Chapter 125

Chapter 125
## Chapter 125

The atmosphere in Grand Duke Beltus’s office was unsettling.

When Denise opened the door and entered, a characteristic gloom had already settled upon the floor.

The Grand Duke, who was listening to reports from his eldest son, Robenalt, and the head butler, Alex, raised his gaze toward the open door and sketched a benevolent smile.

“You’ve come, Denise. It must have been exhausting traveling all the way to the Ravenclaw territory.”

The smile was so warm and welcoming that, to an outsider, the family might have seemed as harmonious as the Duplains or the Belmierds.

However, the expressions of Robenalt and Alex, who were observing the Duke, were tense.

After so many years in the service of the astute patriarch, both knew very well that they should never take his words at face value.

Of course, Denise was no different.

She lowered the hem of her dress, bowed her head gracefully, and greeted him.

“Thank you for your warm welcome, father.”

“Of course I must receive you with open arms. You are the most intelligent, insightful, and capable person in all matters of our Beltus family. Furthermore, you are my beloved daughter, so it seems I have been blessed with such virtuous offspring.”

“You flatter me too much.”

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Even though Robenalt, the eldest son, might have found it uncomfortable to hear that Denise was the best, no one dared to comment.

Robenalt knew it. He was weak by nature, lacked ambition, and was unfit to be the head of the family.

He held the title of heir solely for being the firstborn, but he accepted with resignation that one day he would yield the position to Denise.

However, Denise had no interest in the family’s power; on the contrary, she openly recognized Robenalt’s right of succession.

“Brother Robenalt, it has been a long time.”

“Yes.”

He replied in a low voice, without raising his gaze.

Denise took a deep breath.

The Duke, sitting elegantly behind his desk and stroking his arm, was a fox corrupted by the greed for power.

To him, the southwest of the continent was nothing more than a large chessboard, and every human being named Beltus was a piece he could move at his whim.

In that grand game, any piece that disobeyed had to be eliminated. They were not only useless, but if they were not removed quickly, they could become daggers aimed at his throat.

Purging was essential, and a justification could always be invented.

Grand Duke Beltus was a man capable of using even his own family as tools to preserve his power.

He was completely different from Duke Duplain—strong but protective of his family—or the kind and jovial Count Belmierd.

And yet, he also loved his family.

There is no better bond to unite someone than the tie of blood.

“Denise, I have great expectations for you. And you have always met them. You have contributed enormously to House Beltus during crucial moments in the social circles of Ebelstein.”

“…”

“My dear daughter Denise, this unworthy father will always be in your debt.”

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And under the pretext of that family love, he wrapped her in his web like a spider, using her as a convenient piece.

Denise had no words to refute him.

This mansion, her luxurious life, the looks of respect… everything came from the prestige of the Beltus family.

Therefore, betrayal was not permitted.

A fleeting bond, a teacher from the slums with whom she shared a slight connection; turning her gaze away from the greatness of her family would be foolishness. It was a matter of reason, not morality.

Furthermore, Dereck had said it himself many times.

“If you want to betray me, do it.”

He knew Denise’s situation well.

He knew that betraying Beltus carelessly would be too risky for her position.

So he had told her that if she had to do it, she should do it completely.

How magnanimous he was! His kindness must not be confused with weakness.

Denise was the most insightful and sharp person in the family, and she always made the right decisions. She could be wrong in the method, but never in what proved advantageous.

“As I was ordered, I visited the Ravenclaw domain. Being a recently created territory, it still presents many deficiencies; its organizational structure is not entirely solid. It is understandable: they surely had too many concerns while founding the Ravenclaw Training Center.”

Then Denise took a deep breath and continued.

“However, in the important aspects, Baron Ravenclaw has managed everything with precision. The military system is efficient, public order is well controlled, and they apparently have measures to deal with natural disasters. At first glance, there are no obvious weaknesses that can be exploited.”

That said, she paused.

She could not show nervousness. A single drop of sweat would be enough for that fox to smell something unusual.

