzy.
Past the arched corridor emerged a spacious banquet hall. Among the people busily cleaning up, a knight in formal uniform rushed over.
“My Lady!”
“Jeanne?”
“Where have you been? The banquet ended long ago, and we’ve been waiting for quite a while since you weren’t anywhere to be seen.”
“Ah…”
Now she remembered. The imperial banquet that ended earlier than scheduled. Being inside the palace, even her family’s knights and servants couldn’t freely search for her.
“Is everything alright?”
Jeanne wiped the sweat from her forehead and looked down worriedly. Though both women, Jeanne the knight stood much taller than Ashika.
“I’m fine. I just got lost after taking a wrong turn.”
The area around Rose Hall, where banquets were frequently held, was famously complex.
Jeanne nodded with relief and led the way through the busy servants.
Ashika climbed into the carriage with Jeanne’s help, her face tired. Then her body suddenly froze.
“…Lord Oclein.”
“You’re late, Lady Igraine.”
Ashika avoided the hand extended before her and sat on the opposite side.
Coral awkwardly withdrew his hand and knocked on the carriage to signal departure.
At the slight jolt, Ashika’s body swayed.
In that moment, Coral’s hand grabbed her arm. Her previously limp body tensed up immediately. Even after she straightened her posture stiffly, Coral didn’t let go of her arm.
“Are you unwell?”
“Please let go, Lord Oclein.”
“Your complexion is pale.”
Coral’s hand moved toward her face, where cold sweat had formed. Ashika carefully moved back to avoid it. At this clear sign of rejection, his gray eyes grew even colder.
What was wrong with her today, when usually not a single strand of her hair would be out of place? Coral’s eyes narrowed further.
“The wedding is only two months away. How long will you maintain this distance?”
There was slight irritation in his voice.
“Two months is still quite some time.”
Ashika gently pulled at her captured arm. But the warmth wrapped around her arm wouldn’t let go. That sensation felt burdensome and uncomfortable.
“Lady Igraine, I am to be your husband.”
“Yes, in two months.”
The hand gripping her arm tightened sharply. It was such a strong grip that it was even painful, as if squeezing her flesh.
“Lord Oclein.”
Ashika didn’t show the pain. She merely reminded him with an icy voice.
A sneer briefly crossed Coral’s lips. It was now a blatant attitude he didn’t even try to hide.
Coral wouldn’t know. That it was because of such attitudes that she couldn’t give her heart to him even though he was her fiancé. It was because the threatening demeanor that occasionally showed through his polite behavior stirred Ashika’s instincts.
With a jolt, the carriage came to a stop.
“My lady, may I open the door for a moment?”
It was Jeanne’s voice.
“What is it?”
Ashika finally pushed away the hand gripping her arm with a sigh of relief. Coral’s face creased slightly.
“There’s been an issue. The knights who went out for event support today…”
As soon as Jeanne opened the carriage door, she sensed the subtle tension between the two. But she continued speaking as if she hadn’t noticed.
“What about the knights?”
“Well, regrettably…”
Jeanne, usually forthright, trailed off. Ashika, massaging her sore arm, urged her to continue.
“They got into a fight with the Talion knights who were dispatched for support.”
“What?”
The nerve-wracking exchange with Coral flew from Ashika’s mind. Even Coral turned to look at Jeanne with wide eyes.
“They’re currently detained at the Capital Security Force headquarters. And…”
Even as she spoke, Jeanne couldn’t hide her embarrassed expression.
“I hear Duke Talion himself is coming to the Security Force office.”
At these words, Ashika’s face turned pale.
“What should we do? Should we call Lord Geness?”
Julmanan Geness was Ashika’s advisor. Normally he would handle such matters, but the other side had already mobilized their Duke. From this side, Ashika, a Young Duchess, needed to step in to match the rank.
“You said Duke Talion is coming. If we send Julma…”
“Yes. He’d be eaten alive, down to the bones. By ‘that’ Duke Talion.”
Jeanne muttered lowly while grimacing.
Ashika’s head started to burn. It hadn’t been long since they’d parted after that absurd incident.
‘I have to see that man’s face again now?’
“Should we return to the mansion first?”
“There’s no need to personally intervene in a knights’ quarrel, is there?”
