My Wife the Empress is Becoming Frightening

24. Innocent person

Episode 24

Hours before Duke Jericho had a heart attack while reading. Haria was seized with anger, dissatisfaction, and longing that seemed to cut off reason.

‘Since the captain slept with the empress, I haven’t seen his face for several days.’

Hounds entered the imperial palace and became the direct escort of the Empress, but the work of the hounds did not change much.

After Isaac became the captain, he stopped doing the dirty work he had done before, and the job of the direct escort was to take turns guarding the empress.

In addition, following Isaac’s order, he cooperated with the Imperial Intelligence Agency to find the person who leaked the blue-green miracle and the alien magic used by a knight from another country a while ago.

That’s true of all Hounds except for Haria.

‘Empress… … . You’re blatantly trying to separate me from the captain.’

She had shown signs of this from before, but after she started sleeping with Isaac, the Empress openly tried to drop Haria.

It was like entrusting the education of new maids with the excuse of having worked for the imperial palace for a long time, or entrusting the supervision of an insignificant person to use the ability of an assassin.

If the Hound’s work was busy, he could have refused to do such a chore even if he asked Isaac, but as I said, the recent hounds were free to see, so there was no reason to refuse.

‘Even if there is a cause, it won’t be easy to disobey the empress’ words.’

Haria, who had been running errands today and wandered here and there, nervously tousled her hair, forgetting that she was walking the streets of the island.

lately. When Isaac managed to approach him in anticipation of finding the Imperial Intelligence Agency, unlike before, he did not hug him.

Rather than that, he announced the end of the relationship with a clear expression that could not be misunderstood.

Although Haria was shocked, she was not surprised to be angry with herself. even alittle.

‘Because I knew he was that kind of person.’

A person who does it because he has to. That was Isaac. I knew it, so I wasn’t angry with him.

For him, that is.

‘But he’s a really naive person.’

The appearance of Isaac, who was announcing the end of the relationship to himself, was full of gaps unlike usual. It was as if he was telling him to stab him, as if he was saying he would stab him a few times.

Sometimes, Haria thought, she was too naive. Did he think he would let go with just a few knife stabs?

“No way. never let go forever. forever.”

This situation was within the expected range. It came a lot sooner than expected, but it didn’t matter. Even in the midst of being busy for that, I didn’t neglect to prepare, and I’m still continuing.

The question was when to approach the target.

“what. Haria? what are you doing here… … What’s wrong with your hair again?”

When he turned his head at the sound calling him, he saw Coyle with a surprised face. He seemed surprised to see his messy hair.

“It’s no big deal. But you are getting farther and farther away.”

“Oh, this? what just… … .”

No one at the Hound expected it, but Coyle was still dating the late Duchess Jericho after the last incident.

Coyle says that he flirted with all the wives on the captain’s orders, without giving her any explanation.

That’s Hound’s job, so it’s unavoidable, so I thought Coil was over with her, but surprisingly, it seems that the former Duchess of Jericho has said that she understands Coil.

So Coil was still able to continue meeting her. Looking at the neat appearance, it seemed that I went today. Or on my way to meet you now.

“I don’t care. Because I’m fine.”

“That, is it?”

Coyle, who has not been able to hide his joy in the world lately, hesitated at Haria’s words because he knew that the relationship between Isaac and her was over.

Coyle was not insensitive enough to express her joy for her lover in front of a colleague who had suffered a broken heart, and Haria was also grateful for her colleague’s consideration.

Aside from the fact that Haria herself did not consider the current situation as a broken heart.

“Then enjoy your date.”

“Oh, wait a minute, Haria. I’m sorry, but do you know where the captain is? I thought you weren’t in the imperial palace today… .”

“Captain? why?”

When I asked what was going on, Coyle continued in a low voice. It was a small voice that was inaudible to normal human hearing, but Haria could understand it without any problems.

“I think Duke Jericho has been visiting Guard Harris often lately.”

“Guard Harris?”

Haria couldn’t help but be surprised when the name of the marshal of the Imperial Army suddenly came out. Since the information was brought by Coil, he must have learned it through the previous Duchess.

That was most likely true.

“huh. As you may know, Guard Harris was originally close friends with the Duke of Jericho. Because the previous duke and he were classmates at the Imperial Academy.”

Therefore, it may not be a big deal, but Coyle’s story was that he wanted to report it to the captain just in case.

After hearing that far, a plan was quickly formed in Haria’s head.

“If you want to report it to the captain, I will do it. You go on a date.”

“what? No, but… .”

To the hesitant Coyle, Haria made a slightly sad face and said.

“Please, Coil. Even if I… … .”

“ah… … I see okay. Then I’ll ask you.”

Coil, who seemed to have realized something belatedly, said that and left to meet his lover.

Haria was grateful that he was a good co-worker and friend. However, he had no intention of relaying the information Coyle brought to Isaac.