As always, she spoke naturally, as if she were summarizing a routine report.

In reality, Denise knew that the Ravenclaw domain was full of weak points.

No matter how meticulous Dereck was, a new territory could not be managed perfectly.

She had thought of at least a dozen ways to destabilize it: manipulating public opinion, staging fake disasters, fabricating incidents; there existed an endless number of strategies to undermine his authority.

Even so, Denise remained silent.

It was the most foolish decision she had made since becoming part of the nobility.

Why tip the scales in favor of a simple baron from the outskirts, betraying Beltus, who held the true power?

A fleeting bond. A teacher who taught her magic. Nothing more.

Grand Duke Beltus, on the other hand, was a cold and calculating man who would not hesitate to eliminate any rebellious member.

‘…’

A stupid decision. Why did she take it?

She tried to find a logical reason, but she couldn’t.

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Dereck Lydorf Ravenclaw was only a small-time provincial noble.

But he was diligent, dedicated to his training, strove to improve, was ambitious, constant, and productive.

That was all.

And yet, why couldn’t she turn her back on him?

—*Miss Denise, you are much more valuable than you think.*

A dusty underground storage room.

Those words, spoken by that indifferent man, had deeply wounded the heart of Denise, who had lived a life of being used and exploited.

“I see…”

She murmured, lowering her gaze.

Unlike her, who lived under the name of Beltus, he tried to free himself from his destiny without hesitation.

What burdened her was simply a powerful family.

What burdened him was the weight of an entire lineage and nobility.

And seeing him break those chains without fear… perhaps that influenced her more than she realized.

A teacher transmits knowledge.

A mentor transmits the meaning of life.

Without realizing it, Denise had learned a lot about life thanks to Dereck.

And then what?

Did that justify protecting him?

Once something is taught, it is enough to remember it and move on.

And yet, why did she want to be by his side?

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That man, hardworking but insignificant, could he really be worth more than the Beltus family?

A fleeting bond: how much could it be worth?

The most reliable daughter of the great Beltus family, why would she risk her authority?

[*Faced with those words, Lord Robain wept and repeated over and over: «I love you, Tracy. You are the only meaning left in my empty life». It was not the will of my family nor the difference in status that made me leave you…*]

Suddenly, the lines she had once written with her own pen pierced her heart.

Her pupils trembled.

Lord Robain was only a character in a story.

But, whether she liked it or not, characters often reflect the will of the one holding the pen.

Lord Robain, who abandoned his beloved Tracy due to the ties of nobility, resembled her all too much.

Perhaps, without realizing it, Denise had interwoven her own desire to escape the family yoke into that story.

And, on a night of a full moon, a white-haired mercenary reading the book in silence might have closed it, looked at the moon, and thought.

**Books and Literature**

Perhaps, upon reading those passages, you understood where Denise’s self-criticism came from.

That is why you may have read those words seriously, and why you allowed her to betray you.

That is why, when she left, her back seemed free of regrets.

Everything collapsed like dominoes in Denise’s heart.

She could no longer betray Dereck.

Even if he himself said it was fine, even if he accepted submitting to the will of Beltus.

None of that mattered.

It wasn’t Beltus’s decision. It was hers.

And now, she had to accept the consequences.

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“So I think I will need a little more time. To find the safest way to crush the Ravenclaw territory, I will have to carefully study some cracks…”

“I see.”

Denise tried to ensure her words didn’t raise suspicion, but the Duke interrupted her.

At that moment, she felt something strange.

She tried to hide it, but the slightest hint of emotion opened a crack.

And Grand Duke Beltus was someone who never overlooked a crack, no matter how small.

“Father…?”

At some point, the warm and familiar smile had disappeared.

The Duke’s face was as cold as marble.

The butler Alex and Robenalt already had completely rigid expressions.

They had noticed that something was wrong.

When Denise raised her eyes, she saw that the Duke was looking at her with a frigid gaze.

***

“You plan to attack Beltus.”

Baroness Pheline, lying in the guest room and still unable to overcome her hangover, barely raised her head.

