TED 08

Chapter 8

Katrin and Dorothea looked confused at the sight of Teresa’s distorted expression—a face she had never shown before.

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s nothing.”

Teresa quickly returned to her usual gentle smile.

“Do not worry. Are you not daughters of families that have loyally served Hielo for generations? I shall apologize and take responsibility in place of the Grand Duchess.”

“Um… then regarding the grain you promised our family last time…”

“Of course. Your family will receive word. Next quarter, you shall receive even more than usual.”

The military provisions supplied by the imperial family and the South were stored within the warehouses of Glück Castle.

And the owner of those warehouses was Teresa.

She distributed wealth that should have belonged to the knight order among those under her control, earning their loyalty in return.

“You need only trust in me.”

The smoke Teresa exhaled from the hookah drifted across the two young women.

The pair smiled brightly as though they had never been distressed at all.

Yet their smiles did not seem genuinely joyful—their eyes looked strangely empty.

“Then we shall trust only in you, my lady.”

“Then we shall trust only in you, my lady.”

The exact same response emerged from both women’s mouths without the slightest difference.

As soon as the two ladies left, the benevolent smile vanished from Teresa’s face.

“She has been here this long, and they still call me ‘my lady.’”

She had believed everything would be over once she seduced the foolish former Grand Duke into marriage.

But Teresa had no way of proving her origins, and thus she could never become the true Grand Duchess.

She had even endured a revolting chapel wedding for the sole purpose of becoming the mistress of Hielo, yet because she lacked the Emperor’s approval, she still was not recognized as Grand Duchess.

Meanwhile, Adriana had received imperial appointment effortlessly simply because she was born into a great noble family.

It infuriated her.

“I will never lose to that little girl.”

Fwoosh.

Teresa inhaled deeply from the hookah, calming herself.

“Come out.”

At Teresa’s command, several men hidden in the shadows revealed themselves.

They moved so stealthily that even guests entering and leaving would never notice them.

Men capable of slipping through the heavily guarded security of Glück Castle every night and entering a woman’s bedroom unnoticed.

Looking at the men now standing in her chamber, Teresa smiled seductively.

It was early morning, before most servants had even begun their work.

Though it was only early winter, mornings in the North remained dark and gloomy, and dawn was still far away.

Yet Adriana’s eyes snapped open immediately.

She needed to confirm whether yesterday’s reality still continued today.

Adriana checked the dagger she had slept holding against her chest.

“It was real. I truly returned.”

When she twisted the dagger’s hilt, the coral that should have emerged was nowhere to be seen. Even the aquamarine gem had lost the blue brilliance it possessed just before her death.

She really had returned.

“If that’s true, then…”

Adriana tightened her grip around the dagger.

If her regression was real, then she still had time to deal with all the reckless things she had done without thinking yesterday.

Just as Adriana finished gathering her resolve—

Knock. Knock.

The precise rhythm of the knocking made her instantly guess who it was.

Smiling brightly, Adriana jumped out of bed and hurried to open the door.

“Lisandro!”

“Young Mis— no, not yet… Your Grace the Duchess!”

Just as expected, three knights stood waiting outside.

“So that’s my knight uniform?”

“Here it is. I stayed up all night altering it.”

Lisandro grinned as he held out the trainee uniform of the Glück Knight Order.

Lisandro had grown up as the son of Adriana’s nanny, so he was skilled in domestic tasks such as sewing and cooking. During military training, small tasks like repairing Adriana’s clothing had always been his responsibility.

“You worked hard because of me.”

“I can handle this much trouble anytime. I learned sewing while getting smacked on the back by my mother so I could mend our young lady’s uniforms.”

“This brat isn’t called a nanny-knight for nothing.”

Even when Julio teased him, Lisandro only smiled wider.

Adriana accepted the clothes and changed quickly. She tied up her hair and fastened the sword that had long sat beside her bed merely as decoration back onto her waist.

The Glück Knight Order’s uniform was entirely black from top to bottom, but trainee knights wore white trousers. Their shoulders also lacked the falcon insignia standing atop an olive branch—the true symbol of the Glück Knight Order.

The design, emphasizing practicality, differed greatly from southern attire in many ways.

Though it was not the familiar uniform of the Isla Knight Order she used to wear, dressing as a knight again after so long stirred deep emotions within her.

