Leaving Tiffany’s embrace, Inan returned to his room to sleep with his beautiful wife.
A few days later…
In the middle of the night, Inan walked out of the bedroom wearing a bathrobe. Freya also struggled to push herself up, smoothing her messy hair in front of the mirror.
On her ring finger, she still wore the wedding band from her marriage to Rosen. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to change it, but that bastard Inan wouldn’t allow her to! She had no way to complain about this new husband’s twisted sense of humor.
She looked into the mirror. Time had taken her youth but left behind maturity and charm. The teardrop beauty mark under her eye added to her allure. Although this elegance originally belonged to Rosen, Inan was now savoring every bit of it.
For the past few days, the nobles had been posturing as if they were ready to fight, yet they hesitated to make a move. This forced Inan to constantly pour military funds into the army. Besides the special units of the Violet Watch, the regular army also needed training.
Being prepared to fight might mean you don’t have to, but if you rely on luck, you will definitely be beaten!
Now, he felt as if he were sinking into a swamp of war. Almost every bit of income had to be invested in the military, which caused the citizens of his three territories to abandon production and construction.
Everyone was flocking to join the army because of the benefits. Whether it was the food, army pay, treatment, or the promotion system, it was undoubtedly the best in the surrounding lands. However, these young, strong laborers were no longer producing anything; they spent every day receiving military training and studying how to kill.
In their minds, as long as they killed someone on the battlefield, they could achieve great things!
Inan rubbed his temples. If this continued, he wouldn’t even need the nobles to suppress him. As long as he stopped the war, the territory’s economy would inevitably collapse. Even downsizing the military would be useless, as there simply weren’t enough jobs to accommodate a group of soldiers who only knew how to kill.
However, if he didn’t fight, Inan couldn’t afford to maintain such an army. Even if the nobles didn’t attack him next, Inan would have to initiate a war himself.
There was a soft knock on the door, and Freya entered the study.
“Is something the matter?” Inan asked, looking a bit surprised. This woman was quite resilient.
Freya walked gently to Inan’s side and draped a blanket over his shoulders. “Dear, why are you still busy so late at night?”
After these past few days of “affection,” the woman had gradually accepted her identity. Inan provided her with a kind of happiness that Rosen never could.
“If it’s nothing important, you should leave.” Inan took a sip of red wine, his expression cold. He had no concept of mutual support between husband and wife.
There was an age gap of over a decade between them, which made Inan feel quite repulsed when he saw that look in her eyes—the one she used when taking care of a child.
Hearing Inan’s cold response, Freya started slightly, a flash of disappointment crossing her eyes. “Fine. Don’t stay up too late; take care of your health.”
Then, she saw the wine on the table and simply took it away. “Don’t drink too much late at night. It’s bad for your body.”
She now felt she should fulfill the duties of a wife and was trying her best to play the role. Even though she had been snatched away, and even though they had married on the very first day they met, she felt this was what she should do.
No one had ever dared to manage Inan like this before, which left him a bit at a loss. This casual gesture even stunned Inan, who should have been angry, and he just watched Freya walk away.
Irritated, Inan opened another bottle of wine but hesitated to drink it. He tightened the blanket around himself and began to think about how to deal with the upcoming noble offensive.
Meanwhile, House Will had been very quiet lately. No one had stepped forward to lead the nobles in suppressing Inan. Even Neve, the new heir, kept a low profile and had not appeared in public.
However, the nobles were spontaneously rising up against Inan. Even at 3:00 AM, they were holding lively banquets. Usually, they would stay in their own territories acting like tyrants, but now they had all become social butterflies.
A fat noble was gulping down glass after glass of strong liquor at the banquet. His massive capacity for alcohol won cheers from the nobles present.
Amidst the cheers, the fat noble became increasingly carried away. He stood up unsteadily, raised his glass, and shouted, “Everyone! We cannot be soft-hearted when dealing with Inan this time! That bastard actually dared to betray Marquis Will—he’s practically asking for death!”
After speaking, he downed another glass of strong liquor and smashed it on the floor, as if he held a deep grudge against Inan.
He had already drunk more than ten cups of Dragon’s Breath Ale. This liquor had a deep amber color and provided a strong burning sensation upon entry, as if dragon breath were ravaging the mouth. Immediately after, a malty aroma and a hint of mysterious magic spread across the taste buds, instantly making the drinker’s blood feel like it was on fire and creating a powerful sense of strength.
Dwarves especially loved this strong ale, but few humans could finish more than ten cups; the fat noble was one of them.
However, even with his staggering capacity, he was reaching his limit. The other nobles knew he was drunk. The fat noble collapsed to the ground, and the surrounding nobles were stunned for a moment before bursting into laughter.
“Haha, this guy! The war hasn’t even started, and he’s already drunk himself under the table,” a tall, thin noble laughed, clutching his stomach.
“He’s right, though,” an elderly noble said, stroking his beard with a dark expression. “Since that brat Inan is willing to be Nancy’s dog, we must teach him a lesson and let him know the consequences of offending Marquis Will in the North!”
“Heh, that bastard even married Rosen’s wife. I heard Nancy was the only one who went to the wedding. I bet the three of them sleep in the same bed! Nancy is really working hard to please that dog,” another noble chimed in, unable to stop himself from fantasizing about Nancy’s body.
Hearing this, the crowd burst into another round of laughter, though it was now filled with vulgarity and innuendo.
These words made the fat noble, who was pretending to be drunk on the floor, want to jump up and kill him! But if a Thief kills someone, they cannot change back; they must continue to wear their new disguise.
However, there was no need for her to act. That noble’s throat was suddenly slit.
No one could see how he died. They only saw a wound suddenly appear on his neck, followed by a massive spray of blood.
The banquet hall instantly fell into a dead silence. Everyone was horrified by this sudden turn of events! The nobles who were just laughing now had frozen smiles on their faces, their eyes filled with terror.
“Assassin! There’s an assassin!” a noble started shouting, and guards began pouring into the banquet.
“Search everywhere!” the elderly noble ordered loudly, his face a mask of anger and fear.
The noble who had been making lewd remarks had suddenly died in his territory?
No one was a fool. He had died right after insulting Count Nancy! Did that mean all their recent conversations were being monitored?
This realization made everyone break out in a cold sweat. Because of Count Nancy’s beauty, many of them had called out her name while being intimate with their own wives or maids. If that was known, would they be killed too?
No one dared to bet on it. No one had ever seen a death like this. His throat was just… mysteriously slit?
The banquet eventually ended on a sour note. The elderly noble could only take the risk of heading to the Tulip Territory to ask for Marquis Will’s opinion.
Invisibility magic usually has some kind of limitation, such as being revealed if blood splatters on the caster or being detectable by certain senses. But that dirty-mouthed bastard had been killed as if his soul were harvested by a ghost!