CH 3

I said I didn’t know anything, so why?

It makes no sense that the Grand Duke doesn’t know the cursed child of the family of Bevenia. A man of the Olan Empire cannot be unaware.

“Your Highness, I am truly innocent. I told you I didn’t know anything.….”

“Crime?”

“…….”

“I never said that the Duke had sinned.”

The man’s mouth twisted coldly. Even without dressing up extravagantly, the man was intimidating just by his existence.

“If you led the Knights to visit the Duke, of course I would think the Duke committed a crime…”

I couldn’t say any more and blurred out the end of my sentence.

A loyal-looking subordinate placed a cold blade around my neck. With a little movement, that sharp sword will cut off my neck at once.

“Kill her. Nothing good will come out of leaving her behind.”

The Grand Duke said so and turned around without hesitation. Rebellion. It was a rebellion. The Duke’s sin.

“I’ve been ignored all my life as a cursed child in Bevenia!”

I began to struggle in order to live. I held on to the ankle that was moving away for a moment.

“Just because my hair color and the color of my eyes were different… I lived a miserable life just because I was different from them.”

The Grand Duke paused for a moment and listened to my words.

I got it, his ankle.

“Do I have to die?”

“Of course.”

“…….”

“Is there any reason why I should keep you alive?”

Oh, does that mean I shouldn’t appeal to emotions?

With his back turned, the man’s hair shook and his eyes shone fiercely, as he turned his head slightly. I swallowed my dry saliva.

Yeah, now I know why that damn old lady said I’d need her.

“I’ll… help you, Your Excellency.”

Eventually, I had no choice but to call the old lady, whom I hated so much.

The moment I saw a black lion behind the Grand Duke’s back, I knew.

‘From now on… It’s going to be f***ing tough.’

It will be.

***

“Your Excellency, is she trustworthy?”

“It doesn’t matter if we believe her or not. We’re holding the rope for her life anyway.”

“She’s a woman with a strange ability. She saw the Black Lion of Noctis.”

“Yes, it’s a wonder.”

That’s why it’s more useful.

Devon said so, and looked at Flotty, who was hurriedly putting food in her mouth.

Like a person who starved for a few days, she filled her stomach with hectic hunger. A disgrace to her family, she was called a cursed child who couldn’t even debut in society.

He knew that Flotty, who was born with reversed hair and eye color, would not be able to spy properly between the Duke and Grand Duke of Bevenia.

“I’m worried that I’ll leave behind regret for no reason and come back with a lot of resentment.”

Despite Harton’s worried voice, Devon’s eyes were only occupied by the hostage he had taken.

“Just focus on finding Bevenia.”

From now on, it will take about two more days to get to Perus, Devon’s estate.

There was a small restaurant on the first floor of the accommodation that they stopped by to get a good night’s sleep, so he was eating with the knights. And to fill the stomach of a useful hostage.

No matter how much food she ate, all of it could fit in her small body as Flotty ate nonstop.

“Prince Omen definitely looks after the Duke of Bevenia. Otherwise…….”

“What does that stupid punk know how to do? It’s not him, it’s the Empress.”

“Ha, it’s more complicated if the Empress takes care of it. The palace was held tightly by that woman…….”

That’s why he needed Flotty even more.

The Noctis family has lived as a royal family for generations. They were the most suitable family to rule the Olan Empire because they received the power of the black lion named Perus.

But it’s a secret that’s only passed on to the Noctis family. Such secrets are hardly known to the lady of the Duke family.

This was obviously a huge mistake by the Duke of Bevenia. He ran away with such a good card.

“It’s okay because we have a good hand.”

“…do you mean that woman? Isn’t that woman famous for being the daughter of the family with reversed hair and eye colors and being the “cursed child”?”

“She is no longer Bevenia.”

“…….”

Harton saw his master smiling pleasantly, rolling up one corner of his mouth.

“She’ll be Flotty Noctis.”

***

For the first time in my life, I felt like I would die from being full.

I think I ate too well for someone who barely survived. However, I ate things that weren’t even common food, so my eyes turned upside down as soon as I saw the right thing.

[Ding… I didn’t bring you here to feed you something nice.]

“Ha……”

What am I going to do with this killer old lady? It’s ridiculous for her to push me into such a boring novel, but until a while ago, my life was on the verge of being cut off.

“Do it in moderation, really.”

I spoke quietly without the knowledge of the knights who were closely monitoring me.

Even though I accepted this old lady in order for me to live, it was the same as usual. Maybe I can make use of this old lady’s ability since she refuses to leave me?

[Look at how she says she’s going to use it when she didn’t use it after all these years?]

“If only you hadn’t done this in the first place!”

Oh, my voice was too loud. The knights’ eyes were drawn to me when their well-fed hostage talked to herself loudly. I quickly lowered my voice.

“This wouldn’t have happened.”

[That’s why I sent you here, but you still don’t know?]

What on earth does this old lady want to say to me? While doing this.

I do understand that this old lady is such a great person that she would even put someone who was living a normal life through such a ridiculous situation.

But this isn’t right.

