Count Schdental looked at her as if he couldn’t understand. He had a face expressing confusion about why Rosanne, who had remained silent and uninvolved in anything since Dimitri became the duke, suddenly stepped forward now.

“Aren’t you afraid of war, Grand Madam?”

“War? I’m not sure if it’s that significant. If there was a clandestine conspiracy that occurred within Blois, what would other nobles of the empire know about it?”

“If it becomes known outside—!”

“It’s enough if we don’t let the outside know.”

“There are laws in society that uphold order and structure. Other nobles in Blois won’t just stand by and watch if someone tries to wield the council of elders through force like this.”

Dimitri was also curious about how Rosanne intended to silence the elders with such strong measures. It wasn’t that he didn’t know how to use force, but he simply chose not to.

Tyranny wasn’t tolerated.

There were rules in the aristocratic society. Those who violated these rules would be expelled, and expulsion meant death. In other words, it was war. So, creating a pretext like this attracted opportunistic hyena-like individuals who wanted to chew and tear apart Blois and taste it, and they would eagerly join hands with the council of elders.

While he decided to observe the situation a bit longer, contemplating whether he should intervene quickly or if he should withdraw his support for Rosanne, his eyes searched for Rowaine. It seemed that she was trailing behind Rosanne, holding onto a wooden box tightly in her arms like an anxious puppy.

Despite the situation, he felt a sense of warmth and joy seeing her, so he approached her with a quick step.

“Rowaine.”

“Dimitri…”

Rowaine pointed to the box she was holding, a tearful expression on her face.

“What is that?”

“It’s the burden that has been placed upon me.”

Just as he was about to ask what she meant, he could hear Rosanne telling the elders an astonishing story. Dimitri, suspicious of his own ears, turned towards them.

“I’ll be straightforward. In addition to an oath of allegiance, I’ll have to take a blood oath from you. It seems those who should serve Blois dared to try and devour it. If you want to spare your lives, you’ll have to risk your life as collateral to gain trust.”

Count Schdental’s eyes widened at Rosanne’s words.

A blood oath among nobles was a promise to dedicate one’s life to serving the other as a master. In a relationship bound by a blood oath, even if the one who became the master were to take the life of the subordinate, no noble trial would be convened.

It meant that no one could interfere in the affairs between the two, no matter what happened.

“We are only preparing for the Duke’s failure. There’s no way we would try to swallow Blois.”

“Then, what about joining forces with Cayetana and attempting to make Rowaine have a miscarriage, Count Schdental? I found out that it was you who gave her the tea. Isn’t it a malicious scheme to eliminate the Duke’s successor so that you can install Dieppe Leon as the new duke?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Rosanne clicked her tongue in response to the Count’s refusal.

“If you don’t know, it’s just as bad as not knowing, so just die in ignorance.”

In accordance with Grandmother’s words, a knight drew his sword and approached Count Schdental.

Rowaine glanced up at Dimitri in surprise and whispered.

“We’re not really planning to kill him, are we?”

Dimitri replied calmly.

“If not, then why did we bother coming here?”

“Can we do that?”

“It doesn’t matter as long as the witnesses keep their mouths shut. This forest is a place for dealing with bodies anyway.”

Rather than saying it was a place where bodies were ‘discovered,’ when he mentioned it was a place for ‘disposing,’ Rowaine seemed to have realized something and asked.

“You’ve been through a lot, haven’t you?”

Pretending not to hear, Dimitri casually turned his gaze towards Count Schdental, who was expressing his indignation.

“A blood oath? Isn’t that a declaration of making us slaves?! Such absurdity… even if it costs us our lives, we can never accept it!”

Roseanne nodded her head calmly.

“It’s a mutually agreed-upon demise, so that’s fine.”

“If the news of our disappearance gets out, the nobles of Blois will find it suspicious and initiate an investigation. If this is exposed, everyone will turn away from Blois, Rosanne.”

“Don’t worry. To avoid raising suspicions, I already brought everyone here from the start.”

Saying so, she pointed towards the staircase.

Count Schdental, who turned in that direction, had veins bulging in his eyes. Already, other nobles of Blois who had been persuaded by Rosanne had come down and were standing there, avoiding his gaze.

Baron Leville muttered.

“We have all decided to support the Duchess, Count Schdental. If you want to live, you’d better make a blood oath or something.”

Otherwise, it was a declaration that everyone would collectively pretend not to know about the murder of Rosanne’s nobles.

“N, no…! Baron Leville, what the hell are you…!”

