SBHD 9

Episode 9

Huh.

Seres pressed her throbbing temples again.

A spy who avoids the archives just because she dislikes studying.

‘…Well, I suppose that’s possible.’

Yes, it was possible.

Seres gritted her teeth, enduring the pain pulsating in her head.

Spies always act in secrecy.

They could very well behave in ways that defy common sense.

Thinking this, she continued observing Melissa for several more days, but…

“Did I really misjudge her?”

Seres muttered under her breath, still enduring her pounding headache.

Melissa had already been in the castle for a week.

She had recovered remarkably fast—her headache had vanished by the third day—and the additional four days were intended to confirm whether she was truly a spy.

And what had she learned during that time?

‘She’s a spy?’

Pressing her forehead and clenching her teeth, Seres admitted the truth to herself: that girl was no spy.

For a moment, she had wondered if Melissa might be an assassin trying to blow up her blood pressure and kill her. But the more she thought about it, the more she had to accept that wasn’t the case.

‘Mother!’

The bright, innocent smile she always wore when looking at her.

That foolish smile was not something a spy could preserve amidst blood-soaked training.

‘This is troublesome.’

Neither she, Linburton, the butler, nor anyone else in this Grand Duke’s mansion had such a personality.

‘…No.’

There was one.

Seres gave a bitter smile, feeling as if her chest might shatter with pain.

The child she had buried in her heart sometimes revealed her presence like this.

The child who resembled most the one she had lost.

Seres let out a low sigh, then returned to her original train of thought.

‘This is highly problematic.’

This girl was neither a member of the Grand Duke’s family nor someone whose origins were known. It was wrong to let her wield such influence here.

Especially in the Aizenhart Grand Duchy—the northern wall and the final front line of this country.

If that smiling face remained in the castle any longer, she had the uneasy feeling it could be dangerous.

‘Dangerous?’

Seres frowned lightly.

No—it wasn’t dangerous because of her.

As the ruler of Aizenhart, she had never avoided risk.

It was simply that she needed a justifiable, public reason to make Melissa leave.

Melissa had been in the castle for a week.

In that short time, the servants were already calling her “Madam,” and even the trusted butler cautiously asked how he should address her.

“This won’t do.”

Seres’ eyebrows lowered heavily.

Her life was nearing its end.

Her health was deteriorating day by day, and the mysterious headaches had become more frequent.

Thus, she had to pass the title to Demius as quickly as possible while she was still alive.

Moreover, the Aizenhart Duchy was no longer what it had once been.

While it had the largest territory in the empire, it bordered the northern mountains, with poor soil and difficult transportation.

The duchy’s resources and finances relied heavily on mountain goods.

But about a year ago, monsters had begun appearing in the northern mountains at all times, not just in winter.

Previously, monster appearances were seasonal, during winter.

Yet for some reason, monsters began to appear in early spring and now even in midsummer—just like the day Demius returned to the castle a week ago.

A groan escaped between her furrowed lips.

“…There’s no time.”

With monsters appearing constantly, the areas she could safely access in the mountains shrank, worsening resource and financial problems.

In this situation, to hand Demius a stable title, he needed a reliable spouse by his side.

That meant someone of unknown, commoner origin could not remain near him.

‘I could simply chase her out…’

Seres’ eyes turned cold.

A small girl like her could be kidnapped or removed without issue.

But if that happened, Demius, whom she had worked so hard to secure, might leave as well.

This time, for good.

Seres slowly closed her eyes, then opened them deliberately.

There was only one solution.

‘She must leave on her own.’

The marriage certificate from the local lord was irrelevant.

The real problem was that the marriage was already officially documented, and the groom was the heir to the Aizenhart Grand Duchy.

‘Everything must be handled quietly.’

Otherwise, cancelling the arrangement could cause unnecessary scandal.

So the matter could only be addressed after the small orange-haired girl had left voluntarily.

To achieve that, the girl had to be thoroughly frustrated and driven to flee.

However, there was a major obstacle.

Seres, stroking her chin with her thumb, muttered in frustration.

“…I don’t know how.”

She needed a drastic measure enough to drive the girl away, but had no clue what that might be.

She was used to enforcing strict justice on those who broke the law as the duchess of Aizenhart.

But there was no way such rules could apply to Melissa, who merely wandered around the castle.

“…If I don’t know…”

Seres’ tightly set mouth loosened slowly.

“…Then I’ll learn.”

The Aizenhart bloodline had always overcome crises, and the methods for doing so were always in books.

Her eyes blazed with determination.

People called her the Iron-Blooded Shield, but that wasn’t accurate.

Her shield was her sword.

She had protected the empire for decades, cutting down enemy after enemy with her sharp blade.

And she trusted she could do it again this time.

Seres briefly addressed her waiting subordinate, Linburton.

“We must make that girl leave.”

Finally.

Linburton, who had stood silently in attention, let his eyes glint.

He had been uneasy about Melissa’s wandering around the castle and gaining the servants’ favor.

But Seres’ constant observation had kept him patient—until the order came.

Linburton whispered quietly.

“Should we kidnap her?”

“No.”

Seres explained her plan.

To avoid scandal and not lose Demius, Melissa must leave the castle on her own.

She issued her command with authority.

“Fetch the reference books.”

“Understood!”

Linburton bowed deeply, muttering to himself: he would search every bookstore if needed to find a way to drive the girl away.

‘That little thief.’

She dared to aim for the heir of the Aizenhart Grand Duchy without knowing her place—this time, she would finally be expelled.

That was her thought.

“Mother called for me?”

Melissa beamed at being summoned by the Grand Duke, something that had never happened before.

‘I wonder why she called me?’

Excited, she followed the servant to the Grand Duke Seres’ office.

As she arrived, Seres, who had been looking out the window, turned to face her.

Melissa almost bit her lip in shock at the fearsome gaze beneath the eye patch that ran diagonally across Seres’ face.

‘So cool!’

Her heart raced, and she lightly touched her flushed cheeks.

The contrast of white hair against the black eye patch, and the scars etched across the skin, gave her immense charisma.

And from what she had heard around the castle, the Grand Duke was truly an amazing figure.

The northern wall of the empire.

The last hope and front line of the country.

Seres, who had fought the monsters crossing the northern mountains, seemed like a hero straight out of a fairy tale.

Melissa felt lucky to meet such a person as her future mother-in-law.

Just as she steadied her breath, Seres’ icy voice fell over her.

“What is that attire?”