It was a Political Marriage, But I’m Being Loved - Chapter 56

Noy had survived a bandit gang this couldn’t be harder than that. Whether by luck or misfortune, the Princess’s use of magic had taken down most of the knights.

“Wait, could she really defeat Sir Lewein and the other knights too?”

The flames had shaken the entire mansion. Noy had encountered mages before, but never one who could wield magic on this scale.

“I need to stay sharp and watch how this plays out. When the moment comes, I’ll slip away.”

“Move! Hurry!”

Having broken through the mansion wall, the group rushed toward the east tower. A soldier—or maybe someone who had run ahead—opened the door and waved them inside.

People poured in all at once, while knights from the main gate, realizing what was happening, charged after them. The mechanical dolls stepped forward to block their path.

They didn’t just block it—they cut down one of the knights.

“Hiiik!”

The sight of a severed head rolling across the ground made maids and servants avert their eyes. One maid shielded a young girl’s face and urged her forward.

The servant who had complained earlier was now the first to flee. He darted into the tower ahead of everyone and avoided eye contact with the others.

The steward and Charlize entered next, and after dispatching the remaining two knights, the mechanical dolls followed and secured the tower. Charlize had assumed the white stag might not fit through the doorway because of its antlers—but it simply tilted its head and slipped through like it had done it a hundred times.

A nearby errand boy smiled brightly, calling the stag clever.

Meanwhile, Lewein, who had nearly leapt his way down to the first floor, was closing in fast. The dolls quickly shut the heavy tower door and slid the thick bolt into place.

BANG!

His blade struck the door with enough force to shake the entire frame. Fortunately, the tower’s door was thick and heavy—it would hold them off for now.

“Get upstairs!”

There were only two exits from this tower: the door at the base and a corridor connected to the outer wall.

The soldier had entered from that corridor. He said he had locked the door behind him, just in case anyone tried to follow.

Charlize had another question.

“Did you go upstairs and send the signal?”

“Signal…?”

The soldier’s face flushed red. He looked as if he wanted to ask, “What signal?”

This castle had a standard emergency signaling system. At night, they were to use a magical light beacon; during the day, they were to release a stream of purple smoke.

Charlize didn’t scold him. After all, she was the owner of this place. What could she say? Still, she hadn’t expected the castle’s upkeep to have fallen into such neglect. She hadn’t even cut its maintenance budget!

“I-I’m sorry, Your Highness.”

The steward couldn’t meet her eyes. There had once been a captain of the guard at this castle, but he had been dismissed last year for causing trouble while drunk. Maybe this was inevitable.

THUD! THUD THUD!

From outside the tower door, Lewein and his knights pounded relentlessly, trying to break through. Charlize pointed upward.

“Upstairs. Go!”

They reached the top of the tower and successfully lit the signal fire on the beacon stand—but the powder that would create the purple smoke was nowhere to be found.

Damn it.

The steward stammered that he definitely maintained it monthly. He apologized again, flustered. Meanwhile, Noy—who knew the missing powder had been sabotaged by Dave—avoided their eyes.

“I know smoke signals don’t magically summon knights out of thin air…”

Still, Charlize had hoped the sight of smoke might at least scare the intruders off. Maybe they’d worry reinforcements were coming from a distant city.

After all, she was a princess—it would be expected.

“So what now… Am I really just supposed to sit here and wait for Achilles to save me?”

The real problem was… she had no idea when he would return. It felt like hours had passed, but in reality, everything had happened in less than fifteen minutes. Achilles might still be out there fighting monsters and saving villagers.

“No matter what Achilles says… I should’ve brought my full escort with me.”

Her mistake was assuming nothing could go wrong with him around. He was so powerful that she hadn’t even considered the possibility of danger.

But he only had one body—and he couldn’t be by her side every moment.

BOOM!

A tremor shook the tower—Lewein’s mage must have cast a spell from below. As the shockwave rippled through the walls, Charlize clenched her teeth.

“We need to get to the door that leads to the outer wall—now!”

