I Married the Mad Duke Who Killed My Husband - Chapter 86
“There it is!”
Wow, a human victory. Well done, Asilia.
It seems to have taken a full 24 hours without eating or sleeping to reach the nearby area Cassion mentioned in his letter.
Because of this, the pony I rode was almost foaming at the mouth, but it couldn’t be helped.
After all that trouble, the surroundings were quiet, and there were no visible traces, but when I climbed to a higher spot, I could see the camp not too far away.
Even from a distance, I could tell I had arrived at the right place by seeing the Duke’s family flag. To think that I rode a horse alone all the way to my destination.
“This is the power of love. Just wait, Cassion.”
I’m a bit grimy in the same outfit I was wearing for dagger practice yesterday, but who cares? The priority is to let them know I’m safe.
It was worrying that Cassion’s camp seemed strangely quiet, but I deliberately ignored my intuition.
“I can’t just barge in recklessly. The opposite side must be the First Prince’s camp… Where… Ah, it might be good to enter from that back side, but where does the path lead?”
I could see the camp, but I couldn’t clearly see the path to safely enter from the back without encountering the First Prince’s soldiers. I made a visor with my hand and went almost to the edge of the cliff, squinting to search below, but the trees were too dense in the middle to see the path.
“Ah, the high ground is ahead…”
Rustle-
As I stamped my feet and bent down further to look below, I heard a very faint leaf sound.
And it was right behind me.
I instinctively threw myself towards the back of the horse I had ridden.
“Tch!”
Along with an unfamiliar clicking of the tongue, the small horse whinnied and struggled as if in pain. Not knowing what had happened, I scrambled to crawl away to avoid getting caught up in the horse’s struggle, and at the same time, the poor horse fell off the cliff.
It happened in the blink of an eye, without time to scream, and I caught a glimpse of a sword deeply embedded in the horse’s side as it disappeared below.
“Where did you come from? By your appearance, you’re not a soldier…”
Fortunately, the other person doesn’t seem to know that I’m the Duchess. But unfortunately, he doesn’t seem to be one of Cassion’s soldiers either. From this cliff, I can at least see Cassion’s camp…
“I-I’m a resident of a nearby village! I was gathering herbs in the forest when I heard a commotion…”
I deliberately pretended to be scared and flustered, stammering and shrinking my body. Fortunately, the horse I rode was small, so it shouldn’t be difficult to pretend to be a woman from a civilian household.
If my guess is correct, the other person must be a scout from the First Prince’s side.
“I see. You certainly don’t look like a soldier. Come closer.”
“Y-yes, sir. Please, just spare my life. I don’t know anything…”
Even as I said this, the other person still didn’t lower his guard, keeping his weapon out. I staggered towards him. Seeing my seemingly frightened appearance, the man twirled his sword teasingly. Yes, let your guard down even more.
“Don’t be so scared. Come closer. I need to search your body to make sure you’re not a spy.”
Why are there so many filthy men in this world? But for me, this man’s dirty thoughts and carelessness became an opportunity. I pretended to bite my lip and looked around, but with the cliff behind me and the man blocking the front, there seemed to be no place to escape.
But if there’s no path, can’t you make one? I gripped my dagger as discreetly as possible.
“Your appearance is dirty, but your face is too pretty to be a woman from the countryside.”
“If, if I’ve done something wrong, please be lenient. I really just followed the commotion.”
“That depends on you. This is an important military area. Come closer…”
Now’s the time. As the man continued to twirl his sword arrogantly, I lunged towards him with my dagger, as if diving into his embrace.
“Ugh!”
Although he was off guard, the man was only grazed by my dagger, not stabbed. I had aimed for a vital point.
But as Maxey taught me, my attack wasn’t meant to subdue the opponent but only to buy time to escape. So, taking advantage of the moment the man flinched in pain, I started sprinting forward.
“You crazy wench!”
When I came up, I was on horseback so only my bottom hurt, but the path was quite treacherous. However, I could hear him chasing me from behind, so there was no time to check my footing.
Crack-
“Ah!”
Eventually, disaster struck. After stumbling several times while running, my foot slipped, and I fell forward, rolling. There was no time to feel the pain.
Reflexively, I tried to get up while crawling forward from my fallen position, but a shadow loomed behind me. No.
“Such a nuisance for something so insignificant!”
“Wait…!”
No. No!
I can’t die here. But even as I instinctively sensed it was too late, I uttered words that I knew wouldn’t work.