Instead, at night, she infiltrated the Duke of Jericho’s family.

up to now

—

“I know that Guard Harris, the marshal of the Imperial Army, has been visiting often lately.”

“It must have been following me for quite some time.”

Not at all, but instead of being honest, Haria responded with a meaningful smile. As is well known, it was clear that the current duke had no interest in his stepmother.

“so? What do you mean by that?”

“Isn’t the reason you met Guard Harris to get closer to Isaac through him?”

This part was Haria’s oversight. As Coyle said, Guard Harris originally had a long-standing relationship with the Duke of Jericho.

However, it was thought that Duke Jericho would approach Isaac from before. However, it would be natural in many ways to use a third party because if you go out on your own, you will stand out too much and gain the empress’s vigilance.

So it floated. Even if it wasn’t, Haria assumed a few situations and thought of more, but the duke passed over at once.

Exactly, it passed by itself.

“What then? Did you come to warn the precious captain not to approach him?”

Duke Jericho had already noticed that Haria was looking at him.

Even though I knew it, I passed it on because I thought it would be a waste of time if I had noticed it to some extent.

Haria was also able to understand the Duke’s intentions, so she stopped speculating and went straight to the point.

“You must have needed the captain’s blood to protect the duke’s family, right? You’ve decided on a few candidates to accept, but I’m giving you advice for the duke, they’re useless.”

The duke managed to suppress the feeling of being irritated again. It was anger toward Haria for prying out the duchy behind her back, but the reason why she was even more angry was because it was just as she said.

None of the children of the relatives who were picking out the bait for Isaac were very sane. The one who combines intelligence, looks, and personality is about as much as his own daughter. It was obvious, but it was out of the question.

It’s not that I don’t have a lot of affection for my children, but I didn’t raise them up until now to be the seed of a monster.

“Tell me what you want.”

“Push me. Then I will build a bridge to reach the captain.”

“… what?”

Haria wanted Isaac, but there was nothing she could do against the Empress. That’s why he wanted a back ship that could withstand the empress.

For that, he went after the nobles and high-ranking officials with strong power, including the duke.

After considering everything, it was not too long ago that he targeted a duke who, in the worst case, would not be the target of treason because he had no greed for the position of emperor.

‘It was fortunate that Coil brought the information just right.’

It’s obvious, but it’s not that I don’t want to rebel for the empress. As long as the current empress had Isaac, it was obvious that such a move wouldn’t work, so she just didn’t want to do it.

“Is that it? I get it now. Surely our purposes had a common intersection, yes.”

The duke kept an eye on Isaac after the events of Diarose and learned that his powers were real. And I coveted his mighty power.

If they could get that power, the Jericho family would have made a rock that would never be broken no matter what happened.

‘I don’t like the idea of using me without knowing the subject, but if you think about it calmly, it’s a business with nothing to lose.’

It took a little while for her eyes to propose to him to be insane, but it was clear that there were many corners to escape from even if things went wrong afterwards.

First of all, since they are not related, it would be easy to deny the partnership. Of course, it would be dangerous if Isaac judged that the duke used Haria, but the empress wouldn’t just watch the ducal family disappear at the hands of her husband.

Duke Jericho, who grasped various factors at once, deliberately asked Haria with a spiteful smile even though the calculations had already been completed.

“What if I don’t accept the offer?”

“Nothing changes. Well, no one from the Jericho family will be able to have a cup of tea with the captain.”

The Duke’s life force, which he had been suppressing, burst out like an explosion. What Haria said was a clear threat.

“What do you think of the duke of the empire as a hunting dog… !”

“Are you going to kill me? that’s how you like it Maybe before my corpse cools down, the Jericho family will be buried together, so I won’t be lonely.”

Despite the intense murder, the light smile on Haria’s lips did not disappear. What she is receiving is the life of a former Imperial Knight.

Originally, there would be no influence, but the stronger and deeper emotions that filled her head were stopping her from living.

“No matter how much he does, he can’t touch the duke’s family!”

“If you really think so, please try it.”

This was no bluff. Haria really thought so. He believed that if he was killed by the duke, Isaac would surely annihilate the ducal family itself.

The groundless imagination, like the sad wish of a woman fallen in love, was ironically true.

Despite not knowing such a fact, Duke Jericho, who took his life for the reason that he couldn’t put his family into unnecessary danger, spoke to Haria as if he was a little weary.

“… … good night. don’t let me hold your hand Before that, I want you to answer one thing.”

“If I can answer that.”

“Why does he, or Isaac, care for you so much? It wouldn’t be that long since we got to know each other, right?”

“Ah, that’s it. It’s because we are the captain’s ‘subordinates’.”

Upon hearing the answer, the duke assumed that Haria had no intention of teaching her properly and snorted, but that was not the case.

Because Haria’s words were the truth as they were.