116 - I Got Engaged to a Blind Duke
“How dare you……!”
The Emperor’s eyes blazed with fury.
Only the Crown Prince, on the verge of his coronation, was permitted to ride a horse-drawn chariot and tread the red carpet.
“What is the meaning of this, Duke of the West!”
A thunderous roar erupted from the Emperor’s lips.
The Duke of the West, having alighted from the driver’s seat, approached with an unperturbed expression.
“I am somewhat late. I was forced to take a carriage in my haste to arrive. My apologies.”
“What? Do you think that makes any sense?”
The Emperor coldly rebuked the Duke of the West’s absurd excuse.
Meanwhile, the driver, his hood pulled low, whipped the horses, causing them to change direction. The doors of the black wagon faced the Emperor and the Duke.
A moment later, the wagon doors swung open with a bang. A chilling draft emanated from within.
However, due to the confrontation between the Emperor and the Duke of the West, no one paid any attention to the wagon.
Except for one person, the Northern Duke.
The Northern Duke was watching the wagon with an intrigued gaze.
As the undercarriage of the self-opening wagon tilted, something inside fell out with a crash.
The nobles’ gazes finally turned at the sudden roar.
The massive, frost-covered object was a Monster resembling a Spider, a 'Spider'.
A glossy black body. Twenty legs as sharp as serrated blades. A Monster with ten eyes had appeared in the heart of the capital.
“A, a Monster!”
“It’s a Monster!”
“Why is a Monster here?The Emperor, seeing the fighter that had fallen right next to the Duke of the West, widened his eyes in shock.
He stared at the spider, whose eyes were closed as if asleep, with a fearful gaze, and slowly retreated.
“Duke, what on earth is the meaning of this?”
Bringing a Monster. He couldn’t fathom what the Duke was up to.
“Isn’t the annual noble conference a place for the four Dukes to boast of their achievements? As the Duke of the West, what else would I boast about?”
Madman.
The Emperor swallowed the words that surged from his chest.
A Monster. A real Monster.
He had seen Monster corpses a few times, but even that was rare.
It was the first time he had seen a Monster that seemed so freshly alive, and his heart pounded.
“What are you saying?”
“I was concerned that you might worry about the Western Wall now that I am blind, so I brought a Monster as a gift.”
One corner of the Duke’s lips curled up coolly.
Madman. Madman.
Backpedaling, he met the eyes of the Eastern Grand Duke.
The Eastern Grand Duke was also staring at the Monster, his eyes wide with surprise.
The pretentious Southern Duke seemed equally astonished.
Only the Northern Duke, who, like the West, was defending against Monsters, was watching the Monster with an intrigued gaze.
"Is that a spider?"”
“Yes.”
“Hmm, a species that doesn’t exist in the North.”
Was this the time to be discussing the species of a Monster?
The Emperor, dumbfounded by the conversation, whirled around and returned to the throne.
He had been so startled by the Monster corpse that he had lost the initiative to the Duke of the West.
He had planned to use the Duke of the West’s blindness as an excuse to seize his interests at this annual noble conference.
How on earth had he sensed his plan?
The Emperor, having returned to his throne, tried to calm his mind.
Regain the initiative and somehow shake the Duke of the West…
As he continued his thoughts, the Emperor unconsciously turned his gaze to the Monster and widened his eyes.
One of the Monster’s eyelids was slowly rising.
It wasn’t dead?
“Du, Duke. Wasn’t that Monster dead?”
The Emperor stuttered, utterly shocked.
The Duke of the West, his eyes closed, leisurely turned his head toward the Monster.
Even then, the spider was opening its eyes one by one.
Five of its ten eyes were open. Its frost-covered body rustled and twitched slightly.
“The, the Monster is moving!”
“Get out of the way!”
“Aaaaaah!”
The nobles had been startled when the Monster fell from the wagon, but they had naturally assumed it was dead, so they had been watching the Monster and the Duke of the West with a mixture of curiosity and fear.
