If I Disobey the Duke

I Don’t Want To (2)

Lily shook her head violently at that terrible thought. “It can’t be. He’s a good person.”

She didn’t want to think that of her husband whom she’d have to live with for the rest of her life.

“…”

“Sister! What do I do, Sister!!”

Lily looked up in a panic at the loud noise.

Dandelion, who barged in like a flying beast, grabbed Lily’s hand, who stood up impatiently.

The guards didn’t touch him because he looked too much like Lily.

“Ugh, Dandelion… It hurts. What’s going on…?”

“Brother Tristan is going to die. The death penalty! No matter how trashy he is, this is too much! Sister, please stop your husband. Huh? What husband does this to his wife’s friend!?”

“Tristan… What?” Her face went white, and a sharp sound pierced her ears. “What do you mean? It can’t be. Something is wrong…”

Lily managed to grab hold of her distant mind. “He just grabbed my shoulder. He said he was going to trial, but it’s just a brief—”

“No! Your husband dragged him to behead him!” Dandelion wept and cut off Lily’s words.

“It’s all because of you! Take responsibility! Why were you born as a woman who causes other people to die, making it so difficult for me and other family members! Ugh…!”

It felt like someone hit the back of her head with a huge hammer.

Lily stood up and seemed to have died. She couldn’t remember how to breathe.

Dandelion burst into tears and collapsed at Lily’s feet. “Hey, you stole my mom too. Now you’re going to kill my closest brother… Go quickly and ask him to live! Hic…!”

Her brother’s cries, distorted by resentment, clawed through her. It felt like her chest was being ripped apart with a rake.

Lily’s body trembled wildly, as if someone was holding her and shaking her.

Yes. I’m a sinner. A sinner who took a mother from her brothers and a wife from her father. So what if the knight is her husband or not. It’s not even a proper marriage. It’s not an important issue.

“I-I’m sorry. Dandelion. I… I’m really sorry about it…”

Barely holding back her hazy vision and her breath, she lowered her body. Her legs and back were so stiff.

Lily grabbed her brother’s cheeks with damp hands and made him look at her.

Green eyes identical to hers looked at her with a disturbed look.

“I… I’ll definitely do something for you.” Lily left her brother and got up again.

***

A sunbeam fell on the soldiers in black armor.

The Winter Knights lined up in the

yard in front of the towering stone wall. Soldiers at the entrance opened the way by splitting left and right in unison. A shrill rustling sound rang out.

Tristan, whose eyes and mouth were covered, was dragged along by the two soldiers.

He was smashed roughly on the brown dirt floor, where the snow had been wiped clean.

“Argh!” Tristan shuddered at the pain that crushed his shoulder.

As the blindfold was removed, he squinted in the pouring sunlight, then raised his head in haste. “Heup. Uh…!”

Even as his vision grew spotty, he noticed something strange.

The order of execution of the death penalty was similar in all provinces. The posture and arrangement of the knights and soldiers surrounding him was typical for a death sentence.

But the place where he fell was not the execution ground. He had no idea what the hell was going on.

Heavy footsteps hit iron, a long shadow fell over his body.

When he looked up, a man in a black armor stood with a black helmet on his side.

Tousled black hair and cold gray eyes, dull and emotionless.

Tristan knew him. It was the knight who broke his shoulder.

Could this be the executioner? A knight?

The fragmented information only added to his confusion. He had never heard of a knight doing such a lowly job himself.

The only time a knight would behead another person was if it was an enemy prisoner of war or a deserter.

A man with a bald head came up to him, limping and holding a sword as big as his height.

He could feel the blood rushing from the top of his head.

Tristan was doomed.

The man politely greeted the knight and handed him a sword. “Lord, I have brought you a sword.”

“…!”

Tristan was astonished.  He had so much information coming in at once that he didn’t know where to start.

This was Duke Vladislav de Winter, famous for being ugly?

He was handed the sword.

Is the lord directly beheading my neck? Has there been such a case? No, am I really going to die like this…?

“Argh! Ugh…!”

Vlad put on a helmet and stepped on Tristan’s back. “Looks like you’ve been playing pretty well with my wife.” Looking down at Tristan, who trembled like a leaf whilst putting the sword on his neck, Vlad spat out in a supremely plain tone, “You’d better be quiet. I’m feeling… not very happy right now.

Immediately, a burning pain swept through his skin.  He could feel hot blood dripping down his neck.

The entrance to the courtyard burst with noise.

Through the path made by the soldiers, Lily hurriedly ran in.

Vlad’s voice echoed low inside the helmet. “Take a good look. Who should you beg?”