Test (2)

“I am from a commoner family, Your Highness.”

“…Huh?”

Compared to Lily, who answered calmly, the princess was terribly surprised. A heavy silence fell.

The princess spoke again after a while. “You are a commoner. That’s great. I have never seen a commoner so close up in my life.”

Of course, there were also commoners in the Imperial Palace. A maid who cleaned or did laundry, a servant who removed horse manure, and more. But even the lowest tier aristocrats easily avoided seeing them.

“Yes. Then tell me how you got married.”

“…Yeah?”

“I don’t know why you came here. Well, it’s not like the duke will open the door if you ask. It’s obviously useless for that kind of thing, so just have fun with me.” As if it was a natural truth, the princess remarked in a non-malicious tone, “Yes. Did you manage your first night? Monsters are huge, so tell me if it’s really like a monster.”

A giggle of laughter followed, and Lily realized something.

This was the test.

* * *

“The Lord is here!”

The door to the audience room in Cadis Castle swung open. The door slammed against the wall and the hinges widened to the limit.

Vlad stepped forward with a large stride. The boots stomped on the red carpet. Heavy and rough air like a collapsed stone wall poured into the audience room.

They were waiting on the left and right sides of the long carpet lined up to the podium, and at the same time they bowed down. The knights stood in their place and saluted modestly.

Vlad passed between them and stepped onto the platform. He sat on a heavy mahogany chair and looked at them.

The vassals felt as if they were going to be sliced into half. A man wrapped in a tight atmosphere that could cut off flesh in a blink of an eye  He was their lord, as always.

A low, menacing voice came from the depths of the cave, like a snarling beast, “Report the situation, Valks.”

Valks, who came out in front of the podium, bowed his head and reported. His mouth was stuffy, as if it was full of coarse grains of sand. He closed his eyes tightly as he confessed, “As I reported, the prince attacked the carriage that was carrying Madam’s younger brother. Coincidentally, due to the overlap between the time of entering Arcadia and the flow…”

Vlad’s eyebrows rose. Valks gulped.

It was an incident where it would be acceptable to behead all those in charge right away.

“I wonder if it was kidnapping in the first place. Regardless, Prince Antonio Isles is now coming here in the prince’s chariot.”

An ice-cold rage spread around Vlad, freezing the entire audience room. The vassals seemed to have been trapped and stuffed with their eyes wide open in the huge ice.

Valks squeezed his eyes shut and bowed deeply. “Please punish me for not fulfilling my responsibilities. The company guarding Prince Antonio Isles will also be reprimanded and sentenced to death.”

The monarch’s love for his wife was already famous in the whole estate. Even the declaration of bringing in Antonio Isles, her youngest brother, was a statement made by the woman herself.

Instead of answering, Vlad looked down at them and tapped his armrest with his index finger. After a long period of regular sounds, it suddenly stopped.

“When is Marius expected to arrive?”

“…Three days later.”

“The consequences.”

“We are going to punish him for the crime of extorting the property of innocent people and destroying the baron’s family without any justification.”

Vlad scoffed. “He was too much of a busybody and eagerly wanted to crawl into my land.”

As he spat, the vassals flinched. Either way, Vlad quietly organized his thoughts.

Marius was now the most hostile of all members of the imperial family. He was also probably the only one who knew that Princess Ingrid was hiding in Vlad’s land.

He’d given him an opportunity to take advantage of him. It was an obvious mistake.

Vlad looked around his vassals again. “There is no censure.”

Valks’ eyes flickered for a moment. So did the other vassals’.

Vlad’s low voice descended like black smoke between them amidst the mysterious confusion.

“The cause of this is my absence as a monarch.”

Furthermore, an attack on the knights occurred.

No matter how hostile to the imperial family, they were the knights of the Duke of Winter. Unless it was directly ordered by Vlad, they couldn’t even dare to draw their sword towards the prince.

He wasn’t stupid enough to be unaware of such a situation.

“Don’t blame the company that escorted Antonio Isles.”

There was a strange silence among the vassals.

Valks bowed his head deeply as if representing them. “I will take your orders.”

They re-evaluated. Their ruler was such a man. He made the most rational decisions, and he did not easily overturn decisions.

He had no reason to disobey orders.

It was his last words as Vlad clenched his chin crookedly.

“When Marius arrives, bring him into Cadis. Then I’ll figure it out.”

At that moment, the auditorium door swung open. Everyone turned their heads at the same time.

The blue-eyed chief of staff rushed in. His expression was so urgent that he was unaware that the vassals were reporting to the lord.

– The knight commander has sent an urgent telegram. It is said that Madam entered the tower where the princess is located.

Vlad’s dark eyebrows crinkled.