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『The River Where the Sun Manoeuvres』 was a novel that runs at a very slow pace.
It was not an exceptional piece with a stimulating taste or an excellent development, yet it made people curious about what was behind it.
I would always wait for the next part every day. As I had read it until the middle, I knew each character’s situation in the novel.
Especially the personal history of the main character, Prince Wilhelm, was emphasized so often that it was boring to even mention it.
A man who tried to overcome his limitations and climbed to the top.
A man who loved only one woman among all the beauties in the stream.
A man who searched for his sister who was separated as a child.
A man who stood up against his dark past and tried to change the empire along with his comrades.
He was an obvious and honest man, so I couldn’t even hate him.
But what about Duke Richton Ingord?
Amid the extreme conflict in the novel, the past of the arch-enemy Richton Ingord was still hidden in the veil.
All that can be inferred from the situation and dialogue was that Duke Richton wanted revenge, aiming his blade against Prince Wilhelm and the Emperor. The future I knew was the story from the present to three years at best.
Until then, it would be hard to survive unless I dig into the secret of the duke and Ingord.
Of course, there was no guarantee that knowing would save her life.
“Susan, you don’t look very well today. Aren’t you pushing yourself too hard?”
“Well, not at all. This is nothing compared to yesterday.”
“Really? No matter how much I look at you, you look like a moving corpse.”
I knew that my answer and the actual appearance were quite different. My reflection in the mirror was like that of a ghost. Even at a glance, my complexion looked worse than yesterday.
Nevertheless, I felt much better. After experiencing the strange happenings at dawn, the pain that restrained my whole body had become ridiculously light.
I still threw up blood and felt dizzy, but that was it. At that time, the effect of an unknown liquid flowing into my mouth was evident.
“Reina.”
“Hmm?”
“Imagine if a man came to your room at dawn.”
“What? What are you saying all of a sudden? Do you have a problem within your head, too?”
Reina, the maid who was brushing off the bed sheet, crumpled her face.
“The man fed you something, and the next day, you are perfectly cured of a disease you never thought would heal. What do you think?”
“You’re not very popular either. Are you talking about yourself?”
“No, I just had that dream.”
Reina straightened her back after tidying the canister [1] with sweets.
“It must be a good dream. It’s a relief that you’ll get better from a deadly sickness.”
“I didn’t ask you to interpret. I asked you about the man.”
“The man? Let me think about it. He came to give you medicine because he must be sorry that you’re suffering. He also secretly visited in the dark
 Hmm. Maybe he wanted to hide his identity.”
I didn’t remember the voice, but the impression when I heard it was clear. Despite my hazy mind, she certainly thought it was Duke Richton.
If I ever thought of it, I’d think it was just nonsense. He was the man who didn’t kill me because of interesting reasons.
There’s no way he would do that.
“If it’s not a dream but a reality, it’ll be a shame. There’s no guarantee that it was cured in the first place. It might be okay for a second, or it might not be better because of the man. But why is this so important?”
“It’s not, I just felt a little uncomfortable with my dream.”
“If you’re so curious, why don’t you ask him the next time you meet? Pray to the heavens to let you meet him before you lie in bed.”
I and Reina went down the stairs, carrying the bedsheets and curtains that needed washing.
They only served the duke, as there was no duchess or an elder, but there was always a lot of work to do.
“From this afternoon, Marie and I will help clean the annex. You’d better do some chores here since you’re not feeling well.”
In her words, I looked through the first-floor window and looked at the annex building behind the house.
It was a mansion that I had never been in after staying here for a month.
“Who lives in the annex?”
“The master’s guest.”
I remembered hearing that a guest living in an annex was a young woman of my age.
The young lady of the duke and the annex who would never bleed a drop of blood

Considering the rumor that he fought with Prince Wilhelm over a woman, it was a realistic combination.
But was Duke Richton capable of love? It was hard to imagine.
“Do you know who the guest is?”
“I only know that she’s from a great noble family. At first, everyone thought she was going to be the Duchess
 but I don’t think that’s the case since she’s almost neglected.”
“Is that possible? She is a guest.”
“I heard she was left in Ingord by herself. We don’t know the details either, but His Excellency didn’t force her out.”
Well, since a maid was just an employee of the mansion, they wouldn’t be able to know the details of the internal affairs unless they were a vassal.
Reina handed the laundry in her care and left the house.
The lights, leading to the annex, moved past the meadow and were swaying with the wind. I shook my head like a habit, feeling dizzy from the aftermath of the poison.
I felt someone’s gaze among the knights of Ingord, fooling around in the middle of the back garden. A man as tall as Duke Richton, who was also caught similarly as me, was the knight that dragged me out of Triviache.
I instantly felt unpleasant and turned my eyes away.
The wound that I got after defying the man still lingered inside my mouth, and I had been feeling pain every time she chewed on my food. I didn’t want to keep running into him.
***
Berkne came to me late at night when the sun was down.