It was Coral who answered Jeanne’s question. Ashika sighed while pressing her throbbing temples.
“Duke Talion has come from their side. Who knows how fair the Capital Security Force will be in front of him? I cannot abandon my family’s knights like this.”
“Then why not call Sir Coltern instead?”
“Sir Coltern is absent.”
Even the Knights Commander who could handle Duke Talion was away at this crucial time.
Ashika rose from her seat after looking at Coral’s displeased face.
“My Lady?”
“Lady Igraine?”
Jeanne naturally took Ashika’s hand as she extended it out of the carriage.
“I apologize, Lord Oclein, but please return first. I will handle the knights’ matter and return separately.”
Dealing with Drushia was difficult, but enduring Coral’s clingy contact was even more unbearable. Watching Coral’s face crumple, Ashika felt utterly relieved.
“Jeanne, call for a carriage. Let’s go to the Security Force.”
At Jeanne’s signal, two guard knights who had been waiting behind the carriage approached Ashika’s side.
Ashika hurried her steps to board a new carriage after sending away Coral’s.
****
The carriage carrying Ashika stopped in front of a sturdy ochre building. This place, with several large buildings clustered together, was the Capital Security Force headquarters.
The street was quiet in the late night, with only the lights around the building illuminating the surroundings. The desolate atmosphere made Ashika shiver briefly.
“This way, please.”
Since they had notified in advance, a security officer who had been waiting led the way. He headed toward a building opposite the main security headquarters.
Inside the building were consecutive detention cells blocked by iron bars, and there were close to ten security officers standing guard.
“Is this it?”
The guide bowed his head at Ashika’s question. Simultaneously, those inside drew sharp breaths.
Whispers of ‘She really came! It’s the Young Duchess Igraine!’ burst out here and there.
However, what caught Ashika’s attention wasn’t the surprised security officers or the knights beyond the cells. A tall man, standing a head above the security officers, walked out from behind them.
“So you came.”
That brief statement was complex and nuanced. The man with light blonde hair wearing a silver-gray frock coat looked much more formidable than when they had parted earlier.
Ashika’s heart pounded again. His gaze examining her face was so sharp that she lowered her voice even further.
“Of course. They are my family’s knights. They’re not of a status to mingle with common thugs.”
At Ashika’s cold response, Drushia’s eyebrows shot up sharply.
“Indeed. I hear there was a mad dog running wild in the middle of the street during the festival. If it weren’t for my knights, there could have been serious trouble.”
Ashika glared at Drushia with her eyes narrowed to slits.
“You frontier butcher!”
“Better than a stray dog that bites anyone.”
Anger clouded Drushia’s face, which had looked so composed.
Only Igraine dared to demean Talion, known as the Empire’s Sword, by calling him a ‘butcher.’
And each time, Drushia would mercilessly mock the Igraine knights as a pack of strays gathered from rabble.
The nearby security officers quietly backed away. They shuddered at seeing the supposedly well-mannered Duke Talion and Young Duchess Igraine transform instantly.
The House of Talion and House of Igraine were not only representative powerful families in the empire but also the worst of enemies. Their relationship was so poor that there were jokes about having to split the country in half because of these two.
“Um…”
The Security Force Chief barely opened his mouth with a pale face.
“Are you the one in charge?”
Ashika’s gaze moved from Drushia to the Security Chief.
“You sent my knights to patrol the same area as the Talion knights today?”
It was a day when the capital was bustling due to the festival. Families with knights voluntarily sent them to assist the security officers. It was a kind of volunteer work.
Anyone who worked in the capital knew about the relationship between Igraine and Talion. Putting knights from both families in the same place was like throwing a torch into an oil warehouse.
As the cold gaze flew at him, the Security Chief’s face turned even more ashen.
“Ah, there was an administrative error. The administrative officer is new to the capital…”
If the Security Chief had been present, he would have tried to chase them away somehow rather than arrest the knights.
However, the Talion knights had demanded the immediate imprisonment of the Igraine knights upon seeing their injured colleague, and the Igraine knights had protested about being treated like common street thugs.
As a result, both sides had to be brought to the detention cells.
“I see.”
Drushia clicked his tongue while looking at the knights beyond the cell bars.
The knights who had been fighting so fiercely now couldn’t even raise their heads and bowed deeply.
“Who started it? And why?”
