Chapter 9

Hmph.

Seres pressed her throbbing temple again.

A spy who avoided the archives just because she hated studying.

‘…I suppose that could happen.’

Yes, it could.

Clenching her jaw, Seres endured the sharp pain pulsing through her head.

Spies were creatures who always moved in the shadows.

If she was one, it would make sense for her to behave beyond all reason.

She watched for several more days, but…

“Was I truly mistaken?”

Seres murmured as another wave of pain struck her.

It had been a week since Melissa arrived at the castle.

Her recovery had been fast. Her head wound had healed in three days, and Seres had given her four extra days just to confirm whether she was a spy.

But the only thing she had discovered was…

‘How could that girl possibly be a spy?’

Seres pressed her forehead firmly and gritted her teeth.

That girl was no spy.

For a brief moment, she had wondered if the woman might instead be an assassin sent to give her a stroke out of sheer frustration, but the more she thought about it, the clearer it became that she was not.

‘Mother!’

That bright, innocent smile every time Melissa called her that.

No spy trained in blood and terror could ever smile like that.

‘This is troublesome.’

Neither she, nor Linburton, nor the butler, nor anyone else in this entire grand estate had ever possessed such a disposition.

‘…No.’

There had been one.

A dull ache struck her chest so sharply she almost gasped.

The child she had buried still made her heart ache from time to time, reminding her of the one who had been most like him.

Seres exhaled quietly and forced her thoughts back on track.

‘This is deeply troublesome.’

Melissa was neither part of the Grand Ducal family nor anyone whose origins she could verify. Allowing an outsider to sway her emotions like this was not proper.

Especially not in the Eisenhart Duchy, the northern wall of the empire and its final line of defense.

That foolishly smiling face needed to be removed from the castle before it brought danger.

‘Danger, really?’

Seres frowned faintly.

No, not because she feared danger.

As Duchess of Eisenhart, she had never once avoided it.

It was simply that she had good reason, official reason, to send Melissa away.

It had already been a week since Melissa’s arrival.

In that short time, the servants were calling her “madam,” and even the butler, whom Seres trusted most, had come to her privately to ask how he should properly address the woman.

“This cannot continue.”

Her brows fell heavily.

Her life was nearing its end.

Her health worsened by the day, and the mysterious headaches were becoming constant.

She needed to pass her title to Demius as soon as possible, while she was still alive.

But the Eisenhart Duchy was not what it once had been.

Though it was the largest territory in the empire, its lands were harsh and barren, pressed against the northern mountain range and isolated from the trade routes.

Its finances and resources relied heavily on what the mountains provided.

Yet about a year ago, something had changed.

Monsters had begun appearing endlessly in the northern range, far beyond the usual winter season.

They had once come only during the coldest months, but now they appeared in early spring, and even in the height of summer, vast swarms had been sighted.

Just like the incident a week ago, when Demius had returned home.

A low, pained sigh escaped her wrinkled lips.

“…There’s no time left.”

The monsters’ constant presence had thrown the duchy into disarray.

The restricted areas of the mountains grew larger, cutting off access to resources and deepening the financial crisis.

If she wished to hand her title to Demius securely, he would need a strong and suitable partner by his side.

In other words, a woman of unknown origin and common birth could not remain there.

‘Of course, I could simply expel her.’

Seres’s gaze turned cold.

A small woman like that could easily be abducted or silenced.

But if she did, Demius might leave her too.

This time, for good.

Forever.

Her eyes closed slowly, then opened again.

There was only one way.

‘She must leave of her own accord.’

That so-called marriage certificate signed by some provincial lord meant nothing.

The power of the grand ducal house could easily erase such a document.

The real problem was that the marriage had already been registered officially, and the groom was the heir to the Eisenhart family.

‘Everything must be handled quietly.’

If not, the process of retracting what was already confirmed could cause unnecessary scandal.

Melissa had to leave on her own before Seres could annul the marriage safely.

To make that happen, the little orange-haired girl would have to be frightened and driven away until she begged to escape.

Only one obstacle remained.

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

“…I just don’t know how.”

It would take something drastic, something that would make the girl run for her life. But Seres had no idea how to achieve that.

As ruler of the duchy, she was used to punishing those who defied law or military order.

But she could hardly use the same measures on a woman whose only crime was wandering around the castle and smiling at people.

“…If I don’t know,” she murmured slowly,

“then I must learn.”

The blood of Eisenhart had always overcome adversity, and the method for doing so had always been found in books.

Determination flared in her eyes.

People called her the Iron-Blooded Shield, but that was not quite true.

Her shield had always been a sword.

A sharp, cutting sword that had struck down enemies again and again to protect the empire through countless crises.

And this time would be no different.

Seres turned to Linburton, who was waiting silently nearby, and declared,

“We must drive that girl out.”

Finally.

Linburton’s eyes gleamed.

He had long been uneasy about Melissa, who had been winning the servants’ favor throughout the castle.

He had only stayed quiet because Seres was observing her, but at last, the order had come.

In a hushed tone, he asked,

“Shall I have her taken away?”

“No.”

Seres explained her plan.

If they wished to avoid rumors and keep Demius from turning against them, Melissa had to leave of her own will.

Then Seres gave a commanding order.

“Fetch me a reference book.”

“At once.”

Linburton bowed deeply, his expression alight with zeal.

He swore silently to himself.

He would scour every bookstore in the empire if that was what it took to find a way to drive that woman out.

‘That stray cat.’

A woman of unknown birth daring to claim the hand of their precious Young Master was beyond insolence. He would see her gone.

That was what he believed.

* * *

“I heard Mother asked for me?”

Melissa’s face brightened at the unexpected summons.

‘Why would she call for me?’

Her heart fluttered with nervous excitement as she followed the servant to Seres’s office.

When she entered, Seres turned from the window.

The black eyepatch that crossed diagonally over her face and the fierce gaze capable of slaying monsters made Melissa’s lips press tightly together to keep from gasping.

‘She’s so cool.’

Her cheeks flushed as her heart thumped in awe.

The contrast between her white hair and that dark eyepatch, the scars marking her skin, all radiated an incredible charisma.

And according to the people working in the castle, the Grand Duchess was even more extraordinary than she appeared.

The northern wall of the empire.

The final shield and the last hope of this nation.

Seres, who had defended the empire from the monsters that poured over the northern range, was like a hero from a storybook.

To think that such a person would become her mother-in-law made Melissa feel incredibly lucky.

She steadied her breathing, pressing her flushed cheeks with both hands.

Then a cold voice fell from above her head.

“What are you wearing?”