North x Northwest

Chapter 327

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“Even if you would conceive right now, he’ll have to wait for at least nine months, so time is running out.”

“That’s why he tried to get rid of you.”

“And besides, your child would have the right to succession.”

Lil looked down at her empty stomach.

“That madman Mireille… is he planning on marrying me to take Obernyu?”

Ed nodded slowly.

Lil weakly turned and sat down next to Ed. Fatigue overcame her body as if she had run all the way to Sesbron herself. To make it worse, her heart pounded rapidly with nervousness.

‘To sum it all up, it means that two forces are fighting over my womb…’

Lil tried not to dwell on those dirty feelings for too long, but she couldn’t easily shake off the fact that she wasn’t treated as a full human being, but rather as some kind of organ.

Ed put his arm around her shoulders and Lil leaned her body in until she was half buried in his arms.

“They’re all crazy… One would think you would get used to this kind of treatment, as this nonsense didn’t happen to me just once or twice… But every damn time they’ll come up with new methods to cause my disillusionment…”

“…”

Ed waited until she stopped sighing. Then Lil muttered like a lament.

“…I’m in this damned mess just because the Archduke can’t give the title to an underaged girl…”

“Do you plan to abdicate?”

Lil seriously thought about it for a moment.

‘It’s not that I didn’t dream about it when I was young, but now I have other desires.’

“In the past, I vaguely wanted to gain fame and authority, but that was mainly because that was all I grew up with, and I thought that was the only way to fulfil one’s role. But now… I want to live more freely.”

“How?”

“You’ve been to the West and the North, even to the South… I, on the other hand, feel like I’ve been living too narrowly, which is a shame. I belatedly realised there’s a wider world out there. I just thought that what I saw and heard growing up was everything. And the narrower my perspective became, the more frustrated I was. But the more I met new people and gained new experiences, the stronger I felt.”

Ed agreed without difficulty.

“I get what you mean.”

“Besides, the Archduchy is not just a fiefdom. The principality is comparable with a country. If the choice really comes down to me, I’ll have to give it some serious thought.”

“Didn’t I once hear you say you were getting more greedy?”

“That’s why I said I’ll think about it.”

“..!”

Lil asked, wrapping her arms around Ed’s waist.

“And you? What will you do if I abdicate?”

“Well, perhaps become a court musician? Or your personal doctor? What do you want me to be?”

“…”

Lil swallowed her laughter as she imagined herself making Ed a court dancer.

“If you want me to sacrifice my land for you, I will offer it. And if you want me to give you my body, I will offer it as well. The Archduke is a monarch, after all.”

Lil groped his chest over his shirt.

“…Your body?”

Ed nodded with a serious face.

“Gladly.”

“I really like the sound of that.”

“Ah. Now that I think about it, just don’t make me the Minister of Finance. I hate public affairs.”

“I actually think you would make a fine Minister of Finance.”

Ed looked down at her disapprovingly, but Lil found his dissatisfied face so cute that she pressed her lips on him. The short kiss wasn’t enough though, so Lil decided to climb up onto his thighs and sat down on them. His ebony cane landed dully on the carpet floor when Ed wrapped his arms around her back.

Lil asked, resting her forehead against his.

“Then, have you no intention of taking over Obernyu?”

“I have no interest in the Archduchy.”

“..?”

Lil frowned like his response wasn’t enough to reassure her. Ed rolled his eyes before looking her straight in the eye and added.

“And I don’t want to let you go through childbirth, and marriage… no, as for marriage…”

“…”

Ed unconsciously reached for his coat pocket but stopped when he noticed that Lil’s face was still serious. In the end, he blinked his eyes innocently and answered.

“If you don’t want it, then I don’t want it either.”

***

Mireille raised his hands in front of him and tried to clench them into fists. Unfortunately for him, his wrists only trembled and he couldn’t exert enough strength, he ended up only curling his fingers in a sloppy manner.

“Sh… Shit!”

– Bang! –

He kicked the chair instead.

