After finishing my bath in a hurry, I stepped out into a hallway filled with unease.
Servants were gathered in twos and threes, whispering with worried expressions.
“What’s going on?”
In response to my question, Pielle gave me a short bow.
Then she stopped a passing maid.
“What’s the situation?”
I turned to look at Pielle.
She hadn’t asked what happened—she had asked for the situation. That meant she already had a good idea of what was going on.
But she had been in the bath with me—how?
Yet my question disappeared the moment I heard the maid’s reply.
“Sector 3 of the Infinite Sea has been breached.”
“…!”
Even though I wasn’t from Argenta, I understood what that meant.
Argenta’s responsibility was to defend the continent from the monsters that emerged from the Infinite Sea.
And now that place had been breached?
My gaze immediately shifted to the window.
It was night, so I couldn’t see anything. But if the defenses had really been broken and monsters were on land, it wouldn’t be this quiet outside.
“Was the entire defensive line broken?”
Pielle asked seriously. The maid shook her head.
“No, not completely.”
She started to explain further but cast a glance at me.
She was probably weighing whether it was appropriate to speak in front of an outsider.
But I was going to be the mistress of this house—at least for a while.
Unless I went around blabbing that this was all a contract marriage, I had to act the part perfectly.
In other words, just because the maid hesitated didn’t mean I needed to step aside.
To show I had no intention of leaving, I crossed my arms and stared at her.
“…There were two monster units that invaded Sector 3. The first wave was larger than usual,” the maid continued.
As I listened, I found myself wondering—
She wasn’t a knight. How could a maid know so much about what was happening on the battlefield?
Surely, battle reports wouldn’t be passed along to a maid.
“Commander Roa ordered the troops to focus on the larger force, but the second wave was far more numerous and shattered the defenses almost instantly.”
It wasn’t just this maid.
The knights, servants, and other maids seemed to be whispering about the same thing.
“So the monsters were much greater in number than usual.”
“Yes. According to eyewitnesses on the scene, it looked like multiple monster hordes had joined forces.”
Ah… hearing that reminded me of something.
In the original novel, there was a vague mention that “The movements of the monsters from the Infinite Sea were becoming suspicious.” This must be that part.
Pielle frowned at the maid’s words.
“It seems the final defense line wasn’t breached. How did they manage that?”
The maid gave a slight bow.
“Criminal Roa took full responsibility and threw himself into the middle of the monster horde. While he went on a rampage, the defense line was rebuilt…”
I couldn’t even hear the rest of her sentence properly.
Criminal?
Didn’t she just say that Roa was the field commander?
“I see. What about reinforcements?”
“They’ve already been dispatched.”
The maid gave a quick nod and continued on her way.
I watched her glance back at me as she walked away, then turned to Pielle.
“Why is he a criminal?”
I couldn’t understand it.
Even I, who had read the novel, didn’t know the monsters would invade in such numbers.
So how could the person stationed there have known?
This was the kind of catastrophe no individual could have predicted or prevented.
And yet Roa seemed to have believed it was his responsibility—enough to sacrifice himself to hold off the monsters.
To me, that was a noble sacrifice.
But Pielle’s expression, as well as the whispers of the others, didn’t reflect reverence or sadness.
If anything, they seemed to take his sacrifice for granted.
“He failed to do his job properly. If he hadn’t bought time by throwing himself at the monsters, he would’ve faced far harsher punishment under Argenta’s code.”
I frowned slightly at Pielle’s explanation.
She began to straighten my slightly disheveled clothing with practiced hands.
And then, in a calm voice, she said,
“This must feel unfamiliar to you. Things like this never happened in Allozé, after all.”
At her gesture, the whispering servants quickly disappeared down other halls.
Now only the two of us remained.
Pielle spoke in a composed voice.
“You asked why he’s a criminal, didn’t you?”
I nodded slightly.
Yes, he had failed to protect the sector—but still… If he hadn’t sacrificed himself, he would’ve been punished more severely?
It made no sense to me.
“Argenta has an absolute code of conduct.”
Pielle escorted me like a knight as she spoke.
“Do it completely, or don’t do it at all.”
Her calm voice made my eyes widen.
I had heard—or rather, read—that phrase before.
It was the very first line that described Argenta in the novel.
I had skimmed over it then. But hearing it now, in this situation, it felt downright chilling.
“So… if you don’t finish the job perfectly, it’s the same as not doing it at all?”
When I echoed the meaning of those words, Pielle smiled.
“You’re quick to catch on.”
Do it completely, or don’t do it at all.
In Argenta, failing to complete a mission meant sacrificing your life.
And even if you did sacrifice your life to finish it, you were still considered a criminal.
The shiver down my spine definitely wasn’t just because I had come out of the bath.
“…”
I pressed my lips together tightly.
Suddenly, I remembered Dielo’s smiling face.
According to the original story, he was known for his gentle heart.