“If you’re going to do this to me, shouldn’t you send me to a good family?”

I don’t want to be someone who’s been treated coldly from the moment I opened my eyes.

In addition, isn’t it too unfair to beg for food and die suddenly when I decide to do something?

“Anyway, you’ll see. I won’t let you go…….”

“Follow me when you’re done eating.”

“Cough, cough!”

At the last moment when I warned the old lady while eating a leftover piece of meat, the voice of Grand Duke Noctis was heard from behind.

“M, me?”

“Who else?”

The Grand Duke laughed at me and climbed the stairs first. There’s still more I want to eat. Leaving my regret behind, I followed him, putting down my fork.

As I entered the room located at the end of the second floor, I saw the Grand Duke lighting a candle. The dim room lit up brightly.

“I… What’s the matter?”

“Sit.”

He pointed at the chair in front of him with a glare of indifference. I quickly followed his order because I survived in return for helping the Grand Duke.

“I don’t know anything about the Duke of Bevenia.”

“Yes, I know.”

“He was helped by Prince Omen to plot his treason.”

“…….”

It wasn’t a proper sin either. Among the numerous charges, it happened to be a reverse conspiracy. The Grand Duke caught me and I thought all the way here. What happened to the people of the duchy, who threw Flotty as bait and survived?

This question led to who the protagonist is and who the real owner of the throne is. It led to the question of “Who is the true emperor?”

If Omen Noctis succeeds in treason, then he will take the throne. Otherwise, Entri Noctis will remain the current crown prince.

“So it was the Duke of Bevenia who helped the Empress Dowager and the Prince?”

“I think you have a good understanding, so let’s talk quickly.”

The Grand Duke put out the remaining fire in the match. The smell of sulfur burning spreads, then he made a crazy suggestion.

“We’ll be a couple in the future.”

“…couple? Us?”

“Yes, a couple.”

The old lady had to come out and explain this situation to me right away. I followed the Grand Duke to live, but I never dreamed that this would happen.

I’m sure she knows. When I couldn’t say anything and just gaped, the man smiled arrogantly.

“I don’t think you’re a spy for the Duke because you look stupid.”

“The proposal is so out of the blue. What do you mean by becoming a married couple all of a sudden?”

“You said it yourself. The Duke was helped by the Empress Dowager and the Prince.”

What does that have to do with us being a couple? When I looked at him without understanding, the Grand Duke raised his chin and pointed at me with his fingers.

“You’ll have to go into the palace to catch them, but you’re not going to go in with the status of being a Bevenia, are you?”

“…….”

None of the Grand Duke’s words were wrong.

Since I said I would help him, I have to catch the Empress Dowager and the Prince, the Grand Duke’s enemy and the main characters of treason. To do so, she will lose her last name, Bevenia.

“We’ll prepare for the ceremony as soon as we arrive at the manor.”

“Then do I have to live with Your Excellency for the rest of my life?”

The Grand Duke twitched his eyebrows as if he understood what I meant.

I was just asking the obvious question. I am about to get married in a situation where I don’t know when I might get out of this book.

If Grand Duke Noctis is next to me, it could get in the way of me escaping the book.

“No, it’s…….”

“Are you thinking about divorce even before we settle things?”

“I might have someone I love.”

I made an innocent look, holding my hands together, waiting for love, so as not to offend the Grand Duke as much as I could.

“If that happens, will you give me freedom?”

“What?”

The Grand Duke made a sound of deflating air and made a ridiculous expression, “Look at this?” I looked at him firmly and maintained my smile.

‘If I don’t get divorced, my life is over. It’s over.’

Having been dragged into a book by an old woman who didn’t help me, I didn’t want to end my life in a book. It is even worse to become a married woman through a contract marriage and be confined to a castle for the rest of my life.

“As the daughter of a family who started the rebellion, will anyone love you?”

The Grand Duke put his chin on his hand on the armrest and laughed bitterly.

Like he’s asking what kind of love is possible for me.

I couldn’t refute it, but I was angry because I was forced to come here without knowing anything.

“If we get them all, we can get divorced.”

“What?”

“Catch the Empress Dowager and the prince, so that the Crown Prince can safely ascend the throne.”

“As the Grand Duke said, until the Crown Prince can safely ascend the throne.”

The sound of wind blowing came out of the Grand Duke’s mouth. I felt a bit resentful because I felt it was unfair.

“Please divorce me then.”

If I had read the novel properly, I would have been a bit more confident, but I was not confident yet, so I said it in a small voice. For the sake of Flotty, who will stay in this world once I escape this place, I need to get a divorce.

“I hope that will come true.”

Our contract was signed with ridicule.

‘This damn old lady always runs away at times like this.’

She didn’t know how to leave when I didn’t need her. But in dangerous or critical situations, there is no sign of her anywhere.

“Why aren’t you getting out?”

The Grand Duke asked me to leave as I was looking for the old lady inside

“…I am going out now.”

I stood up awkwardly and moved to leave the room.

“You can go to the next room. Don’t think nonsense.”

As I left the room, I glanced at the hapless Grand Duke.