Chapter 12
Maxim was reading something carefully at his desk in the office.
“Etoile…….Etoile……”
As if he thought it was impossible, Jansen quickly opened his mouth, on behalf of him, when he heard him say the same word several times.
“She"s from a merchant family, it"s a very famous family in the south.”
“Ah, I see. That"s why the capital, which was destroyed during the war, was almost rebuilt completely with only their money.”
Compared to the Etoile family"s active status in Solstern, they had no connections in Helavant, which is why they are not familiar with this family.
“Given their merit, they might be aiming for the Duke"s t.i.tle as they seem to be deliberately staying low and distancing themselves from the imperial family.”
“She could"ve easily been a wife.”
“Yes, the people of Solstern are very popular and wealthy, and there were many influential families who wanted his daughter.”
“She is a very beautiful woman, too.”
At his words, Jansen immediately remembered the woman he saw last night.
“As far as I know, she was nominated for the position of Crown Princess.”
Maxim"s face became crumpled. If she was nominated as Crown Princess, does that mean she was supposed to marry Ca.s.siax?
“But…….”
Maxim raised one of his eyebrows and waited for Jansen"s next remark.
“According to the rumors, she volunteered to come to the North.”
“She came on her own will?”
“Yes. For that reason, the daughter of the Etoile family is rumored to be a crazy woman. It"s clear that she knew she was going to be "the bride of the devil"…….”
As Maxim gazed at him as if he was going to kill him, Jansen immediately closed his mouth and looked somewhere else.
Thereafter, As he was covering up the doc.u.ment he was holding in his hand as if he had nothing more to listen to, Maxim said.
“Get out.”
“I have one more report to tell you today.”
As Maxim looked up, Jansen stood up in a straight posture and said,
“In the afternoon, there is a sentence for the felons.”
“Oh, is that so?”
“Three murders, seven rapes, two women abducted, one child abducted, six thefts, and ten a.s.saults.”
Jansen placed the doc.u.ments in front of Maxim, who didn"t even read its contents.
“It"s a lot less than last time.”
“Good for you.”
Maxim quickly signed Jansen"s doc.u.ments with an unsympathetic look, exactly how he had always done.
The moment Jansen was about to leave, Maxim said.
“Wait. I"m also watching today.”
“Are you going by yourself?”
Surprised, Jansen"s eyes widened. However, not long after, he realized and answered him.
“I"ll be ready at once.”
As soon as Jansen went out of the office, Maxim called Freddy.
“Tell the woman from Solstern to come and see me.”
“What? But you have to go to jail today…….”
“Tell her to come that way.”
“Ah! I understand.”
Reading the Lord"s intentions, Freddy headed for the detached house without delay.
The sky was blue enough to overshadow the rain and wind last night.
The surface of the lake gleamed transparently like gla.s.s.
"Oh, there"s a lake. I wonder how much s.p.a.ce of the castle it occupies…."
Rose didn"t even have a clue how much the images that came into her sight actually occupied this castle.
It was such a great adventure to go to the chapel building last night. It didn"t feel real that she met Maxim Lancert there.
His voice, his eyes, and the temperature of his lips that she felt when their lips touched briefly.
All this floated in her head last night.
“Lady! I"ll just hang this up and be there in no time.”
A pleasant and cheerful voice brought Rose to her senses.
Natalie was waving at her downstairs.
I did mention I wanted to stay in the building, but I"ve been visiting the yard, too.
The white sheets and blankets, which had been swept away, were swaying in the wind.
Are we really in Helavant? Is this the place everyone fears?"
At the point where she is now, it was very relaxed and peaceful.
“Huh?”
Rose saw someone walking towards them, so she got up from the chair and grabbed the window frame.
Was it Freddy? It was the gray-haired butler.
Natalie put her hands on her waist and gave him an angry look, but he went straight into the entrance without even looking at her.
"He"s finally here."
Rose thought as he waited for him to enter the room.
"I didn"t expect to hear from you so soon."
Rose, who was walking behind Freddy, looked around suspiciously.
Something seems wrong.
“Are you sure he said we will meet me here?”
“Yes, just a little further.”
The place before her eyes was like an abyss.
“Ah! He"s going to kill us today, Milady! Hugh!”
Natalie shook her head and grabbed Rose"s dress. The scene she saw was appalling.
“Help me! Help me! AHHHHH! My hands!”
As the large ax went down in a flash, the man"s arm flew away and blood splashed like a fountain in all directions.
Natalie, who saw the scene, collapsed on the spot.
“Natalie! Natalie! Wake up!”
Natalie, who collapsed, was moved back to the carriage that had been carried by the soldiers.
