I Stole The Duke - Chapter 83
“Lightning!”
No matter how dramatic the scene, it meant nothing without an audience.
Crash!
To draw attention, Eliana activated the lightning spell from her pendant, shattering the glass door on the balcony.
“Lightning!”
Crash!
The final burst of lightning from her pendant exploded through the expensive glass.
“Huh?”
One person in particular, sensitive to sound—Speaker—twitched his ears.
“L-Lady Eliana?”
Following the sound without thinking, Speaker turned toward the mansion—and froze in horror.
“My god, my lady!”
Cedric also went pale. The duchess was being choked by some unknown woman and was being pushed toward the edge of the balcony railing.
“My lady!”
“Damn it, move!”
Both Cedric and Speaker whipped their reins at once.
Neigh!
“Waaah!”
The two horses reared and charged through the Espensen knights without hesitation.
“What in the—!”
The tension-filled space before the second duel instantly fell into chaos.
‘My lady…? Riana?’
The knights, watching the horses speed away, naturally followed their path with their eyes.
“Eliana!”
Finally catching a glimpse of the balcony, Michalis’s face twisted in horror.
“No!”
His face drained of color, Michalis turned away from Karl and ran straight for his black horse.
“Hyah!”
In the blink of an eye, he leapt onto the saddle and spurred the horse forward.
‘Please… please, Riana. Just hold on.’
Eliana looked as though she might die at any moment, her throat constricted and her face flushed with pain.
‘Fourth floor, third room from the left.’
Cedric and Speaker had gone to the base of the balcony. Even if Eliana fell, they’d catch her. That meant Michalis had to break in through the front to save his wife.
“Freya!”
Karl, equally pale, bolted forward with everything he had. If he was even a second too late, his sister might end up killing the Duchess of Ascher.
“Haa!”
The knights of House Espensen were stunned speechless. The delicate young lady they once knew… now looked not only skilled in combat but downright violent.
“My god… Freya.”
The Count of Espensen clutched his neck and staggered, visibly shaken. His daughter was choking the duchess and slapping her across the face over and over.
“Haa… Freya…”
What he had once dismissed as baseless suspicion had now become undeniable. It was clear that his daughter harbored murderous intent toward the duchess.
“……”
All eyes were on the balcony. Hidden behind the curtain, Eliana adjusted the illusion to keep the crowd’s attention.
“Follow me!”
The hologram Freya struck the illusionary Eliana and yanked her silver hair, dragging her by the scalp.
“Kyaaah! Please, Freya, let me go!”
Eliana, caught by the hair, was pulled back into the bedroom in a pitiful struggle.
“……”
With that, both Freya and the duchess vanished from the balcony.
Pop.
Once the illusion entered a blind spot, the spell automatically ended.
‘Ugh… I could die of embarrassment.’
Her cheeks—already burning from earlier slaps—flushed even redder. She had basically just broadcast her darkest moment to the entire world.
“……”
The once-tense gathering in front of the gate had descended into speechless confusion.
“Ha! She dared touch the duchess…”
“They should’ve made this a horseback duel instead.”
“Commander—no, Sir Carlisle—can we still change it to a mounted battle?”
‘I regret not slitting his throat earlier.’
The knights of the Azure Order seethed, bloodlust bubbling like molten metal in a furnace.
“……”
The members of House Espensen couldn’t utter a word in their defense. At this point, it wasn’t impossible to believe their beloved young lady had ordered an assassination.
Bang!
“Eliana!”
The illusion had barely ended when Michalis burst through the bedroom door.
“Michalis!”
Without hesitation, Eliana ran into his arms.
“What in the world… happened here?”
Catching her on instinct, Michalis glanced around the room. There, on the floor, lay Freya, unconscious.
“Are you alright?”
“Hic… it was so scary. Hic!”
It was the perfect moment for tears.
Eliana hugged him tightly, burying her face in his firm chest to make sure he wouldn’t move a step.
“Eliana. Why did you come here in the first place?”
“Huhuhuu… Waaah!”
What started as forced tears quickly became full-on sobbing.
‘Why… why am I even going through all this?’
Her throat had been choked. Her cheeks were slapped. She’d staged an entire spy movie alone. Eliana, unable to tell anyone what she’d been through, burst into uncontrollable sobs from the sheer frustration and sorrow of it all.
“Riana, you promised to only use the cards for your own protection…”
None of this made sense. How had Eliana found out about the classified operation? And why now, of all times, had she appeared here?
“Hic… waaah!”
“Ah… please don’t cry.”
Michalis was so flustered, he couldn’t even begin to question her properly.
“Riana, let me see your face…”
“Hic…”
Still buried against his chest, Eliana slowly lifted her head to meet his gaze.
“Oh, heavens…”
Michalis paled at the sight of her. How could anyone bring themselves to strike such a small, delicate face?