The bottom door had a small, barred peephole barely the size of a hand, and so did the thick iron door that connected to the castle wall.

Opening the small hatch, Charlize peered outside and saw several knights. Lewein had clearly split his forces, sending half of them upward. She closed the hatch quickly and pushed the startled soldier back.

If they stayed here, they’d be caught between the Sword Master’s party breaking through from below and the knights at the gate.

“Lulu!”

At her call, the white stag ran forward and slammed its glowing antlers into the door. White light spread from the antlers across the door’s surface, and then—CRASH! —the entire wall shattered outward, collapsing on top of the knights trying to open the door from the outside.

“Aghhh!”

As the stag stepped back, the mechanical dolls surged forward, stabbing through the rubble and finishing off all five knights’ underneath.

“That leaves just the Sword Master, three knights, and one mage.”

Charlize, following Lulu toward the outer wall, suddenly froze. She turned pale.

The commotion had drawn Lewein himself upward. He’d left the knights and the mage below to break through the door—and come alone.

His face was hidden behind a mask, but the murderous gleam in his eyes chilled her blood.

The mechanical dolls immediately moved to shield her.

“Your Highness, that man is the Sword Master.”

Of course he was. It wasn’t hard to guess, given that he’d reached them alone.

Even after all they’d taken down, Charlize was still outmatched. It was infuriating.

If he hadn’t been under orders to capture her alive, things would’ve been even more dangerous.

“Step back. You know I still have a trump card left, don’t you?”

Charlize stood ready to cast magic at any moment. Achilles had warned her not to use it without him, but at this point, she had no choice.

Lewein’s cold eyes flicked down to the bodies of his dead knights—crushed beneath rubble with no chance to resist. Back in the mansion, many others were still alive, groaning in agony.

All because of this miserable princess!

While the mechanical dolls held him off, the castle’s servants were evacuating into the inner buildings via a staircase on the outer wall.

Meanwhile, the mage and the remaining knights were nearly done breaking through the door below. They’d soon catch up.

Lewein was seething. He had known of the Princess, of course, but had never cared about her. She was a minor royal with no real claim to the throne, destined to be used in some political marriage. She didn’t matter.

“They weren’t supposed to die like this…”

Lewein was a man of ambition. He had chosen Valter as the one to help him realize that ambition—and had lived a blood-soaked life as his sword.

He had never once regretted that choice. Valter was a man worthy of serving as a lord.

Even if Crown Prince Oscar ascended the throne, the Empire wouldn’t be in crisis. In fact, it might even be more peaceful than under the current emperor.

But…

“I wanted a war-mongering emperor.”

As a Sword Master, Lewein longed for an empire with greater ambition—one that would expand, conquer, and devour. He despised those content with the status quo.

“These were men who could’ve changed the world! My men—hand-picked by me! And now… because of someone like you…”

Charlize, the Princess who merely existed.

Just her royal blood alone made her valuable. A figurehead, a symbol—meant to help elevate Valter to the throne.

“…A girl like you should never have had the power to fight!!”

With a roar, Lewein charged forward, his sword gleaming with deadly intent. The mechanical dolls surged forward at once to meet him.

His knights and the mage had just reached their floor, moving across the tower to join him.

“Can four of you take down a Sword Master?”

The dolls replied: No.

So Charlize gave the order she’d been trying to avoid—because she had to survive. She couldn’t be captured.

“I’m sorry I have to ask this of you. I know you don’t have life… but still, I’m sorry.”

The maid-type doll, though damaged, wasn’t fully destroyed. Its core was intact, and its torso still lay in the front yard.

Charlize knew that as long as their cores remained, these dolls could be repaired… But would a Sword Master, furious from his losses, allow that to happen?

“I’m sorry.”

Charlize watched with trembling eyes as the dolls rushed Lewein. The one in front stopped defending entirely and threw itself at him, letting part of its body be shattered as it wrapped him in a crushing grip.

“What the—! Urgh!”

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