DDW 6

Standing beneath the rose emblem was a tall, robust knight with black hair and blue eyes. He stared straight ahead with an indifferent expression, paying no mind to Mirane. Mirane recognized him immediately as Sir Strauss, the man known as the Grand Duke’s right hand. Despite his bear-like, dull appearance, his moniker was the Knight of the Rose.

To Strauss’s left, beneath the wolf emblem, stood a blonde knight. The young man’s face was exceedingly gentle as he gazed intently at Mirane with a soft smile, but Mirane felt caution rather than kinship toward that smile full of goodwill.

When someone shows kindness to a person they shouldn’t, there is always an ulterior motive. The knight of the wolf. Harboring suspicious thoughts about the smiling young knight, Mirane looked toward the knight with grey hair beneath the final flag—the great horned owl.

He was the most striking of them all.

With a profoundly cold face and a rigid posture, he stared into the air as if glaring at the void. He was a man with an impressive, sensitive face and dark circles under his eyes.

‘A horned owl.’

The horned owl is a bird that scouts the night.

Looking into those sharp eyes, Mirane suddenly thought that the man suited the emblem perfectly.

Staring directly into those shimmering grey eyes in the air, Mirane smiled quietly.

What emanated from the owl-like man was hostility.

No, it was simply that his was the most prominent; in truth, all the knights were unfiltered in their display of discomfort.

Their sharp attitudes and cold, hostile gazes were highly telling.

‘As expected, this won’t be easy.’

A strange smile played on Mirane’s lips as he murmured.

At that moment, the carriage came to a halt with a clatter, and a soft voice was heard.

“Welcome.”

Stepping out of the carriage, Mirane witnessed a surprising sight.

‘Huh?’

Surprisingly, the person standing at the front of the procession was not a knight, but an elderly woman with thinning white hair.

Of medium height and a slender, lithe build, the woman’s [unauthorized copy]face was full of wrinkles, yet she [visit our site]looked gentle and dignified as she greeted him with her vassals standing behind her.

“I am the Head Housekeeper, Raisa.”

“You are the head housekeeper?”

“Yes.”

It was uncommon for a woman to be the head housekeeper. Mirane looked surprised for a moment before calmly composing himself.

“Pleasure to meet you.”

Just as he thought her impression—like that of a benevolent grandmother—wasn’t so bad…

Mirane couldn’t help but frown at Raisa’s following words.

“Now, I would like everyone except Lord Mirane to return, leaving him alone in the mansion.”

Clang!

The moment the housekeeper finished [unauthorized copy]speaking, blades slid from their scabbards. The [Read on Read BL Novels]horses escorting the carriage let out startled neighs.

“What is the meaning of this!”

Exclamations of shock rang out, and Mirane’s face turned pale.

With the armed knights at her back, Raisa looked calmly at the frozen Mirane.

“What is the meaning of this?”

“Escort the carriage immediately!”

The skilled knights quickly calmed the horses and formed a protective circle around Mirane, but it looked like an egg about to be ruthlessly crushed by a boulder. About a hundred private soldiers, armed with spears and swords, had surrounded Mirane.

Standing in the middle of a sea of blades, Mirane’s face remained expressionless.

After a silence, he spoke.

“Is this the Grand Duke’s will?”

In any country, one does not strip a spouse of [Read on Read BL Novels][Read on Read BL Novels]the servants and knights brought from their home. It was a courtesy [unauthorized copy]observed even in the most barbaric of nations. A protocol for a spouse coming from afar.

“Of course.”

Raisa added.

“The castle of Grand Duke Wallenstein is a place that only those specifically permitted may step foot in.”

Mirane let out a sigh.

“I have come to this mansion as the spouse of Grand Duke Wallenstein.”

A flicker of fatigue passed over his expressionless face before vanishing. Raisa stood before him with a composed look.

The housekeeper continued in a soft voice.

“There will be no problem as long as you send the knights back. The Grand Duke has given orders to treat Lord Mirane with proper courtesy.”

Mirane nodded at those words.

“Withdraw.”

This caused the knights to protest.

“But!”

“Enough!”

However, they had no choice but to obey Mirane. Not only because they were surrounded by the knights of Wicker, but because Mirane’s face was unusually cold.

On the day he arrived in Wicker, Mirane Raster sent all the attendants who had followed him back to the capital.