After spending years trapped in thick fur-lined dresses meant for the northern cold, it finally felt as though she was wearing clothing that truly fit her.

It felt as though she had returned to a life where comrades awaited her instead of maids.

Her heart pounded excitedly.

But Lisandro, watching her, looked dissatisfied.

“I altered it based on how you used to look, but it’s still too loose. You’ve lost too much weight since coming to Hielo.”

“It’s fine if I tighten the belt. I cannot be late on the first day, so let’s go.”

“We shall escort you to the training grounds.”

Lisandro, even more excited than Adriana herself, strode ahead eagerly. Izan and Julio were calmer, but smiles still clearly lingered on their faces.

Before dawn, the training grounds were mostly empty.

“Shall we start with a light run?”

As Adriana began jogging, the three knights followed behind her.

Until her marriage, this had been Adriana’s daily routine.

The four of them ran through the empty training grounds together, reminiscing about old memories without feeling tired at all.

By the time they finished warming up pleasantly, dawn had begun breaking.

But the joy did not last long.

“I swear, these bastards…!”

Hot-tempered Julio slammed his scabbard against the ground with a loud thud.

“So this is how they’re going to act?”

The sun had risen, and enough time had passed for the frozen earth to thaw—the proper hour for full training.

Yet not a single knight from the Glück Knight Order appeared.

The boycott had begun.

There was no need to ask why.

It was all because of their dissatisfaction with Adriana.

“How dare they show such disrespect to our lady—no, to Her Grace the Duchess! These northern idiots have neither manners nor common sense.”

“Exactly. They’re impossible to deal with. I knew it from the moment nobody even came to greet her on her first day.”

While Lisandro and Julio raged furiously, Izan quietly approached Adriana.

“What do you intend to do?”

“Izan, what do you think we should do?”

“If your goal is merely to participate in the subjugation, then perhaps training is unnecessary. Would it not be best to return for now?”

His meaning was clear:

Do not create unnecessary conflict.

It was a quick, clean solution—very much like Izan.

But it was not Adriana’s style.

Without looking troubled at all, she smiled faintly.

Truthfully, she had already expected resistance of this level.

“Izan. During this subjugation, a powerful magical beast will appear, and I intend to suppress it with minimal casualties. But in a situation like this, do you think we can truly defeat it?”

“That…”

Izan could not answer.

The foundation of military strength was absolute obedience to one’s superiors.

If internal division already existed before fighting monsters instead of humans, then the ones who would die would be their own allies.

No matter the reason, Adriana never wished for comrades to die in missions she participated in.

“I have no intention of obstructing the subjugation. Therefore, I must make them acknowledge me.”

“Do you already have a plan?”

“I’m not especially clever, you know. There’s only one method I know.”

Adriana smiled mysteriously.

“Surely you don’t mean…”

Realizing what Adriana intended, Izan’s expression darkened.

Knock. Knock.

Adriana knocked on the door.

She stood before the office of Oscar Griff, commander of the Glück Knight Order.

“What is it?”

Oscar greeted Adriana coldly.

Two teacups sat before him.

And within the room lingered not only the scent of tea, but also heavy perfume and cigarette smoke.

Even without asking, it was obvious Teresa had visited recently.

In the North, where martial strength was valued above all else, the commander of the knight order was effectively the highest authority.

And the reason Oscar hated and distrusted Adriana so intensely was also because Teresa stood behind him.

“What brings Your Grace the Duchess to my humble office?”

At Adriana’s formal tone, Oscar flinched slightly.

The fact that she addressed him respectfully instead of speaking down to him meant she had come not as the Grand Duchess, but as a trainee knight.

“I do not know what Your Grace is referring to.”

“Oh dear. If you cannot see what is happening despite having such a large window there, perhaps it is time to consider retirement for a knight commander with failing eyesight.”

The commander’s office overlooked the training grounds entirely.

Oscar had obviously witnessed the fact that no training had taken place today.

If the knights behaved insolently and refused training while the commander took no action, then that meant he was complicit as well.

There was only one person the commander could possibly be protesting against through such deliberate inaction:

Dietrich.

A silent demonstration demanding that Adriana be driven out.

“…They claim there is a problem with the training grounds, making training impossible. There is little I can do.”

“So I am the problem. What must I do for training to resume?”