Chapter 15: with translation of chapter title

Two o'clock in the morning.

Dawn Castle.

Lady Agneth, dressed in a dark purple gown, sat properly on the bench in the reception hall, awaiting the Dawn Duke's summons.

At a time when everyone should have been asleep, many people came to the reception hall.

They were all respectable people, and the reasons for their presence here were largely the same.

People whispered to each other, exchanging the information they had obtained.

"Aaron warriors are galloping wildly through the bustling district, running over many people."

"What is this? My bathhouse is open for business, yet they still barge in to search for people? My subordinates raised a hand to block them, and their arms were chopped off."

"The barbaric Aaron people are trampling Weilan's jewel; why does the Duke not intervene?"

"Oh come on, this is the Adrian family's doing; if the Duke is going to intervene, he should first deal with that willful princess!"

Amidst the clamor of discussion, Lady Agneth remained seated motionless, like a statue.

Time passed minute by minute, and finally an attendant approached her side, whispering, "My lady, the Duke summons you."

Lady Agneth rose silently, followed the attendant, spiraled up the staircase, and passed through a corridor lined with armored guards before entering the Duke's study.

Only the Duke was in the study.

He lounged in a high-backed chair, one hand propping his forehead, his lowered face showing great fatigue.

Upon hearing the footsteps, the Duke, just past thirty and in his prime, did not lift his head.

"Anna, I knew you would come."

Lady Agneth bowed slightly to the Duke.

"Your Grace, I pay my respects, but I want to ask: what exactly is happening now? Why are Aaron's Night Guard running rampant on Weilan's land?!"

The Duke gave a soft laugh, shifted his hand from his forehead to his chin, and his emerald eyes gazed at Lady Agneth.

"Anna, you obviously know, so why bother asking?"

Lady Agneth drew a deep breath, as if suppressing her anger: "So you have made my apprentice a sacrifice? And turned your sister into a commodity?"

In fact, when Luosen went missing in the Harbor District, she knew this would happen, but she didn't expect Lede to indulge the Aaron Night Guard so much.

She had imagined the Duke capturing Luosen, then she would plead for mercy to save him, but now there is no room for maneuver.

As a mentor, she could not ignore the fact that her apprentice had been killed!

A hint of surprise appeared on the Duke's face.

"Your apprentice—do you care about him? I thought in your eyes, that young baron was merely an insignificant nobody."

Lady Agneth's face grew colder: "In terms of talent, he is indeed mediocre, but that is no reason to sacrifice him at will."

"Just like you, Your Grace, your talents may not be outstanding, yet your father did not abandon you; he insisted on bringing you back from Aaron to inherit the dukedom, rather than sacrificing you in Aaron."

Those words struck a nerve in the Duke; his face flushed visibly red.

"My father had only one son; the dukedom rightfully belongs to me."

"The founder of the Weilan Duchy is Saint Weilan, and there has been more than one female duchess in Weilan's history!"

Lady Agneth countered without mercy.

The Duke leaned back firmly against the high back of his chair, gave a cold snort, and said: "No matter what, I am now the Duke, and the situation is beyond redemption."

"Regarding your apprentice Luosen, although he brought it upon himself, I still apologize to you and will seek an opportunity to compensate for your loss of reputation."

"Furthermore, I want to congratulate you: your apprentice is not as mediocre as I imagined; he is quite clever, having played Aaron's hounds like tops."

Lady Agneth snorted coldly: "You sacrificed Luosen, then come to compensate me? Ridiculous!"

Having said that, she waved her hand forcefully, cutting off the Duke's rebuttal.

"Duke, I don't want to waste time in verbal sparring!"

"I need your authorization to summon four squads of Black-Iron Guard to rescue Luosen's life."

The Duke readily spread his hands: "I cannot give you authorization; it would provoke war between Weilan and Aaron."

Lady Agneth certainly understood this as well, and she immediately stepped back.

"If you do not support me, I will go to the Mage Guild to mobilize the Learned Knights."

The Duke smiled lazily, as if facing a rabbit baring its teeth and claws.

"Anna, I won't nod; you can't move anything."

Lady Agneth gritted her teeth: "Thanks to the honor bestowed by the Robert family, I have become one of the Mage Guild's Guardian Mages."

"As a Guardian Mage, I have the authority to forcibly conscript two squads of twenty Learned Knights!"

"So I am here to inform you, not to seek your consent."

The Duke sensed Lady Agneth's resolute will, finally realizing she intended to act, not merely come to vent her dissatisfaction.

The Duke's casual expression vanished completely; he shot up with a whoosh, bracing both hands on the desk, leaning his upper body forward, his eyes locked unblinkingly on her.

"Anna, Aaron has dispatched a full three hundred Night Guard, led by two Four-ring Battle Masters; you are essentially going to your death!"

"If you die, aside from your brother Count Robert and my foolish sister feeling grief, no one will shed a tear for you."

"People will only mock you for throwing away your life over the son of a bird-dung baron—utterly more foolish than a plow ox!"

Lady Agneth stared at the Duke, but her eye sockets reddened visibly, tears glimmering at the corners.

