“How could I harbor ill feelings towards Your Majesty?”
Agnes looked up and did her best to smile at him.
On the other hand, the smile disappeared from Sebastian’s face.
“Then prove your loyalty.”
He slowly raised his sword. Agnes did not avoid Sebastian’s gaze.
Just as his hand was halfway down towards her.
Swish-
An arrow grazed Sebastian’s nose and embedded itself in a tree.
Agnes and Sebastian simultaneously turned their heads.
“I apologize, Your Majesty.”
Laslo lowered his bow and spoke.
“It seems my archery skills are lacking, as I missed the assassin.”
He had a more menacing expression than ever before.
Sebastian lowered his sword with a smirk.
“You surprised me, Duke Arpad.”
Silently, Laslo walked over and stood in front of Agnes.
“Why are you alone here, without any other guards?”
“Oh, they will be back soon. I wanted to talk to Agnes about something, so I asked them to leave for a while.”
At that moment, a knight of the king emerged from the bushes.
“Are you done talking?” Laslo spoke.
It was a somewhat impolite tone that was hard to consider as words spoken to the king.
Sebastian’s eyebrows twitched, but he did not specifically point out his attitude.
“Yes. You can take her.”
He hung his sword back by his side.
Laslo, with a stern face, nodded slightly and took Agnes’s hand, leading her to where the horses were tied.
Sebastian’s stinging gaze was felt from the back of Agnes’ head.
“Duke, why did you shoot an arrow at the king?”
Agnes whispered to him in a low voice.
“My hand slipped, I couldn’t hit his head. I’m sorry.”
She was momentarily surprised and stared at his face intently.
It’s a ridiculously serious tone. There was no hint of joking anywhere.
Without any other excuses, Laslo helped Agnes onto her horse and mounted behind her.
“Has he always been like this?”
“Huh?”
“Does the king always act like that to you?”
“Of course, always.”
Perhaps if Laslo hadn’t shot the arrow, Sebastian would have stabbed Agnes somewhere.
Agnes was able to live with it.
“Really?”
Agnes was unaware of how intimidating Laslo’s face had become due to her sitting in front of him.
“Who is behind this?”
Agnes leaned back against his chest with force. Laslo flinched slightly.
“The assassins?”
“There’s no way Sebastian would leave those who rebelled against him alive.”
“You’re right.”
Above her head, his low and solemn voice was heard.
“They were overly organized and had excellent swordsmanship skills. It’s not just a thug.”
“Then?”
“I suspect the king.”
Agnes was surprised by his words, but at the same time, not surprised.
“When you examine each one, they are professionally trained individuals, but it seems too amateurish to think they gathered to assassinate the king. They pretended to attack the king, but I couldn’t erase the possibility that you were the target.”
“The duchess, who went to the hunting grounds with the king, unfortunately died by the assassin’s sword.”
Agnes pondered. Instead of responding to her words, Laslo let out a small sigh.
“In addition to that, he has a history.”
She realized that the history he was talking about was the assassins who broke into the townhouse.
“Let’s go back to the territory as soon as possible. We will bring more knights… I was shortsighted.”
“Should we make a bet, Duke?”
Agnes made a sound as if she was letting out a breath through her lips.
“What kind of bet?”
“The king will summon me to the palace again tomorrow.”
Unfortunately, Agnes’ prediction was correct.
ੈ✩‧₊˚༺☆༻*ੈ✩‧₊˚
“Sit down.”
Sebastian gestured to the seat in front of him.
Agnes bowed and sat in the chair. A maid quickly approached and poured tea into an empty cup.
“How are you feeling?”
“I was a little surprised, but I’m okay.”
“It’s fortunate that you weren’t seriously injured.”
In truth, she was.
Beyond the dress, Agnes’s body was bruised.
It was so severe that Ney, who was helping her change, burst into tears when she saw it.
– I’ll tell the master right away.
– Don’t tell the Duke.
– Why? Why not?
– If he finds out about this state, he might not send me to the palace.
“By the way, Duke Arpad seems to cherish you quite a lot.”
“He is a person of upright character, who shows respect to everyone.”