Should I roll to the side to avoid the sword? But the most my frozen body could manage was to raise my arms to protect my face.
“Cassion…!”
I called out to him without thinking. Was it because I wanted him to come? No, that’s not it. I just thought of him. I need to get to him. I need to let him know I’m safe.
“Ugh!”
Just as tears were about to fall, something fell beside me with a clang, along with a death cry. When I opened my eyes that I had unknowingly closed, I saw the man’s sword that had been raised to slash my throat now rolling on the ground.
“Ca…”
“Duchess. What are you doing here?”
Not Cassion.
Due to the slight backlight, I couldn’t see his face at first, but as he bent down to extend his hand to me, I could see his face. A stranger.
I got up without taking his hand, slightly backing away.
“Who are you?”
The man withdrew his awkwardly hanging hand and whistled. Why can’t any of them keep their mouths shut? Clicking tongues, whistling. Do they look down on people?
“You look quite different from when I saw you at the banquet.”
“I asked who you are.”
“Would you know if I told you? I’m just someone from the Second Prince’s side.”
“Prove it.”
As I raised my dagger again and pointed it at the man, he raised both hands. I rarely fail twice, you know.
Now that I’m more familiar with it, I could probably strike a vital point on the man before me if necessary. Perhaps reading this intent in my eyes, the man made an aggrieved expression.
“Isn’t this too much? I just saved your life, Duchess. I killed that First Prince’s soldier because I’m on the Second Prince’s side.”
“I said prove it.”
“What better proof could there be than this… I’m not someone who moves around openly, so I don’t have any insignia. As for my attire… Hah, really.”
As he kept spouting nonsense, I stepped closer and pressed the dagger against his throat.
“You’re ugly and you talk too much.”
“Ugly? Aren’t your standards too high? I’m above average at least.”
“I said you talk too much.”
As I put a little more force into the hand holding the dagger, a shallow line appeared on the man’s neck. Now with his eyebrows furrowed, the man finally confessed after some deliberation.
“…Duchess, you were invited to His Majesty the Emperor’s luncheon right after your marriage, weren’t you? There was a little trick with the bruschetta that day.”
“….”
“But His Highness the Second Prince stepped in to prevent it. I suppose you gave him a hint? However, to steer the situation in a better direction, we had to play a little trick on our side as well.”
“Don’t tell me…”
“I was the one who slightly tampered with your canapé that day.”
“Slightly tampered? You poisoned it!”
“It wasn’t a life-threatening poison, was it? Ouch.”
The detailed circumstances of that day haven’t been leaked outside. The man was indeed the Second Prince’s spy, and it was proven, but irritation welled up in me, and I pressed the dagger harder. The man finally backed away to avoid it.
“What, you saved my life? Shouldn’t we first address how you endangered it in the first place?”
“Come on, you asked for proof, and I gave it, Duchess. Could you please put that dagger away? I’m on your side.”
“You sure like saying we’re on the same side. You’re on the Second Prince’s side, right?”
“Isn’t that the same thing?”
“You know very well it’s not exactly the same.”
Although I was irritated, I couldn’t keep this standoff going forever. I sighed loudly for him to hear and put away the dagger. The man approached again.
“More importantly, Duchess, why are you really here? I heard you escaped from the Duke’s residence, but there was an uproar because you didn’t come to the Imperial Palace.”
“What uproar in just one day?”
“Well, we’re people who stake our lives on the speed of information.”
I looked the man up and down again, noticing his dark clothes that didn’t stand out. Objectively, rather than ugly, his face was ordinary and common. If anything, he had a kind and pleasant expression.
It was the type of face that wouldn’t be easily remembered but would make you inclined to help if asked for a favor – quite suitable for a spy.
“Right. Even with your quick information, you didn’t know where I was. So why are you here? It seems you were trying to enter my husband’s camp. Do you have a message from the Second Prince?”
For the first time, the man showed genuine emotion in response to my words. As he scratched his cheek with a slightly bewildered expression, my eyes began to narrow.
“No… Would a message from the Second Prince need to be this secretive? Thinking about when you poisoned the canapé, you’re quite proactive and discreet. You might do things for the Prince that he hasn’t even ordered.”
“Duchess…”
“What would help the Prince in the current situation? A way to resume the battle when the Duke, my husband, has stopped attacking the First Prince.”
The man, who had been calling me with a troubled expression, confessed the truth under my chilling demeanor. Despite having almost predicted it, anger surged within me.
“…You’re right. I was going to deliver a message saying that the Duchess was being protected in the Imperial Palace.”
