A Battlefield Of Flowers (9)

In only two exchanges, the knight of House Welch was driven into a corner. When I struck the joint of his leather armor with the hilt of my sword, he doubled over with a choking gasp.

Nanael Welch, standing behind him, turned deathly pale.

“Sir Jeffrey!”

I gave him no time to catch his breath. I angled the blade and swung swiftly, slicing a straight line across his armor. I forcefully knocked aside his wavering sword, then hooked his unsteady foot. A moment later, the sword flew from the knight’s hand as he lost his balance.

“Aaaah!”

The sword stabbed into the ground amid the women’s screams.

The fallen knight looked utterly devastated. I held my blade to his throat and asked.

“Do you concede defeat?”

“I…… concede.”

“What is your name?”

Following knightly custom, I asked the defeated man’s name.

“J-Jeffrey of Sutherland. I currently serve Duke Welch.”

“I am Amarion of Amari.”

I held out my hand and helped him up. Though still dazed, he staggered to his feet.

“I reside at Grand Duke Mort’s residence. If you seek revenge, come there.”

I sheathed the sword in my hand and looked around.

The garden was silent as the grave. Not one person could hide their shock.

When I turned toward Nanael Welch, her lovely face was twisted with humiliation and disbelief.

I had expected to feel relieved, but I did not feel particularly good. Just as when I dealt with Victor’s nightmares, my strength could not provide a fundamental solution. In high society, a noblewoman was supposed to speak through eloquence and etiquette. This behavior might only invite even greater scandal and humiliation.

But in the end, I was a knight. Someone who could speak only through the sword.

I swept a cold gaze over the people surrounding the young lady. The people who had wanted to see me humiliated. A bitter sense of satisfaction washed over me at the thought that I had ruined their amusement.

I threw the sword onto the ground and returned to Sir Kaltz. Kaltz silently knelt and put my shoes back on my feet.

“Let us return now, Sir Kaltz.”

“Yes, Madam.”

Amid the heavy silence, I left the rose garden.

The capital’s clear scenery flowed past outside the window.

Kaltz, seated across from me in the carriage, let out a deep sigh.

“I am relieved you did not kill him.”

“Why would I kill someone so recklessly?”

“That sword of yours…… Never mind.”

Sir Kaltz sighed deeply once more and met my eyes.

“Will you not tell me why you did it?”

“…….”

“I know you are not someone who would draw a sword over a trivial quarrel. What exactly happened?”

I deliberately avoided his gaze.

The only reason I had been able to hide all of this from Kaltz was that he was a man and a knight of Grand Duke Mort. Nobles were cunning. They insulted me, a Grand Duchess in name only, to my face, yet would not utter a word before him, the Grand Duke’s chief of staff. No one would be mad enough to insult a knight’s lord and household in front of him.

And I simply wanted to bury everything as it was.

“I was merely angry. I behaved immaturely.”

Kaltz’s blue eyes darkened. He studied me briefly, then exaggeratedly shrugged.

“Understood. Since Madam does not wish it, I will ask no further. Even though His Grace will soon slice my nose clean off with his sword. Madam does not pity this poor servant at all, does she?”

As Kaltz continued lamenting, I grew restless. He was my escort knight, so he would undoubtedly be interrogated about this.

I earnestly reassured him that it was not his fault and that I would explain everything properly to Victor.

As I talked with the glib Kaltz, we soon arrived before the grand ducal residence.

At last, I was home. I stepped out of the carriage with a faint sense of relief.

Victor returned not long afterward. Fortunately, he did not appear to have heard about the duel yet. Since he usually had to meet high-ranking nobles and members of the Imperial Family, had he not said that he spent most of the social season at the Imperial Palace?

For the first time in a while, I sat with him at the dinner table. A glistening roast of beef rested on my plate. As I cut the meat into pieces, I cautiously spoke.

“I fought a duel today.”

“What?”

He seemed bewildered. He set down the wineglass in his hand and asked.

“Were you injured?”

“No, I am fine.”

“What was Kaltz doing that you had to fight a duel?”

Victor furrowed his brow.

Remembering how Kaltz had worried half-jokingly and half-seriously, I quickly shook my head.

“Do not blame him. I said I would do it.”

“Who was your opponent?”

“Well…….”

I hesitated briefly.

“A knight of House Welch. Jeffrey of Sutherland.”

He fell into thought for a moment, then frowned.

“Is he not one of Nanael Welch’s escorts?”

“Yes. In truth, I had challenged the young lady.”

Victor looked at me with deeply sunken eyes.

