Chapter 5
Katan and Cardinale’s political marriage proceeded rapidly when I didn’t oppose my marriage to Joseph adamantly like before.
‘I want to leave for Katan before George comes back to Cardinale.’
The feeling of not wanting to see his disgusting face ever again was my biggest reason.
“My lady, which salon should I order the wedding dress from?”
When asked by Rona, I stopped packing and looked up.
‘Last time, I ordered Madame Estee’s dress.’
Madame Estee was a haughty designer who exclusively made dresses for the royal family. In the past, I spent half of the budget from Katan’s side just to buy that dress.
In the past, I felt dejected about marrying Joseph, but I wanted my wedding to be more spectacular than anyone else.
“Order it from a nameless salon. Make it as simple as possible.”
But this time, it was different.
I wanted to go to Katan as quietly as possible and prepare for my revenge.
“You want it to be simple? But it’s a wedding with the Grand Duke… Are you sure?”
Rona opened her round eyes wide, clearly bewildered by what I was saying.
“Yes, I’m not going to invite anyone anyway.”
“Does the Grand Duke want to marry you in secret?”
“That’s not true…but he’s not someone who likes to have a fancy wedding…”
He loved the barren and deserted Katan, so he couldn’t have wanted a grand wedding where people flocked in.
Besides, he didn’t like me as his bride, so he wouldn’t want to waste so much time on the wedding.
I was accustomed to that fact, so I wasn’t offended at all.
Our marriage was pushed by the holy council and the aristocrats to hold him hostage and suppress Prince Carlo.
“My lady, you don’t have to be extremely mindful of the Grand Duke’s preference. You also have a say in this marriage.”
Rona bit her lips and patted my hand as if she thought I was pitiful.
“Rona.”
When she leaned closer to me, I noticed bruises around her neck. I knitted my brows and opened my mouth.
“My father must be doing that to you…”
“Oh, no, My lady.”
The bewildered Rona cut me off and hurriedly covered her exposed neck. With my eyes narrowed, I recalled Roscoe Cardinale’s weasel-like face.
The Count was a nasty man who did not hesitate to force a woman younger than me.
“Rona, why don’t you come with me to Katan?”
My careful question made Rona teary-eyed. She barely managed to speak up as if she couldn’t believe what she just heard.
“Do you mean it? I’m not even your exclusive maid.”
“Yes. So from now on, you can be my exclusive maid.”
The Count was a greedy man who was unwilling to lose anything, so I had to head to Katan without a single penny of dowry. Nevertheless, I could still afford to hire Rona using the remaining budget from Katan’s side.
“Do-Does that mean you’re leaving me behind?”
Sabrina, who was stuck in a corner listening to our conversation silently like a dead mouse, suddenly raised her voice.
‘She must be anxious since she’ll be the Count’s next target if I took Rona instead of her.’
I casually turned away from her pale face.
“Why?”
“My lady, forgive me!”
Sabrina knelt before me and pleaded forgiveness for the first time.
“I know Prince George is your lover, but I couldn’t help it! The Prince forced me!”
George was a despicable man, but he wasn’t someone who liked to force women who refused him. He seduced women and took pleasure in watching women clung to him.
“My lady, I beg you! I will never yearn for Prince George ever again!”
When I didn’t respond much to her appeal, Sabrina banged her head on the floor and raised her voice.
“Ugh, cough! Please take me to Katan, My lady!”
I looked indifferently at Sabrina, who was crying pathetically, and nodded.
I was going to take her anyway.
‘If I take Sabrina with me, George will visit Katan like before.’
In the past, I thought he visited Katan because of me, but I was mistaken.
‘I can’t be excluded from George’s scheme.’
To completely block his schemes, I have to know what he was planning.
“Are you going to take me with you? Thank you… Thank you very much, My lady!”
Sabrina’s eyes glistened as she grabbed my arm. I slightly looked down at her and shook off her hands.
“Yes. But don’t even think about touching me with your disgusting hands.”
I rose from my seat and brushed off my arm that had been touched by her nasty hands.
***
A land forsaken by God.
It was another name for Katan.
The road to that place is as rough as I remember.
The devastated estate of the north was surrounded by mountain ranges. It was barren and the road was not paved properly.
‘But it’s chilly.’
It was mid-summer, but as soon as I entered Katan, a cool wind brushed my cheek.
‘Who would have thought that an abandoned crown prince would become the Grand Duke in a place like this?’
Even the Emperor, who decided to dethrone him, would not have expected it.
I closed my eyes as I enjoyed the mountain breeze coming through the opened carriage window.
