***
***
After the maids left, her large room became quiet in an instant.
She sat on the sofa and opened Volume 2 of .
She had been reading books a lot these days to distract her from thoughts about Victor.
The book’s protagonist, the foolish knight Dordophin, was looking for a sword that could cut anything. He was on his way to a dragon’s nest.
[…The large wolf scratched his head.
“Why the hell does a human need to go to a dragon’s nest?”
Dordophin, covered in grime, answered confidently.
“The treasure my Lady wants is there.”
The wolf snorted loudly.
“Poor man, that lady wants to eat you whole!”]
She 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 told her that he liked this book.
The thought of a young Victor turning the pages of a book until its cover was worn made her feel strange.
Victor’s smile was genuine when he said he liked books.
It was hard to believe that the passion he kissed her with and the affection he whispered to her were all lies.
Really, she didn’t know anything about the ‘real’ Victor.
She just lost her mind in his arms.
She fidgeted with the book, trying to control her sinking emotions.
She was scanning the book’s text but not really reading it, when suddenly someone opened her door and ran in.
“My lady!”
It was Mary.
“What happened?”
Mary answered her with a very strange expression.
“There are some rough looking folks in front of the castle looking for ‘Malakan’?”
Amarion was startled and jumped up.
***
-“Find ‘Malakan’ when you learn more information about the monsters’ abnormal behavior.”
She had half forgotten the promise she made with mercenaries on the way to Morte.
Still, it seemed that Mary remembered her previous request to let her know if anyone came looking for ‘Malakan’. As soon as she heard the news, she got up straight away.
Amarion ordered them to wait in the hostess’ tea room, and she hurriedly left the room.
Sir Raoul, who was guarding her door, was startled.
“Where are you going in such a hurry, Madame?”
“I have guests. They’re probably from the ‘Troll’s Right Calf’ mercenary group.”
“…Why have those people come to visit madame?”
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 such people to visit the Grand Duchess.
As she went down the stairs, she briefly explained.
On the way to Morte, they encountered an Orc, and afterwards she went to a bar to find mercenaries. She used the Orc’s poison gland to pay for information, and they promised to find her as soon as they found out more.
After hearing her story to its end, Raoul reacted in a similar manner to Victor.
“You did that? Why did the Lady seek them out like that?”
“How could I send any of you to such a dangerous place?”
“…Madame…”
Raoul looked like he wanted to say more, but, as always, he quickly understood.
“Well, that was probably the safest. Who would dare argue with the devil?”
Raoul muttered to himself.
Suddenly, they arrived at the tea room. Raoul politely opened the door.
“Let’s go, Madame.”
She stepped forward slowly.
***
The hostess’ tea room, which was seldom used, was beautiful nonetheless. Elegant white tile, a chandelier made of opals, and sofas of pure white wolfskin were scattered throughout the room. A marble vase full of fresh lilies decorated the elegant tea table.
She admired the sight anew as she approached the sofa. On the sofa sat a tall woman and a man with a shaggy beard, whom she had previously met in a bar.
She decided to call them ‘tall’ and ‘chubby’.
When her footsteps stopped, the mercenaries got up and bowed gracefully.
“I’m here to see the hostess of the Black Lion, the Grand Duchess of Morte.”
“Raise your head.”
They slowly raised their heads.
Then the man, Chubby, opened his mouth.
“So… this is your home?”
“Yes. I am the Grand Duchess of Morte.”
The eyes of the two mercenaries grew as big as saucers. They were surprised and couldn’t speak properly. She became a little embarrassed and clutched the hem of her dress.
She didn’t expect them to be this surprised.
‘Should I have told them I was the Grand Duchess?’
Just in time, her maids came in with tea.
Amarion and the mercenaries sat awkwardly, watching cute desserts being served.
As soon as the maids left, Chubby spat out.
“If you had asked us to kill a woman simply because the Grand Duke was looking at her, we would have done it without hesitation! Please know that!”
