21 - The Duke's Bride is a Warrior from Hell
“Did you kill that bastard?”
The man at the opposite end of the table asked, giving no room for escape this time.
Alisha's thoughts branched in two directions.
One was that Reikart had heard her mutter to herself.
How could he have heard such a small whisper that even the person right next to her couldn't hear?
It was incomprehensible, but judging from what the man was saying, he had clearly heard it.
Come to think of it, Reikart had heard sounds from an impossible distance before.
The other was about the relationship between the assassin and Baron Graitz.
The world was negatively buzzing about the marriage to Grand Duke Tessen.
But there were countless families who wanted to become the Grand Duchess, or rather, the Grand Duchess's family.
There was no special animosity between Baron Graitz and Alisha.
At least, Alisha was sure she had no animosity towards the Graitz family.
But Baron Graitz's position was different.
This assassin was probably sent by the baron to remove the obstacle to the Grand Duchess's position, where he wanted to place his daughter.
But when you think about it, Alisha had interfered with Baron Graitz's plans first and snatched the position of Grand Duchess.
Also, although she had never thought about it deeply, the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess were actually dangerous positions.
An assassin could enter the house at any time.
"Alisha."
Reikart called to Alisha, who was silent.
"Not yet."
Alisha opened her mouth after finishing her thoughts.
Denying the situation now was a useless act.
Unnecessary bickering was a waste of time.
The problem was not the sudden slander, but explaining the slander she had suffered.
She wondered how best to talk about the assassin and the Graitz family.
She was annoyed by the situation where she had to explain an action she hadn't done.
"Good."
Reikart said lightly, pouring tea into his teacup.
Good?
Alisha blinked, unable to understand the other person's intentions.
Reikart drank his tea and offered tea to Alisha as well.
She was puzzled by what he meant by good, and she didn't let her guard down even while drinking the tea he offered.
"……."
Reikart spoke with his lips still on the teacup.
"First, let's get rid of the evidence. I'll assign cleaners. In the future, if any impure guests come, don't just deal with them right away like you did now. It doesn't matter if you kill them if you're in a hurry, but don't bury them separately. Digging up what you've buried and disposing of it is more troublesome."
Alisha forcibly suppressed a cough.
She was speechless at the attitude of treating a person, even if they were an assassin, as waste.
There was no emotion in his calm voice.
"Cleaners?"
"They're all useful."
Reikart answered Alisha's question faithfully.
The question was whether the cleaners were 'corpse' cleaners, but she didn't dare ask again.
Reikart's face showed pride and confidence in the cleaners he said were useful.
Also, it was an atmosphere that took it for granted that Alisha had disarmed the unwelcome guest who had invaded the house.
"Yes……."
Alisha mumbled a short word while sipping her tea.
It seemed too forward to say something like, I look forward to them being useful, or Cleaners, that's great.
"It's been quiet until now, but things like this will continue to happen in the future. Because what was given to the prospective Grand Duchess was much bigger than expected. How about gradually reinforcing the security of Lilliese Palace and the surrounding guards?"
Alisha put down her teacup at Reikart's words.
He didn't believe what the Graitz Baron's butler had said at all.
"Did you know an assassin had entered?"
"Sometimes there are absurd slanders and accusations. I heard that an assassin had entered."
Alisha recalled Reikart's strange hearing ability, which she had forgotten for a moment.
"How did you…… hear that?"
Reikart put down his teacup and spread a faint smile.
"I just heard it."
Before Alisha could ask more, Reikart pressed a bell on one side of the wall.
Not long after, the door to the reception room opened and closed, and the cabinet wall blocking the secret space opened.
"Did you call?"
Henrik said from across the passage.
"Assign Juan to the Lady's guard. Tell him to prepare before going, because there's something to clean up at Lilliese."
"Then how should we contact Baron Graitz?"
Reikart looked like he was wondering if he had to answer Henrik's question one by one.
Alisha, who was listening to the conversation, cleared her throat.
"Your Highness."
"Speak."
"Do we have to kill the guest?"
"No. But is there a special reason to keep him alive?"
"I don't think we need to do the killing ourselves."
Reikart nodded at Alisha's words.
"Dispose of him as you wish."
Henrik, who had heard both of them, brought Juan.
Alisha and Juan were familiar with each other because they had hunted together in the western forest, so they exchanged friendly words.
Juan asked Alisha if she would like to have a meal before returning to the detached palace.
Alisha remembered Reikart's words to get rid of the evidence first.
When she said she would return to the palace, Juan followed Alisha like someone going out to play.
On the way back from Tessen Estate to Lilliese Detached Palace, Juan didn't even come near Alisha.
It didn't seem like a special escort, and it didn't seem like he had a capable cleaner with him.
Even the knight didn't ride a horse.
Juan chatted to his heart's content with the coachman in the seat next to him.
Even in front of the gate of Lilliese Palace, he didn't get out of the driver's seat to talk to the soldiers.
He went all the way into the castle in the driver's seat.
