The Grand Duchess of the North Was Secretly a Villainess

'I knew it would work.'

I selected Eloise people based on the original story. People who revolted with her and died with her.

'They were excluded from the spy list from the start.'

And knights with too low a status were excluded. Duke Ilysian would have wanted high-level information, and high-level information would only float among high-ranking knights.

After that, I made a list of the remaining people. Jayden and Joahim leaked different information about Caien to them. If certain information was leaked, it meant that the knight who knew the information was a spy.

"How many?"

"Just one."

"That's a relief."

The cold northern wind blew as I went out. The blade-like wind smelled like snow. Knights were gathered in a circle surrounding a person.

'I also feel betrayed, but the knights are terrified.'

They paved the way for me when I appeared. I saw a man kneeling surrounded by knights while being captured.

"Hans."

A cold voice came out. With his head bowed, he raised his face at the sound of my voice.

"Y, Your Highness!"

I slowly walked towards him and knelt down on one knee. As if Johaim had already touched it once, Hans's face was covered with mottled bruises.

"Y, Your Highness. P, please spare me just this once, heuk."

"What is the strictest rule of my knightage, Johaim?"

Johaim, who was standing next to me, answered my question in a stern tone.

"Death to the traitor."

"Death to the traitor!"

Shouted the knights in unison, at Johaim's words.

"Your Highness. Please......"

Hans wept and bowed his head as if begging for me. I grabbed his chin with one hand and made him look at me.

"I didn't know you, with your family lives in the North, would do something like this."

"Heuk, heukh."

"I didn't expect Duke Ilysian dog would dare sneak into my castle."

I felt so dirty.

"Sir. Just this time, heuk, if you forgive me, I shall swear my loyalty....."

"Loyalty?"

I got up from my seat, letting go Hans's chin roughly. He fell backward, a laugh spontaneously burst out.

"It's a light loyalty."

"Your Highness, please....."

Johaim held out his sword.

When the sword was pulled out of the scabbard, a chilling sound like the winter wind was heard. Hans was utterly terrified and fell to the ground.

'I don't even feel sorry for you.'

Whether I was influenced by Eloise's mind, or looking at someone who was terrified because of me, I didn't feel any emotion at all.

"Be grateful that brother Eloine is not in the castle right now."

Eloine had gone to the capital to find someone to retrieve Caien memory.

"If he was here, the rest of your family would all have died."

"Heuk, hic, E, Eloise. P, please save my family. They, heuk, don't know."

"I'll pay you for what you've done for me."

"Ugh, heuk, Your Highness......"

"At least I'll protect your family's honor."

Eloise didn't kill people recklessly. She knew very well that dealing with people sometimes requires tolerance. Hans was just an example.

"I'll tell your family that you were attacked and killed while hunting for monsters."

"T, thank you. Heuk, hok. F, for your Highness generosity....."

I lifted my lowered gaze and saw Caien standing next to me. I leaned my head to Caien and whispered quietly.

"I promised you I'd teach you how to control people, Your Royal Highness."

Caien gaze fell on me at the quiet whisper that could only reach his ears. Maybe it's because of the atmosphere, Caien eyes were darker than usual.

'This is why they said the atmosphere is similar to Eloine and Eloise.'

I thought that Caien, who became an adult in the original story, would have had that atmosphere.

"Look carefully."

I said, putting a little force on my hand holding the sword.

"This is how I deal with my people."

Blood splashed through the air with the cutting sound.
 

*****

Caien was a typical crown prince since he was young. In a good way, he was mature, and in a bad way, he was a child who didn't act like someone his own age.

He was raised as heir to the throne since his birth.  He didn't really have anyone to compare to, so Caien never thought about how good or bad his life was.

'It's boring.'

As usual, he was surrounded by scholars, receiving instruction, and on his way to a swordsmanship class. As he left the private palace and went to the training ground, a girl was sitting near the fountain.

It was a warm spring day. In the place where bright pink and yellow flowers were in full bloom, the girl with dark hair had no choice but to stand out.

"Oh......"

Caien stopped walking without realizing it. It was the first time he saw black hair in the Imperial Palace.

"......?"

The girl looked up as if she felt his presence. He was impressed by the white skin contrasted with the black and wavy hair. The girl's eyes were red as blood.

'She's the daughter of the Duke of the North.'

With black hair and red eyes, the only status that could come to the Imperial Palace was the daughter of the Northern Duke. Caien, who was about to pass by, approached her with curiosity. It was the first time he saw a northern person around his age.

"What are you doing?"

"This rabbit is cute."

It was a rather indifferent face for saying it was cute. She was stroking the rabbit's head with an expressionless expression on her face. Her gaze touched Caien sword and fell away.

"Aren't you going to the training ground? You'll be scolded if you're late, Your Royal Highness."

Caien was a little surprised by the title.

"Do you know who I am?"

The girl smiled faintly at the question.

"You're the Crown Prince."

''I know who you are."

"Who am I?"

"You're the daughter of the Duke of Wayana."

"It's Eloise."

Eloise.

