Chapter 74

"Please forgive my rudeness for not recognizing Your Grace."

Before him stood the head of House Dunois, one of the Empire's two great ducal Houses that rivaled Lorenz.

The instant he recognized her identity, Yaan gave a short bow.

As a knight, he bowed only to the Emperor. When she saw this, Alienor smiled and accepted his greeting.

"You're not surprised? That a woman is head of a ducal House."

'I'm plenty surprised. Right this moment.'

That's what Yaan thought, but he could not show it.

"What surprises me more is that Your Grace came looking for me."

"Ah~ I see, that could be true."

The Duchess of Dunois clapped her palms together and laughed innocently at Yaan's vague answer.

Her languid voice carried a demonic charm that melted whoever heard it.

'I dodged the serpent called Verkut, only to find another beast baring its fangs.'

While Ren, listening to that serpent-like voice, quietly slipped behind Yaan's back.

"Oh? Who is the lady behind you?"

Alienor smiled at Ren and spoke; Ren had no choice but to step out, lift her skirt, and curtsy.

"Diana. I'm Ren."

An old house little known within the Empire. Yet Alienor beamed at Ren.

"Oh my! Lady Diana, what a pleasure!"

Chattering happily, the Duchess Dunois took Ren's hand from behind Yaan.

"So pretty~ Your eyes are clear, your hair, the lines of your limbs-truly beautiful, Miss Diana!"

'That's not praise; she's sounding me out.'

Uneasy at the unsettling laugh, Ren tried to pull away, but Alienor's grip on her hand did not loosen.

"Um..."

Just as Ren, unable to bear it, started to speak, Alienor's sticky voice cut in.

"You're so beautiful I want to keep you in a cage! I'd stuff and mount you so I could look at you forever!"

Seeing Alienor's expression, Yaan's face twisted violently.

'Shit, she's insane.'

He clicked his tongue inwardly at words that would horrify anyone who heard them.

Seeing Ren shrink at the relentless questions, Yaan reluctantly stepped between them.

"My apologies. Lady Diana is unaccustomed to talking with people..."

"Ah~ Is that so?"

Hearing Yaan's single sentence, the Duchess released Ren's hand without hesitation.

The reaction was so neat it was hard to believe she had been clinging like a madwoman moments ago.

"Yes, it's her nature..."

"Rather than nature, she's not human, is she? She doesn't even acknowledge us as humans. That's why conversation can be awkward. Right, Ren?"

Words as casual as a comment on the weather.

At those words, Yaan's body froze.

So did Ren's.

'Wh... what?'

"After a thousand years I've finally found my master? I'm so glad, Miss Ren."

Yaan's face hardened. His eyes already saw an enemy, not an ally.

Yet Alienor kept smiling, as if even that amused her.

"Ren. This woman..."

Yaan spoke in a voice Ren could not hear, but Ren's expression was already cracking.

"I don't know. She's not in my database. House Dunois only lists its name in the nobility register and never involves itself in affairs outside its territory."

A duchess wrapped in veils.

Alienor, who had thrown even Ren off balance, now studied Yaan's face.

"Um..."

"Yes?"

Alienor deliberately drawled the last syllable with a grin; Yaan frowned as if insects crawled over him.

"Wow~!"

The Duchess exclaimed in delight and reached for Yaan's face as if she had seen something beautiful.

"Your eyes! The same as mine!"

At the same instant, Nill's voice spoke in Yaan's mind.

[Confirmed implant in subject's ocular region and nanomachines in bloodstream.]

'...What?'

The Duchess smiled as she watched Yaan's face lose all words at Nill's report.

Unlike Yaan, who had only one eye implanted, her two entire eyes had a strange form.

Saying they had the same eyes meant that she...

"I've wanted to meet you, Yaan Verkut. The one chosen by Number One."

Saying this, the Duchess slipped her arm around Yaan's neck.

"They all failed. From Two to Ninety-Nine. All of them were used by human greed, discarded, broken, stolen, defiled, split..."

Her breathing grew ragged, her words faster; she seemed unable to control herself.

"And finally...!"

"Knowing that means you're one of those humans yourself."

Yaan's cold voice cut off her accelerating, sanity-slipping words.

A single, brutal sentence that felt like exposing hidden sins.

"Ha~!"

Yaan fired those words mercilessly at the ducal noblewoman. Any other noble would have cried blasphemy or sent a knight to demand a duel.

Yaan almost wished it would come to that.

