I Became the Wife of the Hero Who Killed Me - Chapter 133

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

#Episode 133

 

I abandoned the main road packed with crowds and immediately plunged into the back streets.

 

Snowflake, being a southern horse, was small in build and nimble in movement, effortlessly breaking through the narrow back alleys and all sorts of complex obstacles.

 

I could hear the desperate screams of Gareth and the guards behind me, but since they were following anyway, I decided it was fine.

 

I kicked the horse’s flanks harder.

 

At the end of the alley, I spotted soldiers and citizens about to collide.

 

“Everyone stop!!”

 

“…!”

 

Just before the two forces clashed, I barely managed to throw myself between them to block their path.

 

Fortunately, the citizens and Royal Guards who recognized my face stopped their movements.

 

I shouted once more.

 

“Please listen to what I have to say for a moment!”

 

“There’s nothing to hear. Those people are traitors!”

 

Just when everyone was about to listen to my words, Count Germano, who stood at the front, paid no heed and ordered an attack.

 

“And Duchess Lombard, who shields traitors, is no different from a traitor herself. All troops, follow my command!!”

 

The Count shouted for another charge.

 

However, the knights hesitated and only watched for cues instead of readily stepping forward.

 

Unlike the Count who was desperate to achieve merit, the ordinary knights had nothing to gain from attacking me, who was both imperial family and a duchess.

 

They might even face bloody revenge from Lombard.

 

Edwin’s intimidating presence protected me like an iron wall even in the Imperial Capital.

 

“Sir, perhaps it would be better to give up on Duchess Lombard….”

 

“You stupid bastard!!”

 

Was he enraged by the hesitant atmosphere?

 

Count Germano roughly struck his aide’s head.

 

“What are you all doing?! Hurry up and kill those rioters and rescue His Majesty!!”

 

“Didn’t I ask you to wait!”

 

Perhaps the Count was also afraid of Lombard’s revenge, as he couldn’t bring himself to directly touch me, and instead repeatedly struck the aide who had tried to stop him with his scabbard.

 

Several knights who couldn’t bear to watch stepped forward.

 

“Sir Martin is right. It wouldn’t be good to shed blood right now.”

 

“How about we end this by dispersing the rioters and finding and executing the ringleaders.”

 

I could guess his status from the aide’s name.

 

Unlike bureaucratic society, military organizations had lower class barriers. Among ordinary knights who weren’t at commander level, many were of commoner origin.

 

Thanks to this, I could sense their thoughts.

 

While it was true they feared Lombard behind me, those knights’ hearts seemed not much different from the citizens who had gathered in the city district.

 

They too opposed the Emperor’s conversion.

 

Moreover, unilaterally massacring citizens who weren’t enemies and weren’t even armed was an act against chivalry.

 

Then, someone screamed from within the crowd.

 

“Isn’t that your son over there!”

 

“Good heavens, Martin!!”

 

Following that, a withered elderly woman pushed through the people and came running frantically.

 

The aide who was being brutally beaten by Count Germano appeared to be her son.

 

“M-Mother….”

 

The man who was barely standing with his colleagues’ support somehow found the strength to throw away the scabbard at his waist and kneel before the woman.

 

His condition was so serious that his forehead was torn and bleeding, and his eyes were bruised black and blue.

 

The woman couldn’t say anything and just wailed while embracing her bloodied child.

 

Then the momentum of the people who had been prepared to face death noticeably subsided. They realized that the knights were just ordinary citizens too.

 

The atmosphere among the Royal Guards wasn’t much different either.

 

The hostile atmosphere between them was gradually softening.

 

Sensing that subtle flow, the Count’s eyes widened as he pointed at the sobbing mother and son.

 

“Look at this?! Someone come forward and behead those traitors! I’ll promote you two ranks!”

 

“Wait, listen to what I have to say!”

 

“Duchess, you have no right to interfere in this matter! You don’t believe His Majesty’s mercy toward you will last forever even after participating in a treason case, do you?!”

 

“….”

 

“Madam, shall I kill him?”

 

Gareth asked, seeing my expression.

 

This time I didn’t immediately object. Honestly, by my standards, I had been very patient.

 

“Damn it, if no one will step forward, I’ll take the lead! Everyone move aside!!”

 

The Count pushed away his subordinates who were trying to dissuade him and drew his sword.

 

The eyes of the citizens who had been watching the situation turned hostile again.

 

Once bloodshed begins, what follows becomes uncontrollable. Countless histories have proven that blood calls for greater blood.

 

Yet Count Germano was blinded by his desire for merit and was determined to see blood.

 

My temperament, which had been suppressed during my miserable life in a foreign land, finally made a spectacular comeback.

