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Where Water Flows (4)
Translated by Wook
Edited by Wook
Instead of asking what was going on, Elisha checked the situation with her own eyes.
Behind the Duke and Rohan, who were facing each other, each with knights following them, was a group of servants kneeling

Elisha was also familiar with those who were treated as criminals by Rohan’s 1st Knights, whose hands were tied behind their back.
They were the people who were inciting the crowd earlier.

 Well, what is going on here?
Then Elisha turned her gaze to the men who were treated harshly by the knights of Duke Verdin.
Ah!
It was the man who was thrown before Elisha back at the plains and almost died!
Along with ordinary commoners who were covered in tears and a runny nose.
“Haa.”
It was then that Elisha realized what had happened.
A knight he had left with Jonathan came running with his tongue out, and Duke Verdin, who was returning to the Duke’s Castle, almost lost his mind when he saw a report.
He hurriedly turned the carriage back to Vecchia Plain. When he arrived, the carriage of the 2nd Empress still stood on the spot before, with thousands of commoners surrounding it and wept bitterly.
And those commoners were praising the 2nd Empress.
None of them died, water veins were stamped all over the plains, and water spewed out from the new cracks inside.
The 2nd Empress, who had done all of this even by vomiting blood, was lying in that wagon, so this situation was natural.
The Duke was also amazed.
He knew that the 2nd Empress would be all right, but he didn’t know the situation would grow to be like this.
It cannot be left unattended.
Even if it would seem too much, he had to make a stain in this warm atmosphere.
He played with the 2nd Empress without getting any results, therefore he could not tolerate the 2nd Empress receiving all the good stuff alone.
The Duke ordered his knights to capture those who dared to threaten and oppress the Imperial family.
Thousands of people were ripped apart, and those close to the carriage were captured.
If it hadn’t been for Rohan to run up to the panicking crowd, the situation would’ve grown even worse.
The confrontation between the two began in this way. As darkness fell and danger was everywhere, they disbanded the crowd except for those captured, and returned to the Duke’s Castle before they continued again.
“They deserve punishment because they threatened the safety of the Imperial family and committed disloyalty!”
“Do not mislead the truth. They are just ordinary people who want to be favored and the people whom the Duke should protect. The real sinner is the group of people who have done something disrespectful with a clear purpose.”
Rohan wasn’t rude, he was just right up to that point.
His soft, auburn eyes were strict, and his stubborn lips were tightly shut.
As his well-groomed face hardened, there was a sense of indescribable intimidation.
The Duke’s eyes shook.
“Count Scherzer! Do you intend to surpass my authority now? This is the Duchy and they are my subjects. Whether you disagree with my judgment, ask His Majesty the Emperor for the injustice you think you suffer from later!”
Of course, at that time, everything will be finished and there will be nothing to dig up properly, and even if there is, it will be finished in an arbitration line in consideration of His Majesty’s face.
While talking, the Duke swept down his wrinkled mouth with his hand.
His eyes are dull.
But he is still the Duke.
His presence as one of the three major dukes of the Empire was not far behind Rohan, the knight of the Empire.
Before the tension between the two of them could be ripped apart, Elisha stepped up.
“I heard that those captured by the Duke threatened the Imperial family and committed disloyalty. Isn’t this treason? Treason is a serious crime in which three direct generations will be punished. Wouldn’t it be overkill if the Duke of the territory himself takes care of it?”
Elisha shuffled between the two of them and stood with Rohan behind her as if protecting him and faced Duke Verdin.
Rohan was at a loss for words as her slender shoulders and skinny back stood in front of him.
But he had no intention of stopping.
The 2nd Empress was someone who had proven her self-worth and abilities.
If she wanted to be protected, he would treat her as Barossa’s lady, but if she didn’t, he would go with her choice.
But apart from that, it was still night and the 2nd Empress had fainted with blood and had just woken up.
Rohan took off his robe and put it on Elisha’s shoulder.
The clothes that Elisha put on in a hurry were too thin and light.
Elisha was not surprised by the sudden warmth.
With Rohan behind her back, she was safe.
Elisha grabbed the front hem of the robe that was draped over her shoulders, squeezing it with her hands to keep it from falling, and asked the Duke, who was staring at her.
“Don’t you think so?”
“Hmm.”
The Duke spared no answer.
Elisha didn’t get it wrong. Treason is an indispensable word that can somehow be intertwined with anything.
Speaking of, his underlings who were tasked to interfere with the 2nd Empress’s event who had been caught

Rohan’s hands had caught his messy deeds, and the 2nd Empress was speaking of treason. If he took even just one wrong step, he didn’t know what kind of cliff he was going to fall down from!
For some reason, the more he made a choice to improve something, the more he seemed to fall into the abyss. Therefore, the Duke gritted his teeth.
Then Elisha suggested.
“How about this? The Duke’s arrests were unlucky and not your fault, so let us release them, and take away those captured by Sir Rohan and the 1st Knights, who committed treason the Duke has suspected.”
The Duke’s eyes widened.
“Will that be alright?”
“Why not? The event at the Vecchia Plain was a success without any problems thanks to Sir Rohan. At the end of the day, the people may have been a little too excited, and the Duke was overly concerned, but I believe he will read the situation well in the end without misunderstanding.”
If he answered, it would be like acknowledging today’s event and paving the way for the 2nd Empress’s first steps, however, not doing it made less sense

