Walter brought his face closer to Edith, so close that their noses almost touched, and she locked eyes with him.
At first, it was difficult for her to refuse when he asked like that in his low voice.
But now, with the added information that he was her first love, she simply couldn’t refuse.
“Yeah… just a little…”
When she didn’t refuse, Walter immediately tilted his face and swallowed her delicious lips.
Nothing had changed from the night when Edith had come looking for him.
Even though he knew there was something complicated going on behind the scenes, Walter played along just as she desired. If Edith wanted to kiss, he kissed; if she wanted him to breathe into her, he did.
His veiny hand wrapped around Edith’s face.
As her body temperature rose as if she were intoxicated, blood also surged through his body, also hot and passionate.
He pressed his lips tightly against hers to ensure that her breath and seductive voice wouldn’t escape.
Instead of pushing him away, Edith stroked his cheek and caressed the back of his neck.
As he tensed more, the humidity inside the carriage increased.
Their breaths became intertwined as if they were about to consume each other.
Walter pressed her against the carriage’s wall as if he wanted to devour her, but then he abruptly stopped.
“The carriage is over there.”
It was because he heard Cassius’s voice, seemingly explaining their location to Helen, even though it was quite far away.
Walter already had keen senses, and since he had awakened his magic with Reinhardt’s help, he had become even better at sensing things.
Edith tried to call out to him when he suddenly stopped but then froze for a few seconds.
“…”
Throughout the time Edith was responding to his kiss, she had been mulling over the information that he was Isaac, and she almost called Isaac’s name.
Walter, who watched her panicking as she tried to call his name, bit her lower lip.
“Did you confuse me with someone else?”
“…”
He just blurted out a few words out of curiosity, but Edith’s expression became strangely stiff.
Walter’s expression contorted in a different way than when he was angry with the Duke of Lexion.
“Who is it? Is it your child’s father?”
Although he grumbled lightly only to the point that it felt like a tease, he gradually became more jealous.
He wondered what kind of childhood games that bastard Isaac had played with Edith, who had unexpectedly intruded into her thoughts just now.
Even if she was flustered by the absurd question, it wasn’t a pleasant response.
“When we were doing things like this, you were supposed to be thinking only of me, Edith.”
When his breath brushed against her neck, Edith, who had her hand on his neck, tightened her grip.
Then, she suddenly snapped out of the hot, tingling sensation because of a voice.
“Edith must have been very scared…”
Helen’s worried voice reached her as well.
Fearing they might get caught, Edith quickly regained her composure. She gently pushed Walter away, who felt as heavy as a boulder, and made an excuse.
“I did think about you, Walter.”
“…”
He misunderstood, thinking she was thinking about another man, so her true feelings came out. She didn’t want a misunderstanding to create distance between them.
“You know, when you’re kissing me, I can’t think about anyone else.”
She confessed while lightly stroking her cheeks, which were more reddish than usual. Walter immediately wanted to grab her hands and hold them.
If he stayed there for a few more seconds, Walter felt like his body would get out of control.
“… I’ll bring you water.”
With a clattering sound, he left the carriage to fetch water that she had never asked for.
The traces of their kiss that they had carelessly etched onto the moist windowpane disappeared in an instant when he opened the door.
“…”
Edith adjusted her dress before the group approached and sat down in a good posture as if nothing had happened.
Unlike Walter, who had run away from the scene, Edith’s face was so calm that the knights had no choice but to tilt their heads in confusion.
『 Why would he rush out of the carriage like that?』
『 Did Walter get scolded by the lady for trying to use magic and then get kicked out?』
──────────✿◦•
By the time Edith and Walter returned to the carriage they had come in, Lexion’s knights were clicking their tongues as they looked at the three lifeless bodies lying on the floor.
“Judging from the location of the calluses on their hands and the fact that they carried curved swords in their arms, they’re clearly Gerturk’s assassins.”
“Did they really believe they could infiltrate the Duke’s manor during the chaos of the banquet?”
Although they had moved to a different location now, judging from the initial discovery location, it appeared that the assassins were killed instantly while trying to sneak into the armory attached to the training hall. This was because Lexion’s main facilities were equipped with security devices that released powerful magic if an unauthorized person attempted to break in.