Was he angry after all? Because I had behaved in a manner unbecoming of a Grand Duchess?

Or because I had laid a hand on Lady Nanael?

I forced the negative thoughts rising inside me aside.

At this point, the reason no longer mattered. I did not regret avenging the insult, but my behavior had clearly strayed from what was expected of a Grand Duchess. Victor had every right to be angry with me. Even if he blamed me for it and…… sent me back.

But unexpectedly, he did not scold me. He simply clasped the back of my hand tightly for a moment, then released it. Afterward, he smiled with extraordinary gentleness.

“It is enough that you were not hurt, Marion.”

Then he instructed a servant to place another piece of meat on my plate.

“You must be hungry. Eat some more.”

Though puzzled, I nodded and placed a piece of cut beef into my mouth. The moist meat felt as dry as chewing leather.

Amarion looked listless again today.

For the past several days, she had seemed as exhausted as someone suffering from an illness. She hardly spoke with anyone and ate less than half her usual amount. Whenever he asked whether something had happened, she merely forced a smile and said she was fine.

And today, she had even fought a duel.

Victor concealed his anxiety and sent her upstairs to the bedroom early. The moment Amarion’s retreating figure disappeared, he ordered a servant to summon Kaltz.

The instant the knight arrived at the study, Victor roared.

“What the hell were you doing!”

At the harsh question, Kaltz immediately bowed his head.

“My apologies, my lord. It was my negligence.”

Victor Mort narrowed his yellow, serpentine eyes. His chief of staff rarely admitted fault so readily.

Victor eventually sighed and swept back his hair.

“Even if Marion wanted it, you should have stepped forward. What would you have done if she had been injured?”

Kaltz raised his head in disbelief.

“Your Grace, Madam would not have suffered so much as a scratch even if every knight of House Welch attacked her together. She is the strongest knight on this continent after you!”

“Do you think that excuses you?”

“According to the code of chivalry, it would actually have been improper for me to fight in Madam’s place……. No, that is not what I came to tell you.”

Kaltz grimaced and straightened himself. He spoke seriously.

“Strange rumors are circulating through the women’s salons. It is widely said that once Your Grace recovers completely, you will divorce Madam and marry Lady Welch.”

“Who dares spout such nonsense?”

“Most likely Duke Welch’s people. Moreover…… it seems quite a few people believed the rumor and behaved rudely toward Madam.”

The Grand Duke’s eyes instantly turned savage. He barked.

“Why are you only telling me this now!”

“I only learned today as well!”

Kaltz rubbed his eyes in anguish.

“Your Grace, I am a knight who serves you. No one dares speak carelessly about the grand ducal house in front of me.”

“…….”

“After escorting Madam home today, I investigated, but no matter whom I questioned, this was all I could learn. To think I did not even know what the person I serve had been hearing…….”

He let out a deep sigh.

“How far must they have pushed such a mild-tempered person for her to challenge someone to a duel?”

The Grand Duke’s eyes turned cold as ice.

House Welch. They were an influential family, and he had certainly received their assistance, but they had demanded an excessive price compared to what they had provided.

It had only been a short while since he had deliberately spread rumors of his illness because they had tried to force through a marriage arrangement that had been nothing more than a transaction as soon as the war ended. Even after breaking off the engagement themselves, they still clung to such delusions. Surely they knew that they had received mercy only because they were longtime allies…….

Kaltz stopped his master when he saw him habitually flexing his fingers.

“Do not think of doing anything strange, Your Grace. Surely you realize that Madam deliberately concealed this from you.”

“It is my right to take revenge for my wife.”

“Madam will dislike it if she finds out.”

Sharp golden eyes glared at Kaltz. But he remained impassive, as though he had merely stated a fact.

Victor eventually turned his gaze away in irritation and stared into empty space. The chill in his eyes remained, but an ill-fitting trace of anxiety swept over it.

“Why did she simply endure hearing such things? Without even telling me.”

Kaltz answered quietly.

“Because all of it is true.”

The Grand Duke slowly raised his gaze. A murderous aura so dreadful it made the body tremble wrapped around the knight’s neck like a dragon’s fangs. Yet Kaltz’s voice did not waver.

“Your Grace paid a dowry and purchased Madam. To put you to sleep.”

“…….”

“Madam is not a fool. She understands better than anyone that she was brought here not as a proper Grand Duchess or mistress of the house, but as a substitute healer. How could she possibly have complained to Your Grace? You must rightfully endure the lady’s distrust.”

The chief of staff’s words pierced his chest like a dagger.