“Is that so? From what I see, his affection towards you seems so extreme that he would dare to harm the king for you.”
His voice was calm, but his eyes were not.
“Please forgive Duke Arpad’s rudeness with a broad and forgiving heart, Your Highness.”
Agnes stood up abruptly from her seat, stood next to the chair, and deeply bowed at the waist.
“Forgive me.”
Sebastian rested his chin on the table and gazed intently at Agnes.
The tea has cooled down.
The king didn’t say anything.
Since she hadn’t been given the command to raise her head, Agnes had to keep bowing at the waist.
“Come here.”
She cautiously took two steps towards Sebastian.
“Come closer.”
Still, Agnes remained bowing at the waist.
When the distance between them had narrowed considerably, Sebastian suddenly grabbed Agnes’s chin.
“Cowardice and timidity were your only virtues.”
“I still have plenty of them.”
“But when did you start looking me straight in the eye?”
She tried to lower her eyes belatedly at his words, but Sebastian was a bit quicker.
“Agnes.”
The hand that was holding her chin moved down. He casually gripped his younger sister’s neck and then tightened his grip strongly.
“Gasp.”
“Should I trust you?”
Instead of words, a groan came out. The hand gripping her neck gradually tightened.
“Say it.”
She was out of breath.Unconsciously, Agnes clenched her fist tightly to avoid pushing away the king’s hand.
“Should I keep you alive?”
While Sebastian remained calm, Agnes’s face contorted in pain as time passed.
“I, ugh, I…”
As Agnes continued to stutter saying something, Sebastian loosened his grip.
“You?”
“All I want is a peaceful life with the Duke.”
Her voice became low and hoarse due to her tired throat.
“If you order, I will never come out of Sutmar. I will live like a hermit, without interacting with anyone.”
“Really?”
He just smiled and didn’t say anything.
“Leave now.”
Agnes finally straightened her body that had been bent.
Just as she was about to leave the room, she heard Sebastian’s voice from behind.
“It’s very lonely without you, so stop by the palace tomorrow as well.”
“…Yes, Your Majesty.”
ੈ✩‧₊˚༺☆༻*ੈ✩‧₊˚
“Is it cold?”
Laslo looked at Agnes sitting across the dining table and tilted his head.
“Hmm? Why?”
“It’s the middle of summer, but you’re wearing a dress that comes up to your neck.”
“Oh.”
Agnes felt a bit embarrassed. It was because she had immediately changed her clothes upon arriving to hide her bruised neck because Sebastian.
Of course, Ney noticed the clearly visible red marks on her neck and jumped around in concern.
“The mansion feels a bit chilly.”
“Could it be the onset of a cold? Should I call a doctor?”
“It’s not that serious.”
Agnes awkwardly smiled and waved her hand, and Laslo smoothly moved on.
“How was your visit to the palace today?”
“I just had meaningless conversations.”
Her sore throat would be noticeable if she talked for too long.
Intentionally finishing her meal quickly, Agnes stood up from her seat.
“Already?”
“I don’t have an appetite because it’s too hot.”
“But earlier you said the mansion felt chilly?”
“Hmm.”
She spoke hastily out of impatience. Avoiding his gaze hurriedly, Agnes walked to the other side.
“I have to go to the palace again tomorrow, so I’ll leave now.”
“Wait.”
Noticing something strange, Laslo quickly stood up from his chair and walked towards Agnes.
“Agnes, you’ve been acting strange since earlier…”
“Ugh.”
When he grabbed her inner arm, Agnes let out a soft groan unconsciously. Unfortunately, he had grabbed the bruised area.
Laslo’s face hardened as if he had noticed something.
He took her hand and opened the door to the dining room.
“Wait. Where are we going?”
“To the bedroom.”
“Why are we going there all of a sudden?”
Laslo didn’t say anything until he opened the bedroom door.
“Master.”
The maid, who was waiting in the room, bowed her head in surprise when she saw two people coming in.
“Get out.”
With his voice barely above a whisper, the maids left the bedroom without asking twice.
As the door closed, only the two of them remained.
“Why are you doing this?”
“Take off your clothes.”
“What?”
Agnes looked at him in surprise.
