If I Disobey the Duke

Ashamed to be embarrassed alone, Lily immediately let go of Ivan’s arm and arranged her clothes. Her cheeks were still burning. “I see. It’s a relief. So…”

“I’m Yohannes Talin.”

Lily calmly reached out to Talin.

Fortunately, he was used to the manners of chivalry. Talin bent down on one knee and kissed the back of her hand.

“Sir Talin is the one who brought me on the first day. Now I can finally say thank you.”

Talin seemed a little startled at the fact that Lily remembered him. Her expression brightened slightly as she was more than happy to see the Knight who escorted her.

Talin looked seriously at Lily. “I have heard the rumors. Madam truly is beautiful.  Even if a war breaks out for Madam, I think it will be understandable. It is said that the king of the Western Kingdom touched the granddaughter of the border village and the entire country was turned upside down.”

Lily froze at his sudden bombardment of words. It was the first time she had heard such sentences to describe her.

“Sir Talin, thank you very much. I’m very flattered. You may stop exaggerating…” Slowly, her face turned red, feet itching to run away.

“It’s not an exaggeration. If you ask all the knights behind me, I’m sure they’ll answer the same.”

“No, I don’t…”

Lily wanted to cry. She had no idea what to answer.  It was also the first time she had ever wanted to cry over this reason. She desperately shook her head. A change in topic was urgently needed.

“Those are guns… gunpowder weapons, right? I’ve seen them a few times but I haven’t touched one yet.”

Fortunately, she seemed to have found the right topic.

Ivan’s eyes twinkled. “As expected, you’re our Madam. Gunpowder can be used not only for firearms, but for endless possibilities. In the whole world, our lord knows about gunpowder best. Great things will happen if the newly developed gun works. For example, children and the elderly can protect themselves from monsters.”

“…If it’s simple enough for a child to use, there’s a lot to think about. The easier you can harm others, the less fear you have for life.”

Lily recalled her younger brothers’ childhood.

They were the ones who could destroy many things with just a single toothpick and a variety of ideas.

Just imagining the guns being held in their hands made her teeth tremble.

“However, it is a useful technology, so rather than just downplaying its ability, we should train a lot of experts. It would be good if more research was done on how to use it in other areas.”

Gunpowder was a formidable technology. Even if the Conde sect disagree and despised the technology saying it was against the will of God, it would definitely be used to advance the future.

Noticing the changed atmosphere, Lily woke up from her thoughts. Ivan and the knights looked at her strangely.

Cold sweat trickled down her forehead.

Did I say something wrong?  Did I shamefully pretend to know something about a topic when I’m supposedly a commoner?

Ivan snapped his fingers. “Look at that. After all, people need to know a lot to make a proper judgment. Now that Madam also supports this, the permission to use gunpowder is solid.”

Lily’s eyes widened. “Did you bring me here for that purpose?”

“Yes.”

The knight’s just clicked their tongues at the surprisingly brazen answer, as if it frequently happened. But Lily was still speechless.

Lily just wanted to desperately solve the unusual situation of not even being able to see her husband. She couldn’t believe that she was deceived over such an insignificant thing.

She raised her eyes to meet Ivan’s. “Priest… Overall, you’re a bit disappointing.”

Lily wanted to say something harsher, but she couldn’t do something so inappropriate in front of the knights.

Talin’s next words were directed to Lily. “Madam is beautiful and even wise.”

Talin’s eyes were several times more intense than earlier. Feeling wrung out, Lily wanted to melt to the ground and disappear.

She averted her gaze to avoid eye contact, but in the process made eye contact with other knights.

Lily would rather bow her head, but it was not a wise choice to keep refusing the sincerity of the knight who gave praise to the madam.

With her face blushing uncontrollably, she smiled as calmly as possible towards Talin. “Glad… I’m glad you think so. Thank you, Sir Talin.”

The knights gasped. Lily didn’t even notice that Talin’s earlobes had turned red.

Ivan jumped up exaggeratedly from the side like a person who was electrocuted. “Ahem. My Lord.”

Everyone hardened like a statue. The knights quickly turned around and saluted modestly.

The last person to stiffen was Lily.

With his back to the setting sun, he approached riding a black horse. Unlike the previous time when he wore black armor, he was now wearing a red cloak. Several knights followed him in two lines.

He said that meant I could do anything.

Those words from the light-hearted priest’s nonsense from earlier were stuck in her head.

Who the hell could defy a man like that?

The closer he got, the tighter Lily’s stomach tightened.

Shortly thereafter, he arrived in front of them and stopped his horse to the side. Lily unconsciously gulped.

The eyes inside the helmet… Something was strange.

His eyes, which were clearly red when she saw them before, were now dark gray.

Lily must have seen it wrong the previous times, Maybe it was because she was so surprised.

She shivered

His voice, echoing from inside the helmet, was hoarse. “My wife, who has had a fever until this morning, is dragging her injured foot and walking on the snow, Ivan Kirchen.”

It was many times lower than what Lily remembered. It even sounded murderous.

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Lily looked up at her husband, thinking that he was really going to drag Ivan and put him at the stake right away.

“I-I said I wanted to come. I told the priest that I wanted to look around the castle because my fever had subsided.”

He looked at Lily for a moment. She lowered her gaze, avoiding the piercing stare.

Then she saw something dripping onto the snow, slowly turning it red.

Blood.