A Lion Stands Before a Rabbit (7)

“The Marquis is dying to pay for his sins. It will be hard on the maids if he spills blood on the carpet, so take him to the knights’ hall and help him commit suicide.”

Any other nobleman would have thought it a joke, but not the duke’s servant. He knew he meant it, without a hint of sarcasm.

So the servants, whom he had no idea where they were, burst out and tried to drag him away. The Marquis was horrified.

“No, no! You rascals! How dare you touch me!”

He struggled wildly, slapping at the servants’ hands that were outstretched toward him. To his horror, he heard a ‘tuk turuuuuk’ from his struggling clothes.

‘Huh?’

The Duke’s servants and subordinates, and even Michael, heard it. The Marquis’s servants and the Marquis became quiet.

The Marquis’ servants and the Marquis were pensive. Unfortunately for the Marquis, the suits currently in vogue in the capital were of that design.

Puk! Tututruuuuuuk!

With a sound like leather tearing, the Marquis’s suit burst open. Straps and buttons bounced off and hit the forehead of a nearby ducal servant.

“…….”

The Marquis, whose suit’s front had exploded, and the servants, who were frozen in place. The Marquis’s chamberlain, who was red-faced, and Michael, who was frowning.

Everyone fell silent.

Gazes turned to the Marquis’s bare skin peeking through the torn hem of his robe. The Marquis’s standard was that he was better than the average middle-aged nobleman.

The Marquis was a perfect D-line*.

[T/N: Means pot-bellied]

The first to speak in the stunned silence was Michael, who frowned in disbelief.

“You…. were planning to perform a naked show in front of my wife?”

His words were different, but they could also be interpreted as, “Are you tap dancing towards your death?” The Marquis of Mirse’s could have died from the Duke’s searing eyes.

“No, no, Your Excellency, this, this is a mistake… a mistake! This bastard servant of mine brought the wrong clothes….”

It was a ridiculous excuse, but the marquis’s chamberlain couldn’t even say that it wasn’t his fault. Even if he survived here,the Marquis would try to kill him.

The Marquis quickly lowered his head to the floor. If he made a mistake, he would return here with his head cut off.

“Give the Marquis something to wear.”

Not for the Marquis, of course, but for himself and his servants. Michael spoke to the largest of the servants in the room, and he quickly removed his own robe and held it out to the Marquis.

The Marquis was mortified to see that it was a servant’s robe, not the duke’s, but he could not be in front of the Duke of Arden like this.

The Marquis quickly took the robe and slipped it on over his own clothes, which were bursting at the seams, since he was too old to change in front of the Duke of Aden, exposing his naked upper body.

“T, thank you, Your Excellency….”

“Now that you’re dressed, get lost. I will see to it that your indecency is known throughout the monastic community before a day has passed.”

He said that with a stern face, trying to keep the sneer out of hi svoice. The Marquis looked up, his face pale.

“No, Your Majesty!”

In his haste, he forgot his manners.

“P, please! If such a scandal were to spread, our house would be….”

“You won’t be able to walk around with your face up in social circles.”

There’s no telling what kind of rumor it would become, but it was a disgraceful act in front of the Duke of Arden. It would be talked about for years to come.

“It’s none of my business. Send him away!”

“N, no, please!”

The Marquis cried out desperately, but the servants were already dragging him away. The Marquis’s chamberlain, on the other hand, followed them with a stoic face.

Michael looked at Noah, his servant, in disbelief.

“…Where is Rosetta?”

“She’s out in the garden picking raspberries.”

A maid and her escort went with her. Michael nodded and left the parlor, but not forgetting to say this to the servant.

“Dispose of that carpet and sofa.”

“Yes.”

The sofa and carpet on which the Marquis of Mirse had sat and knelt were unpleasant. He almost felt sorry to tell the maids to sweep and mop.

In the hallway, the Marquis of Mirse’s shouting was fading away.

???

“Duke! Duchess!!!”

He clung desperately to the iron gate of the closed ducal chambers, but it was no use. The coachman waited with trepidation for the marquis to finish his act. The chamberlain watched the marquis from a distance.

This would be the perfect pairing for someone who goes to remove a hump and comes back with one.

After a long moment of pleading, the Marquis sank back into his seat with a disheveled look on his face. He didn’t even see the servants and coachman rushing to his aid.

His clothes burst open in front of the duke…. The Marquis was beyond embarrassed and almost angry at his behavior in front of the dashing, sparkling young duke.

“It’s because of you!”

In a fit of rage, the Marquis struck his chamberlain on the head. The chamberlain backed away from the marquis, furious and alarmed. The Marquis gritted his teeth and stood up.

“How dare you recommend such a disgraceful outfit and make me buy it! If you knew the corset was old, you should have replaced it!”

The corset was brand new, but that excuse would not work now.

“M, Marquise, calm down….”

“Do you think I can be calm, you bastard! You die, I live!”

The servant ran away from the lunging marquis. He looked like he was going to cut himself, but there was no reason to let him be caught and beaten.

The Marquis shouted at the coachman, who stood at a distance, but the coachman only mildly chased after the servant: he was the Count’s coachman. The marquis’s coachman had gone to repair the carriage.

“You! Why are you going so fast! You’re going to die!”

The coachman clicked his tongue when he saw the marquis flopping to the ground in a heap after not running very far. The servant was watching from a distance.

The Marquis’s stillness brought back memories of his earlier humiliation.

“What will happen to me, what will happen to my family, what will happen to my family, oh no!”

