68
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Lord Elrod had been incredibly happy lately.
His family had gone bankrupt, and he was spending his days in misery with no source of income left. Yet, his daughter, whom he had no expectations for, had suddenly become the Grand Duchess.
It was truly a windfall from heaven. Lord Elrod was enjoying each day, planning to make a fortune by selling his daughter's name.
However, as the father of the Grand Duchess, he had to maintain a certain level of dignity, so he planned to acquire wealth without being as blatant as before. Even before the wedding, many people had started visiting Lord Elrod, buying him drinks and flattering him.
From now on, he wouldn't have to work hard himself; others would offer him wealth on their own. Lord Elrod thought he just needed to enjoy himself to the fullest.
However, Lord Elrod's rosy future crumbled immediately the day after the wedding.
Bang, bang. A loud knocking on the door from early morning made him go outside, where a huge man was standing in front of his house. Lord Elrod looked up at the man with trembling eyes. The man, whose face was half covered in burn scars, was someone Lord Elrod knew well.
"Lo, Lord Rotan...?"
"Good morning, Baron."
Rotan greeted him with a blank face. Lord Elrod instinctively cowered at the feeling of his legs giving way. Rotan was Archduke Erzeht's Imperial Knight.
The four Imperial Knights, personally selected and raised by the Grand Duke, obeyed his orders absolutely. They were so obsessed with loyalty that they would commit suicide on the spot if the Grand Duke ordered them to die.
As men who had rolled around on the battlefield, the Imperial Knights all possessed cruel natures. They had once seated Lord Elrod in a torture chamber and showed him the sight of a person being sliced alive right before his eyes.
Confined in the torture chamber, Lord Elrod had watched the pitiful victim die for hours. Then, he was even forcibly seated on the chair where the tortured man had been tied. Whenever he recalled that day, his vision went dark, and his legs trembled with terror.
The damp, hot sensation of blood that had touched his palms, buttocks, and spine. The terrible stench of blood that had deeply ravaged his lungs.
Lord Elrod, who had once again recalled those memories, forced a smile with a pale face.
"What brings you here...?"
There was no reason for the Grand Duke's knight to visit the house Aileen had left. The inexplicable visit was frightening. Lord Elrod's fearful premonition was accurate.
"You must come with me."
Rotan grabbed the Baron's arm, yanked him out of the house, and immediately put him in a military vehicle. It was a kidnapping with an unknown destination, but Lord Elrod couldn't utter a word and was carried away, trembling.
The destination was a ranch an hour's drive from the capital. Nothing surrounded the peaceful ranch managed by an elderly couple and their son. Only endless meadows stretched out.
"You will be staying here from now on."
A small house attached to the ranch was Lord Elrod's new home.
At the death sentence-like order, Lord Elrod's eyes widened, and he froze. He wanted to protest, but he was too afraid of Rotan to open his lips.
Rotan looked down at Lord Elrod and warned him simply and clearly.
"Don't do anything unnecessary."
From that day on, Lord Elrod began working at the ranch. He denied reality as he moved hay and milked cows. He couldn't believe his situation as a ranch hand.
He couldn't rot here forever without alcohol, women, or gambling. Lord Elrod desperately searched for a way to escape.
However, the elderly couple and their son monitored him in real-time, and soldiers guarded the perimeter of the ranch, making escape completely impossible. It was on one of those days when he was trapped and working himself to death.
Just like when he had arrived, he was suddenly dragged away in a military vehicle. Lord Elrod, trembling with fear that he would be executed, widened his eyes at the familiar scenery unfolding outside the car window.
He had returned to the capital.
He was even cleanly washed and dressed in neat new clothes. He was enjoying the feeling of being a nobleman again, but he was tormented by anxiety, not knowing why this was suddenly happening.
"Have you been well?"
Archduke Erzeht appeared before him.
"Yo, Your Grace."
Lord Elrod sweated profusely and paid his respects to him. Archduke Erzeht, wearing an Imperial Army uniform, was as frighteningly beautiful as ever.
His red eyes lightly scanned the elaborately dressed Baron. Feeling the touch of the crimson gaze, Lord Elrod's legs almost gave way, and he nearly collapsed to the floor.
The Grand Duke chuckled as he looked at the terribly trembling Baron. He didn't explain why he had suddenly thrown the Baron into the ranch or when he would take him out. He simply told him what the Baron's use was.
"Today is the day Aileen receives Erjetz's name."
"Ah! Has the time already come..."
He knew that seven days had passed since the wedding. But he had completely forgotten that it was the day Aileen would receive her husband's name. He had been too busy worrying about how to escape the ranch to think about anything else.
"It's a joyous day, so her father should naturally offer his congratulations."
At the Grand Duke's words, Lord Elrod nodded frantically in agreement. He followed the Grand Duke, staring only at his back with trembling hands, and when he came to his senses, he was already in the Imperial Palace.
Meeting her father in the Imperial Palace felt like a dream to Aileen.
She had been thinking of visiting her father once before he caused trouble and reminding him again and again. But she never expected her father to appear like this first.
'His Grace must have brought him...'
Aileen looked at Lord Elrod, who looked like he could collapse at any moment, and gently shifted her gaze. When their eyes met, Cesare's long eyes held a faint smile. Perhaps because of his long legs, he strode towards Aileen in just a few steps.
Cesare first pulled Aileen's waist and tucked her into his arms. Then, he immediately lowered his head and kissed her cheek.
Suppressed exclamations erupted from the crowd gathered like clouds. Everyone couldn't take their eyes off Cesare's open display of affection.
Gazes poured down like stinging rain, but the man, accustomed to being the center of attention, didn't care about others. He looked down at Aileen and smiled pleasantly.
"Finally, my wife has arrived."
Aileen, who had been embraced tightly in his large arms and even kissed, was momentarily surprised but soon smiled softly.
The moment she was held in his arms, everything was alright. The miserable feeling that had been enveloping her whole body until just now had completely disappeared. Only the thought that everything was fine as long as she had Cesare filled her mind.
She wanted to hide in Cesare's arms for a long time, but she couldn't. Aileen reluctantly pulled away. She pretended to fidget with her hair, hiding her ears, which had turned slightly red with embarrassment.
"Thank you for coming to pick me up."
She greeted Cesare first, then turned to look at her father. Her father was looking at Aileen with a very unfamiliar gaze. It was as if he was wondering if his daughter had always looked like this.
He had only seen her with her bangs covering her forehead and wearing glasses for so long, so her adorned appearance must have felt awkward. Aileen also thanked her father for coming.
Honestly, she never dreamed that her father would come, but Aileen knew enough not to show it in this situation. As if they had promised to come from the beginning, she faced her father with the most nonchalant face possible.
Then, a smile flickered across Cesare's eyes. It was a smile that clearly showed he was amused.
'Is my acting that awkward?'
She had tried her best in her own way. When Aileen glanced at him slightly, Cesare took her hand as if to say she had done well.
Cesare, who naturally intertwined his fingers with hers, finally turned his gaze to Parvellini Duke and Ornella. They were the ones who had been completely ignored as if they didn't exist.