But this side of Argenta seemed completely at odds with that soft image.
In a place like this, his kindness must have been a curse.
Thinking of the Dielo Argenta from the novel, my heart ached a little.
Though I hadn’t finished reading it, I could guess the rest.
How hard must it have been for someone so gentle to survive in Argenta?
Both Allozé and Argenta were places where life was treated as disposable.
Remembering his sunny smile, I couldn’t help but feel a pang of sorrow.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Roa…”
At that same moment, Dielo Argenta was receiving a report.
Of course, the information he received was far more detailed than what Croa Allozé had heard.
It included exactly what types of monsters had invaded, their numbers, and how Commander Roa had thrown himself at them to hold the line.
“He went berserk using Argenta’s power and died.”
Argenta’s power.
The three ducal houses each controlled one of the elements: fire, water, and wind.
That much was public knowledge.
But there was something special.
Anyone who had sworn loyalty to the head of a house could borrow their house’s elemental power until the head revoked it.
Of course, the power was much weaker than that of someone born with the bloodline—but its strength still depended on how powerful the head of the house was.
That’s why retainers always desired a strong leader.
And currently, Dielo Argenta—who didn’t even have a ferro—was considered the weakest of the three.
Just as Dielo had intended.
“The body?”
Dielo asked without any change in expression.
The knight reporting to him gave a short bow.
“Still recoverable.”
“Bury him right in front of the Infinite Sea.”
Dielo replied immediately.
Even in death, criminal Roa would continue guarding the Infinite Sea.
“Understood.”
The knight left.
“We’ll need a new commander for Sector 3.”
As Dielo thought this, he suddenly recalled his bride.
She had come out of her bath, startled by the emergency report.
She had asked—why was he a criminal?
With a genuinely confused expression.
“…What am I going to do with her?”
Dielo smiled quietly.
Croa Allozé was far more—
innocent than he had imagined. The mistress of each ducal house is responsible for managing the internal affairs of the family.
She also oversees the family’s public image in high society and collects the rumors circulating among the nobility.
How she uses that information determines her competence as a mistress.
I thought that was all I’d have to do while staying in Argenta for a while.
But Argenta turned out to be far stranger than I expected.
“Business?”
While preparations for the wedding were underway, Pielle—the head maid and butler of the mansion—began introducing me to the duties of a duchess, one by one.
Of course, I wasn’t officially the Duchess of Argenta yet, but since I was already known as his phero, I would be taking on that role until the real one arrived.
Honestly, I thought I’d only be handling light responsibilities.
Even if I had to fool everyone into believing I was the real phero, it would be a problem if I learned too much about the inner workings of Argenta.
And I didn’t want to know too much either.
If I left Argenta knowing too much, the ending would turn out exactly like in the original story.
Only this time, it wouldn’t be Allozé but Argenta—specifically, Argenta’s “cleaner,” Pielle—who would bring about that ending.
“Yes. You must know what businesses Argenta oversees if you’re going to perform your duties as mistress properly.”
But that same Pielle was teaching me far too much about Argenta.
Especially considering that all three ducal houses exerted influence in the underworld.
Even Allozé referred to such operations as “business.” So if Pielle was about to teach me Argenta’s “business,” it was essentially exposing the underbelly of the family to me.
“Is it really okay to teach me this?”
I asked because I knew exactly what that meant.
Pielle answered without hesitation.
“Yes.”
And she smiled lightly.
“It is the master’s will.”
“…Dielo’s?”
My brow arched slightly.
Had he forgotten that I was the fake phero
Did he not realize that once the real phero appeared, I would have to step down?
“And you agree with him?”
Honestly, I was more worried about Pielle’s opinion than Dielo’s, who was too kind for his own good.
Even without Dielo’s order, if she saw a threat to Argenta, Pielle wouldn’t hesitate to slit my throat.
So—surely you’re against this, right?
When I looked up at her, Pielle smiled gently.
“Of course, I agree.”
What?
“Then I’ll begin by teaching you about our trading operations.”
Without a hint of concern for my inner turmoil, Pielle casually began revealing Argenta’s secrets.
I mean, I guess even Pielle couldn’t touch me if Dielo had explicitly told her not to harm me.
Still…
“Please rest well, Lady Croa Allozé. Or rather…”
I recalled Dielo from the end of the banquet.
The soft glimmer in his pale blue eyes, the slight blush on his cheeks as he smiled a bit shyly, lingered vividly in my mind.
“My lovely bride.”
That word—“lovely”—added with almost rehearsed sweetness, jabbed at my conscience.
I had thought this was a fair and equal deal.
But now that I looked back on it… Dielo Argenta was kind—too kind.
I pressed my hand to my forehead.
This really made me feel like… a con artist.
✦ ✦ ✦
While my mind was being thoroughly scrambled, the wedding drew near in a flash.
It would become the most extravagant and lavish wedding the continent had seen in years.