In response to the Count’s reproachful gaze, Viscount Fabian, a close friend of Baron Leville, spoke up.

“Count Schdental would have done the same thing if you were in the same situation, so don’t look at him with such disdain.”

He, like Baron Leville, has substantial debts to Blois, and if he was threatened with that, wouldn’t he refrain from coming forward to the other elders?

Count Schdental trembled.

“Su, such treacherous traitors!”

“Oh, how impertinent! It would be wise to compose yourself, Count.”

“I’m perfectly composed right now! How can people be so spineless!”

“Spineless?! There are a lot of things we need to protect!”

“Protect your own principles!”

“What did you say? Are you done talking?”

For a while, a comical back-and-forth ensued between the neutral faction and those aligned with Schdental. But eventually, the victory naturally shifted towards the neutral faction that held the sword hilt. More precisely, it should have been said that Rosanne, who was behind them, had the upper hand from the beginning.

Rosanne struck down her staff to quell the commotion in the hall.

“Everyone, please be quiet. Can’t you see my knight holding a sword?”

Instantly, everyone fell silent.

The next moment, she forced Count Schdental and his men to make a choice.

“So, are you willing to die or take a blood oath? The witnesses can be handled by people from Baron Leville’s side.”

The answer was already decided. After all, not many people were bold enough to be stubborn in the face of death.

Then, Rosanne turned her gaze towards Dimitri and gestured with her chin as if to ask what he was doing without coming out quickly and becoming a lord.

“Go ahead.”

As Rowaine, who was holding a wooden box, pushed Dimitri’s back, Rosanne shook her head as she heard her whispered words.

“No, I mean you, Rowaine.”

As though she couldn’t understand Rosanne’s words, Rowaine didn’t move and blinked her large eyes repeatedly.

For a moment, several thoughts crossed Dimitri’s mind.

‘Rowaine is going to become the leader of the council of elders?’

While Rosanne’s eyes gleamed with anticipation for Rowaine, everyone present seemed to express disbelief as they opened their eyes wide.

Baron Leville stepped forward.

“It’s too much for the Duchess to become the leader…”

Rosanne cut off his words sharply.

“Too much?”

“If… if there’s a divorce, wouldn’t the Duchess no longer be a member of part of Blois?”

“Yes, that’s right. So, could it be that you’re saying this because you’re afraid she might get a divorce and kick you out in retaliation?”

“It’s unthinkable!”

“Unthinkable? I’m sure you’re not completely unaware that Count Schdental and Cayetana have used underhanded methods against Rowaine, right? And when it comes to that, didn’t you turn a blind eye to it and let it go?”

The neutral faction elders, led by Baron Leville, protested as if feeling unjust.

“We didn’t know!”

“You really didn’t know? I’m sure you’ve all planted spies to extract information, so are you saying you don’t even have that level of capability?”

Faced with a dilemma where claiming ignorance rendered them incompetent and admitting knowledge branded them as terrible human beings, the elders realized the wise thing to do was to keep their mouths shut.

Rosanne clicked her tongue.

“Dimitri, what about you? Do you think it’s a waste to give power to Rowaine?”

The oath of blood was something only those on Schdental’s side were doing, while the other elders and vassals have come to a moderate (?) agreement to maintain ‘friendship.’ So, even if Rowaine were to become the leader, it didn’t mean she would have complete control over all the power.

It was because Dimitri, the Duke who legally held all decision-making authority, was in good health.

So, what Rosanne was currently doing was a measure to not only firmly establish Rowaine as a member of Blois but also to collaborate with him and allow her to exert significant influence as the mistress of Blois.

Dimitri was honestly very pleased with Rosanne’s decision.

‘In that case, Rowaine will never be able to leave Blois.’

Naturally, he wanted to compel her to follow Rosanne’s will, even if it meant pushing her. This situation was quite perplexing. Given that Rowaine had been granted everything to this extent, wouldn’t any person naturally want to be complacent?

Dimitri believed that she was as special to him as he felt to her.

There was clearly more than mere camaraderie between the two. Not only did they exchange boundless trust and a sense of familiarity, but there was always laughter in their daily friendly conversations. Was there any other relationship more perfect than this?

He was confident that he clearly had a connection with Rowaine, or so he thought.

“Rowaine.”

As he gently wrapped his arms around her shoulders, Rowaine naturally accepted his touch and drew closer to him. He believed that with a little persuasion, she would reluctantly accept this duty.

However, seeing the expression on her face as she gazed up at him, Dimitri realized that it was all just his illusion.

 
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