67 - The Duke's Bride is a Warrior from Hell
The Grand Duke's Bride is a Warrior From Hell 67
Lady Goggins was injured in the accident.
Due to her injuries, Duchess Palz entrusted some of Princess Dorothea's upbringing to an Imperial Concubine she was close with, which caused disputes with Princess Dorothea's biological mother, Lady Goggins, and Princess's maternal relatives, Marquis Manners's family.
A year after this accident, Marquis Mott, an Imperial Concubine of the Emperor, left the Imperial Palace for medical treatment.
At the time, there were only rumors that Marquis Mott had become disabled.
Considering that many people claimed to have seen Marquis Mott's gait was not befitting of an Imperial Concubine, it was probably true that Marquis Mott was injured.
The problem was that Marquis Mott was known to be behind the accident.
Marquis Mott was not the only one suspected of being behind it.
All three Marquises of the Imperial Concubine, Marquis Mott, Marquis Lorda, and Marquis Tierre, were suspected.
There was talk that the three Marquises might have conspired as Duchess Palz, who did not have much power in the Imperial Concubine, began to rise rapidly.
There were also predictions that someone in the Imperial Concubine other than the three Marquises was the culprit.
As a result, the Emperor's high-ranking Imperial Concubines were injured in this accident.
Originally, the Empress had also visited the hunting grounds when the accident occurred.
It was known that the Empress had avoided the accident because she was staying in her private tent and went for a walk.
Later, the reason why rumors spread that the accident was more than just a minor disturbance was because there was a story that the Empress's private tent had collapsed.
Everyone said that if the Empress had been injured in the accident, it would have been a big problem for the child in her womb.
"Countess, do you like hunting?"
"I shouldn't say this here, but no. I find places like this difficult."
Pauline said cautiously, looking back and forth between the tents lined up on the promenade and the forest.
Alisha had felt the same way in the past.
"I didn't like it at first either."
Alisha's initial plan was this.
After paying her respects to the Emperor's Imperial Concubines, she would ask them to take a walk together, and if there were any who would go with her, they would be lucky, and if not, she would consider it unavoidable.
Since she didn't have accurate information, Alisha didn't know where it was safe.
She thought that she would be able to see the danger coming if she was on the promenade because it had an open view.
Alisha guessed that the reason why all sorts of people were being pointed out as the masterminds behind this accident was because the cause of the accident was not specifically targeting anyone.
Looking at the results of the accident, an unspecified number of people were injured.
Since this was a hunting ground, she thought that perhaps wild animals that had been driven this way or uncontrolled animals had crashed into the tents.
"Lady Alisha, do you like hunting?"
"I don't like hunting so much as I like riding horses. And I thought it would be good to learn at least a minimum of self-defense."
"There are some noble ladies and wives who are skilled enough to duel."
Pauline readily agreed with what others said.
"His Highness is said to be excellent at swordsmanship, so ask him to teach you a thing or two."
Pauline shook her head at Alisha's words.
"How could I learn swordsmanship? I'd probably end up hitting my own foot with the sword."
Pauline said with a laugh.
She was shy and reserved, but it seemed that she wasn't completely silent or unable to speak.
"Surely not."
Alisha laughed with her and thought.
Originally, the Istevna couple's child could not have been born.
Is it okay to let that child be born?
Is this the moment of choice?
Then, Alisha suddenly shuddered and paused, feeling horrified by the thought.
The reason why she didn't actively evacuate the Imperial Concubines was because she thought it was something that was supposed to happen.
She was afraid that if she changed too much, she would go in an uncontrollable direction.
"Lady Alisha?"
Pauline called out to Alisha, who was blankly frozen.
"Yes? Oh, I'm sorry. Just a moment."
Alisha came out of her daze and looked around.
Her eyes met Juan's, who was looking at her with a questioning gaze.
"Lady, what's wrong?"
"I asked the Grand Duke to leave a squad of knights to protect me, just in case. I forgot to give them instructions, as they're supposed to be on standby."
"A squad of knights?"
Pauline stared at Alisha with wide eyes.
"Yes, it's not important, so you don't have to worry too much about it."
While the two were talking, Juan, who had received Alisha's signal, approached.
"Countess Istevna, it's been a while. Lady Alisha, do you have any orders?"
"Divide the knights that the Grand Duke left behind into groups of three. Have one group ride around and scout the area, and have Juan and Sven patrol the area on horseback as well. Have the group that is scouting the ground check on the situation of the Imperial Palace that remains here."
"I will carry it out immediately."
Juan bowed lightly and stepped back.
A moment of choice, huh?
Alisha secretly clicked her tongue at her arrogant thoughts for a moment.
She was ashamed of the moment when she was intoxicated with the fact that she knew a little more than others and acted as if she was something special.
Who does she think she is?
Alisha completely changed her plan.
Since there were guards patrolling the area, they would send a signal if something went wrong.
If her predictions were correct, it would be like having an unexpected hunt here.
The reason why she put the knights on horseback was to gain an advantage in case of a hunt.
She wanted to put all the knights on horseback and have them stand guard, but that was too unnatural of an order.
Her mind felt lighter when she changed her mind.
