Chapter 106

After a while.

[ The eight group of Alors force has been dealt with. The commanders of three of them have been summarily executed, and the commanders of five of them are on the run. ]

The news arrived at Diello and Krua, who were sitting on the sofa in the office, working together. It was news from Rick and Nira, who had been dispatched to Alors, that the Alors forces had been dealt with.

Diello, who had received the letter, lowered his eyes to grasp the detailed situation.

His eyes narrowed.

[ Among them, some of the remnants of Alors said that the Madam, the new lord of Alors, should not be used in this place, and they poured out swear words that I cannot even write here. Sir Nira’s anger caused a great stir. ]

Krua, who was reading the letter with him, widened her eyes.

“Emotional outburst?”

Her other hand held the letter.

“Is Nira alright?”

“…If there were a problem, it would have been mentioned separately.”

Diello replied a little late.

It must have been a very unpleasant insult to make him angry. Since they were on good terms with Duke Alors, he could imagine how low-level the insults were. Now, with this, Duke Alors, as well as most of his blood relatives, were dead.

“By any chance…”

Diello cautiously looked back at Krua.

“You’re not worried about Alors, are you?”

After all, it was her hometown where she was born and raised. On this side, too, her parents were not good, so it wouldn’t have been all happy memories. However, it wouldn’t be comfortable to have her blood relatives, whom she had met and greeted, stained with blood.

His cautious gaze scanned Krua. Fortunately, however, she shook her head.

“I’m fine. Anyway… they were people who had no manners.”

As she said that, she scratched her cheek and looked like she could really handle it, so he nodded.

“Then, since the war with Alors is over, we should deal with the commanders and their blood relatives…”

Diello asked her.

“Do you have any other ideas?”

At that, Krua looked at the name of Duke Alors and the name of Pentas Alors on the document for a moment. Diello watched to see if her expression would become distorted with complexity. However, she just raised her eyebrows a little, closed her eyes slowly, and seemed to be thinking.

Then she said, “Diello, do as you wish.”

He was momentarily surprised by the unexpected answer.

“Krua?”

This was an internal matter of Alors. It meant that it wasn’t something that Argenta should handle though Krua smiled.

“I wanted you to do that.”

Then, she patted Diello’s hand.

“… I’ve been thinking about it since the wedding. Duke Alors is Argenta’s enemy, isn’t he?”

At that, Diello exhaled briefly.

It was.

There was a time when he, too, was burning with the desire for revenge to burn down Duke Alors.

The former lord of the house, who had died in a mere carriage accident, and the young lord, who could not even handle his abilities properly. In a precarious situation where Argenta, like a candle in the wind, got attacked by them, he had vowed revenge during his lonely childhood.

He would definitely punish Alors.

But…

He looked quietly at Krua.

That vengeance was nothing compared to the vengeance he had against his own parents, who had tried to kill him directly.

“Krua, you…”

She must have had a hard time as well. She must have had things she wanted to end with her own hands.

Diello pressed his forehead against the back of her hand.

She, who even now handed over the opportunity for revenge for him. She, who cared for him. He wished she would stay by his side forever. Once Pentas Alors was dealt with, she would completely lose her blood relatives, and he wanted to be her family by her side.

…To do that, he, too, had to erase her family cleanly.

Under the back of his hand, which Krua could not see, Diello’s eyes gleamed dangerously.

“Krua.”

But when he raised his head again, only a poignant expression came up.

“I want Krua to handle Alors.”

Diello, who had wrapped her hand in both of his, continued in a low voice.

“There was a time when I wanted to end them with my own hands, but I’m fine now.”

Because Krua was by his side. Even at the wedding, he could only see her.

Krua’s eyes trembled slightly. Diello smiled gently at her.

“So, I’ll leave the disposal to you. You’re the one who has suffered more than me at the hands of Duke Alors.”

Every time she went to the Duke Alors’s residence, and what she might have gone through at the Duke Alors’s house.

Diello’s eyes narrowed momentarily.

“Ah…”

Krua covered her mouth before she fell into thought.

What was she thinking in her wise head? Was she thinking of a greater humiliation, a sharper revenge for Alors? Soon, Krua, who had been pondering for a moment, opened her mouth with a light face.

