Bala: The Duke's Contract Wife

A Second Dagger

Rose and Victor spent the night interrogating the nobles and Count Rozar. In total, there were eight nobles and four wealthy businessmen interrogated. They were put in two adjoining prison cells, six people in each cell.

On purpose, Rose had Victor interrogate the prison cell next to Count Rozar's cell first. Victor caused quite a stir by shocking the men and women whose hands were tied in the cell. When they shouted in surprise or fear at Victor's figure, Rose immediately whispered from behind bars to Count Rozar, "You know, Victor will go soft on you if you tell us what the funds from the auction are for."

"Victor hasn't told me yet, but I'm guessing he killed Viscount Tremblay on the spot, didn't he?" Rose guessed that Victor slashed the man in purple silk straight at the auction after Rose took the kids out. She herself did not pity the pedophile's death.

Count Rozar's paled face indicated that Rose's guess was correct.

It didn't take long for Count Rozar to instantly give Rose everything she and Victor needed to know. So did the others who were caught.

Ah, no fun, Rose thought, why is a man as stupid as Count Rozar was made the leader of a funding operation of a political faction?

Rose sighed. She thought bringing down Marquis Ferinde's faction would be harder than this. But in not even two months, Rose had been able to catch Marquis Ferinde's right hand in Maraina. Since the Marquis was in another region, about a five-hour ride from Maraina, Marquis Ferinde would not have had a chance to save Count Rozar. Rumors about Count Rozar and the illegal auction of minors would go rampant all over the empire within hours. Marquis Ferinde and his faction would surely want to sacrifice Count Rozar and cut ties with him.

It doesn't matter.

At least all the weeds in Maraina have been pruned. The funding supply was successfully stalled. Rose just had to plan their next move, looking for the next pawn to be toppled.

As soon as morning arrived, Rose and Victor accompanied by Gale, Johan, Baldur, and Quay gathered in Victor's office. Everyone stood except Victor. But suddenly Adrian came and brought a chair. The old butler put it next to Victor's chair then left the room.

"Rose," Victor called out to her and pointed to the chair next to him. 'Sit down,' he said without saying.

'Are you talking to me?'

'Yes.'

Rose finally sat next to Victor. She saw Gale smiling and wanted to ask what was funny, but Rositta had come to the room before she could ask. The girl said hello to everyone.

"How are the kids doing?" asked Rose.

The black bags under Rositta's eyes looked even thicker. It looked like the girl's night was still rough for her.

"Many still have nightmares. And some still don't believe that they are free."

Rose nodded.

"Rositta," called Victor, "I want you to coordinate with Johan to identify each child from the missing children list. If their families are still available, we have to get them back. If there is no..." Victor glanced at Rose as if to ask, 'What should we do?'

"If their family is no longer available, we can work with the orphanage owned by Countess Corina," Rose said smoothly. Countess Corina had the largest orphanage in Maraina. It was her penchant for children that made her sympathize with Rositta in the beginning.

Victor nodded with the suggestion, then gave out a long sigh.

"We have worse news," Victor said. "It turned out that the funds from the auction were used by Marquis Ferinde's faction to fund their military."

"Military?" asked Gale. "For what? Marquis Ferinde has gained great military power from the Emperor... Does he want to defect?"

"He would be foolish to defect alone. No matter how many followers he has. Marquis Ferinde's faction will still not win against the whole Montserra Empire," Johan said.

"Johan is right," Rose said, "Unless the faction has managed to join hands with another kingdom. If that happens..." Rose glanced at Victor, "Even you will struggle to stop them."

Everyone was silent. The possibility of war had soured their moods. Especially if the war was between the empire and other kingdoms supported by Marquis Ferinde's faction. Besides, no one knew how much work Marquis Ferinde had done for his military cause. Everything was like walking on thin ice.

"So what are we going to do?" asked a nervous Rositta.

Rose glanced at Victor. The man looked confused. So Rose took over the conversation at the meeting, "You focus on those kids, Rositta. In the meantime Victor and I will focus on appointing trusted people for the titles Count and Viscount, replacing those convicted of illegally buying children."

When her eyes met victor, the man nodded, giving support for Rose to keep talking. "We've dropped one of Marquis Ferinde's greatest pawns. His faction will surely be silent for quite some time. And judging by Marquis Ferinde's temperament, the man will surely try to retaliate. Let's just wait for his move. His move will reveal more of their plans."

Victor nodded approvingly. "But just in case," he said, "Quay, try to figure out a loophole so your spies can infiltrate Ferinde. Don't push too much. But try it."