As she was watching Juan relay the instructions, Alisha paused at the gaze that was staring at her.
Pauline's face, which had been hesitant to speak, broke into a smile.
"You're so cool."
"Countess, if you give orders to the knights of the Count's family, they will listen to you well."
Pauline looked dismayed at Alisha's words.
It was as if she was looking at her past self.
"It's not that they treat me badly or are disrespectful."
"But it's difficult just to be near them. Even though they don't threaten me, I end up turning around when there are knights on the road. Even if I have three or four maids by my side."
"Yes, that's it!"
Pauline agreed with a face that said, "That's exactly it!"
"There are some dangerous knights, too."
"Right?"
Pauline completely agreed with everything Alisha said.
She was even grateful to the other woman, who seemed to be looking into her mind and speaking her thoughts.
"However, shouldn't we go pay our respects to the other ladies?"
"...We should."
Pauline's face turned gloomy at Alisha's question.
Even after becoming Duchess Istevna, Countess Istevna was subtly despised in society.
This was because Pauline's father was only a Baron.
In aristocratic society, everything was determined by status.
Therefore, the coldness of some nobles towards Pauline was natural.
But looking back on it now, it was ridiculous.
Pauline became a Countess when she married Count Istevna.
If we were to consider the origins that those who criticized Pauline mentioned, the story would be even simpler.
The Imperial Family allowed the marriage even though Count Istevna's father-in-law was only a Baron because that father-in-law was the great scholar Lissman.
Lissman, who was the head of the Academy, was revered and followed by even the Imperial Family as a teacher.
The only thing to pick on was that she was the daughter of a Baron.
Pauline's shy personality and the vicious customs of society combined to drive her into pain.
It was pitiful to see her face already looking dejected, but she couldn't keep avoiding it.
Beeep―!
Just as Alisha and Pauline were about to leave the promenade.
A sharp sound rang out from afar.
This was followed by short, urgent shouts.
It was difficult to understand what they were saying because they were so far away.
Juan and Sven, who had been waiting in advance, quickly approached the promenade.
Amidst the commotion, a small disturbance arose.
Everyone was just murmuring and couldn't react properly.
"Sven, my horse!"
"Yes!"
Alisha said, focusing all her attention on her ears.
"Countess, can you ride a horse?"
"N, no..."
"Then, get on here!"
Pauline was about to ask what that sound was.
Alisha half-embraced Pauline, who was about to ask a question, and helped her onto Juan's horse.
"Kyaa! I can't ride a horse!"
"Lady! I'll die if you do this!"
Juan and Pauline shouted at the same time like sensitive creatures.
"Countess, you can't ride a horse, so you have to ride in front of Juan! You have to listen to me! Forget about riding like a lady. Put your weight on the back and feel like you're wrapping your knees around the horse's body. Got it?"
"B, but... Lady Alisha, wait!"
Alisha simply hugged Pauline's waist and forced her awkward body up with her strength.
Juan had no choice but to put Pauline, who had been pushed into the air, in front of him.
"The Countess is pregnant. Ride slowly."
"Yes?!"
"Royalty! Emergency situation. Can't you understand to ride slowly?"
"I'm going to d...!"
Juan shouted with a tearful face.
He was doing his best to avoid touching the Pauline in front of him on the narrow saddle.
"You'll die even if the royalty gets hurt!"
Alisha spat out the terrible truth and ran towards her horse that Sven was bringing.
Alisha ran close to the horse and jumped onto it.
"Oh my..."
Pauline was amazed by the sky-blue dress that seemed to be flying.
Juan was flustered behind the Countess.
"Evacuate everyone in the tents! Countess, hold on tight to the reins!"
Alisha shouted as she passed by Juan and Pauline on her horse.
Pauline answered with a bewildered face.
"Y, yes!"
Juan's answer could not be heard.
Just as he turned the horse's head towards the tents, shouts erupted from beyond the forest in the opposite direction.
"Get out of the way!"
Excited horses poured out of the forest where the private tents for the royalty and nobles were lined up.
There seemed to be seven or eight horses.
The horses ran wildly and trampled on the tents that had been set up.
The hunting participants had gone hunting, and the Imperial Concubines and noble wives were gathered in the open tents, chatting.
There were hardly any people left in the private tents.
"Ugh!"
"Ah, wh, what's going on!"
At Alisha's command, there was a brief commotion in the private tents of the court physicians, who were ready to come out whenever Juan called them.
The court physicians, who were packing their equipment to go outside, ran to where the knights were with their leather bags in their arms.
The knights guarding the tents confirmed that there were no people on the horses and shot arrows at the legs of the rampaging horses.
Thud!
The heavy body of the horse fell to the ground with a dull sound.
"Sven!"
At Alisha's shout, Sven threw a rope towards the neck of a horse running from the other side.
The end of the rope was in the shape of a round hook.
Sven confirmed that the noose was on and threw the hooked rope around the neck of another horse nearby.
Sven, who had caught two horses at once, rode his horse to match the speed of the rampaging horses.
As Sven guided the direction of the ropes, the intruding horses eventually followed where the noose was pulling, even while resisting by raising their front feet.
Screams continued to erupt from the tents where the Imperial Concubines and noble wives were.