But they were wrong.
The Monster was alive.
Hell was about to unfold here.
The nobles, desperate to survive, pushed, pressed, and trampled on those beside them as they rushed toward the doors.
Most of them had never seen a Monster in their lives.
A forgotten fact resurfaced in their minds.
The reason they had never even seen a Monster until now was thanks to the Duke of the West.
The old Chamberlain, trembling in a corner, shouted.
“Knights, summon the knights!”
However, the Chamberlain’s voice was drowned out by the nobles’ screams and did not reach the servants outside.
The servants guarding the doors were constantly pushed back by the sudden flood of nobles.
Meanwhile, the driver, who had been watching the situation from a corner with his hood pulled low, adjusted his glasses and grinned.
Indeed, this is fun.
The Emperor, his face filled with terror, stared at the Monster before shifting his trembling gaze to the Duke of the West.
He had messed with the wrong madman.
“…Duke of the West.”
“Yes.”
“What… what do you want?”
“What could I possibly want from Your Majesty? It sounds as if I brought a gift because I wanted something.”
The Duke was overflowing with composure, as if unaffected by the commotion in the Sun Hall.
“I… I want to grant it.”
The Emperor forced a smile as he appeased the Duke of the West.
Meanwhile, the Monster raised its sharp, serrated legs high into the air as if stretching.
“The Emperor’s promise is said to be heavier than anything else.”
“That’s right!”
The Monster shook its head as if trying to regain its senses. The Monster’s silvery, venomous eyes scanned its surroundings.
Fear rose to the Emperor's throat, but he couldn't run away because he was the Emperor.
Many nobles were still watching him.
The Emperor quickly detached the Sun-Marked Jewel attached to his ceremonial robes. It was a family heirloom passed down since the first Emperor.
“Chamberlain, give this… to the Duke of the West.”
“Yes? Yes.”
The Chamberlain, his legs trembling, ascended the platform, received the Sun-Marked Jewel, and held it up.
“I will prove my promise with that. I will receive it back after you have achieved what you desire.”
“Since you insist on reciprocating the gift, I cannot refuse.”
The Duke said with a weary expression.
The Chamberlain, holding the imperial heirloom in both hands, trembled and could not approach due to the writhing Monster next to the Duke of the West.
“Throw it.”
At the Duke of the West’s words, the Chamberlain shook his head. He could not dare to throw the imperial heirloom.
But when the Duke gestured, the Sun-Marked Jewel floated up on its own and moved into the Duke’s hand.
The Emperor and the remaining nobles widened their eyes at the astonishing divine power.
“Kueeeeek.”
At that moment, the enraged Monster lunged at the Duke of the West beside it.
“How noisy.”
The Duke picked up a quill from the desk and threw it at the Monster. The quill flew quickly and pierced the Monster.
“Kueeeeek.”
The Monster wailed in pain.
Even more enraged, the Monster swung its serrated legs at the Duke of the West.
The Duke of the West grabbed one of the legs with his hand and pushed the Monster back.
“Kueeeeek.”
A fierce tug-of-war began between the Monster and the Duke of the West.
But only for a moment, as the Monster, its ten eyes wide, was gradually pushed back. Frightened, the Monster severed the leg held by the Duke itself.
The Monster’s blue blood fell onto the white marble floor.
“Kueeeeek.”
The Duke of the West threw the leg in his hand at the Monster.
The Duke was facing a Monster several times his size, yet he was as relaxed as if he had come out for a stroll.
The Emperor, with a hollow face, leaned weakly against the throne and stared at the scene.
What was he trying to meddle with?
The madman is also good at fighting.
The Western Wall. Baines protects it.
How much he had cursed those words, which were more praised than the Emperor. But today, he had never felt those words so keenly.
In the Emperor’s tired eyes, he saw the other Dukes and Grand Duke.
He made eye contact with one of them, but the Emperor pretended not to see the gaze.
