The Villainess Captured The Grand Duke - Chapter 37

Chapter 37

What is your name?”

“Scheuer… Blen.”

As she uttered her name, there was a brief moment of silence from the librarian at the Royal Library, as if she was looking at someone strange. Of course, it quickly disappeared.

“Books related to the Northern region are in section 172.”

The section name was astonishing from the start. Following Solé’s guidance, they arrived at a place with towering bookshelves that seemed to reach the ceiling. An entire side was filled with books related to the Northern region.

Scheuer couldn’t close her gaping mouth.

“Th-this, all of these books are related to the North?”

“Yes. I’ve read about 80% of them, but if you tell me, I’ll do my best to find similar ones for you.”

At Solé’s continued words, Scheuer turned her stiff neck as it was.

There was no shortage of curious people who had lost interest from the beginning. She carefully perused the books, seemingly trying to recall the contents.

Scheuer asked in disbelief,

“You remember all the books you’ve read?”

“Not all of them, just vaguely remember the content.”

Even that was remarkable. Scheuer, with a stunned heart, asked again, 

“Are there books about Blen’s origins, skills, and emotions?”

“Well, for the family’s origins, wouldn’t it be better to look at the scriptures in section 159 rather than the North?”

“To find the family’s origins, I need to look at the scriptures?”

“Yes. The scriptures, you can check from Chapter 1.”

As if to prove it wasn’t a lie, Solé immediately ran and brought a thick scripture.

“As you know, the Walker Empire was founded with a deity’s representative, thanks to which they always perform the founding ceremony with the temple.”

“I thought it was just a founding myth….”

“Since you’re from Nettri, I thought you’d know. Should I find it for you?”

Embarrassed by her words, Scheuer quickly flipped through the book.

As Solé said, familiar words appeared from the first page.

The chaotic period of the past continent.

There were times when there were no countries or leaders, and humans and creatures lived together. In the midst of the survival struggle, incidents of plunder and murder occurred abundantly among the humans who were struggling to survive every day.

However, even in the absence of morality or rules, there were people who rose to prominence in the midst of the chaos.

No matter how evil humans may be, “Nettri,” who believed they could be converted, protected them from chaos, leading and executing those who violated rules alongside monsters. Meanwhile, “Blen” had the role of maintaining order by leading and, if violated, mercilessly dealing with those who caused harm, often alongside monsters.

The beliefs of the two sharply contrasted.

“Is it okay to hear the story? Did you have to kill them like this?”

“If you don’t want to die, you should have followed the rules from the beginning. It’s a chance for those who harm others. What is the difference between them and monsters?”

The difference in their opinions grew increasingly distinct, leading to even those who followed them becoming polarized.

The one who mediated between them was Walker.

“Let’s first go in and see. Punishment won’t be too late afterward.”

However, despite Walker’s intervention, the situation did not improve. Instead, monsters multiplied, and humans evolved more selfishly. With this, the conflict between Nettri and Blen deepened.

The deity who watched over this bestowed authority upon the two strong-willed individuals, assigning them the mission of protecting humans from monsters, along with several divine mandates.

“That is now known as the family’s skill.”

With these mandates recorded on five tablets, Walker, who received and recorded them, is said to have founded the current empire. The story of the third chapter of the scriptures came to an end.

“It’s somewhat similar to what Peyton mentioned.”

There were overlapping parts with the stories leaked out.

Scheuer recalled the words from last night when Raygrain spoke.

The fate of those with the authority to use emotions as a skill.

“Isn’t it contradictory? Saying to protect life, but when you look at Blen’s instructions, it says that judgment becomes clouded when…”

She didn’t want to think about the last part.

Solé cautiously asked while looking at the rigid Scheuer, 

“Is there any problem…?”

“No, it’s fine. Thank you for the explanation, Solé.”

Scheuer smiled faintly and closed the book. The existence of a deity, which was somewhat unfamiliar and ambiguous to her, was perplexing. But what could she do? She was already a presence deviating from the usual flow in this place.

“Well, I won’t give up on the Duke anyway.”

Rather than regretting not trying anything, it’s better to try and regret it. Scheuer firmly made up her mind and asked Solé, 

“If it’s okay, could you recommend a few related books?”

With Solé’s help, Scheuer borrowed some books and moved her steps toward the scheduled teatime.

The royal banquet was scheduled to last for a week. The period for Raygrain and Scheuer to stay in the palace was only a month. Even if he claimed not to sleep at all, wouldn’t he eventually fall asleep during the month they shared the same room? With that in mind, the palace life for the next month didn’t seem so bad.

Thinking of that, Scheuer’s steps became lighter. When they arrived at the teatime venue with Solé, Betty was already seated.

“Did you have a good time at the library in the morning?”

“Yes. Thanks to Solé, I was able to browse comfortably!”

She had the attendants send the books to her room separately. After all, tonight, Raygrain would likely be wide awake, so she thought of enduring it while reading together.

“Congratulations, Lady Scheuer Blen.”

With Lady Annabelle intentionally using her full name, Scheuer’s slackened jaw had no time to return to its place.

Betty was also genuinely happy for her. Amid their congratulations, a palace maid approached cautiously, holding a bouquet of flowers.

“It is for Lady Scheuer Blen.”

Everyone stared at the sudden bouquet with curious eyes

Scheuer remembered the morning when Raygrain announced that he would be at the state affairs office handling the sword.

“Yes, thank you. Perhaps it’s because it’s from the central region, but the flowers are so diverse.”

The bouquets from the northern region were somewhat rustic, with simple packaging and a lack of sophistication, literally bunches of flowers tied together. In contrast, those from the palace were well-crafted, with various colored flowers neatly arranged. The first person to notice this was Lady Annabelle.

“The ribbon is probably more expensive than the bouquet. It’s made of the same material as the garments. Your Grace, you have a good eye for this!”

“Is that so?”

She mentioned that having high-quality ribbons used for clothing attached to the bouquet was unprecedented.

Scheuer gently touched the smoothly falling ribbon. 

“In the central region, where flowers might be common, do they do it like this?”

Betty, looking enviously at Scheuer, commented,

 “Today, as you officially got married, he must have given you this gift. How nice.”

“If you love someone, you change. You wouldn’t know how bad his temperament was before he met me.”

Although it wasn’t just a simple gesture, Scheuer thought, 

“Why not?”

However, she didn’t have anything to store it in since she had brought back an album from the northern region. Scheuer asked the attendants to carefully take it to her room.

“Could you please put it in my room carefully so that it doesn’t get wrinkled? Be very careful not to break anything.”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

The attendant swallowed hard at the repeated emphasis on being careful. Watching the attendant carefully taking it away, Scheuer raised her teacup again.

When she came to her senses, the teatime discussion had shifted to Lady Annabelle’s stories, and the music from outside signaled the start of today’s banquet.

“Smile Love”