Chapter 44
Startled by the suspicious looks, she flinched and hunched her shoulders.
Her legs gave out, and she collapsed onto the sofa, biting her lip.
She’d been too shocked and flustered—she made a mistake. She wasn’t supposed to let it show that she knew Shurel.
Closing her eyes tightly, she spoke as if making an excuse.
“I was helped by him a long time ago.”
It wasn’t a very believable excuse, but she had no choice. Her mind felt frozen.
The image of her younger brother Shurel, who used to follow her around with a warm smile, flashed before her eyes.
“Sister, I’ve been really happy these days.”
“Huh? Out of the blue?”
“Yes. Living with Mother, Father, and you—it’s been wonderful. I smile without meaning to.”
“If you’re happy, then I’m happy. So don’t throw yourself into danger again, okay?”
“It’s dangerous, but not everything that happened was bad. The North is cold… but very beautiful.”
“Really? What, did they smear honey all over the North or something? Are you seriously thinking of going back? You just said you were happy now.”
She remembered Shurel laughing sheepishly, saying he didn’t need anything else and that he was happy just having teatime together. And now, that same boy was trapped in a dogfight ring?
“How… how could this happen! He’s my real brother!”
Rivière’s composed face as she attended the ball and basked in the admiration of her followers came to mind.
Heat surged through her chest like it would burst.
Khalid was right. Rivière wasn’t someone who would show mercy just because of family ties.
What if Shurel tried to stop her to prevent his sister from being replaced?
“It’s my fault. I’m the one who called Shurel to Rajan… I’m the one who changed.”
She may have made Rivière Arphine seem like someone capable of kindness, making Shurel hold on to false hope and try to stop her.
A flood of conflicting emotions—complicated sorrow, crushing guilt, and bone-chilling rage—swirled inside her.
She tried to calm her trembling body, but it wasn’t working.
“Calm down. You have to stay calm. You can’t afford to raise more suspicion.”
Khalid and Zermann were already eyeing her with uncertainty.
She bit her lower lip hard and forced herself to speak as casually as possible.
“He saved my life. When I crossed the border from the Eastern Continent, I owed him a great debt. I wanted to repay that debt… but now to hear he’s been captured in such a place…”
“You must’ve crossed the northern border. That’s not the only way over from the Eastern Continent,” Zermann said, clearly unconvinced.
She had expected that question and nodded calmly.
“It was dangerous, but I had my reasons. Do I need to explain everything that led me here from the Eastern Continent?”
“…No.”
Though he answered and nodded, a dissatisfied look remained on Zermann’s face.
“They can’t uncover my past no matter what they try. Even if they’re suspicious, they’ll have to believe me.”
She’d nearly made a critical mistake out of shock.
Trying to steady her still-pounding heart, she asked, “So, what are you going to do?”
“We’ll postpone the operation.”
“But you said Shurel is at the dogfight ring. Don’t we need to rescue him as soon as possible?”
“And how exactly do you plan to do that?”
“I… I don’t know.”
He was right. She had been too hasty.
The initial plan to raid the dogfight arena hadn’t accounted for Maersen’s full situation. Their current strategy wasn’t enough.
Khalid tapped the table lightly and laid out what they knew so far.
“Maersen has become one massive organization. You saw it too—drunken travelers lying about even in broad daylight, gambling dens openly operating in every inn and tavern. What do you think that means?”
Since she’d scouted the city with him, she understood what he meant.
“It means the people we’re up against aren’t just inside the dogfight ring.”
“Exactly. Raiding just the arena won’t work now. We’re outnumbered.”
Even the crown prince’s secret force, powerful as it was, couldn’t take on all of Maersen.
“Then what do we do? There’s no way the imperial family will send support…”
The old, sick emperor, firmly in Rivière’s grasp, was no hope at all.
Khalid, too, seemed to have no expectations from the palace as he silently pored over a thick stack of documents.
Think. I have to think of a way—to save Shurel and destroy that place.
“We might be able to raid just the dogfight arena using Prince Khalid’s knights—the Elvardan. That should be enough. But we can’t stop with just them. This place is a massive cartel now. Yes… we need reinforcements if we want to wipe them all out.”
“Right.”
He responded directly to her muttered thought.
She could feel his eyes fixed on her, but she kept thinking, furrowing her brow in concentration.
“Reinforcements… We can’t ask the neighboring territories. If word leaks out, it’ll reach their ears. We need someone trustworthy, strong enough to suppress Maersen… Ah!”
A spark lit in her mind like a shooting star.
She clapped her hands sharply. “I know someone! Someone nearby, strong enough to surround all of Maersen!”
“Who?”
“Grand Duke Klaus of the North!”
Khalid flinched, momentarily frozen in surprise. Seeing his reaction, she continued firmly, as if there could be no other answer.
“Doesn’t he meet all the conditions?”
The Empire’s only Grand Duke—Geller Klaus.
Grand Duke Klaus had turned a harsh land into a prosperous domain, becoming a power the imperial court could barely touch. He was practically independent.
Rivière’s influence barely reached his domain—it was the only region in the Empire where her grasp was weakest.
Among the neutral factions, he was the strongest and most influential. Since his forces defended the border and repelled monsters, his military might was unmatched—he was the perfect candidate.
“…The Warden of the Barrier, huh? Not a bad choice. But the Grand Duke isn’t someone who’ll easily lend support.”
It was true. Though he held great power, Klaus always took a step back, preferring not to get involved.
The Grand Duke, who loved his northern domain deeply, made it clear he didn’t want to be dragged into conflicts—especially the battle between the Crown Prince and the High Priest, which everyone in the nobility knew about.
This matter, though still hidden, clearly involved Khalid, and the Grand Duke would no doubt connect the dots to Rivière.
So Zermann’s concern was understandable.
“Maersen is the first city on the road to the North. People are being abducted here in broad daylight. If this continues, fewer mercenaries and guards will make it to the border. The Grand Duke must have noticed some of these changes.”
“You’re not thinking of threatening him—‘help us or the North suffers,’ right?”
Of course not. She wasn’t that reckless. She shook her head lightly.
Khalid and Zermann gave her curious looks.
As she organized her thoughts, she explained her plan for bringing in the Grand Duke.
“Shurel… I mean, Lord Shurel. Tell the Grand Duke that Lord Shurel is being treated like a dog in that arena. If he wants to save him, he must help us.”
“…What?”
“That’s nonsense,” they both said, frowning in disbelief.
But she held firm.
“If you say that, I’m certain the Grand Duke will support us.”
“How can you be sure? What’s Shurel to him?”
“At the very least, the Grand Duke isn’t the kind of person to sit back and do nothing after hearing what’s happening to him.”
Khalid still looked doubtful, but she could tell he was considering it.
She had a very good reason for choosing the Grand Duke, but as ‘Erdia,’ she had no way to explain it. Very few knew that reason.
She was worried they might press her for an explanation—but unexpectedly, Khalid seemed to be giving her proposal serious thought.
In that case… she would push forward.
