Duke, Please Stop Because it Hurts

“Master, this is quite unfair! I only delivered what I had received!”

But the Marquis still didn’t let it go. Even when he was being dragged away by the knight that was called, he was still shouting words that said, ‘this is unfair’—but the Marquis didn’t blink at all.

When the door was closed in the end after the servant had been dragged away, the Marquis took a seat with a heavy look on his face. The sudden occurrences were painfully pressing on his decrepit shoulders.

“What should I do about this…”

It had been a party that was held excessively to save the dignity of the family. It was his son’s suggestion, but it hadn’t been too bad as he heard of the plan.

Furthermore, there was no reason to refuse since the Count of Clemence, whom they had a marriage proposal with, was helping out as well.

But he never expected this to happen at all. The Marquis heaved a deep sigh with a face that seemed to have aged another 10 more years. He didn’t know how much resentment he would receive for this. It was really hard to gauge.

“Marquis Werner.”

“…Duke of Linerio.”

After he noticed Raven, the Marquis’s face turned much darker.

“I’m ashamed to see you. How could I dare permit you to go through something like this at the Marquis’.”

“That’s not the problem right now. I have to find my wife first and only then, we talk about it.”

It was a rather blunt remark, but he could clearly see what was going on the inside. The Marquis sighed as he recalled the rumors of the Duke’s love for his wife, which had already propagated widely.

“Okay, sure.”

He grabbed a hold of his throbbing head. After what had transpired unexpectedly, Marquis Werner was facing an unprecedented headache.

“Marquis Werner, employ the Marquis’ knights to keep anyone from leaving this place.”

“Are you asking me to block the entrance completely?”

“That’s right.”

The Duke’s words had made the Marquis hesitant. He really wanted to do it if he could. It would be great to find the criminal before things escalated even more.

However, the people who had gathered here were all nobles. Even their statuses were diverse. It was clear that if they were to be locked up recklessly, he would definitely have to hear more than what he had been now.

In addition, they might send a petition to the Marquis. The party was held in order to revive the Werner family, not to feign towards the other families. Marquis Werner’s face then sharply turned dark.

“But there are still a number of other nobles here. You can’t just doubt them…”

“Marquis.”

With a rather chilling voice, Marquis Werner’s shoulder flinched without him realizing it.

“There has been a murder. And it happened amidst so many people. We will have to catch them before this gets any bigger—but can the Marquis really handle this?”

“Duke! You have spoken a little too much!”

The person who was just listening next to him couldn’t stand it anymore and protested against Raven. However, in the eyes of the Young Duke, he could no longer speak after that.

“Or are you going to lock it down only when another victim emerges?”

“…You’re right.”

The hesitating Marquis began to give a heavy nod.

“I’ve just lost my son and I was confused for a moment there. I’m really sorry for the inconvenience, but we will have to lock down the door.”

There might have been a strong opposition from elsewhere, but this was an exception. Due to its far away location from the Imperial Palace, it was more focused towards freedom rather than being pinned under pressure.

He was definitely afraid to receive resentment from the other nobles, but it was more terrifying if anything more than this were to happen. What had been, already happened. There should be no more of those worst things to happen.

In addition, it had been true that he was worried about his son. He had always been such a halfwit, but he was still his own child. He had no choice but to hope that he would still be alive in this kind of situation where he couldn’t have possibly known whether he was or not.

The Marquis pressed down on his heart before commanding the knights to execute the orders.

”It will only take a few minutes. Come on now! Let’s get the driver to look around as well.”

“Marquis.”

It was the time to allocate the people while giving out orders. One of the earlier units that was sent to investigate the surroundings was now approaching the Marquis in haste.

“I’ve found this outside.”

It was a broken sword that had been pushed towards the Marquis. Maybe due to the intense shock from before, but it seemed like the broken blade looked rather familiar.

“Hey, this is…”

Arjan’s face immediately turned pale when she discovered the sword that was just next to him.

“This is the sword!”

“Clemence, what do you mean?”

“They attacked Ferdinand and me with this very sword!”

“Is that true?”

Arjan nodded at the words of Marquis Werner.

“This sword is manufactured by the Kingdom of Portan. I could’ve never forgotten it because of the unique shape of the handle that looks like the only one side of the blade—and this is true.”