If I Disobey the Duke Chapter 4

Castle of the Monster (2.1)

An iron harpoon pierced through the mercenary's temple and the carriage, causing it to crash. The man didn't even have the chance to scream, and blood trickled down his head where the weapon was still stuck.

“Ugh… ah…”

Lily was crushed by the reality that she couldn't do anything while she was frozen in fear.

Her legs gave out and she collapsed, making a strange noise between a moan and a whimper. The harpoon that went through the carriage flew back in the direction it came from as it was plucked out forcibly from the vehicle's walls.

“T-The carriage is falling!”

Upon her nanny's screams, Lily lifted her head to see the carriage falling down towards her as it cast a large shadow over her petite frame.

At that moment, someone on a black horse jumped in to protect her. A deafening sound of rattling chains reverberated throughout the surroundings.

Under the faint moonlight, Lily could barely distinguish his silhouette from the dark forest. All  she could make out was a man in black armor on a huge black horse with a luxurious mane.

It even seemed that his figure absorbed all the light around him so he could remain in the darkness.

Holding a long chain in one hand and wrapping it around the wheels of the carriage, the man looked like the depictions of the Lord of Hell jumping out of the abyss.

“With one hand, the carriage…”

Lily felt some relief at the soft murmurs of her nanny.

The black horse bulged with muscles like its master, who was quite literally single-handedly supporting the carriage's weight.

The horse snorted in excitement and took a few steps back as the man swung the carriage to the other side of the forest. The crash echoed loudly

The sound of the carriage crashing to the other side of the forest echoed loudly, the horses that had also fallen neighing painfully.

Just like he was on a battlefield, he turned his head, meeting eyes with Lily. His bright-red eyes stared through her soul. She could hear her own heartbeat pounding in her ears and feel her mouth go dry as if she was going to be consumed by him.

The eerie atmosphere was thick and heavy with tension.

It was her nanny's cheers that saved Lily from the long, unrelenting eye contact.

“Woo… Woohoo!”

Lily hurriedly turned to the sound. Her nanny could not even meet Lily's gaze and grabbed the carriage that had fallen over for support.

Her jaw dropped.

What just happened? 

Trembling like a leaf, she looked again at the mercenary who had grabbed hair a while ago. The harpoon-pierced head was too horrendous to look at even in the darkness.

“Hah.”

There was a large puddle of blood nearby, and Lily covered her mouth, the realization that she had just seen a man die in front of her finally sinking in.

It wouldn't have been strange if she fainted at that moment.

However, Lily crawled away from the corpse, enduring the nausea.

“More are coming!” a mercenary cried out as the sound of galloping horses rumbled closer and closer.

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Knights jumped out of the darkness and surrounded the mercenaries instantly with their swords in their hands. The man who saved Lily, appearing to be their superior, jumped down from his horse and glanced at the knights.

“Lord, who are these guys?  I thought it was a monster because it suddenly ran this way.”

Lily's eyes flashed.

If he's a Lord… 

“Are you perhaps… my husband?”

Silence fell instantly.

Lily stood up slowly, keeping her eyes on him. His figure caught her eye.

His helmet obscured his entire face, but the rest of his armor accented his body. Broad shoulders and a solid chest underneath his pauldrons and breastplate, tapering into a narrow waist. Maybe his long limbs made him look so slim despite the bulky armor.

“My husband, Duke Vladislav de Winter, right… Agh!”

The roar of the monster sounded closer than it was and Lily reflexively curled in on herself and covered her ears. Chills ran down her spine as she scratched her skin against a sharp rock

After the sounds of the monster stopped, a deep voice spoke up.

“Protect my wife under my name. I'll go for the monster.”

Due to the armor, the voice sounded even deeper. Being in front of him, Lily felt like she was drowning.

“We understand.”

She blushed when the knights raised their weapons.

“W-wait!” Lily hurriedly went up to him, the traumatic incident forgotten in an instant as another thought became more urgent. “Are you going alone? The monster must have known that people are going after it. It's absurd to go alone…”

She trembled.

On the day she was supposed to go to her husband's estate, a dangerous monster appeared.

Cursed woman. 

The words the mercenaries shouted kept revolving around her head.

True, Lily's stomach felt uncomfortable because she was afraid of the situation. However, this type of fear was insignificant compared to being widowed for a third time.

She couldn't understand the nonchalance of the knights, as opposed to her own anxiety.

“Why aren't you stopping the duke? Knights, are you not worried about him?”

A moment of silence passed. Lily was sure that she didn't say anything out of place, but the atmosphere seemed weird.

“You're worried.” It was the low-pitched voice again.  There seemed to be a shallow laugh attached to the end of his sentence.

“Wait in the room. I'll be back.”

The duke turned the horse in the opposite direction, gripping the reins. “Talin, ride with her,” he said, glancing at the knights.

He disappeared into the darkness before Lily could say anything. The sound of his horse galloping quickly faded away.

Chapter end