“Riel, you should greet properly. If you see your master…”
It was a clear indication of being treated like a maid.
Riel looked up at Iana while bowing her waist.
The fierce glare in her eyes soon transformed into a gaze filled with mockery.
‘Riel, I know. You’re trying to provoke me to test me right now.’
Iana responded with a smile, thinking to herself.
“Iana, what are you doing right now?”
Karion raised his voice.
As Iana released the golden necklace she was holding, Riel slowly straightened her waist and approached Karion, standing beside him.
As if she were a countess herself.
“By the way, I don’t see His Grace Duke Ervin.”
Karion surveyed the surroundings with a displeased expression.
“I apologize, Count. His Grace the Duke is unwell… He said he would come down as soon as he finishes preparing, so please wait a moment.”
The duke’s secretary repeatedly bowed and conveyed his apologies.
However, the word “moment” became meaningless as Charles did not appear for over an hour.
Karion’s expression changed moment by moment.
A tense silence filled the entrance of the duke’s residence.
Yet, it was not possible to disobey the duke’s command to wait and change positions.
Eventually, Karion’s anger erupted.
“How can you make the Emperor’s investigation team wait for over an hour?”
“I told His Grace, but he just kept saying to wait…”
The frightened secretary trailed off.
“Is that even something to say right now?”
An infuriated Karion shouted towards the investigation team standing behind him.
“We will begin the investigation of the First Knight Order immediately. Gather all records related to the knight order…”
At that moment.
A chilling voice echoed from the entrance of the residence.
“Didn’t I say to wait?”
“……!”
As Charles appeared from behind the thick shadow, everyone gasped.
His hair was disheveled as if he had just woken up. His bloodshot red eyes. His upper body exposed, not properly fastening his robe.
He appeared as the mad duke, intoxicated and lost in his senses.
As Charles walked over, a strong smell of alcohol wafted through the air.
Iana quietly observed the unfolding situation.
Karion, with a look of disbelief, asked Charles.
“Your Grace, you can’t be drinking right now?”
“Of course, if I’ve been drinking, it would smell like alcohol. Would it smell like alcohol if I had been drinking water?”
Charles sneered.
“We are the investigation team sent by His Majesty the Emperor. Please show us some courtesy.”
Karion confronted him with an arrogant face.
At that, Charles brushed his disheveled hair back and chuckled.
“Courtesy? I haven’t even listened to His Majesty’s orders, and you think I would follow the words of a delegate?”
“Your Grace!”
“Are you going to point a sword at my neck as well?”
As Charles tilted his head defiantly, the scar from a sword wound became clearly visible.
“Oh my…”
Nobles murmured upon seeing Charles’s wound.
They had heard rumors about the Emperor and Duke Erwin, but they seemed unaware that the wound was that deep.
Iana’s gaze turned to Riel.
Riel’s face, lost in thought, was dark. She seemed to feel that the situation was not going as she wished.
Just as Riel seemed to have thought of something and was about to approach Karion.
“If you think it’s His Majesty’s order, then there’s no reason not to point it.”
Karion twisted one corner of his mouth with an arrogant expression.
“Is that so?”
“From now on, anyone who obstructs the investigation will be executed! This is a royal command.”
Karion ordered the Imperial Army of about 200 men who had come with him.
Clang-.
The Imperial soldiers drew their swords in unison.
In the tense atmosphere, those gathered at the duke’s residence stirred.
“Hahaha.”
Charles suddenly laughed loudly.
As his laughter grew louder, the tension escalated.
“I felt it even when I was at the count’s residence, but you seem truly ignorant when it comes to military matters.”
“Compared to Your Grace, who traverses the battlefield, ignorance is indeed correct.”
As Karion sneered, Charles’s gaze turned cold.
“No matter how ignorant you are, you shouldn’t have raised a weapon against me. In my duke’s residence.”
Having finished speaking, Charles turned to look at the First Knight Order and the troops guarding the entrance of the duke’s residence.
Clang-.
Hundreds of knights and soldiers from the duke’s residence drew their swords in unison.
The hundreds of silver swords glimmered sharply in the sunlight.
At that sight, Iana recalled what Charles had said by the lakeside.
“I intend to become a truly mad duke.”
‘It wasn’t just for a simple power struggle. He’s trying to show the Emperor’s investigation team the military strength of Erwin.’
In fact, Iana had her doubts.
Although it was a ceremonial visit from the Emperor’s subordinate, it didn’t seem like something Charles would do, mobilizing all of Erwin’s forces to escort the Emperor’s investigation team.
