“You impudent thing!”

Duke Bold shouted, grabbing both my shoulders tightly.

Startled, I gritted my teeth and tried to push him away.

However, it was no easy task to overpower the strength of a robust middle-aged man.

“Let go of me!”

“After making me wait for 5 years, postponing our agreement again and again! And now you’re seeing someone else?”

Duke Bold yelled again, his eyes flashing fiercely as if his anger had surged once more.

“Was this your plan from the beginning? To use me to secure the position of Grand Duchess, and then take your share and leave?”

“Stop it! Stop talking nonsense and let go of me!”

I struggled with all my might to break free from Duke Bold’s grasp.

In response, Duke Bold clenched his teeth even harder and lunged at me, pinning me against the wall and starting to press hard on my neck.

“Ugh…!”

The pressure of Duke Bold’s hand gripping my neck gradually increased.

I tried punching his hand and kicking him, but it was all in vain.

Duke Bold, who had been glaring at me fiercely, soon began to laugh maniacally like a deranged person.

“Do you think you can easily escape my grasp after daring to use me?”

“Guk…”

“If you act like this, I’ll divorce you and adopt one of my mistresses’ daughters into the family to make her the new Grand Duchess. It’s that simple for me. But what about you?”

A disturbing murderous intent flashed in his twisted eyes.

“Do you think I’ll let you live like this?”

It felt like I would suffocate at any moment.

After briefly looking down at me struggling in discomfort, Duke Bold slightly loosened his grip and whispered close to my ear.

“So while I’m still asking nicely… bring ‘Lillian’s Heart’ before me.”

He reeked of alcohol mixed with an unpleasant smell.

Irritated by this unfamiliar demand, I glared at him, and Duke Bold gnashed his teeth right in front of my face and shouted.

“If not, I’ll kill you right here and now… Ugh?!”

At that moment, with a short scream, Duke Bold’s head was suddenly jerked backward.

“Who do you think you’re threatening to kill in the Dark Mansion?”

With a woman’s chilling voice, I was released from Duke Bold’s grip and bent over, gasping for breath.

After taking some time to recover my breath.

“Le… Let go of this!”

Finally hearing Duke Bold’s frightened voice, I slowly raised my head to check my surroundings.

‘…Mina?’

It wasn’t just Mina.

Several maids who were in charge of the Grand Duchess’s quarters were also there.

Unlike their usual long maid uniforms, they were all dressed in black activewear.

The change wasn’t just in their attire.

Their usual smiling faces were nowhere to be seen.

All of them were glaring at Duke Bold with fierce expressions I had never seen before.

Duke Bold’s face turned pale in an instant as he faced those faces.

He too seemed to have felt the murderous intent emanating from them.

“Do… Don’t come near me!”

Duke Bold shouted at the maids who were gradually approaching him.

However, they continued to approach him slowly, stretching their bodies like predators who had found their prey.

Mina smirked slightly at the frightened Duke Bold.

“Oh my, what should we do? It seems that the one dying here today won’t be our Lady…”

And she whispered softly into his ear.

“It might be you, Duke.”

* * *

Duke Bold, trembling as Mina held the back of his neck, suddenly shouted roughly.

“Let go of this! Do you know who I am to dare act like this!”

In response, one of the maids standing behind Mina approached and twisted Duke Bold’s arm behind his back.

“Aaagh…!”

“Duke, it’s you who doesn’t seem to know who this person is. How dare you treat her so carelessly all this time?”

The maids gnashed their teeth, their faces becoming even fiercer.

“Ugh, let… go of this!”

Duke Bold stumbled backward, suffering from the pain.

Mina then roughly released his neck as if tossing away garbage and approached me.

“My Lady, are you alright?”

Unlike moments before, her face was now kind and smiling, like her usual self.

I stared at Mina’s face, feeling bewildered.

I knew she had been hiding her strength in front of me all this time, but seeing it directly left me dumbfounded.

“My Lady, just give the order. If you want us to simply let Duke Bold go, though it would be a shame, we’ll let him go…”

“…?”

“And if you’d prefer we bury him, we’ll happily bury him in a sunny spot in the Demon Forest!”

Mina said with a bright smile, ‘Then no one will know!’

I gave her a thumbs up in admiration, and Duke Bold’s face turned even paler.

“You…! You crazy things! You’re all completely insane! How dare you speak like that to me!”

Duke Bold screamed, his arms bound by the maids.

His lower jaw was trembling constantly.

Whether it was due to extreme anger or fear from the murderous gazes of the women, I couldn’t tell.

“How dare you speak like that to an Imperial Duke! Yo-you half-demon… your vulgar nature shows!”

At his provocation, the maids’ expressions grew even colder.

As the tense, murderous silence continued for a while.

“…Ugh!”

Suddenly grabbed by the collar, Duke Bold let out a groan.

