The next morning.
The knights of Delmark were standing in the training ground, pale since early morning.
"Ugh!"
Their comrade, who couldn't even properly counterattack once, dropped his sword and collapsed.
The person standing in front of him was Herdin.
Herdin looked at him with cold eyes and nodded towards one side of the training ground.
There were knights lined up waiting in a push-up position with their heads down.
They were all those who couldn't make a proper counterattack in their duel with Herdin.
"Next."
At Herdin's command, the next knight stepped forward with a terrified face.
The eyes of the remaining knights looking at their comrade were like watching a comrade jumping into certain death. At the same time, they also sent sympathetic glances as if looking at a condemned criminal who had received their execution date.
They looked at their pitiful comrade and Herdin standing in front of him with resigned faces.
War hero.
Blessed with divine power, currently the empire's only magic swordsman.
'Is there even a knight in this empire, no, on this continent who can defeat that person...'
Especially the knights who had fought with Herdin for a long time on the battlefield knew his skills well.
It would be fortunate if they could just properly counterattack once and avoid punishment.
Usually, they would blame the Creator's terrible favoritism, but instinctively gaze at that handsome face. Today, however, it looked like the face of the grim reaper.
While praying for the soul of their comrade who was struggling just to block Herdin's one-sided attacks, one of the knights waiting for his turn gestured to his companions beside him.
"Hey, who was it?"
"What?"
"Who upset His Excellency?"
"Upset what? We haven't even seen him properly for a while because of the wedding preparations and the ceremony."
"Then why is the newlywed groom, who should be enjoying his honeymoon, wasting his energy here on the second morning of his marriage?"
"If it were you, would you feel like enjoying your honeymoon after being forced to marry the daughter of your enemy?"
Come to think of it, that's true.
The bad blood between the imperial family and the Delmark ducal family was a well-known fact among the nobles of the empire.
The knight who had nodded in agreement to that reason suddenly burst out in frustration.
"But if that's the case, he should take it out on them, why is he doing this to us?"
How should I know.
The knights who didn't know the answer just shrugged their shoulders. Then suddenly remembering the presence of someone next to them who might know the answer, they looked at him.
'Does the aide know?'
But Luth also just shook his head and shrugged his shoulders.
It was while they were getting thoroughly beaten up early in the morning without knowing why.
"Huh?"
The knights standing looking towards the entrance of the training ground began to stir.
As Herdin, who had just knocked down the knight he was sparring with, noticed the atmosphere, a small coughing sound was heard.
Herdin immediately turned towards the direction of the sound. Blair was seen entering the training ground with the butler.
"Mason, what brings you here?"
Although he asked the butler, it was essentially a question directed at Blair.
Blair answered in place of Mason.
"I greeted the servants yesterday, but I didn't get to greet the knights. I had some time before going to the imperial palace, so I thought I'd come and say hello."
However, although they were momentarily captivated by her beauty, no one welcomed her.
'Does she want to play the role of the lady of the house for us too?'
Although they had been gloomy at the thought of getting thoroughly beaten by Herdin just moments ago, they were comrades who had survived the battlefield together.
The more loyal they were to Herdin, the greater their antipathy towards Blair, a member of the imperial family, was bound to be.
She must not be unaware of this fact, but whether to call it naive or foolish.
While thinking this, Herdin still stepped forward to introduce Blair to the knights.
"You've probably all seen her face in passing, but haven't formally greeted her."
"..."
"Greet her. This is the Duchess you'll be serving from now on."
When their lord stepped forward like this, even the knights who didn't think favorably of Blair outwardly showed proper respect.
"The loyal swords of Delmark formally greet the Duchess."
"I'm pleased to meet you too. Thank you for welcoming me despite my sudden visit. I look forward to working with you."
Blair smiled brightly, but her eyes, carefully examining each of their faces one by one, were calmly submerged.
In fact, Blair had another purpose for visiting the knights' training ground.
In her previous life, she had tried hard to be acknowledged as the lady of the house, but these were people who hated her.
There was no need to try to impress or gain recognition from such people. After all, once this contract marriage was over, she would never see them again.
The real reason she came to visit the knights was...
'One of them might be the person who killed me.'
The Delmark ducal family is one of the three great ducal families of the empire, and its knights, having fought in wars directly, have skills comparable to the imperial knights.
And the assassin who killed Blair had infiltrated the villa, breaking through that tight security.
This was one of the reasons why Blair suspected Herdin as being behind her death.
Either the person was skilled enough to break through the tight security and infiltrate the villa, or they were someone who could easily enter and exit.
If so, perhaps the assassin could be someone from within the ducal family.
Most of the servants were people whose faces Blair knew, as they would often cross paths within the mansion.
On the other hand, the knights rarely overlapped in their living areas, so there were fewer people whose faces she remembered. Even if the assassin was among the knights, there was a high possibility that she wouldn't have recognized them.
Search "child" at redcatty [.] com to read ahead up to chap 170.