Quay, the spy division commander bowed to Victor.

"Then everyone else can rest," Victor said as he stood up. Because his hand still had some blood from the previous interrogation, the man offered Rose his elbow. Rose wrapped her hand around Victor's arm and walked with him out of the room.

Suddenly Rose felt a tingling sensation inside her stomach. She couldn't contain her laughter as they walked towards Rose's room.

"What's so funny?

Rose laughed at Victor's question. "Don't you see how the staffs see us now?" Rose continued, "You're covered in blood. I also have blood spots on my cheeks. None of them dare to see us more than a second."

"Maybe from today you'll be called the Second Monster of Maraina," he joked. Both burst into laughter until they had to stop walking just to laugh.

"I never laughed like this for a long time," Rose said after calming her laughter.

"Me too."

A gentleman he was, Victor drove Rose to the front of her room. But when Rose was about to close the door, Victor held her back. The man glanced down before finally saying, "Can I visit tonight?"

When Rose didn't answer, Victor felt like he had to explain himself, "You can say no. I know you must be tired because–

But Rose nodded before Victor could finish his sentence. "But only after you've washed off the scent of blood and soil."

Victor's eyes instantly flashed with excitement from hearing Rose's answer. "See you tonight, then."

The man didn't leave until Rose closed the door perfectly. Her chest was tightened by that abstract feeling again. This time, she didn't try to fight it.

After taking a shower, she found Paul visiting her room. The boy didn't seem to sleep well last night. Rose could already guess that Paul had a bad dream. Eventually, Rose and Paul slept together until noon. Lisa who had wanted to wake Rose up for breakfast, buried her intentions when she saw the two people were still asleep.

***

Both Paul and Rose woke up at noon. They ended up having lunch together in the west wing with Paul still in his pajamas.

"Do you have class today?" asked Rose.

Paul nodded while eating the chicken breast in front of him. Paul's cutlery had been replaced for a children's meal set, making it easier for him to cut out his food. "I have a training session with Baldur."

"Hm. What do you think of Baldur training so far?" asked Rose again, "Is the lesson useful?"

The boy chewed with gusto. "Rose, do you know? Turns out there are more than thirty types of swords in the world? And the way of holding each sword is different."

"Oh? Then what kind of sword do you like?"

Paul shook his head, thinking. "Uhm... I like dad's sword type, the greatsword. But with my size, it looks like rapier or smallsword will be more usable."

Rose nodded, she was amazed by Paul's logical and mature thinking. Most boys will still insist on liking a greatsword or longsword even if their body size is too small.

"How about you, Rose? What kind of weapon do you like?"

Suddenly, the girl stuck her dining knife on the wooden table. "I'm a dagger wearer. I used to have a cinquedea, that kind of dagger is my favorite. But my stepsister stole it."

"Rose," called Paul carefully. "When's your birthday?"

Rose tilted her head. Certainly confused by the boy's question. "Hmm... I remember it's in August. Between the eighth or tenth. Or maybe the twenty-eighth?"

"Eh? You don't remember your own birthday? August is next week!"

The girl shrugged her shoulders. "I never celebrated it. How about you?"

"January the third."

Rose put that date to her memory. As Duchess, of course, she should celebrate Paul's birthday.

As soon as they finished lunch, Paul and Rose took a walk in the park at Paul's request. Afterward, the boy trained with Baldur, and Rose spent her time in the west wing library. She wanted to relax for a while when Marquis Ferinde's faction still remained silent.

Just as Rose was picking up a book to read, the sound of a collision was heard loudly from behind her. It was like something's been dropped hard. Rose turned around and found a thin man with yellow eye beads. His body curled up on the floor.

The librarian who saw it immediately panicked. Rose raised one hand to calm the librarian. She then focused on the man kneeling in front of her.

Previously, the same man always looked at Rose with hatred and anger. That time, however, Costro looked at her with tears in his eyes. The look on his face showed an expression that Rose never liked.

Rose clicked her tongue. Not only Baldur, but also Costro. Just because you've read my journal doesn't mean I deserve pity.

"You said..." Costro's voice broke in the middle, "... You need me, don't you?"

"Are you willing to be my person?"

Costro stood up. The man's body was only an inch taller than Rose. "I've been your person even before I know the truth..."

For a moment they just exchanged glances. Until finally Rose lengthened her hand. "Welcome to Maraina, Costro."

Costro welcomed that hand.

Rose smiled contentedly. Now I have a second dagger.