Chapter 6

“What’s wrong, my lady?”

“Hmm.”

I wrinkled my nose at the smell and answered.

That’s when the red-haired soldier, Jeremy, added bluntly.

“If you want to enter, try waiting about three days. By then, we’ll be done with our urgent matters.”

“What did you say?”

“We’re already busy, and now we have to check supplies in the rain too.”

The intense glare in his eyes made it look like he bore a deep grudge.

“Supplies from the capital keep disappearing, you know? Someone’s clearly skimming them off.”

“Hey!”

He said it as if we were the ones stealing them.

Thud. The castle gate slammed shut right in front of us.

“This is outrageous!”

Beth was still fuming with anger.

I opened my mouth to try and calm her down.

“I can’t say I don’t understand them at all.”

“My lady, if you try to understand this kind of unfairness…”

“That’s not it. Think about the road we traveled.”

“The road?”

I brushed off the cloak Beth had given me to cover my torn dress.

Mud splattered on the road was still dripping from its hem.

‘The road coming here was a total mess.’

The paved roads ended outside the capital.

The quickest way here was a winding mountain path infested with monsters.

Given that Saint Portu was a dangerous front line, some might think that was expected—but actually, it wasn’t.

‘If it’s the front line, the roads should be well-maintained.’

Military supplies and daily necessities are needed all year round.

And I’d heard Saint Portu wasn’t a self-sustaining territory.

‘But there’s no road.’

No proper one, anyway.

And that’s not all.

The supplies from the capital are lacking, and now there are even suspicions of them being stolen.

‘I didn’t hear much about Saint Portu even when I was in the Order.’

There were stories of the Pope dispatching holy knights to Saint Portu once or twice a year to fight monsters.

I figured that was just because I belonged to the 3rd Order, which was usually stationed in the capital.

‘Now I understand clearly.’

It’s not just Saint Portu that’s avoiding the capital.

The capital also clearly avoids Saint Portu—and quite openly at that.

With that in mind, it was no wonder that people here harbored hostility toward the capital.

‘I came here to marry someone, and I didn’t even know the first thing about this place.’

All I had were vague rumors—that even the beggars here were handsome, and that outsiders were heavily discriminated against.

Coming here with only that kind of knowledge was naïve.

‘So much for luxury.’

Even if the Duke had wealth, most of it would go toward managing the territory and maintaining supply lines. There’d be no room for extravagance.

“Maybe that monster hunter from earlier… maybe that’s why he looked like such a beggar.”

“You mean that shiny-faced pervert?”

“Monster hunting pays well.”

But if he still dressed like that…

‘Maybe the territory can’t even afford to supply proper clothes.’

He might have scraped together what little he had to get decent gloves—because you can’t skimp on equipment.

I shared my thoughts briefly.

Beth’s face darkened with dread.

“Then does that mean we really can’t get in?”

“They said they’ll let us in if we wait three days.”

“Are we really supposed to make you sleep outside for three days, my lady?”

Her face was full of desperation. I could read her thoughts as if she’d spoken them aloud:

My lady! Let’s just go back to the capital! Forget the marriage!

But there was a reason she couldn’t say it.

The Emperor’s Decree.

The very decree that commanded me to go to Saint Portu and become the wife of Duke Silence.

Even if I refused, the Duke probably wouldn’t be punished severely.

After all, a Duke who could hunt monsters was an irreplaceable asset to the empire.

If anyone’s head would roll for disobeying the imperial order, it would be mine.

If I’m the only one who dies, I’d be lucky.

The Pascal family left behind in the capital would be wiped out too.

So what if I followed Beth’s suggestion and waited three days here?

I wouldn’t mind. As a knight, I’d rolled around on the ground and even slept on the roadside for ten days straight.

I had enough divine power to ward off the demonic aura of monsters.

But Beth and the coachman were different.

I looked over at the massive claw marks from a monster near the castle gate.

I need to get these two somewhere safe.

Like behind those solid castle walls.

Then, once the Duke returned, I would settle things.

