Maybe it’s for ‘me.’

Once again, Julia has become trapped in darkness in this restarted life.

I pity her, it’s regrettable.

I looked at the Duke. He too looked straight at me. His eyes, deep blue like the night, gazed at me.

“Estelle, what is the right decision?”

“?”

“I am seeking advice from you.”

He showed a faint smile.

I didn’t know what to answer.

He then said,

“I asked you for an answer that I should find myself.”

He turned away.

“Your Grace.”

He turned back.

“Whatever decision you make, I am on your side, Your Grace. If needed, utilize the fact that the first Sword Master in the continent’s history is loyal to you.”

I don’t know how being a Sword Master is related to this matter. But instinctively, I said these words.

Power helps achieve what is desired, whatever it may be.

How to use it is up to the Duke. If he needs it, I am ready to be utilized.

“Such a generous response.”

He smiled calmly.

Why does that smile make my heart ache?

“I will make the right decision for myself, Estelle.”

“Yes.”

The right decision for him.

“Tomorrow, there will be a grand assembly of the North. You should also attend.”

“I will obey your command.”

I bowed.

“Sleep well.”

He left, like the wind.

I silently watched the spot where he had been.
The representatives of the thirteen noble families of the North began to gather in the underground assembly hall of the Grand Duke’s palace.

Everyone was holding a telegram that had been delivered in advance, detailing the crimes of Julia Nugent.

Her crimes had been kept secret until the Grand Duke regained consciousness.

Most of the knights who had participated in the battle against the monsters only learned of this fact later.

“How could the lady do this!”

“I can’t forgive her!”

Whispers were heard throughout the palace.

Just before the meeting started, Bran, who had learned that she was the one who helped the Red Caterpillar escape, grabbed me with a pale face.

In his hand was one of the telegrams sent to the noble families.

‘He’s already read it.’

“Is it really true what the lady did?”

“Yes. The steward witnessed it, and there’s video evidence too.”

“What will happen to the lady?”

His voice trembled.

I couldn’t bear to look him in the eye.

“You know.”

At my words, Bran’s face twisted.

“I know! But… But…”

He couldn’t continue. His arm, clinging to me like a drowning man, trembled violently, like a tree about to fall.

I remembered what Bran had said in the cave.

I felt heartbroken that no words of comfort could be offered now.

Noble heads of the North, their heirs, and other nobles filled the meeting hall, numbering over a hundred.

Everyone was discussing the events in the Empire, and the bloody battle with monsters on the northwestern front.

Topics of discussion centered around the Grand Duke returning Empress Antoine to the royal court, the appearance of a Sword Master, and how the Grand Duke and the Sword Master annihilated the monsters.

Occasionally, stories about the first noble daughter who helped the southern spy escape were mentioned.

However, her story was not the main topic.

“From what I’ve heard, she can’t escape charges of treason.”

“Then it must be the death penalty. The late Northern Duke Regent must be weeping in his grave.”

The elderly nobles murmured sadly. If the former Duke Regent Hern Nugent were alive, he would be about the same age as them.

Their murmuring stopped with the Grand Duke’s arrival.

The Grand Duke appeared, wearing a cloak that revealed the wound on his shoulder from the poison.

As he ascended to the highest podium in the hall, everyone knelt on the marble floor and bowed their heads.

The Grand Duke sat in the black chair carved with the image of Belphegor’s holy sword, Lapis.

Everyone shouted in unison.

“Hail to the Shield of the Empire, His Grace the Grand Duke of Belphegor!”

The large hall echoed loudly.

‘This is the North.’

From a noble who appeared to be over ninety to young heirs, all had been or were knights who had fought giant monsters and numerous enemies of the Empire.

They were an army that had protected the Empire.

I felt this fact anew.

A place where those who command and those who execute, those who order to risk lives and those who do so exist.

A place sustained by strict discipline.

A harsh place that cannot be maintained without discipline.

I keenly felt that Julia had no way to save her life.

What was the Grand Duke’s status at this time in her previous life?

I tried to recall that memory, which felt like yesterday.

The Grand Duke, having sent Arcadia away to the Southern Duke’s palace and returned alone to the North, must have been tormented by guilt for not being able to protect his friend.

And a few years later, the Grand Duke got engaged to Julia Nugent, the younger sister of his friend.

Was it out of a sense of responsibility?

Or was there a bit of love too?

My head spun with these thoughts.

That’s when it happened.

As the Grand Duke raised his right hand, everyone stood up from the floor.

And then.

The chief administrative officer, Infidel Nugent, who looked utterly exhausted and aged in just a few days, appeared below the podium.
He knelt before the Grand Duke and unfolded the paper, beginning to recite his younger sister’s crimes.

Her crimes began from the secret meetings she had with the Red Caterpillar.

“Furthermore, by colluding with a spy from the South, she has disrupted discipline, brought shame to the North, and facilitated the escape of the spy, leading to the death of Knight Hans Edel. This is deemed a crime of treason and should be accordingly punished.”

His voice, which he tried to keep emotionless, wavered sadly when he reached the part about treason.

I closed my eyes.

A moment later.

Julia Nugent, bound by the knights, was brought into the assembly hall.

Behind the knights stood Arcadia Nugent, dressed in uniform.

His face was as pale as white snow.

‘Arcadia…’

The knights made Julia kneel on the floor. Beyond her, Bran, looking like he was on the verge of tears, was visible.

Julia, trembling with fear, looked up at the Grand Duke. She opened her mouth.

“Please… save me, Your Grace.”