“Susan.”
There must have been a good reason for him to visit my bedroom. I had to follow him up to the maneuvering office while I was trying to change.
I changed my clothes and followed him to the Duke’s office.
“You look pretty good.”
Should I tell Berkne about what happened at dawn?
However, it would not be good to lean on him when I had to run away someday. I nodded lightly.
“I’m okay now. Maybe it’s because I was nervous back then.”
“It will be beneficial for you to hold on with your own strength. Try to keep that face in front of the duke.”
“Don’t show my pain? I’ll try.”
Don’t show any pain when you were poisoned. Not even a tyrant would ask this.
At my question, Berkne only creased his forehead, but neither denied nor confirmed.
“The glass bottle is fine. But more than that
you should be careful. I don’t know about Wilhelm’s dogs, but His Excellency does not enjoy his vassals’ sufferings. If you can’t overcome the poison, ask the duke for help. I’ll gladly give you some painkillers.”
“What’s the point of asking for it when it won’t work?”
As he climbed the stairs with a lantern in one hand, Berkne glanced at me with a blunt expression.
“The duke is very kind, but keep in mind that he is not kind enough to explain every single detail.”
It seemed like the duke he was referring to was not Richton Ingord. (T/N: She is sarcastic)
He’s not in his right mind, but the duke I know was certainly not kind. They witnessed the end of the youngest master together, but how could Berkne say that? It was hard for me to accept his argument.
“The problem is that the unexplained factor may be the most lethal. “
Turning the handle of the office door, Berkne spoke in a low voice as if whispering.
“So if he offers you something, you have to think about it at least once, because you might regret it for the rest of your life.”
It was some kind of advice I shouldn’t take lightly. As the door opened, she followed Berkne and walked inside where the duke was waiting.
“Your Excellency. I brought Susan as you ordered.”
The duke raised his head, squinting his eyes as if he was looking at something. Even though it was a face I had seen before, I felt an unfamiliar odd feeling that was hard to define. Was the man at dawn really the duke?
“There’s something you need to do, Susan.”
If you’re a dog, you should follow whatever the owner orders you to do. I pretended to be confident and kept my head up.
“What would that be?”
“It’s neither easy nor difficult. Be a woman of noble descent and follow me to the banquet.”
I needed to be a noblewoman. It’s too vague of a command. Above all, I was embarrassed that I had to attend the banquet with him.
“Do I have to imitate a particular person?”
“You don’t have to. They don’t exist anyway
.”
Quaang!
At that moment, the huge window behind the duke trembled because of a sudden explosion. Behind the back garden where the galaxy arched the night sky, some of the buildings collapsed, causing a cloud of massive dust to fall.
“What 
?”
Quaang!
The roar echoed again. It wasn’t big enough to resonate the ground, but it was enough to sober one up. The source of the explosion was crystal clear. Over the window, the upper left side of the annex collapsed in half and burned.
Unlike me, who backed off in amazement, the duke’s reaction was calm. He didn’t lose his composure as if his ears were blocked and his eyes were closed. Berkne’s reaction was also a little odd. I couldn’t take my eyes off the window while he(berkne) was busy keeping an eye on the duke.
As he was busy watching the duke, I was the only one who couldn’t take my eyes off the window.
Black smoke rose above the sky and merged with the clouds. It was reminiscent of Triviache, which collapsed helplessly in the blazing fire.
“Berkne. “
“I’m sorry. I’ll take care of it.”
“No, I’ll go. You’re too gentle on them.”
The duke, who twisted something on the paper, pushed the chair to his feet. Without knowing why, I followed the two in the back garden.
How can the reaction be so futile?
There was no tension from the duke as if he had expected it or as if it were a common occurrence.
However, it was clear that the profile of Berkne, who chased after him, was firmly entrenched. Many people have gathered in the annex to extinguish the fire. Perhaps due to the knights and maids, the flames had obviously weakened compared to when the first heavy explosion was heard.
“Your Excellency.”
“Bring Kean. “
As soon as the knight’s face, which was covered with black ashes, confronted the duke, he turned pale as if he saw the Grim Reaper. Soon after, a knight with red hair ran from afar like the setting sun. It was the same knight who stood next to Berkne in Triviache.
Like the five knights that followed, the face of the man called Kean had a rather dismal touch. The difference was that he was intuitive and ready to accept his punishment.
“Kean.”
“I’m sorry. “
“I can’t believe it can be so useless. I can’t even laugh anymore.”
“I’m sorry.”
Are they the main culprits behind the explosion of the annex?
Everything flowed so quickly and swiftly that it was hard to understand. The duke, who had been quiet for a while, opened his mouth and spoke in a placid voice as if he was reciting. His platinum hair was dyed red due to the ill omen.
“There’s no such thing as playtime here. I’ll give you a choice, who will you choose?”
“It’s my mistake. I’m
”
Blood splattered along with a sudden noise.