“I can’t just send him back, but killing him feels wrong too… What should I do?”
“Kill him! Kill him!”
“You’re so aggressive, Alice.”
Alice laughed gleefully as she held Karia’s hand, mimicking what Red Wise had said. Having received a new body and clothes as gifts, she was in an exceptionally good mood today.
Karia gently took Alice’s flailing arm and folded Eddie’s magically restored sleeve to fit her properly.
Even after hearing such violent talk, Karia smiled kindly at the girl, which made Red’s complexion pale rapidly.
“Y-You’re really going to kill me?! You barbarian!”
“Shall I silence him, Master?”
Andyion frowned coldly. He didn’t like how an elf kept insulting Karia. Despite his pretty, childlike face, when his expression darkened, he was terrifying. Red trembled in fear, but Karia calmly praised Andyion.
“Worried my ears might hurt? How sweet of you. But there’s no need to cut off his head.”
“H-He never said anything about cutting off heads?!”
“There’s a dungeon underground. Toss him in there. I’ll decide what to do with him later.”
“D-Dungeon?!”
Red had only heard of such things in old tales—back when wizards roamed like thugs, and elf warriors who resisted to reclaim their rights were dragged into the “wizards’ prisons.” The cruel wizards tortured them mercilessly, and the blood of the slain elves stained forest springs red.
Though Red had himself shouted “kill him!” moments ago, now he screamed in resistance, “No, no!” in terror. But he was no match for Andyion. Watching Andyion easily subdue the elf, Karia nodded with satisfaction—turning him into a human had been the right call.
“Let’s explore the castle afterward. You’re not familiar with it yet, so I’ll guide you.”
“Yes, Master.”
“Nooo!”
Red let out a final scream as Andyion dragged him away. Karia waved her hand, dismissing Andyion, and Alice copied her, clumsily waving her tiny fist.
To Red Wise, they looked like devils bidding him farewell to the afterlife. The weak-willed elf foamed at the mouth and fainted before they even reached the dungeon.
—
—
“My back is killing me.”
With Andyion now in the castle, the number of tasks Karia could delegate increased significantly. Unlike Alice, who solved everything on instinct, Andyion understood how things were interconnected and knew how to handle unfamiliar objects without breaking them.
Karia allowed him into the lab and the library—places with sensitive materials—and carefully explained how to manage things. As a result, time passed, and she ended up spending the night at the castle.
Even if things had improved, lying on a bare frame of a bed was still awful.
“I need to buy a proper bed.”
And carpets, blankets, curtains… Also, paper, ink, and quills for the lab.
Oh, and she couldn’t keep dressing Andyion in restored Eddie clothes forever. She had to buy clothes and shoes for Andyion and Alice too.
“A hundred outfits each should do. And maybe twenty pairs of shoes?”
“Lady Karia!”
As she calculated whether thirty thousand gold would cover all this or if she’d need to exchange more money, someone called out to her, stopping her in her tracks.
She was right in front of the main gate of the Pandion Ducal estate and frowned, thinking it might be someone from there. But instead, a large man in a deeply hooded robe approached. His gentle face peeked out just enough to be recognizable—he was the man she’d seen at the “Black Night.”
“You walk so fast! I thought your shoes had wings!”
“Oh, it’s you. What is it?”
“I’ve brought the completed report on the request you made. The boss said you were probably waiting impatiently and told me to deliver it to you.”
Ansen Miller, her bodyguard who was scolded by Noah yesterday, had returned to the ducal estate for reinforcements. But by then, Karia had already left the mercenary base.
‘Where’s the Duchess?’
‘The Duchess? Why would a noble lady come to a place like this? Is she lost?’
‘Does your great household have no knights capable of handling things without bothering the Lady?’
The tavern erupted in laughter at someone’s mocking remark. Pandion’s knights scowled fiercely.
Indeed, the fact that the duchess had turned to mercenaries instead of her own knights suggested she didn’t trust them.
