episode_0149

Dmitri, who entered the capital with the Western Army, led the knights of Bearne who received support from Changbaek and headed to the Marquisate of Vallati.

Following behind the procession was Eleanor’s maid, Yejini.

Although Dmitri ordered Yejini to wait at the mansion, she willingly followed behind the knights despite the Duke’s orders. She couldn’t just stand by while her mistress was held captive, even climbing onto the saddle in her skirt.

The bustling capital, usually filled with people coming and going, was now eerily quiet, with only suffocating silence filling the streets.

Just like when the plague was rampant, the people of the capital were holed up in their homes, locking their doors and anxiously waiting for the chaotic situation to pass quickly.

If it weren’t for the curtains being hastily drawn shut every time they passed by, one might have mistaken the city for a ghost town.

Of course, that was the story of the knights following behind.

At this moment, with his beloved kidnapped, Dmitri didn’t care about the state of the capital.

Soon, the cries of soldiers echoed from afar towards the palace.

Had the palace been cleared out?

What about Changbaek and Albrith, what had happened to Dominic?

Soon, black hair swayed from side to side.

‘No, Eli comes first now.’

Nothing else mattered. Dmitri tightened his grip on the reins he held.

Vallati Marquisate was located in the heart of the capital of Lutes.

Once filled with splendid mansions of nobles, it was now only filled with red brick factories that had replaced the mansions that had moved to the suburbs.

Amidst those buildings stood the lonely Vallati Marquisate, looking somehow lonely.

And right in front of that mansion, men in black robes stood proudly blocking the mansion’s entrance.

Dmitri stopped his horse in front of them.

“Yurian! Vallati!”

A man’s voice full of anger soon echoed in the silent courtyard of the marquisate. Dmitri dismounted and approached the shadows, holding his longsword that was strapped to his saddle.

“There’s no need to exert so much force.”

Contrary to Dmitri’s voice, which was filled with anger, Yurian’s calm voice flowed from behind the shadows. The shadows guarding the mansion moved aside to reveal the entrance.

In the marquisate’s courtyard, under the clear autumn sky, Yurian was comfortably leaning back in a chair, looking at the Duke.

“I’ve been waiting for you here all along.”

Dmitri’s hand holding the longsword tightened at Yurian’s voice. The straight longsword trembled in his hand.

“How dare you touch Eli!”

“She’s still safe, so don’t get angry.”

Yurian calmly stood up from his chair.

In truth, Yurian had never liked the man named Dmitri from the beginning.

He simply disliked the Duke.

There were too many reasons, and he couldn’t list them all.

Innate environment.

The burden on his shoulders.

The way he had lived his life.

Yurian felt jealousy towards the man who was nothing like him. And that dark emotion exploded with the news of his mother’s suicide and Eleanor’s engagement.

Above all, the man seemed to possess what he himself could not, and yet, did he truly understand its value?

Now, it was truly the end. They had to settle this alone, no matter what.

Yurian himself had actually hoped for that.

“Instead of shedding the blood of innocent people, how about settling our score one-on-one?”

At Yuriel’s words, Dmitri clenched his jaw tightly.

“The one who issued this challenge seems quite shameless,” he retorted.

“So, are you not confident in yourself?”

From the scabbard on the table, Yuriel drew out his rapier. The sharp sound of the blade hitting the scabbard echoed through the quiet courtyard.

“Today will be your judgment day.”

And Dmitri moved towards Yuriel through the shadows.

—

While Dmitri Verbritz’s name is accompanied by the title of the Empire’s strongest warrior and the protector of the North, few have actually witnessed him in combat.

His opponents were not humans but monsters and demons. Moreover, he wielded his sword only at the northernmost tip of the world, known as the end of the world.

Rumors circulated questioning the validity of his title, suggesting that the Western Champion might be the Empire’s true sword.

However, after clashing swords a few times, Yuriel realized that the title was not an exaggeration.

“Fast and sharp. Light when parrying, heavy when attacking.”

Although there should have been differences between a longsword and a rapier, Dmitri’s longsword cut through the air lighter and sharper than Yuriel’s rapier.

“You were so arrogant with your words, but your skills are nothing special.”

Dmitri’s lips curled into a cold smile. However, Yuriel had no room to reciprocate that smile.

Yuriel took a step back, creating distance between them.

The wind brushed against his heated body, cooling him down. Brushing back his silver hair, Yuriel stared at the composed black-haired man before him.

“If you truly valued Ellie so much, shouldn’t you have protected her yourself?”

Yuriel asked, calming his ragged breath.

“Do not dare speak that name so lightly.”

Under the wind-blown black hair, Dmitri’s eyes turned menacing. Gripping his longsword, he assumed an attacking stance once again.

“No, Yuriel. Duke.”

It was Dmitri who moved.

Before Yuriel’s voice could finish, Dmitri’s longsword began to cut through the air.

Clang-

The sharp sound of the blade reverberated.

Yuriel narrowly deflected Dmitri’s sword aimed at his neck.

“We must settle this now. I was the one who allowed her to call me by that nickname before you.”

Yuriel parried Dmitri’s attack.

His voice exuded calmness, but his body was tense.

His wrist trembled.

Even though he had only parried the sword, the impact on his wrist was stronger than when he had cut down a person.

Quickly stepping back, Yuriel distanced himself from Dmitri once again.

The kidnapping of Eleanor Bearn.

And bringing Dmitri into the fold as a courtier in Valatia.

All of this was part of a plan.

The rebellion planned by Yuriel and Ernst had many unstable aspects. For it to succeed, they needed one crucial element.

Having a deterrent against the independent forces of the West and North with their own unique military power.

The West and the North falling into the hands of the princess was now common knowledge even among the children playing in the streets. Naturally, if a rebellion were to occur in the capital, the West and the North would move in support of the princess.

To suppress him, Yulrian first kidnapped the court lady, Oujeni. Using her as bait, he eventually managed to capture Eleanor, and in the end, even involved the Grand Duke in this scheme.

‘…However.’

Realistically, there was no chance of winning in a direct confrontation. The difference between the capital’s defense forces and the Western army was quite significant. Even if they managed to rally the troops for the nobles, it would take time given the scattered nature of the armies.

So, what they came up with was a duel.

Capturing Eleanor, and pulling Dmitri into a duel to settle the score.

‘Even if we can’t break him, it doesn’t matter.’

From the start, wasn’t this rebellion a gamble?

The position of a bastard always put him in front of the crisis of being extinguished. So, Yulrian didn’t even realize that the choice he made to light his own torch might just be burning himself.

If they defeat Dmitri, then using Eleanor, who they held as a hostage, both the North and the West would fall into their hands.

Of course, his feelings towards Dmitri were also one of the reasons for this duel. It was difficult to clearly define them, but Yulrian had considered him an enemy.

So, at some point, facing the man in front of him was perhaps inevitable.

Yulrian tightened his grip on the rapier in his hand once again.

Thump.

The heart that had been unnaturally pounding since earlier whispered to him.

Now, there really wasn’t much time left.

With that ominous tremor in his heart, Yulrian stepped back and eyed the Grand Duke.

“To abandon your territory for the sake of a woman you love. How ridiculous for a Grand Duke.”

Spitting out cheap taunts, Yulrian raised his rapier towards Dmitri. Since this wasn’t a noble duel between knights, there was no need to observe any formalities.

Swish-

The longsword cut through the air, making a vicious sound.

Dmitri swung the longsword in his hand vertically towards the man with silver hair approaching him. Yulrian elegantly dodged the sharp blade by spinning his body once, and then thrust his rapier straight towards Dmitri with full force.