Dereck, who had gone to see her early in the morning, placed some snacks on the table to alleviate her discomfort and sat in a corner.

“Ugh… Ugh…”

“…”

“What are you talking about…? Ugh… the hangover…”

“Did you drink again last night?”

“Even if it’s the house of a rural noble, the atmosphere here is great. They have liquors that aren’t even found in taverns or alleys…”

“And you drank everything they sent you as a gift for the frontier nobles?”

“You don’t even like to drink. Someone like me, who knows how to appreciate the flavor, should take care of it. That way, the liquor will be more at ease.”

Pheline raised her face, still stained with drool, sat up in bed, disheveled and yawning with a sigh.

Her clothes were so untidy that any stranger would have been embarrassed, but neither she nor Dereck cared.

For years they had treated each other with the coarse familiarity of two people accustomed to ignoring each other.

“By the way, attacking Beltus. Even I, who am already fed up with the world of nobility, have heard that name a bunch of times. They are the kind of people who do whatever they want and live large, right?”

“Yes. I am thinking of attacking them.”

“Well, I’m sure you have your reasons, Dereck. But why are you telling me this?”

“I want to ask for help, both from you and the Beldern Mercenary Corps.”

Pheline belched softly and put a hand to her temples.

“Ugh… What? Our help?”

“You don’t want to?”

“Do I look like the kind of woman who would reject the opportunity to give a legal beating to nobles?”

“I knew you were going to say that.”

Pheline smiled widely and sought confirmation.

“So, what is your plan?”

“I am going to openly attack the Beltus territory. The military force of the Ravenclaw Barony is weak, so I plan to gather reinforcements from various places. The Beldern Corps will be one of them.”

“As long as you pay old Jayden well, he’ll help you with whatever. But tell me, will there really be other forces willing to oppose a family as powerful as Beltus?”

“I plan to obtain the support of Belmierd and form an alliance with the Viscountcy of Renouel.”

“Wow, you’re taking this more seriously than I thought. But well, I don’t know much about noble matters; don’t you need some kind of reason or justification to attack other nobles?”

It was an insightful observation. But Dereck had already foreseen it.

“We will set a trap for them. We will create the necessary justification to unite the nobles and attack Beltus.”

“That’s your part, but what matters is the true reason. Why do you want to attack Beltus if they haven’t done anything to you?”

Not the public reason, but the true one.

Pheline’s words were coarse, but always direct.

After all, she had spent her entire life on the battlefield, thinking only in practical terms.

“If I stay still, Beltus will be the first to attack.”

Dereck replied in his own way.

“The Beltus family hasn’t done anything particularly wrong, at least not yet.”

They tried to ambush Pheline, but they failed and no physical proof remained.

Even so, it could not be taken lightly. Anticipating them was the most natural thing.

“They probably don’t hate me personally, and even if they were plotting something, nothing has been revealed yet. In public, they maintain a polite attitude. Their dignity remains intact and their lineage remains solid.”

“…”

“But you know me, Pheline; I am not one of those who stay still waiting for the blow to arrive.”

Dereck spoke with a cold gaze while remaining seated.

Pheline watched him, with an indecipherable expression.

“I don’t know much about nobles, but anyone who has had experience in the mercenary world knows that waiting for the enemy to cut your throat is pure stupidity. The one who draws first has the advantage, and the one who tightens the bowstring first wins.”

“…”

“I am not going to sacrifice my life just because the enemy hasn’t shown their fangs yet. That is the only reason I am attacking Beltus. Is it really that hard to understand?”

It was a preemptive strike against someone who hadn’t even revealed their true intentions.

A decision that oscillated between self-defense and malice.

How should his actions be judged?

The most rigid nobles, lovers of good customs, would consider it a recklessness and try to stop him.

“Hard to understand? No, it’s perfect.”

However, Pheline let out a laugh so wide it seemed like the corners of her lips were going to reach her ears.

That’s how she was: a woman who, at the prospect of a fight, smiled with genuine delight.