ICM Chapter 147

“What… is this…”

 

The soldier’s hand slipped from the dagger’s handle. Blood was flowing profusely around the dagger he had stabbed in. It was definitely human red blood.

 

However, the face looking down at him with a sinister grin didn’t look human at all.

 

“I knew this would happen.”

 

As if feeling no pain at all, the Marquis grabbed the dagger lodged in his heart and slowly pulled it out. Before the frozen soldier could come to his senses, the sword in the Marquis’s hand was aimed at the soldier.

 

“The Emperor is sending me to trial? Even a passing dog would laugh at that.”

 

“Uh… huk.”

 

His legs, paralyzed with fear, lost all strength. As the soldier staggered, a mad gleam dripped from the Marquis’s eyes.

 

“Help… me… gack.”

 

The Marquis caught the fleeing soldier by the back of his neck and stabbed the dagger straight in. The single cry for help was never completed. As he had arranged beforehand, all the soldiers and knights around the waiting room had left their posts, so there was no one to help.

 

The soldier who had received orders to quietly dispose of the Marquis fell to the floor with his throat pierced by the very dagger he had brought.

 

Abundant blood flowed out and pooled on the floor. He lifted his blood-soaked foot and kicked the soldier’s limp body. The soldier, whose breath had quickly ceased, did not react.

 

“Like father, like son.”

 

How could his actions be so identical to the previous Emperor’s? The previous Emperor had driven the Arkpella Grand Ducal House to ruin overnight, and his son had destroyed the Maiheller Marquis House.

 

“Cowardly Emperor. In the end, you mock me in this way.”

 

It had been strange from when they woke him at dawn under the pretense of transfer. They had kept delaying the trial date, dragging out time, and apparently planned to end things ambiguously like this all along. The Marquis’s eyes were filled with rage and madness.

 

“Thanks to that, things have become easier. Since you’ve created an opportunity, I should make good use of it.”

 

Those in this prison weren’t only the Emperor’s people. The Marquis stepped over the fallen corpse and left the room.

 

And then he suddenly realized. The blood that had stained his chest had somehow stopped flowing.

 

“How could this be a curse?”

 

His heart had been stabbed, yet he felt no pain at all. He could see the wound where blood had been gushing heal like a lie. He couldn’t help but laugh.

 

“I don’t age, I don’t die. I can do anything!”

 

The Marquis crossed the corridor, laughing madly. Now it was time to return what he had received.

 

****

 

Despite the hot weather, Ashika’s eyelids felt endlessly heavy.

 

Under the cool shade spread beneath a tree thick with leaves. Every time the wind blew, the refreshing fragrance flowing from the forest made her body drowsy. The specially made resting chair was tilted halfway back, making her sleepy body even more languid.

 

Guard knights were positioned at a distance, and beside her sat a butler who had followed from the ducal castle to the villa, absorbed in knitting. He was so focused that he didn’t notice the quiet approaching footsteps from afar.

 

When he suddenly sensed a presence and looked up, he met Nile’s strange expression head-on. Startled, he rose from his seat, and the small garment that had almost taken shape slipped from his knees. Nile quickly reached out and caught it.

 

“Shh.”

 

Nile pointed to the sleeping Ashika and placed a finger to his lips. The elderly butler hid his embarrassment and bowed politely in greeting instead.

 

In Nile’s hands was the result of the butler’s passionate knitting. No matter how he held it with both hands and looked at it from this side and that, it was definitely human clothing, but incredibly small.

 

“This couldn’t be…”

 

It was a whispered, small voice. The butler smiled sheepishly and nodded his head.

 

Being elderly, he rarely did busy physical work. Because of that, coinciding with Ashika’s pregnancy, he had acquired a new hobby, one might say. Ashika had readily agreed to the butler’s wish to make baby clothes.

 

“Pfft…”

 

Laughter finally escaped from Nile’s mouth. The combination of an elderly butler knitting and a pregnant woman dozing under the tree shade made him inexplicably amused.

 

Perhaps hearing the sound, Ashika, who had been sleeping, drowsily opened her eyes.

 

“Ah.”

 

“Don’t get up.”

 

When Ashika tried to rise, Nile hastily waved his hand. Her slow movements seemed somehow difficult.

 

“It’s not as hard as you’d think.”

 

“Isn’t it already over seven months?”

 

The thin summer dress was a voluminous style without a waistline. Perhaps because her figure was hidden, her swollen belly wasn’t clearly visible. Still, perhaps finding it fascinating to see a pregnant woman, Nile had a more cautious expression than she did.

 

Seeing Nile’s curiosity-filled face, Ashika smiled, narrowing her round eyes.

 

“When did you arrive? You should have woken me.”

 

“Why would I wake you when there’s nothing urgent?”

 

“I’m sorry. I should have prepared in advance, but I heard you’d arrive around evening, so I forgot.”

 

Though she said it wasn’t difficult, it was actually quite troublesome. Not only was moving difficult, but she felt breathless even when still. Unable to sleep deeply, she dozed whenever she had a chance throughout the day.

 

Even so, vassals from the ducal castle frequently visited the villa requesting audiences. They wanted to build relationships with her as Duchess Talion and the future Duchess Igraine.

