For the heart - Chapter 53

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 53

 

Casian’s head tilted at an angle.

 

His red eyes turned coldly as he looked at Duke Blanche who was sneering.

 

A tense atmosphere formed between the two.

 

“Duke Blanche.”

 

It was Nina’s voice that cut through that tension.

 

“Yes, Princess.”

 

“Duke Montregger has come to Arsed with the status of a prince. He is graciously using his precious abilities for my sake. I will not tolerate any further rudeness. I swear on the name of Arsed.”

 

She had never shown dignity as the Princess of Arsed, though she might have as the Knight Commander.

 

There had been almost no one who treated her as a princess until now, and Nina herself had never done anything from the position of a princess.

 

But now, Nina was speaking to Duke Blanche as the Princess of Arsed.

 

Her straight shoulders and firmly upright spine, and the cold gaze looking at the duke who was being rude, revealed that she was the person in power in this place with just that alone.

 

Duke Blanche, Cesare, looked at Nina who was openly pointing out his rudeness, his eyes sparkling.

 

It was the appearance he had fallen for long ago.

 

This might be Nina’s first time seeing Duke Blanche, but it wasn’t for him.

 

When his father was alive, Cesare, who was the youngest of four brothers, had belonged to the Blanche Duchy Knights until his brothers died one by one.

 

The first time he encountered Nina was when he was dispatched to the battle between the Six Small Nations, who were allies, and Arsed.

 

When he was captured by the Arsed Knights after losing the battle.

 

Cesare had thought his life would end there.

 

“Commander, this is a hostage captured from the enemy camp. He’s a knight dispatched from the Blanche Duchy.”

 

He met Nina’s eyes while kneeling with his hands and feet bound.

 

The moment she lowered her body to meet his eyes, her pale white face marked with drops of blood, his heart beat loudly for the first time in his life.

 

Even though death was right before him, he couldn’t take his eyes off the woman in front of him.

 

Even her emotionless and quiet voice felt like it was piercing his soul.

 

“There won’t be a second time. Go back and tell them. If you dispatch knights to the Six Small Nations’ battles one more time, I’ll swear on Nina Arsed’s name to turn the Blanche Duchy into ruins first.”

 

Her beautiful blue eyes flashed with a blade-like, chilling light.

 

She was Arsed’s cold sword that everyone feared, but Duke Blanche had his heart stolen by such an appearance of hers.

 

Cesare, who had saved his life, returned to the duchy territory and tried to persuade his father the king, but he stubbornly refused to abandon his faith with the Six Small Nations.

 

But that year a plague spread, and his elderly father and eldest brother died, then the second and third brothers died in succession the following year.

 

Having inherited the throne this way, he voluntarily became a vassal state of Arsed and received the duke title, demanding the matter he wanted.

 

Duke Blanche did not regret his choice.

 

The look in Nina Arsed’s eyes that he had seen then seemed like she would definitely unify the entire continent.

 

And as time passed, they had come to sit face to face again.

 

There was no need to go against Nina’s mood. An insincere apology was an easy thing.

 

“I must have gotten excited about serving the Princess. Please forgive my rudeness, Duke Montregger.”

 

Casian gritted his teeth at his apology.

 

He had never been ashamed of coming to Arsed as a hostage, but the fact that he was humiliated in front of Nina and received an apology through Nina’s mediation was humiliating.

 

He was newly reminded that without power, he could suffer such humiliation even from a mere duke.

 

A cracking bone sound flowed from Casian’s tightly clenched fist.

 

* * *

 

That evening.

 

Nina walked with Duke Blanche, who offered to escort her to the annex.

 

During their conversation while walking, Nina felt that he was an intelligent person and that he had tremendous goodwill toward her.

 

But her thoughts about him only went that far.

 

Nina’s mind was filled only with Casian’s face, which had been spreading with humiliation.

 

* * *

 

The next morning, Nina opened her eyes to see maids and attendants lined up outside the door waiting to serve her.

 

She had seen them doing this yesterday too, so she opened the door just in case…

 

“I don’t need help, so don’t worry about it and go do your work.”