Her cheeks were swollen bright red, clearly from heavy blows. And her slender neck was marked with bruises and cuts where fingernails had broken the skin.
‘I’ll kill her.’
Michalis couldn’t direct his fury at Eliana—so it turned entirely toward Freya.
“Freya!”
Just then, Karl came rushing into the bedroom, breathless.
“No! Freya!”
Seeing his sister collapsed on the floor, Karl’s face went white. He hadn’t been able to catch up in time on foot.
“Your Grace!”
“Hic… if it hadn’t been for the protection pendant… sob… I would’ve died… hic…”
Eliana seized the moment, skillfully cutting Karl off before he could speak.
‘She’s not dead, so keep quiet.’
“……”
Startled, Karl knelt and placed his fingers beneath Freya’s nose. She was breathing just fine. Aside from a slightly burned outfit and a swollen foot, there were no serious injuries.
“Duchess, how did you get here?”
Karl stood up and looked at her suspiciously.
“I used a teleportation scroll. I just wanted to stop the fighting… hic… but then Freya suddenly tried to strangle me… hic… I really thought I was going to die… hic…”
His expression stiffened. From the look of her face, the Duchess was telling the truth.
“……”
Karl was speechless. That was not the face of someone who had exaggerated anything. She had clearly taken a beating.
“My love… hic… Freya tried to kill me. I was so scared…”
Eliana met Karl’s eyes for a moment before turning back into Michalis’s embrace.
“I want Freya to be imprisoned. This was assault—and attempted murder.”
In other words: don’t kill her, just lock her up.
“Let’s talk outside.”
Understanding her intention, Michalis gently took her hand.
“Yes…”
“Sigh…”
As Michalis helped her out of the room, he let out a long sigh.
“This won’t do.”
He couldn’t stand the sight of those bruises on her neck any longer. Taking off his cloak, he wrapped it around her shoulders and lifted her into his arms.
“Your Grace! Just give the order and we’ll wipe them all out!”
“My lady! Are you alright?!”
As the duke and duchess exited the mansion’s main hall, the fully assembled Azure Knights—twenty of them—rushed forward with concern and fury.
“I’m alright…”
In truth, she wanted to crawl into a hole. She felt so humiliated she wished she could just faint on the spot. But she still had things to say to Michalis.
“I need a moment alone with the duchess. Wait at the gate.”
“Protect!”
At Michalis’s command, the knights who had surrounded the main entrance instantly withdrew with military precision.
“What is all this really about?”
In a quiet corner of the Count’s Garden, Michalis set Eliana down on a white bench.
“Michalis, I don’t want your hands stained with blood.”
“This is a sanctioned territory war. His Majesty already approved it. I can’t stop now.”
“You can end it without killing the entire Espensen family.”
“Riana!”
“Please, Michalis. I’m begging you…”
Eliana took his hands and clutched them tightly, her voice pleading.
“Please… don’t kill anyone.”
“……”
Michalis looked at the bruises along her neck and felt his breath catch in his throat. His chest ached. It felt like the ground had collapsed beneath his feet.
“Sparing enemies in war leaves loose ends. And a war with loose ends… never truly ends.”
He’d learned through blood and loss: to protect what mattered, he had to annihilate the threat completely. That was how the House of Ascher had survived until now.
“There’s no way to eliminate every possible risk in this war, Michalis. Please… show them mercy.”
“Not eliminate every risk? What are you talking about?”
“There’s a high mage behind the Espensen family…”
Eliana looked him in the eye, her voice trembling just slightly with fear.
“If the count’s entire family is wiped out, he might retaliate.”
“To my knowledge, there is no mage connected to the Espensens.”
He had made sure of it before this war began. Every detail had been investigated thoroughly.
“His name is Karahan Espensen. You’ll need to search old records.”
Eliana’s eyes gleamed with certainty.
“Riana… do you even know what you’re saying right now?”
Was she seriously claiming to know more than him—someone who controlled an intelligence network across the entire continent?
“How do you know these things? And what makes you so sure?”
This couldn’t just be brushed off.
“After coming back from the brink of death… whenever I think about things I want to know, the answers just come to me. Not all of them, but enough. That’s how I figured out the magic circle, too.”
She could no longer keep everything hidden. Though she couldn’t reveal the truth about the regression spell, Eliana offered a simplified explanation—her “search function.”
“……”
‘So it wasn’t just insight into magic…’
Once again, Michalis was rendered speechless. If Eliana was telling the truth, this was no ordinary situation.
“What you just said—never tell anyone else.”
The accuracy of her information had already been proven through the magic circle. From this point on, the intel Eliana could provide had limitless value. It wasn’t just the Magic Tower he had to worry about now. Even the smallest holders of power would come clawing for her.
Support
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE
