Asha's POV

"...Yes, Duke. Go ahead."

"Nella spoke harshly, but you probably won't die."

"Right, Dad? I told you. I've discovered something incredible."

"Be quiet, Nella. Isn't your father talking to Seriene right now?"

In the duke's stern voice, Nella glanced at me for no reason and directed her eyes to her food again.

"If you survive the Emperor and play his role well, you will be rewarded with great rewards. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

Oh, so she's saying that if I turn over to Nella at a good time and step down quietly, she'll give me something salty?

But somehow.

The emperor, who is working so hard, has already registered our marriage. My husband, Hadel, kept it very dear to him, so the marriage certificate wouldn't have been lost.

A lot of thoughts came to mind, but I just nodded with an expressionless look.

"...yes, my Duke."

I've never tried acting before, so I don't know whether it worked out well or not. First of all, the work of raising the tail of the mouth satisfactorily seemed to have worked.

"Also, don't say or do anything useless. You said Baron de Aceh was your relative, didn't you?

I quietly gasped, surprised that the name of my father suddenly came out of the Duke's mouth.

Trying not to show my surprise, I exhaled slowly and answered dryly.

"Yes, I'm a distant... relative."

"But you seemed special."

"We haven't seen each other in a while. Before that, there was not much interaction."

"Well, anyway, you're well aware that he is in Valkyrino's territory."

Oh, they're hostages. This is a threat, saying that the De Aceh family is basically being held hostage.

Even if I said I would speak without emotion as much as I could, they seemed to have noticed that I had a deep affection for the De Aceh family.

I showed a small smile, not being scared from the Duke's violet gaze.

"There will be no unnecessary concerns for the Duke."

"Well, I'm glad we're on the same wavelength. First of all, you're a member of Valkyrino now, so I'll give you a personal escort."

"If you call it a personal escort..."

"You don't have to worry about your safety wherever you are, because it's an escort that will take you to the palace.

".......I see. Thank you."

The fact is, that the horse was a personal escort to put surveillance.

* * *

Time flew by. I had to wake up frantically fast so I wouldn't get hit by the storm day by day, and complete a terrible education day by day. Two weeks went by so quickly.

'Decorations! Get me a headdress!'

'Not this dress. It's too fancy!"

"Where's the necklace?"

They made appointments to dress me up. The maids were busy, dressing me up nonstop.

Until now, all the servants in this Valkyrino mansion had a mechanical feel, but today they were all in a hurry.

What the hell is the emperor's first queen? They seemed to be a little nervous, too.

"Let's go, miss." The door was closed, and soon the carriage began to move with the roar of the neighboring horse.

Hadel's face popped up in the passing landscape.

How much has it changed in 10 years?

I miss you, Hadel. There isn't much time left.

I'm on my way, Hadel. So please wait a little longer.

* * *

Third Person's POV

Clack, Clack...

On the wobbly carriage, Rahoo yawned tiredly.

He was secretly accompanying the silver-haired woman under orders from Duke Valkyrino to watch and protect her, but now he had nothing to do.

"This is so lame."

His yellow eyes watch as the branches of trees, which had fallen leaves, pass by.

The woman who was escorted was much more ordinary than he thought.

It was questionable why the Duke of Valkyrino, who does all sorts of dark things, would take such an ordinary woman and make her a queen.

The reason for this became clear last night after being called to the Duke's Room and told the details.

// Flashback

[Tomorrow the child will go to the palace. You go with her.]

[Yes, sir]

[You are the most compatible of the Lu people. So I'm going trust you and make you do something important.]

[Yes, please tell me]

The Duke continued with a fishy smile.

[I don't think he's going to kill her right away because she's going to be the emperor's favorite one]

Rahoo doubted this.

Of course, she was a pretty girl. I sometimes thought it was beautiful to have silver hair with sparkling silver eyes.

But how can she guarantee that the emperor will not kill her?

Of course, he has heard that the Emperor is weak against silver women, but... does that mean that killing and saving lives are determined only by the color of your hair and eyes?

The emperor seemed to be very crazy.

But the man in front of him wasn't stupid, so he didn't have to ask.

He just nodded and listened to his master.

[The emperor is getting out of control, it's unclear whether he's pretending or not, but if he kills Seriene.]

Gulp.

The Duke pulled up the corners of his mouth for a moment.

[Take advantage of the moment to kill Seriene and slit the Emperor's throat. No matter how strong the emperor is, he would be mentally anxious if one was to kill a silver-haired woman.]

The man's yellow eyes greatly expanded at the low order of the Duke's assassination.

[The sword of the broken heart is no longer sharp. You understand what I'm saying, don't you, Rahoo?]

[Of course, Duke]

The yellow-eyed man, Rahoo, was the assassin trained by the duke himself.

Whoever the target was, he had to do what his master told him to do.

He soon nodded with a stiff face.

[But perhaps the Emperor cannot kill the child and when the time comes, you know what to do to the queen...]

