63 - The Bride of the Great Lord is a Warrior from Hell
The Grand Duke's Bride is a Warrior from Hell 63
#10. Purple Heart
When the clock tower chimed ten times, a carriage stopped in front of the Imperial Hunting Grounds.
"Lady Alisha, we have arrived."
Juan said, opening the carriage door.
Beyond his shoulder, the bustling hunting grounds, filled with members of the Imperial Family, came into view.
"Have a good hunt today, Sir Juan."
Juan shook his head at Alisha's encouragement.
"I'm not expecting much."
The Imperial Spring Hunt was an event to which only the Imperial Family, their relatives, and the Emperor's closest aides were invited.
When the Imperial Family went on the Spring Hunt, they minimized the number of servants they brought along.
The intention was to evoke memories of hunts from the old days.
It was a glorious occasion, an honor to be invited, reserved only for those who were royalty, members of the Imperial Family, or trusted by the Imperial Family, but it was also a laborious day where one had to prepare everything oneself.
Even the Emperor dismissed all his valets and pages when he went on the Spring Hunt.
Instead, he had his closest aides, who were like his limbs, and his brothers, who would act as servants.
"Sir Juan only needs to catch ten!"
Alisha whispered in a lowered voice.
Juan was said to be teaming up with Grand Duke Tessen today.
The other Imperial Family member teaming up with the Grand Duke was Marquis Lennox.
Though it was called the Grand Duke Tessen and Marquis Lennox team, in reality, it was said to be the Emperor's support team.
The Emperor was scheduled to team up with Marquis Manners, the Prime Minister.
The Emperor enjoyed hunting, and Marquis Manners was one of the Emperor's hunting companions.
There was no need to worry about Reikart's hunting or martial prowess, but Marquis Lennox was a typical desk worker.
Moreover, Marquis Lennox was the type among the Imperial brothers who took the lead in flattering the Emperor.
Since the Marquis was older, if he suggested to Reikart that they stay close to the Emperor's team, there would be no way to refuse.
Even without Marquis Lennox, Reikart, who boasted the best martial prowess among the Imperial Family, had to be responsible for the Emperor's safety.
Reikart was in charge of the Imperial Spring Hunt this time.
From the meticulous tent arrangements to organizing the guest list for the hunting grounds and distributing invitations, everything went through his hands.
If any problems arose during the Spring Hunt, it would be difficult to avoid responsibility.
Juan looked frustrated at Alisha's absurd encouragement.
"I am not the Lady."
"Then, how about we have a picnic here together?"
Alisha whispered in a passing tone.
Juan looked serious for a moment, as if recalling something.
"Shall we...?"
It seemed Daisy, Annie, and Liz, who couldn't come to the Imperial Hunting Grounds, had given Juan an earful.
Before Alisha got into the carriage, the three of them said they would pray for their Lady's safe return with a fast.
Thanks to that, Alisha firmly ordered the three of them to have a full-course meal for all three meals and left Ludern.
"Juan. Aren't you going to hunt?"
"It's because the Lady hasn't seen Marquis Manners shoot an arrow. Do you think that's all? Spears... Why aren't you going hunting, Lady? Wives and Ladies can also form teams and participate or join any team they want."
Juan said, with a face that wished for Alisha to form her own team.
Alisha gave a soft smile.
"What hunting would I do?"
At the modest words, Juan's face sank sullenly.
For some reason, Alisha was pretending to be a Lady who had never lifted anything heavier than a fork in Baden.
But wasn't that already ruined by the fight with Viviana Manners?
However, it was meaningless to dwell on such things.
Juan stopped making unnecessary remarks and said what needed to be said.
"Would I be of any use here? If so, I will step down from guarding."
Alisha only answered in her mind, You're very useful.
"I'll have you removed from guarding."
Juan was briefly puzzled by the unexpected reaction, but soon wore a playful expression.
"I'll trust only the Lady. By the way..."
Juan trailed off, looking around where Alisha was looking.
"It feels like we've come to Pandemonium."
Alisha smiled brightly and said words that were completely different from her expression.
"Yes, it does seem a bit like it."
The word Pandemonium was a perfect fit.
A hotbed of evil where bad things and conspiracies were constantly taking place.
The Emperor's Imperial Concubine also participated in the Imperial Spring Hunt.
Because the Empress was absent due to illness, the atmosphere of this Spring Hunt felt like walking on thin ice.
Inside the tent set up in the open space, not the individual tents assigned to the Imperial Concubine, were Imperial Concubine and nobles armed with smiles.
Duchess Palz, who had emerged as one of the powerful Imperial Concubine after taking on the upbringing of Princess Dorothea, was surrounded by Imperial Concubine and noble wives.
One could guess the words that were being exchanged without even hearing them.
Because they would start with flattery and end with flattery.
Across from the imposing Duchess Palz sat three Marchioness who originally wielded power in the Imperial Concubine.
Beside the three Marchioness were minor Imperial Concubine who were like old loyalists and noble wives who were intertwined by mutual interests.
Everyone was wearing active and colorful dresses, but none of them would come out of the tent.
The situation of the noble wives who occupied other tents besides the central tent was no different.
Marchioness Manners, who had rushed to her daughter's birth without any makeup, occupied a tent with a completely different face.
It felt like one's life force would be sucked away with each step closer to that side.
"What's going on?"
