I treated the stable keeper and returned to my room, but I noticed something unusual.

Perhaps because the weather was nice, the Lord was out and doing business. He looked at me and pretended to be close to me.

“Wife. It’s difficult to see your face these days.”

After a while in front of the vassals, he stretched out his hand to pretend to be a husband for the first time in a while.

I quickly wiped away my sour expression and approached him with a graceful Garnett expression.

He was smiling as usual, but I noticed a strange aura around him.

‘… What’s going on?’

It seemed that something unusual was being exchanged between the Lord and the vassals before I just passed this place.

‘Huh? That man!’

One of his subjects had been beaten until his face was disfigured and he was lying on the floor in a total mess.

I looked at the Lord with a nervous expression on my face and took the Lord’s extended hand.

“Where were you going? Wife?”

“There was a patient with a leg injury, so I stopped by for a while.”

“My wife has always worked hard.”

The Lord smiled with satisfaction.

The eyes that slowly looked up and down at me were cloudy and unpleasant.

It was obvious what he was thinking.

It was a shame to kidnap an elderly widower’s daughter and turn her into the scarecrow’s wife.

Garnett, whom I possessed, is young and beautiful, and she possesses exceptional medical skills.

He would have attacked her sooner if it hadn’t been for the first wife’s fiery temper.

His expression, now holding my hand and whinging like a pitiful dog, revealed his true intentions.

“Did something happen while I was gone?”

I asked the Lord, subtly pulling out the hand he was holding tightly.

I couldn’t take it anymore because it was disgusting to see this person’s blazing eyes today.

The Lord opened his mouth regretfully and whispered in my ear.

“I’m glad you came. Since wife is here, please go take a look. What will happen if you rebel against your master?”

As he sat down and returned his attention to his servants, he raised one of his right hands as if issuing a command.

Two tough soldiers with swords in their hands stepped forward a couple of steps.

Perhaps he felt death was coming, and the servant cried out in anguish.

“You foolish Lord. If you turn your back on Grand Duke Shiraz now, you will shed tears of blood.”

“Shut up. How dare you give advice to me!”

When the words “Grand Duke Shiraz” came out of the servant’s mouth, my breath stopped momentarily.

“You will see. I’m going to lose my head today, but soon everyone in this castle will lose their head. Because of the foolish master!”

“That… that man…! Kill him right now!”

The servant closed his eyes as if he had already given up his life.

As soon as the Lord lowered his hand, the sword of the soldiers hit the servant’s neck.

‘Ugh.’

I closed my eyes tightly and turned my head.

It happened too fast to avoid.

“Listen! Send my personal correspondence to General Marcus through an envoy right away!”

“Yes!”

The Lord laughed bitterly as he looked at the dead as if he was satisfied with his decision.

The blood that had smudged the ground red was approaching my feet.

A world where people’s lives were considered insignificant, and you never know when a sword will strike your neck.

It was then that I desperately realized where I was right now.

This was not a romantic fantasy world of prom and luxuriousness.

After the emperor was killed, the two massive camps engaged in a fierce and endless bloody battle in the middle of the war.

The novel that I thought was a beautiful love story based on the title of <A Flower Blooming in Darkness> was unexpected.

When I started a novel, I read it until the end; I read this novel whenever I had time in my current life.

I found myself immersed in the story after turning through one or two chapters like that.

I skimmed through the love story between the male protagonist, General Marcus, and the female protagonist because I wasn’t particularly interested in it from a certain moment.

I was curious about how the villain, Shiraz Rudkaev, would die and what would happen to him.

I just wanted to know about it; I had no intention of getting into the story…

Anyway, the world I fell into was really dark as the title suggests.

“Well, I’m not feeling well, so I’m going back to my room.”

“I see. Wife. I guess what you just saw was shocking to you.”

I turned away from the Lord, clenched my fists, and ran out of there.

Confirming that he was completely out of sight, I stopped on my feet.

“What’s wrong with you?”

The maid was perplexed when she saw I had abruptly stopped.

“Finally, it happened.”

“What?”

As I muttered to myself, the maid looked at me with strange eyes.

When I looked up at the sky, the cool autumn wind was blowing in the place where the summer heat had been swept away.

My favorite season is autumn. It was the first time that autumn had become so terrifying.

[On that clear autumn day when Grand Duke Shiraz razed Lord Willinger’s castle, the sky was filled with crows. It was transformed into a massive tomb.]