 

“Count, you’re really human trash. Don’t you feel anything even seeing this heartbreaking reunion of mother and son?”

 

“Wh-what are you suddenly…!”

 

“You should know when to be satisfied after your meteoric rise by selling out your sister. If you get greedy using other people’s lives as the price, your own neck might fly off first.”

 

Count Germano was originally from a humble baronial family.

 

Then his sister, Lady Perez, monopolized the Emperor’s favor and rose as a power in the imperial court, and he too was granted a count’s title.

 

It meant he was at the height of not knowing his place and acting recklessly.

 

Then I should help him come to his senses.

 

“How long do you think your current power will last? How long will you be able to preserve your life when Nigel seizes real power? He’ll go for Lady Perez’s and your necks first.”

 

“Th-this…!”

 

“Don’t act up with just one title you got by clinging to your sister’s skirts. At least distinguish whether it’s me or you who should beg for mercy.”

 

It was annoying to say such things myself.

 

But the ground I stood on was different from this bastard’s from the start.

 

I was a legitimate heir born with imperial blood, and my husband was the 18th Duke Lombard.

 

In aristocratic society, when comparing the status of families, how deep their lineage runs is important, and the Lombard family, which continued since the empire’s founding, was hard to find comparison for.

 

Therefore, I had nothing to be intimidated by this damn butcher.

 

“Isn’t that right?”

 

“This damn…!!”

 

The Count, hit right on target, impulsively raised his hand.

 

Considering my position, it was probably just an empty threat, but regardless, I didn’t even blink.

 

Instead, I struck his cheekbone with the hilt of the dagger Gareth had given me earlier.

 

“Urgh!”

 

It was exactly the same spot where I had been hit before.

 

“Ah, if you’re pissed off, try hitting me back? Go ahead and try hitting me? Great 1st generation Count? I wonder if you can preserve your life after hitting an heir to the throne?”

 

“Ugh, argh! Uaargh!!”

 

Of course, even while speaking, my hands didn’t rest.

 

Having gained new abilities by hitting corrupt officials’ heads with the edges of document files, I had developed right arm strength for relentlessly beating opponents.

 

If you looked closely with clothes off, the thickness of both arms had changed slightly too.

 

The citizens who saw me like this murmured.

 

“Wow, I’ve never heard such shocking harsh words in my life.”

 

“That… the rumors weren’t completely wrong after all, right? That tyrannical behavior.”

 

“As long as she’s on our side, it’s fine. Just pretend we don’t know.”

 

The mother and son who had been embracing and wailing were now watching the Count getting beaten right next to them with interested eyes.

 

The Royal Guards just flailed their arms pretending to stop me.

 

Perhaps because they had experience coordinating with me and the ministers before, their acting skills had improved even more.

 

“Oh no, you mustn’t do this!”

 

“Please stop!”

 

Even while flailing their arms, not even a fingertip touched my body.

 

This was because Gareth and the guards were standing beside me like an iron wall.

 

They were glaring with wide eyes, watching intently to see if the Royal Guards’ hands would touch my body.

 

“Well done!”

 

“Hit him more, more!!”

 

The citizens also whistled excitedly upon seeing the Count getting beaten.

 

The Emperor had built a dizzyingly luxurious villa for Lady Perez, and bought her all kinds of luxury goods and gold and silver treasures from foreign countries.

 

Of course, he had also bestowed excessive wealth upon her brother, Count Germano.

 

The citizens, who were already suffering under heavy taxes, hated the siblings who increased their burden day by day.

 

So seeing him getting beaten up so thoroughly like this couldn’t help but be satisfying.

 

It was just when the people’s mood was about to lighten considerably.

 

Suddenly screams erupted from the rear. The Imperial Army surrounding Vittorio’s carriage had drawn their swords.

 

“E-everyone get away!”

 

“Aaaah…!”

 

The citizens who belatedly realized the situation cried out, but it was already too late.

 

The Elite Forces, having formed ranks, swung their swords without hesitation. People who couldn’t dodge in time were struck by swords and fell helplessly.

 

A massacre was about to begin.

 

‘No.’

 

It was the moment I threw down Count Germano’s collar and was about to run in that direction.

 

A low, controlled voice cut across the city district.

 

“Sheathe your swords!”

 

I quickly turned my head. Edwin had finally arrived.

 

Behind him stood the Council Representatives under the escort of Lombard Knights, and the middle-aged lady at the front was a familiar face to me as well.

 

Duchess Barbara, the eldest daughter of Grand Duke Heidelberg and representative of the nobility.

 

Beside her stood the clergy representative and the commoner representative side by side.

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