 

Unable to rest properly due to various matters, Ashika had used avoiding the heat as an excuse to escape to the summer villa.

 

“I heard that pregnancy makes your complexion poor, but why does Ashika seem the opposite?”

 

“It’s because I eat and rest well.”

 

Chuckling softly, Ashika seemed more relaxed than ever. Her already fair skin glowed with more vitality, and her face, free of shadows, seemed to shine. She didn’t even have morning sickness, so she was certainly of a peculiar constitution.

 

Meanwhile, a maid brought an extra chair, and tea was prepared at the butler’s direction. After quietly serving tea as if present yet absent, the butler withdrew so as not to interfere with their conversation.

 

“But why are you here alone? Is Duke Talion at the ducal castle?”

 

“No. The old Duke’s old wounds flared up, so he went to provide support instead.”

 

Regret dripped from Ashika’s tone. During sleepless nights of tossing and turning, she missed the gentle caresses and warm body temperature that used to comfort her.

 

“Ah, I see.”

 

Nile clicked his tongue. Drushia rarely left Ashika alone. Like a fierce beast protecting its young, he would stick close to Ashika’s side, baring his teeth.

 

However, Talion had a duty to guard the border, and before long, that task would become Drushia’s responsibility.

 

“So that’s why Aegonite is stuck to you like a leech.”

 

Nile glanced at Aegonite watching from afar, then turned his gaze back to Ashika. Somehow, the look directed at him wasn’t kind.

 

“Don’t be unnecessarily spiteful.”

 

Noticing the tension between the two men, Ashika quietly spoke up.

 

“What did I do?”

 

“Aren’t you on bad terms with Baron Delfino?”

 

“He’s just too inflexible.”

 

“He’s from one of Talion’s most loyal knight families. Don’t bully him using your position as an excuse.”

 

“Wow, are you really doing this to me?”

 

Nile placed his hand on his chest and protested his innocence. While it was true he had deliberately provoked and been spiteful, hadn’t it all started from trying to protect Ashika?

 

“I’m so hurt I could cry. Can a person’s attitude change this much?”

 

“You keep getting swayed because you’re too inflexible. That’s why I’m saying this.”

 

There had been times when he’d deliberately provoked more because it was amusing. Nile awkwardly averted his gaze and gestured to the maid.

 

The conversation paused briefly while the maid refilled the empty teacups. Aegonite could be seen in the distance, shaking his head and leaving his post. Nile subtly changed the subject.

 

“Did you hear? An imperial envoy went to the Grand Duke’s succession ceremony and fainted?”

 

“Ah, that.”

 

After hesitating briefly, Ashika remembered that Nile was the person who had witnessed all these situations most closely. There was no need to hide anything from him.

 

“The imperial court deliberately selected a noble who used to travel to and from the Grand Duchy in the past to send as an envoy. They wanted to confirm it.”

 

The news that a direct descendant of the Grand Ducal House was alive had caused quite a stir in the capital for some time. Opinions were divided between rumors that it was fabricated and demands to provide proof of blood relation.

 

The envoy sent to confirm this was a noble who had visited the Grand Duchy some 40 years ago.

 

“No wonder he fainted.”

 

“He won’t be able to talk about it anywhere. No one would believe him.”

 

The explanation that she was the daughter of the surviving Grand Duchess seemed most plausible and was actually known to the outside world as such. Only the nobles of the Grand Duchy who remembered the Grand Duchess’s face knew the truth.

 

This incident split the Grand Duchy in half. The southern land centered around the Grand Duke’s castle remained as Arkpella’s territory, while the region north of there, closer to the capital Trellyn, became a duchy.

 

And the person who received the new ducal title was none other than Nile. The Emperor had weakened Arkpella’s influence and created another buffer zone between the Grand Duchy and the capital.

 

What role the new duchy would play in the future was still unknown. Though they weren’t worried for now, knowing that Nile harbored deep resentment toward the Emperor, it was still concerning.

 

“I heard you renounced your succession rights.”

 

“I received a title in return.”

 

Ashika looked at Nile with worried eyes.

 

“It won’t be easy.”

 

Even though it had been split in half, the people of the Grand Duchy hadn’t forgotten. The atrocities committed by the Empress Dowager over the past decades. Regardless of Nile’s circumstances, just being a member of the imperial family made it difficult to avoid resentment.

 

“That’s why there are already nobles claiming marriage connections.”

 

“Ah, yes. It is the fastest way to quell the Grand Duchy nobles’ opposition. So I was wondering if perhaps…”

 

Ashika considered asking Iben to look for a suitable marriage partner, but immediately dismissed the thought. It wasn’t only the people of the Grand Duchy who were hostile to the imperial family. Iben felt the same way. Perhaps it was a deep-rooted resentment that couldn’t be fully expressed by the word “hostile.”

 

Separate from being favorable to Ashika, it was obvious that Iben would try to use the relationship with Nile politically.

 

‘Nile’s position has become ambiguous.’

 

She didn’t want to use Nile in that way. Perhaps it was because of the strangely familiar feeling from the beginning. To Ashika, Nile was still someone who stirred feelings of pity.

 

While she was lost in thought, it was Nile who spoke first.

 

“Mia was originally from the Grand Duchy, wasn’t she?”