Among them, the first thing that caught Alisha's eye was the Ladies gathered together.
Cynthia and Angela were laughing and chatting beside Viviana, who was attending an event hosted by the Imperial Family for the first time in months.
What kind of combination is that?
Alisha turned her gaze to the sky at the sight of the troublesome scenery.
It was an unusually warm day.
The breeze that touched her cheeks was full of warmth, like early summer.
"Lady Alisha. Are you just arriving?"
The beginning of Pandemonium was Marquis Lennox.
"I greet Your Excellency, the Marquis."
Alisha paid her respects to Marquis Lennox, who approached.
Juan, who was beside her, also paid his respects.
"There's no need to be so formal. We're practically family now."
Marquis Lennox showed friendliness in a benevolent voice.
"Your Excellency, I will see you later. Lady, I will go to Sven to prepare."
Juan quickly retreated, avoiding Marquis Lennox, who was showing Alisha familial affection.
The Marquis maintained a generous attitude.
"Go ahead."
Alisha glanced at Juan, who was backing away.
In her gaze, which contained the question of why he was going to Sven to prepare, Juan only gave a kind smile.
He did not forget to point to Marquis Lennox's side with his eyebrows as he retreated.
Next to Marquis Lennox was a woman wearing a slightly dark yellow dress.
The yellow color itself was eye-catching, but the satin sheen of the dress was extraordinary.
The woman with dark blonde hair had intellectual features.
The decorations on her ears, arms, fingers, and dress had a subtly youthful taste.
The flower-shaped sapphire ring on her right thumb may have been fine, but the heart-shaped diamond earrings gave off a girlish taste.
The decorations dangling from her bracelet also had heart-shaped gemstones.
Unlike the Imperial Family, who usually preferred simple shapes, it was a cute design.
Thanks to that, Alisha realized who she was.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Duchess Belz."
"Ah. Lady Alisha must be meeting Duchess Belz for the first time. Duchess Belz, this is Lady Alisha, Reikart's fiancée. Alisha, this is Duchess Belz. Since we will soon be family, I hope you two will get to know each other and become close. Well, then."
Marquis Lennox lightly introduced Duchess Belz and left as if passing her on.
Alisha and Duchess Belz paid their respects to the departing Marquis.
"......"
"......"
Alisha was a little disoriented by the situation at the hunting grounds, which seemed to have traps laid everywhere.
She had not expected to meet Duchess Belz.
Could it be that Duchess Belz...?
The encounter with Duchess Belz only added one more hypothesis to her suspicions.
"I have heard a lot about the Lady. Rumor has it that you are an angel."
"Perhaps there are rumors spreading due to sudden good fortune."
Alisha smiled and offered appropriate words of modesty.
Duchess Belz's husband, Duke Belz, was the second son of the late Emperor and a brother to the Emperor.
When Duke Belz died in an accident seven years ago, people's attention was focused on who the Duchess would remarry.
Duchess Belz was the niece of the King of the Kingdom of Osron, which was famous for its wealth.
At one time, she was even mentioned as a candidate for the Emperor's marriage partner.
However, the story fizzled out as the current Emperor actively confessed to Empress Eleanor.
As a substitute, she married the second son of the late Emperor.
It was the will of the late Emperor for the Imperial Family to form a marriage alliance with a relative of the Kingdom of Osron.
As it was a thorough political marriage, it was thought that Duchess Belz would not have much affection for her husband who died in an accident.
However, Duchess Belz had no intention of remarrying at all.
Duchess Belz was known to the world as a carefree person without any worries.
Her carefreeness sometimes unfolded into great miracles.
She was a woman who regarded gold as if it were a stone on the street, both before and after her marriage.
One of the most famous examples of Duchess Belz was the story of how she was riding in a carriage and saw a child arguing with their mother on the street because they wanted to eat fruit, so she stopped the carriage and bestowed grace.
This story became famous because Duchess Belz paid the store owner enough gold to buy the entire fruit store.
'Would about 10,000 gold be enough?'
Duchess Belz, who had never run out of fruit in her house during her life, thought that was how much fruit cost.
Living a life where she easily spent 500,000 gold on dresses that she wore once and threw away, and 1 million gold, wearing handmade shoes worth at least 200,000 gold.
The ribbon she tied on her wrist was always 10,000 gold, so it was a fairly conservative price measurement for the Duchess.
The fruit store owner thought it meant she was going to take over the store.
Ordinary people who heard the story guessed that it meant she wanted all the fruit on the stall.
Duchess Belz meant that she wanted a basket of fruit.
As expected of Osron!
Everyone who heard the rumors was amazed.
The anecdotes about Duchess Belz did not end there.
She often made carefree, nouveau riche-like remarks when talking to the Imperial Family or nobles, which drew criticism.
To a certain noblewoman who said she had given her niece a 50,000 gold fan as a gift for her debut into society.
She was the type of person who didn't realize at all that it was money spent with great effort and sincerely laughed and said, 'How can you use a 50,000 gold fan?'
But her gold pouch was so huge that everyone fawned over the Duchess, even while grumbling behind her back.
People in the world said that Duchess Belz spent gold lavishly and often made materialistic remarks, but she was not malicious.
Unlike her impression of vanity or carefreeness, she was a person who helped those in need.
A person who sometimes said nonsense because she really didn't know the world.
A person whose sincerity was warm.
She was known as a good person, although a little immature.