However, Pandion’s head knight, Jurin Baltos, didn’t rise to the mercenaries’ taunts. He had his men search the tavern thoroughly, and upon not finding her, he swiftly reorganized the knights.
‘Everyone, spread out from the plaza and search.’
‘Aren’t you curious about what kind of request she made?’
‘……’
‘If you pay more than the Lady did, we might loosen our lips a little.’
Shagal rubbed his fingers in front of Jurin Baltos’s face with his usual sly grin. He wasn’t planning to actually leak any information about Karia—it was just a provocation.
Considering the dire financial state of the ducal house, they likely couldn’t afford to outbid her.
The proof was in Jurin Baltos’s knight uniform, which—apart from the cloak color—was indistinguishable from the regular soldiers.
‘It’s not a knight’s role to pry into what the Lady doesn’t wish revealed.’
‘You talk fancy…’
Whether out of pride or just being too uptight to be fun, Jurin responded stiffly, like reciting a memorized line.
No matter what Shagal said, Jurin didn’t react—like a soulless man following orders.
‘Why does no one call her “Lady” with respect?’
At that final remark, Jurin, who had been about to leave, flinched. He slowly turned his head, giving Shagal a cold stare. If he had drawn his sword, they might’ve seen what a knight of Pandion’s elite could do—but instead, he simply turned and left with his men.
Having witnessed that rudeness from the Pandion knights, Noah mobilized all his intelligence networks to complete her request. He seemed rather displeased.
The documents Shagal had brought, obtained by dozens of operatives working through the night, were the result of that effort.
—
“This is impressive. I thought it’d take at least a week. I’m seeing you in a new light. And even extra embezzlement… The dowager really was playing above her son’s head.”
At Karia’s admiration, Shagal wanted to grumble that even a week wouldn’t have been enough—but Noah had strictly ordered him to keep his mouth shut, so he held it in.
Still, he couldn’t stop himself from glancing repeatedly at Karia’s face.
He’d known the Duchess was living under pressure, but seeing it in person made him uneasy.
And now that she had commissioned an investigation like this… it seemed she had resolved not to tolerate things any longer.
“Is she… planning a divorce?”
“What?”
“Oh! I’m sorry! That just slipped out!”
When his inner thoughts came out aloud, Shagal jumped in surprise and instinctively snapped to attention.
The sharp contrast from his usual lazy demeanor made Karia raise an eyebrow.
“No, it’s fine. It’s not something I’m trying to hide. In fact, I’d be glad if you spread the word far and wide.”
“So you’re really getting a divorce?”
“Yes.”
“Why? Don’t tell me…”
She had endured for so long, and now suddenly she wanted out? Surely not.
Shagal briefly recalled the nonsense Noah had spouted and shook his head.
Sure, Noah had a handsome face, but who would divorce over a man she’d only seen once or twice?
He tried to stay quiet, but Karia was already watching him, so he had no choice but to speak.
“Don’t tell me you fell for our captain?”
Karia’s expression didn’t change at all.
If it weren’t true, she would’ve scoffed or at least looked annoyed, but she stayed completely expressionless. That worried Shagal.
Sure, the captain might get married someday, but recommending a woman to him as a partner? Not a chance.
“If that’s it, I really suggest against it. He’s a good leader, but as a man… well. He’s way too proud of his looks. The moment he opens his mouth—crash! It’s all ruined. Yes, crash!”
Even the subordinates lamented: Why was our captain born a man instead of a princess? Their lord was known back home as “The Princess”—short for “Princess of Terror.”
The day he was exiled from the palace:
“Brother, this is cruel! Even if you do have the face of a man old enough to be my father, we’re still brothers! I curse the god who gave you both an ugly face and a vile heart!”
He really said tha
t.
If Noah had just shut up—or at least not said that—they wouldn’t have had to run from that red-faced McDuff all night.