When Alisha got out of the carriage, he finally approached and said abruptly.
"Lady Alisha, the cleaners will be here in 40 minutes."
"40 minutes?"
It was still broad daylight.
She thought that kind of thing wouldn't be dealt with until after dark.
Even if the person to be dealt with was an evil assassin, she thought it wouldn't be done in plain sight.
"I'll empty the north stable of the detached palace. We need to move it there, so would you like me to help you? Or……."
"It's close, so I'll do it myself."
"Then I'll be waiting in the north stable."
Juan was still as relaxed as someone who had come out to play.
Alisha had many questions.
Whether or not to move people away from the north stable or the surrounding area.
How the cleaners would enter the detached palace.
Whether there were any special measures to take.
But she trusted the ability Juan had shown in the western forest and turned around.
Alisha loaded the bound assassin onto a handcart and covered it with a thick cloth before moving.
She had prepared perfectly in the secret room, but she used a sparsely populated passage just in case.
It was strangely deserted while she was leaving the building and heading to the north stable.
Juan was waiting in front of the stable.
He smiled broadly when he saw the handcart Alisha was pushing.
"You're excellent."
Juan was the excellent one.
While coming to the detached palace, Juan had instructed the coachman to inspect the carriage maintenance and the horses.
Thanks to that, the north stable was emptied.
He told them to move people away as much as possible because the smell was bad while changing the straw, so there were hardly any people around.
Juan took over the handcart, conveyed the prepared situation, and listened to Alisha's plan.
Alisha told him that the assassin's name was 'Bick' and showed him the signs of the heretic that he had laid down.
The sign belonged to a once very prosperous heretic.
They were a terrible group with a terrible doctrine that believed that by killing young boys and girls, their lives would be lengthened by the lives of the dead.
They were so notorious that they even worshiped young blood.
The Empire is a country with strong imperial power.
The Emperor had a Heretic Inquisitor not to protect the state religion.
The Emperor was wary of heretics forming large groups, and the purpose was to dismantle them if they grew in size.
The religion itself was not a problem, but there was nothing good about being involved with the Heretic Inquisitor.
If you were investigated by the Heretic Inquisitor, even if you were a prestigious family, you would be wiped out in an instant.
Alisha said that she planned to engrave Bick's name on the sign of the heretic and leave it in front of the Religious Tribunal.
Juan was silent for a moment and then praised it as a wonderful plan.
He asked to be allowed to engrave Bick's name on the sign himself.
While waiting for the cleaners, Juan artistically carved Bick's name into all the signs.
The 'cleaners' that Reikart and Juan had mentioned were real 'cleaners'.
Stable cleaners.
The cleaners, who came in a cart full of straw and a cart with a roof carrying cleaning supplies, had innocent faces.
Two of the four were incredibly muscular, but they were short and had smiling faces.
One was tall and slender with a faint impression.
An ordinary and everyday face that would be forgotten as soon as you turned around.
The young man with the short, baby face was called the youngest, and when you looked closely, he gave all the instructions.
"We greet the Lady."
The four cleaners greeted politely and immediately looked for the trash.
Alisha thought it was too much to call a person trash, but she didn't say anything.
Juan showed them the prepared handcart and explained the plan for disposing of the trash in detail.
"Wow……."
"Isn't it more merciful to kill him with one blow?"
"You're really cruel."
"Isn't being interrogated by the Heretic Inquisitor a peaceful death if you bite your tongue and die?"
The cleaners each said a word after hearing the plan.
At the same time, they didn't stop double-wrapping the assassin in a straw sack, which was wrapped in a large cloth.
Juan glanced at Alisha's expression at the cleaners' reproaches.
"……."
Officially, Alisha was the precious Lady who was born in the Reine Marquis family after 200 years.
Unofficially, she was known within Tessen as a capable person who could beat the monsters in the western forest.
But it was just an unofficial rumor, so the cleaners refrained from being reckless and greeting the Lady first.
"I came up with the plan."
Alisha muttered quietly, casting her gaze out the stable window.
The cleaners, who had been jealous of Juan, stopped talking.
"There's no way Sir Juan could come up with such a large-scale plan. We all have deep grudges against the western blockheads. We've heard of the Lady's fame and have always wanted to meet you."
"What mercy is there to bestow on an assassin?"
"Please forget the nonsense we attached to the Lady's brilliant plan."
"Shall we cut off his tongue so he can't bite it?"
Alisha smiled slightly at the four people's drastic change in attitude.
Juan grumbled in dissatisfaction and told the four people about the plan again.
The cleaners left with innocent smiles.
Baron Graitz would soon hear about the sudden death of the missing person.
Imperial Capital Baden, the Forest Chapel was famous for its long history and large scale.
The day at the Forest Chapel began at 4 a.m.
Girls wearing navy blue bonnets and plain navy blue cloaks were moving in a line.
The sky at 4 a.m. was a flawless cobalt blue.
Below the faintly brightening sky were girls walking in neat rows.
The line heading to the chapel paused because the line heading to the library had stopped and was whispering.