Of course, there was a way.

“You heard, right? Supplies keep going missing.”

“Right.”

“But what if someone said they could fix that?”

“They’d be thrilled, obviously.”

“Exactly.”

“But they say it’s being skimmed off in the capital.”

“I don’t think that’s all.”

“What?”

Even if the capital avoided Saint Portu, this was still the front line.

It’s hard to believe they’d steal supplies at the risk of a crisis. Besides…

I thought back to the men who smelled of almonds and said,

“There’s something that’s been bothering me.”

Then I shrugged.

“Let’s go make them thrilled.”

“What shall we do?”

An old man, his face still flushed red and purple, frowned deeply as he asked.

In truth, the old butler Clark was seething with rage.

It was because things had occurred that he couldn’t tolerate—not as someone who had loyally served his master for decades, and not as a man of pride.

“How dare a spy from the capital—if she’s not anyone else but has the audacity to insult His Grace the Duke…!”

“We don’t know for sure if she’s a spy, Clark.”

Duke Silence—Kailen—responded calmly to his steward, who looked as if he was about to cough up blood from indignation.

“But you said so yourself! That she’s a woman trained in the imperial knight corps’ shooting stance!”

Clark’s neck bulged with veins.

“She’s suspicious no matter how you look at it. She dares to call Your Grace a bandit when you haven’t even had time to rest or change clothes after fighting monsters…”

“You’re only making yourself sound more pathetic with these excuses.”

“…It’s not just her. What about that maid of hers!”

“Hm.”

“She dared call Your Grace a pervert and a bastard…”

“Well, my father is dead, so that last part isn’t technically wrong.”

“Your Grace!”

“Anyway.”

Kailen continued with a shrug.

“Just because someone insults me a little, or uses techniques from the imperial knight corps, doesn’t mean they’re necessarily a spy.”

“But still…”

“Though, she might be an assassin using seduction.”

“…What?!”

Clark’s eyes went wide, but Kailen remained serious.

“Look at that innocent, pretty face.”

“Um…”

“She could be using a honey trap.”

…Did she even have the looks to pull off a honey trap?
Frankly, it was shocking that the Duke even commented on a woman’s face.

He had never shown the slightest interest in any passing woman before.

But there was no time to dwell on the meaning of that remark—the matter at hand was too grave.

“An assassin, you say…”

It sounded absurd, but something nagged at him, so he couldn’t dismiss it entirely.

“She might’ve realized that mutant monsters are appearing…”

“…”

“And that Your Grace’s power no longer works against them…”

“Who knows.”

It had only been a few months since Kailen noticed the change.

Until then, monsters were too afraid to even cross into the vicinity when he was around.

But suddenly, they started to cross into Saint Portu—ignoring fear, pressing forward even as they were cut down.

It was as if they had been brainwashed by someone to march toward Saint Portu.

And Kailen had started to reach his limit.

Even if he wanted to use soldiers, only holy knights trained in the capital could withstand a monster’s demonic aura.

If there’s any relief…

The damage had been minimal so far. The existence of the mutant monsters was still top secret.

“If the emperor finds out…”

Both the emperor and pope had always viewed the House of Silence as a thorn in their side.

They tried to buy them off with vast lands and tax exemptions—but much of the land granted was too corrupted by monster miasma to be usable.

Reinforcements of holy knights were always delayed.

Even promised supplies only arrived properly for half the year.

It wasn’t that they hadn’t complained—but each time, they were given shiny excuses.

‘Too bad. Western tax collection fell short this year.’
‘We can’t send reinforcements. Too few holy knights were trained this year.’

They even gave out bags of gold as compensation.

And just like that, the protests lost steam.

If they’re even bothering to show that much “goodwill,” it’s only because of the Duke’s power.

The Silence family’s inherited ability to completely repel monsters.

That’s why they even sent him a bride from the capital every time.

But if that power disappeared, there would be no reason to keep the Duchy.

A storm of blood over Saint Portu was already looming.

Kailen furrowed his brow.