The Marquis’s nervous wails echoed, but no one had an answer. The Marquis sat in front of it for a long time, lamenting, and then he turned the water over.

???

Inside the rattling carriage, the jailer managed to doze off. Isabelle had never ridden in such an uncomfortable carriage before, except on her last trip to the penitentiary.

‘Why doesn’t he show up sooner!’

It seemed like they’d been traveling for a while already, through the gates of the capital. Her behind felt like it was going to burst at the seams, and there was no one in sight to rescue her.

She wondered if Cyril had betrayed her, but if he had, he wouldn’t have sent the creature all the way to prison.

‘When the hell….’

Aaaghhh!

The scream from outside made the jailer look up in alarm. Isabelle hid a smug grin. The screams were the surest sign of all.

The only window had thick curtains drawn over it. As the jailer hastily pulled them aside, he made eye contact with the creature that had just chewed off the knight’s head.

“Ack!”

The guard screamed, and as if in response, the creature lunged for him. Glass shattered in all directions, and the creature bit the guard’s head off.

Isabelle clung to the inside of the carriage and watched.

Uduk, uduk!

It didn’t take five minutes for the creature to twist the guard’s neck. It glared at Isabelle with its reptilian yellow eyes, then jerked its head away and looked outside the carriage.

The carriage, which had been rattling along without breaking speed, was slowly slowing down.

The creature leapt out of the carriage without even looking in Isabelle’s direction. Isabelle cautiously peered out the shattered window and saw a wizard in robes and a group of knights.

There were no family crests on their armor, but Isabelle recognized them. The wizard, riding a horse behind the knights, held a flute in his mouth the size of two fingers

It was a flute that produced a sound inaudible to humans and audible only to demons.

An easy smile played across Isabelle’s lips, and soon the carriage she rode in was pulled up by one of the knights, and a familiar face approached the doorway.

“My lady. I apologize for the delay.”

Isabelle looked up at the gauntleted hand extended to her. She rose from her seat in the carriage and took the knight’s hand. As she stepped out of the carriage, another knight rummaged through the dead jailer’s body and found the key to the handcuffs.

Clang!

The cuffs came off and fell to the floor. Isabelle rubbed her wrists and looked back at the knights. There were only six of them.

And those six were all her people.

“I’ve brought a horse.”

Isabelle mounted the horse the knight held for her. Only a few weeks had passed, but it felt like months had she rotted away in that cesspool.

Michael.

And… Rosetta.

She knew it was time for revenge; she would get what was hers in the end, and her enemies would roll in the mud as they always did.

Isabelle’s eyes glowed cruelly. Now she would be the terror of her enemies, not in the bright light, but in the dark, where they feared most.

“Let’s go.”

It was time to hunt.

***

Her baskets were full, even if they were small. The harvest was always a joyous occasion, and Rosetta was reveling in it as she mingled with her handmaidens.

As she entered the entrance hall with her maids, there was a clamor as they were given baskets of raspberries and coats.

Kwang, kwang kwang!

Rosetta’s head whipped around to see Michael running down the wide staircase. He looked pale, even from this distance.

Rosetta was about to ask what was wrong when Michael closed the distance and pulled her into a tight embrace.

“Oh my!”

The maids in the immediate vicinity let out a small gasp, and then, as if not to be disturbed, quickly disappeared into the kitchens and hallways.

All that remained in the entrance hall were those who had followed Michael.

Bodyguards, butlers, secretaries, and servants. She was familiar with the butler and servants, but she’d never seen so many of them in a ducal residence.

“Michael, is something wrong?”

Michael, who was holding Rosetta tightly in his arms, looked up at her with a shaky gaze. He didn’t know how to give her the news. Isabelle’s escape was quickly recognized because one of the knights in the convoy fired a signal flare, indicating that they were under attack and needed help.

Seeing him, a guard from a nearby village set out and quickly confirmed the fact. The village’s manpower wasn’t enough to chase the fleeing prisoner, so they reported to the capital’s guard.

The captain of the guard organized a search party and informed the emperor of the move. His secretary explained that the news had been sent to Michael by order of the Emperor only five minutes earlier.

Rosetta remained in Michael’s arms as he listened to her explanation. She was embarrassed by the stares of the knights and servants, but she endured them.

Michael’s expression was too anxious.

‘You were surprised to hear that Isabelle has run away.’

It was Michael who had once lost his wife to Isabelle. No wonder he panicked, since Rosetta was not in the castle when he heard the news.

Rosetta motioned for the servant and secretary to leave. The secretary nodded and quietly left the room with the servant. The knights had been standing guard outside the door since they entered the room. Inside the Duke’s castle, they should be safe enough.

“…I’ll stay with you.”

At Rosetta’s whisper, Michael loosened his arms a little and looked up into her face. Rosetta looked at him with calm eyes.

“I’ll never leave you, and I’ll always be with you, so don’t be afraid.”

As she spoke, Rosetta burrowed into Michael’s arms. A single tear rolled down Michael’s cheek. If he had been there, Lydia wouldn’t have died. So….

“I’ll protect you, I won’t let anything happen to you.”

The whispered words were like an oath to himself. He never wanted to lose someone he cared about the same way again. No one else could do that, not even Rosetta.

Rosetta didn’t say she believed him.

She thought of the hurt Michael would feel if she were killed, even if it was a one-in-a-thousand chance. If he heard her words, if she were killed, he would never recover.

‘I don’t want to die, but…. but things don’t always go your way.’

In any case, she doesn’t know what the hell that swindling spirit is doing.