Caien rolled the name in his mouth.

"Why are you here?"

"I followed the rabbit because it was cute, but I got lost."

"Do you like cute things?"

Instead of answering, Eloise patted the rabbit's head. The white rabbit slipped out of her hand and disappeared behind the fountain.

"Do you want me to take you to the Duke?"

"My brother will be here soon. How long have you been learning the sword?"

Eloise asked, standing up. Caien, who was ten, had to look up to see her. Then Eloise seemed to be thinking about manners, and sat on the fountain as if she didn't know.

"Why?"

"I'm also learning the sword."

"Isn't you're a princess?"

Caien asked back, frowning. Although there were some female knight in the palace, but he had never heard of a lady using a sword.

"You never know. I don't know if I'll be a duchess."

"I heard the duke already has a successor?"

When he reacted seriously, Eloise burst into laughter.

"What I just said was a joke. I'm learning because I need to know how to use a sword in case something happens. I'm very good at handling it."

"You?"

"I have to protect the North."

Caien thought Eloise was amazing. He thought it was the Duke's job to protect the North. It was quite fresh that a princess said she would protect the North.

"Your royal Highness, learn hard, too. That's how you protect the people of the Empire."

Caien had never thought of learning swords to protect the people. He just thought he was supposed to do it. Swordsmanship was not Cayenne's personal belief, it was merely his duty as the Crown Prince.

"Do you want to be the empress later?"

He asked cheekily. He thought it would be fun to have Eloise next to him.

At that, Eloise laughed aloud. She had a cold impression, so he thought she didn't fit in with the spring garden, but her smiling face matched this place a lot better than he thought it would.

"I'll think about it when Your Royal Highness become an adult."

Eloise laughed playfully as if she had heard her childish confession.
 

*****

Since then, Caien has never met Eloise. He was busy with the education of the Crown Prince, and Eloise became a Grand Duchesse and was responsible for protecting the North.

When he heard that Eloise had become a Duchess, Caien recalled the faded girl's face and said, 'It suits you.'

All he thought was that if he later ascended to the throne, he would have to embrace her well, as her power would be of great help.
 

*****

"Ha......."

Caien sat leaning against a tree, completely exhausted. The moment he realized that his father had been murdered, he immediately escaped the Imperial Palace and drove his horse to the north.

He couldn't do anything stupid to enter the gate. He had to cross the border and enter the forest. And he had just broken the boundary stone and entered the forest.

"Damn it."

Caien said softly. His stamina was completely exhausted thanks to driving the horse without rest for several days.

Before he reached the border, his horse couldn't stand it and fell first. He set foot on the border alone with only one sword.

'It was fortunate that there weren't many monsters.'

The boundary is originally infested with monsters. He thought he might get a fatal wound before entering the forest, but fortunately, there were fewer monsters than he expected as the Grand Duchess was well-maintained it.

"Eloise Wayana....."

Caien rolled the name of the Northern Grand Duchess in his mouth. The face of the girl he encountered years ago came to mind faintly and soon disappeared. The reason the boy who escaped the assassin's blade came to the North was simple.

'The only powerful person who can stand against the Emperor is the Northern Grand Duchess.'

So no matter who the assassin was, the only place he could escape safely was in the north. Caien had to survive somehow.

'Because I can't lose my seat.'

He was the rightful heir to the throne. He've lived his whole life to sit on the throne, but it couldn't be taken away in vain like this.

"I'm tired."

He knew he had to get up and enter the castle right away, but he was so tired that he couldn't move. Although his physical strength had already run out, it was because he had consumed too much energy to scratch the boundary stone.

"The boundary stone......"

The purple boundary stone, came to mind.

Since it is a boundary stone mixed with the Wayana family's blood, it may have been made with the blood of the Grand Duchess. He seemed to understand why the monsters couldn't enter the forest.

He barely scratched it, so most of the monsters wouldn't have been able to even approach it.

"Ha."

Caien, leaning against the tree, slowly blinked his eyes. Perhaps because of the sense of security that he had come to a safe place, fatigue was rapidly coming.

'I can't fall asleep like this.'

If he was unlucky, he could have caught the eye of the person who killed his father. There will be spies planted in the north by the forces behind the assassination.

Just as his eyes were about to close completely, he felt a sign. Caien held his breath for a moment. He was completely defenseless. It would have been better for him to take advantage of his opponent's negligence and aim for an empty spot than to raise his body here.

'Who is it?'

He lowered his head and closed his eyes. The sound of the footsteps approached him, and as if someone was leaning towards him, a shadow fell on his face.

"What should I do?"

It was a woman's voice. The intuition of the Grand Duchess penetrated Caien.

"Ugh....."

Caien frowned and opened her eyes as if he had just woken up. Her blood-red eyes, which he had seen years ago, were looking at him with an indifferent expression.

"Elo.i.se.....?"

When he called the name casually, Eloise narrowed her forehead slightly.

"Your Royal Highness."

The Grand Duchess knelt down on one of her knees. Caien reached out for Eloise's arm.

"Found.... you."

And the darkness soon came.