‘I’m sleepy.’
I must have become fatigued after riding the carriage for several days without getting off.
“M-My lady! Wake up, My Lady!”
I was feeling drowsy under the shining sun when Rona, who was sitting across from me and sticking her head out of the window, urged me to wake up.
“It’s a beast! The beast has appeared!”
I wasn’t surprised by her terrified scream.
‘Looks like the beast is showing up again this time.’
In the past, when I first set foot in Katan, the first thing that greeted me were beasts.
‘It wasn’t called a land forsaken by God for no reason.’
Growl-!
Rona hastily closed the window as the beasts surrounding the carriage growled and approached.
“What do I do, My Lady? The County’s knights have never dealt with beasts!”
“Don’t worry. We will be fine.”
The Grand Duke’s castle, known as the silver ice castle, was still far away. Fortunately, the carriage stopped within Katan’s territory.
‘I don’t know if we’re outside of Katan, but Katan’s troops are always guarding their territory.’
Although Katan was a barren land that couldn’t produce a single plant and was constantly attacked by beasts, it wasn’t a place where people couldn’t settle.
‘Joseph is an excellent lord. In the past, he sent people just in time.’
There were two kinds of swordmasters in the Las Vecchia Empire that could stand against the beasts.
The paladin using a holy sword and the demon hunter using an impure aura.
The paladin was greatly respected by everyone including the Imperial family. But the demon hunter was considered a flaw, enough to dethrone the innocent crown prince.
Joseph, who will soon be my husband again, was born with the demon hunter’s impure aura.
-For submitting to the evil spirit and becoming a loyal slave of the devil, you’re a disgrace to the Imperial Family!
The conservative Imperial family denounced the young crown prince, who exhibited the qualities of a swordmaster, and deposed him to Katan.
“Look out! Shit, I have no luck! Those people are the demon hunters!”
Some of Cardinale’s servants look disgusted whenever they see the impure auras of the approaching knights as demon hunters were still heavily frowned upon by people from the capital.
Unlike the paladin who had healing powers, those with impure aura wouldn’t be welcomed anywhere because their power corrupted the soil.
‘Until the deposed Joseph ruled over Katan.’
The demon hunters were unable to join the ranks, so they could only be mercenaries. But Joseph gathered them to develop Katan, the land abandoned by the Empire.
Katan, which was infested with beasts, gradually turned into a land for people to live in.
‘It’s a territory that will prosper in 7 years, but it’s not bad now.’
I nodded as I looked around the land. It wasn’t fertile, but there were traces of people living here.
‘After George ascends to the throne, more people will flock to Katan.’
People from the south and north already came to Katan and settled in.
To be exact, those who couldn’t pay the extremely high taxes imposed by the Imperial family, or those who were ousted by the deep-rooted status system sought a new opportunity in Katan.
Katan was no longer a large wasteland, but the new commercial center of the north.
Because the demon hunters who were reborn as knights after receiving harsh training from the swordmaster Joseph had never neglected their duties and patrolled every day.
‘…Maybe I can help this time.’
In the past, rather than taking care of Katan as the Grand Duchess, I was desperate to win George’s heart.
Even though I loved alchemy, I couldn’t even showcase my ability because I was worried about how people think of me.
Although not as much as demon hunters, alchemists were also condemned for having a power affiliated with the darkness.
‘I’m not going to hide my ability anymore.’
“My Lady! The Knights of Katan defeated all the beasts!”
Rona, who was looking out of the window, clapped and clamored.
“Oh my god. How cool! I’ve never seen knights like that before.”
People in the north were generally big-built and muscular. Moreover, the demon hunters were trained as hard as the Imperial knights, so Rona, who was born and raised in Cardinale, was awestruck.
‘Southerners are usually short and slender.’
When I followed Rona, who was looking out of the window, I hardened at the appearance of an unexpected figure.
‘Joseph?’
In the past, the beasts attacked Cardinale’s carriage, but Joseph did not come to my rescue.
Because the first time I saw my groom was on our wedding day.
“Isn’t that the Grand Duke?”
Rona, who followed my gaze, let out a feeble scream and gasped with excitement.
“What a wonderful man! My lady, you’re so lucky!”
Rona seemed to have imagined that the man my father forced me to marry was a pot-bellied old man.
‘True, he’s a great guy.’
I nodded awkwardly at Rona’s words.
He held his white long sword with one hand. A moment later, our gazes intertwined in the air.
The abandoned crown prince, the lord of the silver castle, and the king of desolate north.
And my husband whom I never smiled affectionately at.