“Honestly, I was really surprised. Didn’t you say you were a mercenary before marriage? How could someone like that become a Grand Duchess …?”
Amarion laughed lightly.
“I wasn’t exactly a mercenary. I often worked with them.”
“That’s more suspicious. What kind of noblewoman works with mercenaries?”
“….Wait a minute. If you are the Grand Duchess, then the man who came to pick you up…”
Chubby trailed off.
Amarion understood the meaning of his words and nodded meekly.
“Right. My husband, the Grand Duke of Morte.”
“Oh my gosh!”
Chubby opened his mouth in shock, and Tall burst out laughing.
Amarion tilted her head to the side.
‘What’s so funny?’
Tall clapped Chubby’s back forcefully and burst into louder laughter.
“Walking Death was running around, worried that his wife ran away. Isn’t it something that you never imagined?”
“I’m a little scared… I keep imagining that he’ll cut our throats.”
“Then we’ll be regarded as legends by mercenaries!”
Tall giggled again.
Amarion smiled as she watched them.
To be honest, after only interacting with polite maids in the castle for so long, these mercenaries were a nice change of pace.
Mercenaries were ignorant and proud, but they were polite when they needed to be.
Seeing her expression, Chubby apologized briefly.
“I’m sorry. I heard rumors that Walking Death took a woman in, but I didn’t know she was someone like you.”
“I understand. Who would imagine that the Grand Duchess was a mercenary?”
“Yeah, that was very…”
After thinking for a moment, he asked.
“What the hell? Why did you act like a mercenary back then?”
Amarion hesitated for a moment. Actually, she didn’t have an answer.
She wasn’t a famous knight like Victor, nor a famous mercenary, nor a high-ranking noble.
She was just a girl from the countryside who knew how to use a sword.
At that time, Raoul, who had been silent, took a step forward.
“I’ll tell them, my Lady. Before marriage, she was Amarion of Amari.”
She looked up at Raoul in wonder. It was because she couldn’t figure out why he introduced her.
However, the mood of the mercenaries changed in an instant.
Tall asked, smirking.
“It’s the Amari I’m thinking of, right?”
“Yes. She is the successor of Amari in the north.”
Tall’s eyes widened. It was the same with Chubby, but his eyes were hard to see because of his dark and bushy eyebrows.
After looking at her face for a while, he snorted.
“You were a ridiculously big shot.”
“What do you mean?”
“Many mercenaries still tell your story.”
She frowned.
She really didn’t understand.
To be sure, she had worked with quite a few mercenaries. Amari was always short of soldiers, so in the winter, when waves of monsters came down the mountain, she used all the money she had saved to hire mercenaries.
That was the reason why she knew where mercenaries gathered. To be honest, they only had the skills of an Amari Knight, but they knew how to catch 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 extremely serious.
Chubby stroked his beard.
“If she is an Amari, it is understandable that she is interested in the situation of monsters. We only came with simple information, which makes us feel ashamed.”
“Yeah. If you had given us your name, we could have gathered news from your hometown.”
“Don’t do that!”
She shook her head hastily.
A mercenary’s information was expensive, and she didn’t have the coin to pay for it right now.
The castle’s ledgers were still managed by Diederick.
The mercenaries looked at her with thoughtful faces and then opened their mouths.
“…In that case, we’ll give you the information we brought with us. In short, the northern part of the Empire is a mess right now.”
Tall pulled out a map. It was a crudely drawn map of Morte and the northern region. Small letters and numbers were written all over it.
“Here… the marked places are where monster activity has increased. There are monsters that we have never seen before, and there are those who are appearing in places that are not typical.”
“Has it ever been like this before?”
“Well, the numbers increase or decrease every year, but this is the first time that it has increased so much.”
Amarion examined the map anxiously.
Morte’s geography was still unfamiliar, but she could see that the situation in the East was particularly serious.
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She asked, furrowing her brow.
“What do you think is the cause?”
***
Kofi shop updated till chapter 56.