 

“The Duke ordered us to serve you so that you wouldn’t have any inconvenience.”

 

“If you need anything, please tell us anything.”

 

Is this the kind of treatment a princess originally receives?

 

Since yesterday evening, it had been excessively devoted to be called courtesy for a foreign princess.

 

Moreover, when she saw the wardrobe in the room filled with dresses, shoes, and luxurious ornaments, even her mood became strange.

 

“You may use anything here. Whatever you choose would suit you very well, Princess.”

 

The maid who guided the dressing room spoke with sparkling eyes.

 

Then she went on to explain how fine the material of the dresses was, that they were works by the most famous designer in the duchy, and that the gems used were so precious that they would be hard to obtain even in Arsed.

 

But Nina just half-listened.

 

Yesterday, when she came out wearing simply prepared pants and a shirt, leaving behind all those dresses, the maids, servants, and attendants all had disappointed faces.

 

Today too, when she came out of the room looking no different from yesterday, those who were standing by dropped their shoulders.

 

“Did the dresses not please you, Princess?”

 

“There’s no reason for me to wear someone else’s dresses here, and I’m going back to Arsed today, so cumbersome clothes would only be uncomfortable. I’m grateful for your consideration, but these clothes are sufficient for me.”

 

“The Duke will be very disappointed…”

 

She heard a small voice flowing from behind, but Nina ignored it.

 

Duke Blanche couldn’t have prepared all this for her, whom he met for the first time yesterday.

 

Nina headed to the main castle with the attendant’s guidance.

 

In the distance, she could see Casian and Duke Blanche.

 

And in front of them, about twenty bound people were kneeling.

 

Duke Blanche, who saw Nina, looked disappointed at Nina’s appearance, which was the same as yesterday, just as the maid had said.

 

But he soon shook it off and explained the situation.

 

“These are the ones captured last night. They’re the bastards who ambushed the Princess.”

 

To think they really brought back those ambushers. It was still surprising to think about.

 

Nina looked around at those kneeling and her eyes widened.

 

They were all wearing black clothes, but only one was wearing knight’s attire.

 

And it was the uniform of Arsed’s knighthood at that.

 

“Lift your head.”

 

Nina approached him directly and commanded.

 

It was because he was covering his face with a black mask.

 

But he did not lift his head.

 

“Just kill me, please.”

 

“…Is that so?”

 

At his words, Nina gripped her sword with an expressionless face.

 

Swoosh―!

 

“Hiik―!”

 

The sharp blade instantly passed by the man’s nose tip.

 

The thin black cloth that had been covering his face was sliced horizontally while caught on his ear.

 

Flutter, a triangular piece of cloth fell onto his knees, revealing his lower jaw.

 

Not a single drop of blood formed on the man’s face where the sword had passed. It was because her sword had only cut the mask.

 

The man’s body trembled slightly, his eyes wide with shock.

 

Casian and Duke Blanche watched her silently.

 

Yesterday at the banquet hall, she was Arsed’s dignified princess. And now she was Arsed’s foremost commander, the Cold Sword.

 

Duke Blanche looked completely smitten with her, like someone who couldn’t help but fall for whatever she did.

 

His sparkling eyes were even more intense than yesterday at the banquet hall.

 

Casian chuckled in disbelief at Duke Blanche.

 

‘Both Bern and Duke Blanche.’

 

Why did the men standing beside her all have the same expression?

 

At the end of that displeased feeling, Casian suddenly recalled his own appearance from not long ago.

 

His own appearance when he had been mesmerized watching her break through the magic dome in Nortanica, kick off the ground and soar up like an elegant bird over the moat, her short blonde hair disheveled as she instantly smashed through the palace gate.

 

His brow furrowed as he thought he must have had the same expression as them.

 

“Tern Puaco?”

 

Nina’s voice brought Casian back to reality. Casian’s attention turned back to her.

 

After confirming the man who was trying desperately to hide his face with the cut mask, Nina recognized exactly who he was.

 

Tern Puaco.

 

He was Count Puaco’s nephew.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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