Rose continued to follow the butler while looking back at Natalie with worried eyes.
People whose faces are covered with blood.
Soldiers holding hideous tools like hooks and hammers.
Terrible screams as if they"re in h.e.l.l.
She wanted to cover her ears at the sound of pain that seemed to pa.s.s through death, but Rose deliberately walked on.
“Kiyaaaaargh! Stop!”
The giant spat out his saliva, cracked his knuckles, and held up a hammer that had the size of a human head.
When Rose and the giant"s eyes met, he revealed his yellow tooth as if he had seen something strange, and smiled grossly.
“Heh…..”
Rose quickly turned away from him.
“Arghhhhhhhh!”
Rose clenched her fist so tightly that her fingernails dug into her palm.
“What"s your intention of bringing me here? Maxim Lancert, what the h.e.l.l are you thinking?”
Rose looked around to see if he was watching her somewhere, but unfortunately, Maxim was nowhere to be found.
Instead, she could see soldiers gathered on one side.
They followed her line of movements, gave her a dainty look, and laughed among themselves as they met Rose"s eyes.
“Do you usually meet people in places like this?”
Rose asked Freddy, who was leading the way.
“No, I just followed orders.”
“Why did he ask me to meet him here?”
“I"m not sure as it"s really not my business. This is only what he ordered me to do.”
“I"m sure you know.”
Rose gave up asking the stubborn butler because she thought it would only hurt her mouth.
She doesn"t know if Maxim Lancert intended to frighten her, but instinctively, she could see that he didn"t mean to hurt her.
“You shouldn"t get involved.”
In these places, even a person from afar gets scared, loses reason, or gets excited at the sight of blood.
I didn"t know what I was aiming for, but the more I thought about it, the more I should get my head straight.
Obviously, it was not a very pleasant sight to look at, but she didn"t need to put up with anything.
Because she has already seen more than this.
In the past, Ca.s.siax had dug the eyes of an imperial servant with a dagger before her eyes.
More than that, it was routine of his to cut one"s tongue, who would continuously run his mouth.
Even when she was pregnant.
However, the most horrible sight she had ever seen was when her father"s neck was cut off and hung in the air.
As the moment came back to mind, something hot rolled up from her neck.
Rose closed her eyes and took deep breaths.
“Oh no. I think Lady Etoile is going to fall.”
Rose opened her eyes when she heard a remark, which was said with a snort, next to her.
He was a man with flaming red hair, a long scar across his eyes, and skinny, slender cheeks that seemed st.u.r.dy.
Rose ignored his queer gaze and continued to follow Freddy.
At that moment, a heavy sheath suddenly blocked her view.
As she held her breath and looked back, he groaned and moved in front of her.
“When you were about to become a wolf"s meal, I saved you. You should at least say thank you.”
Freddy, who was ahead, had an irritating look on his face as if that lunatic Tulio was going crazy again.
Rose snorted as if she knew what would happen before he came went in front of her and cleared up the situation.
“Ah. right,”
Tulio"s face became distorted.
“You were the one who hit me in the back to break my head.”
Tulio grinned, raising one of the corners of his mouth.
“If I had been bitten and killed by a wolf, then the pain you felt would hurt less than what I had felt. Thank you anyway.”
Tulio continued sarcastically.
“Since you"ve come this far, you"re going to have to look at some more interesting things as it"d be sad if you simply leave. Ah, do you want me to take out my intestines and show you how to jump rope?”
As Tulio turned around to face the soldiers as he teased Rose, they squeaked and laughed.
“Thank you, but I"m busy, so I"ll pa.s.s. Why don"t you go ahead and carry on with your sentence? Whether it"s jump rope or tug-of-war.”
“I"m a supervisor, so I don"t get blood on my hands. The pups here aren"t worth it either.”
“Oh, that"s why your mouth is busier than your hands. There"s enough room to chat with people pa.s.sing by. Then please continue to suffer.”
Rose gave a tender greeting and turned away coldly from him.
The soldiers standing behind Tulio were laughing.
“He"s been silenced, haha.”
“Hahaha. Should we call him the mouthful Tulio, not the lunatic? Kekeke.”
Tulio had a rough look on his face as the soldiers grabbed their bellies and laughed.
“Fxxkers, do you want to die?”
His bluff made the soldiers laugh. But as they tried to hold back their laughter, the tips of their lips were quivering.
He was a warrior who draped his enemy"s neck at the end of his spear and soaked his face red with its blood on the battlefield.
Because of that brutal madness, he was called the lunatic Tulio on the battlefield.
Not only his enemy but also those, who were on the same side as him, were reluctant to go near him as his face would always be covered with tremendous blood.
She just walked past him, the man who was feared by all.