Chapter 7
He had always been a very loyal knight to Ezet. He disappeared with Ezet during the Northwestern Gate incident two years ago, and his loyalty seemed to have deepened since he returned with Ezet's help.
Loyalty isn't a bad thing.
Unlike Diarin's expression, Limoud looked very bewildered. He checked twice to see if he had misread the contents of the oath.
However, the content didn't change.
"Are you done?"
"No, I mean... My lady? I think I read it wrong?"
Limoud grimaced and frowned.
"It says, if the engagement isn't broken, kill the lady..."
"That's right, you read correctly."
Diahlin took out one of Ol's feathers from her reticle and held it in her hand. If you looked closely, it was a mysterious feather with an auspicious light, but Limoud had no experience. It was only perceived as a crude, multi-use magic tool quill that could be used without applying ink.
(TL/N: Reticle – A woman's small handbag)
She walked close to the wall of the palace. She placed the paper on it and signed her signature with Ol's feather. Before she came to the palace, she had wanted to sign it in advance at the mansion, but—
'It was kind of like pre-signing a paper to kill me.'
If Limoud had been nice, Diarin would've burned it. However, she couldn't get over the knight who had shown so much hostility. It was good to hit the nail firmly from the start.
In fact, Diarin had a clear purpose for going to the Northwestern estate:
To completely fill Lor's mana by catching monsters.
Although they now served as familiars, Ol and Lor were originally divine beasts. Thanks to this, it was said that even just sitting in the Northern Territory, their vacant mana would automatically fill up.
'That alone will not be enough.'
Occasionally, Diarin had to go out and hunt monsters secretly. She tried not to get caught by the knights as much as possible, because if she did, it would be a big problem.
"Well, I've signed it."
"Lady Concel. No matter the limits, this far..."
'You don't have to go this far.'
Limoud, who was about to speak reflexively, shut his mouth as if biting his tongue. Diarin was the daughter of the Duke of Concel. There was no way he couldn't understand why the Duke was holding on to the engagement of Diarin and Ezet.
'Because the Duke of Concel is trying to make the third prince the Emperor.'
The position of Ezet was clearly rising. Even now, knights from all over the continent were going crazy over the title "Returner from the bottom of the floodgate."
'Besides, the vampire mogul, Schelus, was brought back from the bottom of the floodgate.'
Ezet was already a threat to the third prince.
Therefore, they had to make Ezet support the third prince. If he didn't, then Ezet should protect the Northern Gate and die like a mouse.
This was Duke Concel's intention.
In order to do that, a person from the Concel family had to be attached to Ezet. That was Diarin.
What a good reason to get married. Since the engagement was confirmed, it was difficult for other aristocratic families to make arrangements.
Enemies might even borrow Diarin's hand to poison Ezet.
"..."
In the end, Limoud had no choice but to accept this oath.
He folded the oath neatly with a look of dismay, bewilderment, and inability to grasp it.
"...I will only take this as clear proof of your commitment."
"Sure, I don't want to die either, Sir Limoud."
Diarin's voice in response was refreshing. But the oath in his arms felt strangely heavy. It was just a piece of paper.
Limoud hesitated, then opened his mouth.
"Lady Concel."
"Yes, Sir Limoud?"
"Well, I'm sorry for being rude with my harsh words just now."
Transparent light purple eyes glanced at Limoud.
That was all. Diarin only looked at him once, but without any reply—saying it was okay in that glance.
"..."
Thanks to this, Limoud had no choice but to keep an eye on her right up until they reached Ezet's palace.
The White Oak Palace, Ezet's residence, remained as it had two years ago.
An old-fashioned, but quaint ceiling with a bit of paint peeling off the corners. A palace that could be used by an Imperial family member treated with disdain. She didn't think they'd pay for repairs.
'The Empress must be very upset. She hated Ezet in the first place.'
Now that Ezet's position had changed, even the rumors that she had been secretly gossiping would no longer exist.
However, it seemed that the Empress was still doing her best by postponing the budget implementation under the excuse of "proper budgeting."
It was a good thing for Diarin.
'Thank you, Her Majesty, thank you for being mean.'