Mirane walked in silence, following behind Raisa.

As they walked through the corridor, a short sigh escaped his lips.

‘They hate me.’

The blatant hatred seemed to predict his future. He was currently under the escort of three vassals, fewer than twenty knights, and about eighty employees.

Mirane realized they were monitoring him, but he said nothing.

He simply followed Raisa’s lead in silence.

“It is here.”

Fortunately, the room assigned to Mirane was neither like a prison nor lacking in status. However, it was excessively ornate.

‘…It looks tacky, ha.’

He had a headache.

Frowning, Mirane pressed the bridge of his nose and swallowed the words that wanted to burst out. If he said, “I don’t like the room because it’s too much like the taste of a nouveau riche,” there would be a crowd of people ready to stab him, claiming the son of an enemy had insulted Wicker.

‘At least it’s not a barn.’

As Mirane steadied his mind, Raisa’s voice reached his ears.

“Please let me know if there is anything you need. I will do my best to procure it.”

Mirane did not answer. Normally, he would have stolen contentresponded politely, but he was currently exhausted from accumulated fatigue. Ignoring Mirane’s evident discomfort, unauthorized copythe housekeeper bowed politely and left the room.

As he watched the door click shut, Mirane’s emerald eyes sank calmly.

‘A warning.’

Tell the housekeeper if there is anything you need.

He wasn’t such a fool as to not realize those words meant “do not move around recklessly.”

Taking off his deep blue knight’s uniform and hanging it on the rack, Mirane moved his travel-worn body.

Thump. He sank into a plush couch and stared at the ceiling with a tired face. Then, he let out a sigh.

‘This is driving me crazy.’

He had just witnessed a ceiling adorned with gold leaf and painted masterpieces.

It was monstrously ornate.

He disliked it immensely.

To be more precise, it was visually horrific.

‘Ah, damn it.’

Mirane eventually closed his eyes tight.

‘Spy or not, I’ll have to find a way to approach him just to ask to change this room.’

However, the opportunity did not come easily.

The Grand Duke avoided meeting him.

Until the day before the wedding, Mirane’s days continued like a house arrest that wasn’t officially house arrest.

Raisa provided the food, clothes, and writing materials Mirane requested, but his movements were strictly limited, and Mirane was unable to even speak to the servants or maids.

A stranger who didn’t even have the right to participate in the communal meals, a long-standing custom of Oberte. That was Mirane’s position.

However, Mirane did not protest to the Grand Duke and [unauthorized copy]silently complied with the measures visit our sitethat mistreated him. He conformed to the visit our siteGrand Duke’s wishes without causing a scene.

Mirane’s response was certainly wise.

Raisa, who had been cold to him at first, seemed to soften toward Mirane’s demeanor and became more generous. Regardless, she was loyal to him as the nominal master and occasionally struck up conversations. Through his talks with Raisa and the comforting words she offered, Mirane was able to learn quite a few things he hadn’t known.

The fact that the nobles of Wicker were arrogant and refused to submit to the capital’s nobility.

That from the Grand Duke’s position, it was difficult for him to brush them aside and come to greet him personally.

And yet, the story that he had sent knights from the three pillars of the Grand Ducal house—the Strauss, Lin, and Rave families—to save Mirane’s face.

Hearing this, Mirane was able to soothe his uneasy heart to some extent.

‘He’s being considerate of me in his own way?’

If that were the case, he could understand to a degree. Although confining him like a rat in a trap was an excessive treatment regardless.

Mirane let out a sigh.

‘I’m having the wedding without being able to do anything…’

Finally, the wedding day approached.

It was uncertain whether the Grand Duke, who hadn’t shown a sliver of a garment, a strand of hair, or even a passing piece of news, would even appear at the wedding. While thinking that surely he wouldn’t skip it, Mirane had to make a subtle expression at the thought that he just might.

In that case, would it be better if the Grand Duke appeared at the wedding? Or better if he didn’t?

Mirane fell silent.

He had not yet made up his mind.

No, to be precise, he couldn’t shake off his fear.

Rumors had told him the Grand Duke was a cruel man, and Mirane couldn’t completely ignore people’s words.

A heavy sigh escaped.

On the night before the wedding, unable to contain his agitated heart, Mirane spent the entire night sitting blankly on his bed.