This verse from the original story flashed through my mind as if I was struck by lightning.

That foolish Lord ignored the advice of the remaining smart servants and finally got the retribution.

The day Grand Duke Shiraz learns that the Lord has sent General Marcus a letter of allegiance is the day of the castle’s memorial service.

‘This is not the time to be lost in thought.’

Realizing that I didn’t have much time left, I returned to my room.

I estimated how long it would take for the Lord’s letter to reach General Marcus’ camp and Grand Duke Shiraz to find out about it.

‘I must run away before Grand Duke Shiraz found out.’

A few days later, a party was held to celebrate the Lord’s birthday in this castle.

The day when people were crowded and everyone strumbled in drunkenness was my chance.

* * *

Rumors circulated throughout the small village that Grand Duke Shiraz Rudkaev would be passing through.

There was no sound of breathing, and every door was closed and locked.
People hid so that the Grand Duke couldn’t see their hair, hoping that his army would pass through this village safely and quickly.

A demon who assassinated his uncle, the Emperor, and terrorized the empire. Bloody killer.

Horrible rumors about him turned him into a monster layer by layer, spreading like wildfire across the continent.

As if to confirm the rumor, not a single ant could be seen where the Black Lion’s army passed.

Even if the military did not control the crowds, people would shrug in order to survive.

Ttagag, ttagag.

An army moving slowly like a black river.

Even as the army passed by with no end in sight, not a single muffled chatter could be heard.

The dignity of the disciplined army even raised awe.

“Your Excellency.”

Knight Commander Mikhail, who rushed to the horse, bowed his head to the Grand Duke.

“I have something to show you.”

Grand Duke Shiraz looked down at what Knight Commander Mikhail had put out with a relaxed expression.

His aide Huey, who was riding alongside the Grand Duke, watched the scene.

“I caught a suspicious guy passing around this town and he had this.”

A letter sealed with a red seal.

“It’s the Willinger family crest.”

He ripped open the letter without hesitation.

As he read through the letter, his golden eyelashes cast a shadow over his sculptural face.

Platinum blonde hair fluttering brilliantly in the sunlight and his tall figure sitting on a horse with his back straight caught everyone’s attention.

“Hmm.”

Grand Duke Shiraz’s eyes became cold after reading the letter calmly.

‘What’s going on?’

Huey sensed the Grand Duke was unhappy, and the back of his neck stiffened from tension.

“Willinger made fun of me. That rat-like bastard.”

“Your Grace. Is he going to Marcus?”

Huey asked, guessing the contents of the letter.

Huey clicked his tongue as he wondered why Lord Willinger had done such a foolish thing.

He knew Willinger was deceitful, but he still thought Willinger had a worldly way of doing things. Huey thought Willinger was finally going to die.

“Turn around.”

Grand Duke Shiraz gave a twisted smile as he crumpled the letter in his hand.

“I’ll have to send Willinger’s head to Marcus. If he wants to go there so badly, I have to grant his wish.”

The smell of blood already wafted from the breeze passing through the army.

* * *

The castle has been busy for several days.

Because it was a gathering place for all of the Lord’s external guests and relatives, the Lord, who enjoys showing off, ordered a grand banquet.

I secretly smiled when I saw him like that.

‘That’s right. You don’t have much time left to live, so enjoy it to the fullest and go without regrets.’

While I was afraid that the birthday of the Lord would come, I only hoped that that day would come sooner.

Because I was finally able to escape from this damn place.

To accomplish this, the plan had to be completely checked.

I concentrated all of my attention on what I needed to do that day.

It was a delightful day the day before the Lord’s birthday.

I got up at the usual time, dressed neatly, and sat on the dressing table.

“I brought your meal.”

Rosaline, the maid, placed the meal on the table with a disrespectful touch, as she always did.

Originally, the Lord’s wife eats breakfast face to face with the Lord in the dining room.

But the real red-haired mistress had taken her place. As a result, I had to eat the cold food alone.

Of course, it was better for me.

If I eat while looking at their faces, I’ll get indigestion and the food won’t go down.

Rosaline, who had to carry my meals every day, had a grumpy expression on her face this morning.

Without hesitation, I said as I combed my hair.

“I’ll have a look around to see if it’s ready to welcome guests.”

Tap the screen to use advanced tools Tip: You can use left and right keyboard keys to browse between chapters.

You'll Also Like