I Became The Wife Of The Cursed Grand Duke Chapter 84

At Johansen’s northernmost outpost, at the top of the Irina Gorge, a small group of knights led by their leader, Viktor, were stationed.

 

They were scouring the canyon like fleas in search of a village called Lingus.

 

The fruitless search and the bitter cold were beginning to wear them down.

 

Crackle—!

 

A scout came in through the biting wind, removing his snow-covered helmet to report.

 

“Movement confirmed.”

 

A red flag-like marker was soon pinned to the map on the table.

 

It meant the ice cave northwest of the outpost was finally empty.

 

The cave is the only place in Irina Gorge where a village could have formed.

 

Even these were difficult to navigate, as the frost giants made them their wintering grounds.

 

When Viktor was ready, he called his knights together.

 

“We have found an empty cave. This is the last cave we can see on the surface, so be careful what you wish for.”

 

As soon as the knights left the lookout post with heavy hearts, a bone-chilling blizzard enveloped them.

 

Whirling–!

 

They wonder how long they have been walking.

 

When the dusky dawn sky had completely turned blue, the cave finally appeared.

 

The entrance to the cave was dotted with human totems, created by the Frost Giants to show off their ruthlessness.

 

“Ugh, cruel bastards!”

 

Leaving the shivering knights behind, Viktor led his lieutenant, Mayol, and a search party inside.

 

“Scouts, search the perimeter, the rest of you cover the entrance.”

 

“Aye!”

 

It was cold and damp inside the cave. At first glance, it was hardly habitable.

 

Mayol rubbed his withered palms together dejectedly and sighed, wishing the earth away.

 

“Is there even a place called Lingus? I don’t know how we’re supposed to find a place name that hasn’t been on the map for thousands of years.”

 

“Who told you to wonder about such things?”

 

Viktor sheathed his sword and cleared his throat with a frown.

 

“When the Lord commands, we obey. There have been instances of exclusive tribes living in deep caves, so search without question.”

 

He remembered his master, his face always impassive.

 

He was so eerily rational and dispassionate that it sometimes worried him.

 

But he had given the order for personal reasons. To search the Irina Gorge, and nowhere else, to find a village not on the map.

 

If it had come from anyone else, he would have been accused of insanity.

 

“It’s about the Grand Duchess,” he said.

 

That might have been the end of it, but Viktor didn’t want to disappoint Kalian.

 

So, as soon as he received his orders, he traveled from estate to estate, gathering information about the town of Lingus, but nothing of note came of it.

 

Only one thing remained.

 

There was only one thing left to do: follow the frost giants’ trail and search the caves they had vacated.

 

It was a more time-consuming and labor-intensive endeavor than they had anticipated, so it was no wonder the knights were grumbling.

 

He was just beginning to walk away from his thoughts when he realized something.

 

BANG!

 

With a grisly roar, the ice walls and pillars surrounding him shuddered.

 

“What was that?”

 

The question only lasted a moment.

 

Thud!

 

One after another, the ice cracked, and suddenly there was an ear-tickling silence.

 

“What the hell is this…?”

 

Boom!

 

The boom echoed again.

 

“Mayol!”

 

The ground they were walking on rose upside down, and Mayol, who was walking ahead of them, was sucked into the cracked ice pit with barely enough time to dodge.

 

“Kaaaah!”

 

The cracks swallowed up the knights, and it was too late to run to their rescue.

 

“Oops! They’re caught!”

 

Viktor immediately realized that these were no ordinary cracks.

 

“It’s a trap! Form up!”

 

The urgent command sent the remaining knights scurrying to their feet and into battle formation.

 

“Hoo.”

 

Viktor drew up the energy that had been floating through his body and wrapped it around his sword, but it was no match for the frost giants.

 

“That’s why I was so careful to follow behind.”

 

Frost Giants were one of the most advanced variants of demons, and unlike their savage counterparts, they were highly intelligent.

 

“I can’t believe they dug a trap under the guise of moving!”

 

A gust of wind from the upturned earth enveloped the knights in formation.

 

The flesh-crushing wind carried the roar of the frost giant that had been waiting for them, hidden beneath the solid ice.

 

Kooong─!

 

The two giants appeared in front of them.

 

‘Even without an aura, they’re worthy opponents!’

 

There was no retreating now.

 

He couldn’t let his men be skewered and made fun of.

 

“Argh!”

 

That’s when Viktor the Crocodile stomped on the ground and leaped into the air.

 

Whooooooo-!

 

A sudden black vortex swept over him.

 

“Ugh!”

 

Viktor slammed his greatsword down on the ground and was knocked backwards.

 

He made a quick defensive motion to assess the situation,

 

“Your Highness!”

