Chapter : 6
Alosha glared fiercely as she spoke, punctuating her words with dramatic groans like, “Ugh…” and “Oh, I’m dying here!” to completely overwhelm the other party.
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t you know that when a carriage turns a corner, it’s supposed to slow down? And that a coachman has a duty to protect pedestrians and keep his eyes on the road?”
She wasn’t sure whether traffic laws like that actually existed in this world, but people were people no matter where they lived. Since this was still a world created for humans, she figured the same basic rules had to apply. With that confidence, Alosha pressed the attack.
“Unfortunately, your carriage was also at fault for stopping right in the middle of the road—”
“So what? You’re saying that after nearly turning one carriage and four people into walking corpses, you’ve done absolutely nothing wrong?”
“W-What are you talking about? Walking corpses? The carriages barely bumped into each other. You’re exaggerating.”
“Exaggerating? Can’t you see my people suffering right now?”
As Alosha shouted and pointed toward the carriage, the maid and the coachman—who had been standing perfectly fine just moments ago—suddenly threw themselves onto the ground and began rolling around in agony.
“Heidi! Are you alright?”
“Oh, Sir… it’s so unfair! I lost both my parents when I was young, and I have five younger siblings depending on me! Am I… am I going to die like this?”
“Ohhh, I’m done for! I’ve got a wife and children to feed too! Now the carriage is broken, my body’s aching… whatever am I supposed to do nowww!”
The loyal servants of House Nocturne instantly transformed into master actors. At a single word from Alosha, they performed as though they were on death’s doorstep.
“Weren’t all of you standing perfectly fine just a moment ago?!”
“So what are you going to do about this? Huh? What are you going to do?”
“…”
Faced with Alosha’s ferocious glare—one that looked ready to take his head off at any moment—the man broke into a cold sweat.
Of all the people I could’ve crashed into… it had to be these lunatics…
He remembered hearing stories about swindlers in the Empire who deliberately threw themselves in front of carriages or collapsed dramatically after even the smallest accident. Coughing awkwardly a few times, he glanced back toward the carriage behind him.
The person he feared most wasn’t the woman standing before him, nor the current situation.
It was the individual waiting inside that carriage.
Damn it… if I waste any more time here, it’ll be my head that rolls.
Arwen couldn’t help thinking this was the unluckiest day of his life.
That morning, he’d gone outside to collect the newspaper when a black cat crossed his path, looked him straight in the eyes, and meowed.
On his way to work, a crow cawed unusually long overhead. When he looked up, bird droppings landed squarely on him. He’d rushed back home to change, only to discover he’d put on mismatched socks—and had forgotten an important stack of documents.
Those were all bad omens…
If today’s superior hadn’t needed to visit the Knight Order, he would have taken a vacation. Nothing had gone right all day, and now this accident had happened.
Worse still, the people in the other carriage were acting as though they intended to squeeze every last coin out of this incident.
Sweating profusely, Arwen bowed respectfully toward the group of people who looked more like professional con artists than victims.
“We’re actually in quite a hurry, so if you could—”
“What?! So only you’re in a hurry? We were in a huuuuge hurry too! Are you trying to run away?”
“Run away? Of course not! I was simply suggesting that you receive treatment at a hospital first and then send us the bill.”
“…”
“F-First… allow me to give you my card.”
Arwen handed Alosha one of his personal calling cards—a direct contact card he almost never gave to anyone.
“Baron Arwen Swiler?”
“Yes. Surely you’ve heard of me? I’m a trustworthy man.”
Who?
Judging by how confidently he expected his name alone to settle everything, he was probably someone fairly well-known in this world.
But he wasn’t important to Alosha.
“So you’re saying I should let this slide just because I saw your name?”
“I would certainly appreciate that. Later, simply send the invoice to House Swiler. I’m currently escorting someone of great importance, so I can’t afford to waste time in the middle of the street.”
Even as he spoke, Arwen kept glancing nervously toward the black carriage behind him.
So after causing a carriage accident, the person inside won’t even step out? Not even an apology before trying to leave?
Thanks to you, we could end up with injuries that ache every time it rains for the rest of our lives!
She didn’t know just how important the person inside the carriage was, but Alosha had reached the end of her patience.
“Ohhh, so we’re not important people?”
“M-My lady, please! Why do you keep doing this? W-Wait… My lady? Where are you going?”
“Where am I going? You said someone’s inside the carriage, didn’t you? I’d like to see just how important they are!”
“My lady! Please calm down!”
Someone who wouldn’t even step outside after causing such a major accident had to be someone of extremely high status.
With a determined expression, Alosha strode forward and threw open the tightly shut carriage door. Then, in a voice louder than a fighter jet taking off—easily one hundred and fifty decibels—she shouted:
“Hey! Get out here right now!”The rebellious spirit embedded deep in the DNA of every South Korean refused to disappear, even after being reincarnated into the body of another character inside a novel. At that moment, it awakened once again—directed squarely at that wretched noble.