The problem was that people in the capital would have heard about the Duke’s security system at least once.
“Ordinary people might not know, but trained assassins should be familiar with security spells.”
“They were hiding in the auxiliary building and intended to infiltrate the main building when the time was right. Unfortunately, they happened to choose the armory.”
Just as the knights were trying to guess why the three assassins had been killed, the Duke of Lexion appeared.
He greeted the knights and examined the bodies.
The calluses on their hands were a clear match to Gerturk’s assassins he had seen before, proving that they had received the same combat training.
“They’re really Gerturk’s assassins.”
The Duke remarked. He was not ignorant of the fact that rival families maintained secret assassination organizations.
At the same time, the rival families also knew that Lexion was not so foolish as to ignore taking strict security measures during the banquet.
“The manor was heavily guarded by knights, so they probably entered through a carriage that had permission to enter.”
Having listened to Vane’s report, the Duke roughly understood what had happened and sneered.
“Whoever planned this put some brains into it.”
“Pardon?”
The Duke held a lamp that one of the knights was carrying close to the corpse’s mouth. Then, traces of the gag were revealed.
“Someone invited to the banquet must have captured Gerturk’s assassins and brought them here intentionally. They were killed by magic without any chance to resist.”
Vane was not a fool and could make a reasonable guess about the motives behind these actions.
“It seems like someone who was supposed to restrain House Gerturk did something clever. By doing this, they likely expected that Your Grace would seek retribution against Gerturk instead.”
The idea of using House Lexion, which was hostile to House Gerturk, instead of acting directly, was one that someone with considerable intelligence could come up with.
However, to put this idea into action, it was evident that the person had both the intelligence and the guts.
Vane pondered whether there was anyone in the capital who possessed both such strength and courage.
『 It’s perfect timing as well. If this had happened a few years ago, the Duke’s pride would not have allowed this person to get away with it.』
However, the current circumstances are different. This was because the impending timing of the succession to the throne was drawing near, and Emperor Agnas XIV’s health condition had rapidly deteriorated, forcing previously arranged schedules to be postponed.
As the time for the change of reign approached, the Imperial Consort Dowager and her faction, who hadn’t proven their political power, were in a situation where they were secretly publishing leaflets to tarnish the Duke of Lexion’s reputation.
The Duke of Lexion’s honor did not allow him to respond to such petty acts, but it was a different story if there was evidence that the other side had posed a clear and fatal threat.
The Duke had a serious expression on his face as he examined the bodies of the assassins that appeared in his manor. And for a moment, it seemed as if he was considering something.
“Vane, send a message to our knights. Tell them that Gerturk attempted to assassinate me.”
“Yes, M’lord.”
“And, if possible, find out who left such a cheeky gift for us. You may do it under the name of Lexion if you wish.”
“… Yes, I will.”
Vane’s response was a little slow, not a typical response for him. It had been a long time since he heard the Duke’s orders to make someone one of his people.
──────────✿◦•
“Edith, you must have been really scared, huh? Get some rest.”
After arriving at the manor and drinking a cup of warm tea, Helen took another look at Edith’s complexion.
Whether due to her desire not to cause any harm or for some other reason, Edith tried her best to smile, but it was inevitable that she appeared absentminded during their conversation.
『 I wonder how shocked she must have been, having directly experienced the Duke’s magic.』
Helen thought about asking Reinhardt to find a good cook who could prepare nourishing meals as she led Edith to her room.
Edith returned to her room, which Vivian had cleaned up, and gradually settled into bed.
When she was with people, all she could think about was Mrs. Leah’s identity or that Walter was Isaac, but as night fell and she was left alone, she couldn’t stop thinking about the sensation of the Duke’s magic touching her throat.
The power passed down through Lexion’s descendants is to instill fear in the opponent’s mind as well, and the moment the Duke’s magic touched her, Edith imagined the Duke cutting open her stomach and taking out her child.
“Sigh…”
It was clear that she couldn’t possibly fall asleep like this.
She was about to leave her room, thinking about asking Vivian for some scented oil, when suddenly…
“Walter?”
When she opened the door, she unexpectedly saw him holding something on a tray.
❀.°• ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ •°.❀