“So, how about we do this?”

* * *

[ Duke Alors and his son, Pentas Alors, met their end in an unfortunate carriage accident. ]

A few days later, the report from the informant I had sent came in.

The lie that the Argenta informants had spread would now spread like wildfire and reach the ears of everyone in the Empire. It was quite a shameful end for one of the three dukes with elemental powers. The remaining remnants were to be quietly dealt with by the Argenta informants so as not to leave any seeds of betrayal.

We sat on the sofa in the study, looking at the contents of the short note.

Diello didn’t say anything. He just stared blankly at the note.

“….”

I wondered if he had been alone like this when he first heard the news of his parents’ death.

I carefully hugged him as I watched him.

No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t forget the wedding. In the seat opposite Duke Alors, where his parents should have been sitting, only chrysanthemums were placed. Of course, I now know that he wasn’t close to his parents, but I couldn’t help but worry.

It was clear how lonely a path he had walked alone.

Unlike me, who was only in a contractual marriage and had the blessing of my family, at least on the surface, he had not been able to marry happily.

The countless Argenta on the third floor were worried about the future of Argenta and were suspicious of the heads and other families, including Cartiel, who were wary of Argenta growing even stronger with Alors’s power.

In the end, I was the only one who smiled at him at that place. And that was… acting at the time.

No one had ever truly smiled at him.

“Actually.”

I released my arms and faced him.

“I was worried about Diello when we got married.”

Diello looked back at me at my words.

He, of course, knew he was marrying the daughter of his enemy. He said he knew how the previous Duke and Duchess of Argenta died.

But even if he knew.

“…It didn’t seem like anyone was properly congratulating Diello.”

Even his teacher, Redias, wouldn’t have been able to properly congratulate him then.

After all, he knew I was the fake Ferro.

Diello smiled at my words. His hand, which he had carefully extended, took mine. The hand caressing the back of my hand was soft.

“To say I was happy… would be a lie.”

He said it as if there was nothing he could do about it.

“It wasn’t a happy marriage, but I had Krua, so wasn’t that enough?”

Diello smiled faintly. The smile seemed to tug at my heartstrings even more. His lips touched my fingertips lightly.

“And I still have Krua, so it’s okay.”

I shook my head involuntarily at his words. No matter what kind of relationship he and I would have in the future, I didn’t want him to remember the wedding as such an event.

I wanted him to remember it as a happier memory.

“We’ll have a proper wedding later. Just the two of us.”

Diello stopped moving at my words.

“…Thank you so much for saying that.”

As he looked up at me slowly, he suddenly opened his mouth.

“If I may dare to confess a lie.”

His trembling lips were cupped in my hands. He smiled smoothly.

“I didn’t think anything at the wedding.”

“Huh?”

It took me a while to understand what he meant. In short, it meant that he didn’t care whether anyone congratulated him or not?

Well… that was a relief.

By the time I thought so, he was gradually breaking into a smile.

“….?”

I blinked as the blue eyes melted and spring arrived, bringing about a delightful change. Diello then smiled beautifully.

“But thank you, Krua.”

And then.

—Thump, thump, thump.

He tapped the table, a signal to call the informant. Rick would be on the battlefield, so it must be another informant.

As expected.

“Did you call?”

A voice came from outside the door.

Diello spoke without even looking that way.

“Prepare a grand wedding. It will take place after all the threats are over, so there will be plenty of time to prepare.”

“Understood.”

The informant left without another word.

“….?”

I blinked at his words.

It didn’t seem like he was going to marry someone else. I turned my head abruptly and looked at Diello at the thought.

“No, I said it was okay, but…!”

My ears burned without me realizing it, and I could feel the heat on my face. Diello’s smile, which had been on his lips, deepened at my words.

“But you said let’s do it again.”

If it meant he could get more deeply involved with her, he was fine with any method.

He whispered as he kissed the delicate flesh of my wrist. The moment his blue eyes were filled with a strange light.

“..Ah.”

He exhaled a short breath before frowning slightly.

“Diello?”

As if he was in pain, he brought his hand to his heart.

—