Alienor's face showed neither shock nor anger at his words.

"He, hehe...! Hehehe...!"

Instead, her face was flooded with rapture. Dark, filthy desire filled her with pleasure and melted her expression.

'Shit. I knew it.'

"Exactly! I kept him! I put him in glass to display him! I couldn't bear to kill or release him... he was too precious! So I wandered, wondering what to display next, and finally...!"

Click.

Still clinging to Yaan's neck, the Duchess writhed, her eyes never leaving Ren.

In an instant, the muzzle of the pistol drawn from Yaan's holster touched her chin.

"Remove your hand. And get away from Ren."

A short, heavy threat. Yet as she stared at the muzzle, Alienor blushed and seized it.

"Did you know? If you shoot the chin, the bullet might not reach the brain. That's what my steward said."

Saying this, she carefully cradled the muzzle as if it were a treasure.

Slowly, the pistol rose until it pressed against her forehead.

"There, now you may shoot."

"You crazy bitch..."

Holding the muzzle to her forehead, the Duchess gasped for breath, her voice moist.

"If you don't shoot now, who knows when I'll target Miss Ren? I'll steal your angel! So hurry! If you shoot now...!"

'I'd love to pull the trigger.'

Watching her shudder in ecstasy as she pressed the gun to her head, Yaan roughly flung her hand away and holstered the pistol.

He could not bear to look at that disgusting, twisted face any longer.

"Ah...!"

Yaan spat in irritation at the Duchess still gazing longingly at his pistol.

"Stand up. Someone might be watching."

From the moment her outburst began, Yaan had kept an eye on the surroundings; sighing, he pulled the kneeling Duchess to her feet.

"Aren't you going to kill me? I'm truly dangerous."

"Killing you would be far more dangerous. If you wish to die, do it alone."

Saying this, Yaan lifted the Duchess again as her legs gave out.

"Lieutenant Yaan, why aren't you in quarters?"

Approaching Yaan, the Duchess, and Ren was Cain, who had left the banquet.

"Ah, Commander. This person is..."

As Yaan said that and turned to look at Alienor to explain her, the Duchess Alienor, who had been consumed by madness, had returned to the appearance of when they first met.

Having realized that she was the woman who had ridden in the same carriage as Hiram, Cain sent a signal with his eyes toward Yaan, and Yaan quietly nodded.

'Caution. Important person.'

Having understood Yaan's signal, Cain exhaled a sigh and, bowing politely to Alienor, addressed her.

"Welcome to Lorenz. Excuse me, but may I ask your name?"

As she greeted him, lifting the hem of her dress, the Duchess Alienor exuded the refined grace of a noblewoman from a play.

"I am Alienor la Dunois, head of House Dunois. It is an honor to meet the renowned Duke of Lorenz."

"...Did you just say the head of House Dunois?"

Perhaps the situation was so absurd that words failed him; Cain asked again, forgetting decorum.

Finding this amusing, the Duchess Alienor chuckled and, stepping toward Cain, opened her mouth.

"I wished to meet this person privately, so I took the liberty of visiting in secret. Please forgive the discourtesy."

"...Not at all. The fault lies more with the main house for not being prepared."

Accepting the invitation from House Lorenz that Alienor extended, Cain guided her to the banquet hall with a sigh-laden reply.

"Lieutenant Yaan, are you all right?"

"I was fine to begin with."

'Though thanks to that woman, I feel fatigue I didn't have before.'

Watching the Duchess Alienor walk toward the banquet hall after giving him a bright smile, Cain clenched his teeth.

"Count of Belkuth and House Dunois-how could the heads of both houses be in the same carriage..."

"And that woman is not normal. She's insane."

Recalling her face melted into a mess, Yaan clicked his tongue as he spoke.

"All right, I'll keep that in mind. It'll be tough, but hang in there a bit longer. You've been summoned too."

"To a meeting of the high nobles-me?"

Cain nodded toward Yaan, who asked again to confirm.

"You received a medal from the Kelt Holy See, didn't you?"

"Yes. Here it is."

Saying this, Yaan showed the medal he had salvaged from the body of Ilak, Irene's brother.

"The process was not smooth."

"That's fine. There's something to say about the territory granted to the medal recipient. And..."

Yaan's expression darkened as he anticipated what Cain would say.

"Territory aside. The mission has come down."

Hearing those words, Cain nodded heavily.

"Yes. A large-scale offensive is planned for the central front. You and the 87th Independent Company will be the vanguard."