Enzo and the doctor he brought with him looked at Mireille, not knowing what to do. Enzo pushed the doctor’s back, who then cautiously approached Mireille and guided him towards the bed.

Mireille eventually calmed down after the doctor lit an incense burner to soothe his anger, all the while Enzo was fanning him.

Finally, his voice came out properly for the first time.

“I want to kill him.”

“Who… who are you talking about?”

“Edgar Retiro.”

“…”

Mireille lifted the blanket and sat down on the bed. Just when Enzo came close next to him and pretended to support him, Mireille gnashed his teeth and swung his arms, not bothering to check if Enzo would be hit or not.

“And Liloa, that bitch, she has to work on her habits this time.”

Mireille recalled the familiar scene of her pleading, crushed beneath him.

The heat that had been gathering in his head immediately descended to his body’s lower region. As his imagination became more physical, more blood rushed to his crotch, and he started to adjust his pants, which had become uncomfortable.

“Since she may have been mixing bodies for years, even the Emperor will not be able to refute this time. But how dare she punch me like that?”

– Thud! –

Mireille stamped his feet while still sitting on the bed. Enzo, who was bowing his head right next to him, flinched and took an extra step back. As Mireille tightened his grip on his jaw, his swollen muscles from being hit by Lil began to feel sore again.

A cold voice fell.

“Enzo.”

“Yes?”

“Find Jean.”

“He arrived a while ago and is waiting to report to you. He said he was successful.”

“Let him in. And get ready to leave this damn room.”

As Enzo pulled the tassel next to the bed, a small bell rang outside the guest room door. The door opened instantly, and Jean, Mireille’s investigator, walked up to the bed.

“My apologies, Sir. I am a little late because of the navy warships that have come into several ports, including the Simena harbour.”

Mireille, who was only wearing a shirt, asked as he put on a waistcoat with Enzo’s help.

“That is enough… What happened? No, first of all, what about our business in the forest?”

“Everything has been sorted out. The Chamber of Commerce has finished talking with the Imperial Army. All those caught in the forest were cleared of charges and released. Although Roan’s governor, Linhardt Retiro, protested, it seems that it will all blow over soon as he made a deal with the Imperial Army on the condition that he could take over the bandits.”

“…Deal? What deal?”

“It is said that he asked the Imperial Army’s assistance in finding Admiral Retiro. With the deal, the army would receive all the credits for subjugating the bandits.”

“You mean Edgar Retiro went missing?”

“Yes, while engaged in a firefight with bandits along the mountain range, he was hit by arrows and fell off a cliff.”

Mireille recalled Ed holding a cane in one hand.

“That was why his arm was wrapped in pads and he walked with a limp.”

“Correct. He fell into the sea and was washed ashore on the forest’s beach, where the Imperial Army aided in rescuing the Admiral. Of course, Count Lazilierè protested, saying he could not possibly be held responsible because the investigation did not reveal anything.”

“That is good.”

“But… the movements of the small Merchants’ Guild were unusual.”

Mireille asked, choosing a ring from the jewellery box held out by Enzo.

“Why?”

“There were unidentified mercenaries among the bandits. The Small Merchants’ Association seems to believe that another bandit group, to which the mercenaries belonged, is located in the Risch Mountains as well. I still wonder where they got this idea from… Anyway, the Imperial Army’s extermination of the bandits was only a small retribution compared to the overall damage, so the dissatisfaction in the area has not subsided. There was even an uproar as to why the Imperial Army didn’t sweep the entire mountain when they could have, and why they didn’t launch a larger suppression operation when it was obvious that these bandits’ damage would continue.”

Mireille, now fully dressed, looked at Jean for the first time. He smiled with a gaze full of trust.

“Jean, I trust you. I’m sure you found out the identity of those mercenaries, right?”

Jean smiled triumphantly and replied.

“The mercenaries were hired by Maxwell Farin, the platoon leader of the Archduke of Obernyu’s elite royal guards…”

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