Chapter Eight

Amidst the chaos, Ada and Ayla raced to try and rescue me.

Rodrigo snatched me up and kicked off the walls three times, bringing me to the second floor.

“What was that?” What a great technique. I should learn that! As I asked this with sparkling eyes, Rodrigo’s eyes crinkled.

“It’s magic,” he said.

Oh, no wonder… I knew those movements were superhuman.

The Kartinas were very skilled, but unfortunately, they didn’t have any magical powers. Rodrigo and I stood next to each other and watched my siblings run up the stairs toward us.

“I’ve always thought this, but you Kartinas are really something.”

Unlike the downstairs hall that was filled with green smoke, the air on the second floor was clear.

“Are you making fun of us?” I asked Rodrigo.

“No, I’m just impressed.”

Nah, that sounded like he was making fun of us.

“Estella! Where are you, Estella?” My siblings shouted.

“What did that rat bastard do to you? Is he blackmailing you, Estella? I’ll tear you apart, Rodrigo! Give me back my sister right this second!” This was followed by a series of expletives and threats so nasty that I felt like washing out my ears.

“I feel like I made the wrong decision.” Rodrigo said, arms crossed as he listened to the cursing. “I have a feeling that I’m closer to death than ever.”

There’s no way… right? I let out an awkward laugh but had to admit he was right only a few days later.

***

[Recently, the Kartinas sent bombs to destroy the eastern manor on my property. Thanks to you, we no longer need to demolish that building. I would like to express my gratitude.]

“What are you doing, Your Grace?” The expression on Gunther’s face was one of unease as he questioned Rodrigo.

Rodrigo took his pen off the paper, looking up for a moment. “Can’t you see that I’m writing? If you’re tired, go home and rest.”

“I may not be in my right mind right now, but it is not because I am tired.” Gunther unfolded a newspaper and placed it on Rodrigo’s desk.

The letter Rodrigo had been writing was covered completely.

“A Modern Romeo & Juliet: Is There Any Hope for the Love that Blossomed Between Two Warring Families?”

After the commotion at Duke Gloria’s banquet last week, Estella and Rodrigo had been quick to announce their relationship. The capital was in an uproar. Rodrigo was overwhelmed to say the least. He had to visit the emperor to confirm the rumor and had to deal with assassins sent by the Kartinas on a regular basis.

And Estella…I wonder where she is and what she’s doing.

The woman who had told him all those strange things, like promising to protect him or saying she wanted to stay alive, seemed to have disappeared as if she had never existed. Is she in confinement by the Kartinas?

Pausing to consider the Kartinas were irredeemable villains without mercy, Rodrigo frowned.

“The eastern manor was blown up.” Gunther tapped a corner of the newspaper. It was a picture of a familiar manor, as well as a black spherical object falling onto it.

“Newspapers these days have great illustrations, don’t they?”

“That’s not the issue, Your Grace. Are you really going to court that Kartina?”

Rodrigo disliked being questioned. He especially hated being questioned about matters that were already settled. The fact that Gunther, who knew this, was questioning him regardless, was a sign of how much he disliked the situation.

“I cannot shake my suspicions about that Lady Estella.” Gunther was aware of the peculiar deal between Rodrigo and Estella.

“Is that so?” Rodrigo asked.

“Yes, she tried to seduce Your Grace out of nowhere.”

At Gunther’s words, Rodrigo recalled Estella’s actions that night. Her mannerisms were definitely not seductive. The way she suddenly pulled and pushed me was more combative than anything.

“And all that talk of marriage definitely points toward her targeting your money.”

Money, eh? Rodrigo said, “The Kartinas are wealthy too, though.”

Unable to refute this, Gunther went silent. Then, “But it really is suspicious, isn’t it?”

Rodrigo got up from his seat. He balled up the newspaper and tossed it, then crumpled the letter underneath and threw that in the wastebasket too.

“While we’re on this matter, Gunther.”

“Yes, Your Grace.” Gunther straightened up and waited for Rodrigo to continue.

Rodrigo’s lips spread into a wide smile at Gunther’s readiness to do whatever was commanded of him. “I want to visit the Kartinas,” Rodrigo said, as if it was a casual afternoon walk, but Gunther tensed up.

An Erhart… visiting the Kartinas.

It had been nearly a century since that happened.

***

“Estella, just tell me. Did that man… blackmail you?”

My family had been pestering me for all week. After returning from the banquet, I announced my relationship with Rodrigo. “It was love at first sight. We’re destined to be together.”

Naturally, nobody believed this cliched development straight out of some third-rate romance novel. The Kartinas, very in character, believed that Rodrigo had found leverage and used it to blackmail me.

“There’s no way Estella has any sort of weak point to exploit.”

“The only thing our darling Estella can’t do is kill people! She’s perfect in every other way!”

I even saw them refuting their own hypothesis. It was very frustrating.

In addition to my siblings, my mother Hela and father Stefan pestered me as well. Thanks to their constant pleas to reconsider and following me everywhere, I hadn’t been able to contact Rodrigo at all after parting ways with him a week ago without so much as a proper goodbye.

I don’t even have time to write a single letter.