As Diarin's mood rose, Ol was also full of curiosity and asked,
〈Master, why is this place so shabby? Is it a stable?〉
Lor answered instead.
〈It seems the prince has no power.〉
〈Wow, but why didn't you leave, Master?〉
〈The devil is similarly poor.〉
〈Aha, true, she is.〉
Diarin looked at Ezet in front of her, dismissing the chatter of the cheeky beasts.
In her eyes, Ezet's face looked strange.
'It looks like it's been pressed down with a blur.'
In her past life, there was a unique magic tool called 'Blur.' If she applied 'blur' over a picture, the lines and colors were very blurry.
In the eyes of the fair-bloods, the faces of the Imperial family looked like that.
A faint image—she didn't see anything, just a familiar boy. She didn't let him wait any longer.
On the contrary, Diarin was a little late.
'Even when I was in the estate, he was polite to me.'
The Imperial family was overbearing and supposed to be more noble than anyone else. The fourth prince, named Mannai, was not so polite at the imperial ball.
Of course, Diarin was terribly sorry for Ezet, who was compared to the fourth prince, who was rumored to be terrible...
Ezet spoke first,
"You said you would break the engagement."
"Oh, yes, prince."
The golden eyes that were the only thing visible were dry and cold as usual.
"Is that possible without Duke Concel's consent?"
"Of course, I'm not the Duke of Concel. I'm the young lady of Concel. Sure, it's an honorable title now, but…"
Diarin's eyes softened a little as she remembered the closed Concel estate.
"Anyway, it's possible. Conkel won't be able to bring up marriage for a while."
Diarin had heard that Duke Kelstudor was aiming for Ezet. It wasn't just the Duke of Kelstudor. The number of nobles who coveted Ezet would inflate like balloons.
No matter how powerful the Duke of Concel was, he could not ignore so many nobles.
"So, it's a profitable deal for you."
Diarin handed the contract to Ezet. It was clear and simple:
"After a year, I will leave on my own feet. Duke Concel is more thorough and picky than I thought, so it's easier to deceive him if I go down to the estate. Also, the duke told me he would send the additional armory key when I get there."
The additional armory key.
Limoud's eyes, standing behind Ezet, shone for a moment.
He hadn't thought much about it that day because he wasn't in a good mood, but the key to the additional armory was absolutely necessary for subjugating the Northern Forest.
Ezet looked at Diarin and asked,
"Why did you offer to break up the engagement?"
"I want to leave the Duke of Concel."
"Is that all?"
"Yes, and… it wasn't the marriage I wanted, so wouldn't it be good for both of us to break this engagement?"
Ezet didn't answer. He just looked straight at her, as if trying to gauge her intentions.
Diarin coughed weakly.
"Um, and Prince, I also prepared alimony."
"…Alimony?"
"I'm the one who's requesting a breakup."
"...…"
It was clear this was not what Ezet had expected, either.
'I'm embarrassed.'
Diarin secretly mobilized all her powers to look at Ezet, so she could read his expression a little more accurately than usual. It wasn't bad that his eyes, which were as still as a sunset, now held slightly different emotions.
Somehow, she felt better. Diarin laughed for the first time since sitting there. Instead of saying anything else, she carefully removed the shawl she was wearing.
It was very light and airy, as if woven from a spider's web.
"Sir Limoud, do you know what kind of shawl this is?"
The sudden call startled Limoud Baston, making him flinch. He was embarrassed, but quickly glanced at the shawl and answered,
"…Isn't that a Berge shawl?"
"That's right, a Berge shawl. Madame Patricia was so excited explaining that the weaver had to squeeze out three years to complete it. Well, it's true."
As beautiful as the design was, it was a very rare magic cloth that was no longer produced.
When you put it on and turned the diamond button in the middle of the shawl, colorful wings spread out from behind—like an angel or a fairy. For socialites who wanted attention, it was the best item they couldn't afford to buy.
It was simply an expensive shawl—its price was similar to the average baron's annual income.
She'd heard that the resale value of used women's products was well protected because the production quantity was extremely small. And not just that—if Diarin sold all the clothes she had picked and worn today, along with all her gold accessories, she could barely afford a nobleman's mansion.