I gripped his collar even tighter and moved close to his face, meeting his eyes.

“I clearly warned you.”

“…”

“Not to make me call you ‘Duke Bold.'”

“You… You…!”

“How dare you enter the Twin’s Grand Duke’s residence uninvited, threaten the Grand Duchess, and even insult half-demons?”

Duke Bold’s face trembled as he met my now fierce eyes.

I let out a small sneer at the sight of him.

“It seems my patience for you has run out.”

As I spoke in a cold voice, the color drained from Duke Bold’s face.

But that didn’t last long. He shouted as if making a last desperate attempt.

“To… To insult me like this! I’ll make this public in noble society! I’ll let the whole world know how uncivilized and uneducated you half-demons are!”

Then one of the maids carefully approached me and said.

“My Lady, don’t worry about that. If you wish, we can erase Duke Bold’s memories before he returns.”

“Oh, really?”

As I looked back at Duke Bold with sparkling eyes, he bit his lower lip with a dizzying expression.

“If… If you dare do such a thing to me…!”

“Since we’re going to erase the memory anyway, it wouldn’t hurt to add a few more painful memories.”

I raised the corners of my mouth slightly as I watched the struggling Duke Bold.

“From now on, I’ll leave him in your hands. Take Duke Bold to an unseen place and do whatever you want with him.”

At this, Duke Bold’s face, which had turned pale white, began to tremble.

I raised the corners of my mouth leisurely towards the maids who were slowly stretching their bodies.

“Show him to your heart’s content. That he’s not someone you can treat carelessly.”

As my order was finally given, the maids smiled with satisfaction.

Soon, they grabbed Duke Bold’s arms and began to drag him towards somewhere in the backyard.

Even if he was a man, there was no way a mere human could overcome the strength of half-demon women.

All Duke Bold could do as he was being taken away was stomp his feet and scream.

“Let go! What are you vulgar things trying to do to me! Ugh! Ple-please, this… mmph…!”

Mina roughly covered the mouth of Duke Bold, from which mad screams were constantly flowing.

Finally, as his face turned pleading, I turned around coldly and walked towards the Grand Duchess’s quarters.

‘Pathetic human. How dare he speak so carelessly here of all places?’

Before long, even the sound of Duke Bold’s struggling faded into the distance.

.

.

.

Several hours later, inside Duke Bold’s carriage heading south.

“…Gasp!”

Duke Bold, who had suddenly opened his eyes, looked around with a bewildered expression.

Cold sweat had formed on his forehead.

“Duke, are you alright?”

The aide sitting across from him asked urgently, checking Duke Bold’s complexion.

He had clearly been heading to the Dark Mansion of the Twin’s Grand Duke’s residence just moments ago, but now he was back in the carriage?

Moreover, looking out the window, the carriage was already speeding towards the south.

“What on earth is… Ugh!”

As Duke Bold was about to question his aide about the situation, he let out a short scream at the sudden intense pain he felt.

His whole body felt sore and painful as if someone had beaten him up.

“You fell down the stairs while drunk, they said. The maids struggled to support you, unconscious, and brought you to the carriage.”

“Me? Drunk and fell down the stairs…?”

No matter how much he tried to recall, it was in vain.

He could only remember staggering out of the carriage and walking towards the Dark Mansion, but after that, he couldn’t remember anything at all.

No matter how drunk he had been before, he had never had his memory wiped so clean like this.

Feeling puzzled, he tilted his head, which caused a stinging pain in his neck.

“Ugh…”

“Duke!”

From his legs to his face, there wasn’t a spot that wasn’t injured.

There was a dark bruise under his eye, his lip was split, and even the slightest movement caused dull pain throughout his body.

As if someone had beaten him thoroughly.

As he frowned at the sudden suspicion,

The aide took out an ointment container from his pocket and opened it.

At the same time, Duke Bold frowned at the foul smell that wafted out.

“Ugh, what on earth is that!”

“The maids gave it to me earlier. They said it’s an ointment made from ingredients from the demon realm, and it would help with bruises and wounds.”

“Forget it! Who would use such a vulgar thing from the demon realm… Aagh!”

His outburst was short-lived.

As the wound on the corner of his mouth, which had slightly scabbed over, reopened, Duke Bold let out a short scream.

The aide sighed briefly and scooped up some ointment, approaching Duke Bold.

And as he examined Duke Bold’s battered face, he slightly furrowed his brow.

“Then, shall I apply it?”

Duke Bold just wore a resentful expression but didn’t refuse.

It seemed to hurt quite a bit.

He had intended to meet Rebecca and give her a stern warning, but instead of meeting her, he had just fallen down the stairs drunk by himself.

The long journey had yielded nothing but injuries.

Embarrassed, Duke Bold could only vent his frustration on his aide.

“It smells worse than excrement! Ugh…! Ah, be gentle! It hurts!”