As soon as I woke in the morning, three pairs of teary eyes greeted me at the foot of my bed. Mealtimes were as quiet as a funeral, and all lessons and training had been put on hold. Everyone was trying to persuade me.

“You’re wrong. Sir Rodrigo is a good man.”

“Estella… that can’t be true. Those dirty Erharts have always…” And so began Stefan’s longwinded retelling of the history of the two families.

The enmity between the Kartinas and the Erharts could be traced back to ancient mythology. The goddess Illia had loved a man full of greed. His name was Phalemon, and he wished to conquer and unite the continent under his rule. Illia, this goddess in love with a man, wanted to help.

“What is it that you want?” She had asked.

“I want power,” Came his answer.

Illia gave him three dragons. One crimson, one black, and one blue. Phalemon also had loyal comrades behind him. The continent was too vast for one individual to conquer by himself. Phalemon gave two of the dragons Illia had gifted him to his friends. He kept the crimson dragon and gave the black dragon to Kartina. The blue dragon was given to his half-brother Erhart. According to mythology, these three conquered the continent together and established the empire. And Phalemon claimed the title of emperor.

Peace did not last long.

Having obtained power and authority, the three men could no longer trust each other. In the end, the three houses began to fight amongst themselves.

From here on out, the legend differed according to the Kartinas and the Erharts. The Kartinas claimed that Erhart had launched a surprise attack and killed Kartina’s dragon. The Erharts, on the other hand, claimed that Phalemon allied with Kartina to kill Erhart’s dragon and drive his family to the brink of annihilation.

In any case, the feud between the two families began with this mythology.

And the Kartinas were taught this story from birth.

“The Erharts are our enemies.” Even if there were other foes along the way, the main enemy was always them. The Erharts.

This belief that they had been indoctrinated with since birth was not easily swayed. And the emperor also made sure to toss them a few scraps to keep fighting over.

This is why indoctrination is scary. I started thinking about other things as I pretended to listen to Stefan’s story about how terrible the Erharts were. Rodrigo will probably be left alone for a while since the Kartinas are so focused on me, right?

That was the bright side, but it was only that afternoon that I found out how wrong I was.

***

Kaboom!

The explosion was followed by the clatter of rock fragments spraying across the ground. The smoke billowed up, all the way to the fourth floor, where my bedroom was.

Dirt and rock were strewn everywhere, and the trees that had just begun to blossom had been snapped in half like twigs.

“What’s all this commotion?” Stefan shot up from where he had been sitting, holding my hand, telling me about the Erharts’ misdeeds.

“Master!” My bedroom doors were thrown open to reveal a knight, completely out of breath. “The Erharts have invaded us!” He collapsed, an arrow stuck out from his side.

The small flag at the end of the arrow shaft seemed to wave at me in greeting. On it, Rodrigo’s blue dragon crest was clearly visible.

“Everybody, get to your positions. Find out how many troops Erhart has.”

Is Rodrigo insane? Is this his idea of dating? Everyone’s already against it, and now he’s challenging them to a fight. I let out a deep sigh.

“Estella, this is for the best. If he has somehow found out about some weak point of yours that you wanted to keep secret even from us, it would be better to dispose of him discreetly.”

The news that an Erhart had entered the Kartina property must have already reached the capital. Many eyes watched both the Kartinas and the Erharts, after all.

Ayla and Ada, who had misunderstood why I was sighing, patted my shoulders reassuringly. The corners of their eyes trembled slightly.

You guys are enjoying this, aren’t you?

“We’ll be back, so don’t leave your room.” My family exchanged looks and steeled their resolve as I stood there, bewildered.

Defeat the Erharts.

Am I supposed to be happy that the Kartinas are united over a common goal? Kalen ran out of the room first, to secure the best position for throwing his shuriken.

“That’s cheating, Kalen!” Ada was hot on his heels.

In the blink of an eye, my room was empty. I waited, assuring everyone had run off before I climbed out of bed.

Bending down, I stuck my arm under the bed and groped around. I swear I left it here… aha!

A quiver of arrows. Rodrigo may be powerful, but it would be hard even for him to deal with all of the Kartinas at once. On top of that, this was the Kartina manor. I would support Rodrigo from the shadows. To protect my family too.

I swung open my bedroom window and peered out, spotting Rodrigo almost immediately. The wind dissipated the billowing smoke. Rodrigo, who marched across the destroyed garden, was unnecessarily good-looking.

He wasn’t alone. Two knights strode beside him. That was all. I let out an exasperated laugh. Did they seriously come here, just the three of them? Irritating. Does he need to get his ass kicked to realize how scary the Kartinas are?

My hand, holding an arrow, dropped to my side. At that moment, I heard a strange laugh that sounded like a battle cry. It was Ada. Ada with her sword! The little hairs on my arms stood on end.

Ada was a sword master. If she wanted to, she could cut a small house in half, easily.

As I looked down from my bedroom, I knew she was ready to go all out. A light aura emanated from her hands. Near Ada, Kalen steadied himself on one of the trees that were still standing, brandishing his shuriken.

It’s still two against three. And Rodrigo was extremely skilled as well. He’ll be fine without my help.

A flash of color caught my eye. Seeping yellow gas spreading across the ground.

Poison! Hela and Ayla released poison!