"Lede (note: Duke's name), I never expected that in just a few short years you would become such a cold-hearted, ruthless big shot."

The Duke sensed the softening of her will, knowing his words had taken effect.

"I would like to be merciful, but the mountaintop is truly too cold; the chilling wind has drained my fervor." Lady Agneth turned and walked away, yet her voice echoed back from the corridor.

"Rest assured, I will not summon the Learned Knights, for I will not force them to die for me."

"But I will never abandon the rescue of my apprentice, even if it costs my life!"

The Duke shouted back: "You're crazy, just like Selena—both of you are lunatics!"

Being a duke yet having no persistence, it's your incompetence!

All the capable ones are dead, you absolutely don't know how strong Aaron is!

No response, Lady Agneth has already gone away.

The duke slumped back into his chair, sat for a moment, then suddenly raised his hand and vigorously scratched his head, muttering: "Utterly unreasonable!"

At first, he just wanted to make a joke to let his sister face reality, but he couldn't understand how things had turned out this way.

After a few seconds of silence, he suddenly let out a loud shout: "Ande~~ Ande~~~"

After shouting a few times, a black-clad combat mage quickly walked into the study, expressionlessly replying: "Master, I'm here."

Ande, the personal guard of the Adrian family, commander of the Black-Iron Guard, a high-tier 20-star combat mage, and also the duke's most trusted confidant.

The duke took a deep breath and asked: "How is the situation in the city?"

Ande immediately reported: "Just ten minutes ago we received new intel saying that a false lead was found in the northern temple district, and that the carriage driver was actually under a mental suggestion."

Master Schmidt flew into a rage, on the spot uttering a holy oath, saying he would definitely drag the person out of the Harbor District and flay them alive.

The Duke felt something was off.

How does that old thing know for sure the person is in the Harbor District?

My lord, this is the divination result of the wide-area water divination.

The divination result shows that the entire Harbor District is filled with the aura of the White Sturgeon Island Baron and the Princess, which is enough to indicate the target's approximate location.

Approximate location. Then I want to ask you, where exactly did that Niao Shi Nan Jue take my sister?

Mage Ande's indifferent, wooden-carved face twitched slightly; in the deep autumn's icy cold night, beads of sweat quickly seeped from his forehead.

My lord, no one knows the exact whereabouts of the White Sturgeon Island Baron; he's hiding very well.

The Duke frowned tightly: "In other words, my sister is now in a completely uncontrolled state, to the point we can't even tell if she's alive or dead?"

Mage Ande's forehead dripped cold sweat: "My lord, His Highness is surely still alive, for the imperial bloodline has not been severed."

Trash!

Plop~

Mage Ande was pressed down by those two words and knelt on the ground.

My lord, the soldiers have done their utmost; the Aaron Night Guard also failed to find anyone.

The Duke also knew this wasn't Ande's fault; he pinched his sore forehead, exhaled, and issued a new order.

Send more personnel to the Harbor District to ensure His Highness's safety; also, have Aaron's hounds restrain themselves a bit—no more trampling people with horse hooves, and no more cutting off arms.

Yes, my lord.

Finally, send someone to detain Lady Agneth; the Harbor District is already chaotic enough—if we don't detain her, let her cause trouble, perhaps she can lead us to the missing apprentice.

But be careful—under no circumstances let her die, for she is after all Count Robert's sister.

Count Robert is the Supreme Lord of northern Shire County and also the commander of the island independence faction; his status in Weilan is extraordinary.

Yes, my lord.

Mage Ande responded again.

After a pause, he cautiously asked, "My lord, what if His Highness and Lady Agneth insist on protecting the White Sturgeon Island Baron?"

The Duke startled, thought it over, and realized this could indeed happen.

Because whether it's her sister or Lady Agneth, they both have extremely stubborn personalities—the more you pressure them, the more they resist.

That is precisely why they became close sisters.

But Aaron is determined to avenge his shame with the life of Niao Shi Nan Jue, so this situation would lead to a standoff between the Black-Iron Guard and the Aaron Night Guard.

If mishandled, once they start fighting, the situation will completely blow up.

The matter is very thorny.

The Duke gripped his scalp hard, gritted his teeth, and finally issued an order: "Knock them out and drag them back by force."

Mage Ande also gritted his teeth and actually pressed the question to the end.

My lord, what if we can't knock them out? After all, they are both outstanding high-tier mages.

This must be clarified; even if it offends the Duke, I need to get a clear answer, otherwise afterward he might be made the scapegoat.

The Duke glared hatefully at his trusted aide and spoke the answer he wanted.

Then let's blow the matter completely open, let everyone see this scene, let everyone know that they voluntarily abandoned their duties to family and to the duchy, so... so

The Duke repeated it twice in a row before finally speaking.

Then the duchy and the family will also have no obligation to protect their safety!

After saying the last sentence, the Duke exhaled as if unloading a thousand-pound burden, and weakly waved his hand at Mage Ande.

You bastard, do as I say.

Mage Ande once again regained his expressionless state.

Yes, my lord.

(End of chapter)