The Duke took the glass of wine he was holding to his mouth.

A gruesome smile showed on his face as he swallowed the red wine.

[assassinate the queen and flee.]

[......!]

[Then I'll give you freedom. I'll break all of Lu's contracts with the Valkyrino. In addition, I will save you from being oppressed.]

Freedom. Liberation of oppression of the Lu. And the salvation of the people.

All his life, he knelt silently at the maneuver of throwing what he longed for.

[Your grace]

Rahoo was reluctant to kill a seemingly innocent woman, but he couldn't help it.

Because he had a goal and a job to do.

// Flashback end.

Hey, hey!

Rahoo was swallowed in his thoughts when the horse suddenly struggled in his reigns and the carriage rattled violently.

He looked down wondering what was going on, and the horse struggled again.

"Whoa there!"

The horseman tried to calm it down. But by the way it looks, the carriage's wheels were stuck in a pit of mud. And It looked like it was deep.

The servants who followed came out and began pushing, but the wagon was only rattling and hardly moving forward.

Eventually, Rahoo sighed and jumped from the top of the wagon down to the ground.

"Get out of the way, I'll do it."

The Lu Tribe is a tribe born with unreal strength and energy. For Rahoo, this was not a big deal.

"Oh my, a knight!"

Rahoo slightly lifted the wagon out of the pit.

Some servants frowned at the sight and some turned their heads in displeasure.

It was because of his skin color, which was distinctly different from ordinary imperial people.

"What are you?"

"Shhh! Be quiet. He's the Duke's knight!"

Rahoo knocked on the carriage's door, seemingly familiar.

It was to make sure the person inside, Seriene, was safe.

knock, knock

"Miss, are you safe?" There was no answer. He agonizes for a moment. I opened the door as it was.

"Excuse me, miss. There was a problem for a while, but it's been solved, so don't worry..."

Rahoo, who was talking with his eyes down, raised his head because it smelled strange.

A beautifully decorated woman was seen curled up into a ball in the corner of the carriage.

Rahoo, who was speechless at the sight, saw the woman with tightly closed eyes, trembling with both hands covering her ears.

Despite the shaking of the small carriage, guilt poured in on such trembling vulnerability.

Rahoo thought he should say it's okay because he there, but he wondered if he deserved to say such words.

Because he was meant to kill this woman anyway.

* * *

"Yo-, Your Majesty, I'll have your clothes repaired."

Hadel looked at Deryl, who came shivering.

This time Hadel thought that Daryl would be a long-lasting servant, but Daryl felt like he was getting more and more afraid of Hadel.

Smiling, laughter flowed out at the sight of him trembling.

Whether the laughter stimulated the fear point again, the servant even stumbled at his own legs and collapsed.

"I'm-, I'm sorry! Please-, please please please, please ease your anger, Your Majesty!"

Hadel sighed as he looked at his servant shivering on his stomach, wondering if he had made a big mistake.

(I wouldn't kill you if you didn't do anything wrong.)

The servant who was killed last time was an assassin with poison in his clothes, so Hadel killed him.

An ordinary servant wasn't worth killing.

"All right, go ahead." As soon as Hadel finished talking, the servant leaped to his feet.

If you don't do it immediately after the order is dropped, you'll get a scolding.

"What time did you say the appointment was?"

"A- about ten o'clock after the luncheon."

Hadel was lost in thought.

He doesn't know which poor woman is coming here as a sacrifice, but he didn't intend to bring a queen here.

Maybe she's not such a poor girl.

She may dare to take this opportunity to seek the throne next to the emperor.

Whatever it is, it would be a judgment to see it in person, but she would have died by the end of the day unless there was a big change anyway.

Will she be the key to Valkyrino and die?

"I look forward to it."

Hadel lifted the corners of his mouth with a bleak sound.

What a stupid woman she is to step in here to hasten her expulsion.

It didn't matter who it was. If it wasn't Asha, it was all the same.

"All done, Your Majesty."

"Then get out," the servant bowed and hurriedly rushed out of the bedroom.

Hadel frowned, looking down at his robe. He has had a lot of headaches lately, maybe it's because he couldn't sleep well.

He tried to get some medicine to help him sleep, but he stopped taking all the medicine after he almost got poisoned.

Since then, Hadel has always suffered from insomnia, but it has been getting worse these days.

"Hoo... Asha, I'm so tired."

It doesn't even matter if he dies right now. But he couldn't die yet. Not until we avenge all those who made Asha die like that.

(No matter what happens, I will live to take revenge and destroy them all.)

"......I miss you."

Hadel's uncontrollable tears poured down his face as his sobs filled the room.

And so, he closed his pink tear-filled eyes slowly.

______________________________________________________________________________________________

Chapter Prepared by: Rice
Checked by: CutieCount

(Sorry for the late updates >.< the chap was ready.. i just forgot to post them :<)