“…Who?”
Opening the carriage door so boldly had been one thing, but the moment Alosha laid eyes on the man inside, she found herself speechless.
Even in the darkness of the carriage, his silver hair seemed to shimmer with its own light. His violet eyes were so cold they sent chills down her spine. And his face…
It was so breathtakingly beautiful that it almost didn’t seem human.
His pale skin reflected the light like polished ivory, his crimson lips looked as though they had been sculpted to invite kisses, and beneath his clothes she could still make out the broad shoulders and wild, masculine physique.
Damn it… I can’t stay angry.
People always said that truly handsome men seemed to glow.
If that were true, then the brightest noble gas on the periodic table—element number fifty-four, xenon—must surely exist somewhere inside that face.
Someone capable of blinding people with a hundred thousand lux…
Alosha knew exactly what kind of person this was.
“…The Grand Duke of the North.”
“What?”
In countless romance fantasy novels, there was an eighty-seven percent chance that the male lead was the Grand Duke of the North.
Most of them had black hair—it was practically a universal rule.
But every once in a while, there would be a rare exception with gorgeous silver hair like his.
As Alosha stared at him in complete fascination, the man frowned slightly.
Even that expression was devastatingly handsome.
“You suddenly opened my carriage door, barged in, and started saying things that make no sense. Did you happen to hit your head in that accident?”
His face and physique were already unfair enough.
Surely his voice should have been lacking to balance things out.
Instead, a deep, resonant voice flowed from his lips, rich enough to make her feel as though she were standing inside a vast cave. It echoed straight into her heart.
“…Say something else.”
“What?”
Even the baffled look on his face made her heart race.
Her heartbeat thundered in her ears.
It felt as though bells were ringing all around her.
Her emotions swelled until she thought she might actually cry.
I’m done for! I’ve completely fallen for him! I never thought I’d meet my destiny here!
She had never so easily surrendered her heart—not to the countless handsome celebrities in Korea, nor to any from overseas.
Yet in this entirely different world…
Someone had stolen it in an instant.
This was the legendary “fangirl accident” that everyone supposedly experienced at least once in their lives.
“My lady! What on earth are you doing?!”
Arwen, who had been standing outside, roared as he grabbed Alosha by the arm and pulled her out of the carriage.
Snapping back to her senses, Alosha stretched both hands desperately toward the man inside.
“W-Wait! At least tell me your name!”
Despite her heartfelt plea, Arwen quickly slammed the carriage door shut and frowned deeply.
“…If any problems arise, please contact us using the information I gave you. We’ll be taking our leave now.”
With that, the carriage hurried away.
Watching it disappear into the distance, Alosha cried out at the top of her lungs.
“Don’t go! Talk to me a little longer!!”
Their encounter had been brief.
The circumstances had been anything but romantic.
And yet, in that single moment…
Alosha’s heart had genuinely burned with passion.
Spring had arrived.
“Don’t leave me, darling!!!!!”
Meanwhile, inside the carriage that had unknowingly set Alosha’s heart ablaze, an oppressive silence filled the air.
Even as the carriage sped away, Alosha’s desperate cry—
“Don’t leave me, darling!!!!!”
—could still be heard from outside.
Arwen swallowed hard.
She’s definitely insane.
“I’m terribly sorry that you had to experience such an unpleasant incident, Duke Whistler.”
Sweating nervously, Arwen bowed his head toward the man seated across from him.
“…”
“You’re not injured anywhere, are you? O-Of course, someone as great as Duke Whistler wouldn’t be hurt by a mere carriage collision, but I thought I should ask just in case.”
Receiving no response, Arwen nervously stole glances at Duke Whistler, who sat with one hand supporting his chin as he gazed calmly out the window.
“May I continue the report from earlier?”
“…Go on.”
“Our spy within the Imperial Palace reports that Count Targi has made contact with one of the Emperor’s people.”
“So the rat intends to betray me.”
Apparently, embezzling money alone hadn’t been enough.
Now the man planned to sell out his own side as well.
“How should we deal with him?”
“Wasn’t the person who lent Count Targi the money from the Auclair Merchant Guild?”
“Yes.”
“Contact the guild master. Recall the entire loan immediately. If he fails to repay it, charge him forty-five percent interest for every day he’s overdue.”
“…Understood.”
“Then find out whom he turns to for help.”
His icy violet eyes narrowed.
“And eliminate every last one of them.”
“Yes, Your Grace.”
“After that, kill every member of Count Targi’s household.”
His voice remained calm.
“As for the estate…”
He spoke as casually as if discussing the weather.
“Set it on fire and reduce it to ashes.”
A brief silence followed.
“At the very least…”
A faint smile appeared on Duke Whistler’s lips.
“…it will serve as an excellent example of what happens to those who betray me.”
At a single sentence from Duke Whistler, Arwen lowered his head and trembled.