In the end, it was a warning disguised as a ceremony.
A warning not to act recklessly under the name of the Emperor’s investigation team.
“……!”
Karion, along with the investigation team and the Imperial Army, watched the scene with astonished faces.
“Your Grace, attacking the Emperor’s investigation team is tantamount to attacking His Majesty the Emperor, which is treason!”
Karion pressed harder, as if he had found a reason to attack.
Charles stepped closer to Karion and spoke in a chilling voice.
“As a duke, I sought permission through the secretary to ask for a moment’s patience. If that’s the case, you should have waited with courtesy. How dare you go against my words without any request for patience?”
“That’s…”
“You came to investigate the First Knight Order, not to hunt me down. Therefore, shouldn’t you show me courtesy in terms of hierarchy?”
“……!”
“Let the commander of the Imperial Army speak. Between me and Count Dietrian, who holds the higher rank?”
At Charles’s words, the tall commander of the Imperial Army looked troubled as he answered.
“……It is His Grace Duke Erwin.”
Charles’s fierce gaze pierced Karion.
“Remember that you are merely here on the Emperor’s delegation, not the Emperor himself. Do you understand?”
“…….”
Karion trembled with rage, his hands shaking. However, due to the justification of not showing courtesy to the duke, he could not retaliate any further.
“Answer me! Count Dietrian.”
Charles shouted loudly.
At that moment, as the two faced off, Muel quietly approached and spoke politely.
“Your Grace, please calm your anger. Count Dietrian wouldn’t have intentionally disobeyed your orders, would he?”
“…….”
“He must have been exhausted from the long journey and momentarily lost his judgment. When a person is physically drained, their judgment can become slightly clouded.”
“Ha…”
Karion glared at Muel with a piercing look.
“Secretary, what are you doing? You should guide our guests to their accommodations.”
“Yes, Great Mage.”
As Muel gestured, the secretaries nearby helped Charles to the entrance of the residence.
Charles pretended to be unable to resist and followed them.
“After returning from the palace, if he keeps drinking like that, I might have to ask His Majesty to impose a prohibition on him.”
Muel began to grumble to the nobles around him.
As the secretary started to guide them, the gathered people began to disperse one by one.
Iana also subtly headed towards the entrance of the residence, leaving behind the sharp gazes of Karion and Riel.
“Get out! Don’t get in the way.”
Karion, who entered the duke’s annex, shouted at the maids who were organizing the luggage.
“W-we’re sorry, Count!”
The startled maids of the duke’s residence rushed out the door in a flurry.
Bang bang!
Furious, Karion threw objects around haphazardly.
Riel watched him with her arms crossed.
“I can’t believe Iana is in Erwin… Did she deceive me into thinking she had some moral responsibility just to remarry into royalty?”
Just as Karion was about to throw a glass cup, Riel gently spoke.
“Why, do you still have feelings for Iana?”
“What nonsense are you talking about!”
Riel approached and snatched the glass cup from Karion’s hand.
“The Duke of Erwin was waiting for this moment. Until you reacted emotionally like this.”
“Ha…!”
“Drinking because of the matter with His Majesty? That gave a plausible human reason for making the investigation team wait.”
Karion leaned back on the sofa and sighed.
Riel sat beside him, her face tense as she spoke.
“The Duke of Erwin is not an easy opponent.”
“…….”
“He’s someone who can turn the situation around with a small justification of courtesy.”
Riel had briefly crossed paths with Charles at the count’s residence and the duke’s residence, but she had accurately assessed him.
The duke was skilled in the battle of justifications.
He showcased his military strength under the guise of ceremony and organized the hierarchy in the name of courtesy, breaking the formidable power of the Emperor’s investigation team.
He was an extremely political figure who, despite being suspected of infidelity, did not lose control.
“Anyway, Count, don’t act emotionally…”
Karion muttered to himself, not listening to Riel.
“When did it start?”
“…….”
“Was it from the day Chloe came? Or was it before that? Those filthy things!”
Crash-.
At that moment, the glass cup Riel threw hit the wall and shattered into pieces.
Karion exploded in anger at the sight.
“What are you doing right now?”
“I’m showing you. If you return empty-handed, His Majesty will make you like this.”
“……!”
Karion’s eyes shook greatly.
“If the Duke of Erwin has touched your emotions, then you should do the same.”
“How?”
With a smile on her lips, Riel said.
“Designate Iana as the first investigator.”
“…….”
“As a victim of the First Knight Order’s magical hound attack.”