“
 As you said, Your Majesty.”
“Those ungrateful people do not belong to the Duchy, so a fair judgment is possible, right? Please let us know of the results afterwards. Since Sir Rohan was the one who captured them, Sir Rohan has the rights.”
“It will be done.”
Elisha walked past the Duke, nodding lightly as if she had thought well of the Duke, who was trembling with his fists trembling.
As the knights of the Duke family reluctantly retreated, she took a look at the commoners, who looked more like beggars.
Elisha frowned at them, who were still weeping.
“Too noisy. Stop crying.”
“Hiiyyy!”
Some of those startled by her voice hiccuped.
Then, Elisha, who was about to leave, turned to the Duke.
“It’s late.”
“Are you going to even prepare a place for them to sleep?”
“Aren’t there people waiting for them at home? Why don’t you have mercy on them so they can go with something in their hand?”
When the Duke’s butler, who had white hair and a mustache, saw the situation, he handed Elisha a bag full of money out of nowhere.
Elisha then threw it at the man who had fallen in front of her in Vecchia.
“Share it among you and you better not be greedy.”
“Yes? Yes! Yes, Your Majesty!”
The man, Thompson, bowed his head and shouted loudly.
“If there is a problem with today’s work, even in the future, send a call to Sir Rohan in the capital. Then it will be resolved.”
This is a warning to the people of the Duke, not to the commoners whom she was talking to.
It may not be easy for commoners to communicate with the capital, but there is nothing impossible as long as they have the will.
Thompson and the others were about to make noise again, so Elisha waved her hand.
Elisha, who was guided by the butler, straightened out the people’s crumpled bodies and watched them leave the Duke’s Castle, before motioning with her chin to the 1st Knights.
The group that Perry had captured was handed over to the knights of the Dukes.
“Ah, seriously!”
Miller, who had a quick temper, felt regret.
“Are we finished here now?”
“If there’s more to do, you can take care of it, Duke.”
Hearing Elisha’s reply, the Duke took a long breath to maintain his composure.
He was usually calm, and it was unfamiliar for him to be cornered like this.
The Duke disappeared with his subordinates with a brief greeting, saying that he must pay back the 2nd Empress who made him realize the things he didn’t know.
“Even if we take those people in, we can’t take them to another territory for questioning, and even if we send them to the capital, there’s a lot of procedure, so we’d have to leave it to the Duchy anyway.”
“Oh, so it’s like this!”
Miller realized it too late and opened his eyes wide.
“And one more thing, since the Duke was persuaded to make a just judgment and he gave off a feeling that he would check the matter thoroughly, no matter how those people belong to him, the Duke will not be able to overlook it. He will surely punish and kill them, but what will the other subordinates who see it think?”
They’d think that the master does nothing for their colleagues.
Even if it doesn’t have a big impact right away, nobody knows how it will change in the future.
Rohan stared silently as Elisha explained to Miller.
His Majesty the Emperor considers a lot of things when making decisions, but he never tells others why he did it.
On the other hand, the 2nd Empress is secretive, but if you ask, she will explain.
Besides, doesn’t that look like comforting Miller.
“I don’t know if she’s like His Majesty, or if they’re very different.”
Anyway, the clothes were too big.
Rohan smiled unconsciously as he saw the silver-haired woman walking around buried deep in his coat.
When Elisha realized that she was not feeling well and that the 3rd Prince was still waiting, she hurried to clean up.
***
Late night.
The first couple, Patrick and his wife, were called to the Duke’s office.
There wasn’t a loud noise, but when they both came out, their complexions were so pale that they looked like they were going to faint at any moment.
“So, why did you do that?”
Although the aristocrat usually values his face and he usually acts obediently to his wife, at the moment, Patrick was looking at his wife, who is usually more capable than him.
Anne bit her lower lip tight when he gave her a scolding in a shameful tone.
“How could you
”
“Father finds us even more unsightly while Jonathan did all the good things because of you. He already ignored me so much back then, and even after you stepped in, it didn’t turn out for the better, did it?”
Patrick, who seemed to have accumulated a lot of stuff, said he had to drink alcohol, and disappeared with his short body that even the wind could blow over.
Anne stood there as if stuck in the place left alone, unable to move for a long time.
“Cih! Fine then. Fine!”
***
After pouring a bottle of alcohol into his mouth and flirting with the maids, who were not known for their arrogance, and lifted their skirts, Patrick went around in search of the escapees until he reached the concourse.
“What’s this? Where are you guys?”
Blinking his eyes and scanning the dimly lit central hall, Patrick only realized when he saw a familiar lion statue.
“Aaah! That’s the thing Father considers more dignified than his son! That’s it. Haha!”
Patrick, who was laughing, suddenly became quiet.
Belatedly, he saw a black shadow standing next to the lion statue.
W-What?
Surprised Patrick tried to calm himself and looked closely

It was a woman who looked beautiful even when he looked at her through his blurry eyes.
Her hair, shining silver in the moonlight
 reminds him of someone.
Who was it again?
As Patrick moved closer, he stiffened.
“Hiiiyyy!”
He had noticed that something was strange, but then
 Her feet!
The figure has no feet!
The woman was looking down at himself with her body floating in the air.
“A- A ghost!”
Patrick swung his arm around and dropped the bottle, then his foot slipped on the spill.
Kwadang!
His body was thrown to the floor with a loud sound.
Then it was dark.
“Tsk.”
He couldn’t hear the disgusting click of the tongue that fell over him.