 

It was a familiar shadow, the black aura-clad demonic sword master, Grand duke Orpheus.

 

Zap!

 

The grand duke flew in like the wind from nowhere, his blade resonating majestically every time it struck the frost giant’s body.

 

Despite the overwhelming size difference, the frost giant was completely trapped by the chains created by the shadows, and was being cut to pieces.

 

Viktor watched, unable to bring himself to join the fray.

 

“Uh-uh-uh!”

 

Mayol, looking like a drowned mouse, crawled up from beneath the floor of the crack.

 

“Huh, huh, huh! Oooh, c’mon, I thought I was going to die this time! Oooh, it’s my heart!”

 

“Boss, help me!”

 

The knights who had fallen into the pit, led by Mayol, began to emerge, shivering from the cold, their bodies dripping with steam.

 

“No, what the…”

 

He was happy that his men had survived.

 

But it was strange.

 

There were no lakes or ponds in the caves in the Irina Gorge.

 

Even if there had been, they would have frozen solid and died instantly.

 

“What the hell happened to you guys…”

 

Just as he was about to ask them with his suspicions.

 

“Hee hee, sir, the Grand Duke, the Grand Duke!”

 

A purple shadow exploded from the Grand Duke’s feet and flashed darkly.

 

Shoot, shoot, shoot. Hmph─!

 

Rising with terrifying momentum like a rushing waterfall, the shadow wriggled as if it were alive and began to chew and devour the frost giant.

 

“Everyone, take cover! The rampage has begun!”

 

The knights retreated en masse at the sight.

 

Not out of fear. It was one of the first things they were taught when they joined the army, to avoid unnecessary sacrifice.

 

If the grand duke shows any sign of violence, they are to leave their posts immediately, for any reason.

 

But Viktor could hardly take his eyes off the marvelous figure. To say he was overwhelmed would be an understatement.

 

“The source of that power, could it be… the first stage of awakening?”

 

As he muttered this, Viktor’s blue eyes caught a ray of light falling from above the grand duke’s head.

 

‘Something is wrong.’

 

Viktor’s eyelids fluttered open and closed as if his entire body were in chains, his breath rushed into his lungs, and the grand duke swung his sword like a whip, all too slowly.

 

Thud!

 

And then darkness.

 

He was engulfed in darkness, and a silence so terrible he couldn’t hear his own breathing.

 

“This is not a runaway.”

 

It was too still for a runaway.

 

The dark purple shadows, darker than the depths of the ocean and more terrifying than a blizzard, had vanished.

 

All that remained was the ghastly wreckage of the frost giant.

 

 

* * *

 

 

The shredded flesh of the Frost Giant lay at his feet.

 

Its lifeless, hollow pupils turned to him, but Kalian’s golden eyes held no emotion.

 

“Kal, do your duty as a protector of the Empire. I will fulfill my mission by protecting you.”

 

Only his father’s last words echoed in his ears.

 

“I’m tired.”

 

Everyone he loves dies.

 

The unchangeable fact pushes him into a bottomless pit of despair.

 

But this is no time for sentimentality.

 

On the brink of death, Tristan gave him a few last words.

 

To keep silent about Babel’s men’s invasion of the Grand Duchy, and to bring closure to the North.

 

This, he said, was because there was something in the Great Duchy that must be protected.

 

Someday, he said, the master who would inherit it would come to claim his things.

 

‘But what is it that I must protect?’

 

He even searched the catacombs for clues, but found nothing.

 

Neither did her mother, who remained tight-lipped.

 

Kalian came to the conclusion that the Orpheus family did not know what it was that they had guarded with their lives for so many years.

 

All he can hope for now is to find the Book of Seals.

 

Kalian shook his head, pushing back the darkness that still lingered within him.

 

The knights, drenched like rats, were running toward him.

 

“Why are they like that in a place without a drop of water?”

 

His nerves were beginning to fray again at the sight of them.

 

“Grand Duke, are you all right?”

 

Viktor, at the head of the line, bent down on one knee in acknowledgment.

 

“It’s been a long time, and you’ve had a hard time taking care of Johansen in my absence.”

 

“You are too kind. It’s nothing compared to your hard work.”

 

Kalian’s cold eyes softened at the sight of the man who seemed to personify righteousness.

 

“Report.”

 

Viktor understood instantly, though he didn’t need any further explanation.

 

“There are twenty-six caves in the Irina Gorge, and this is the last one on the map.”

 

“So they caught you at the last one.”

 

“That’s my bad luck. I should have scouted a little more closely before going in…”

 

Kalian didn’t bother to chastise him.

 

“That’s fine. But let this be an example to you, and be more careful in your dealings with them in the future.”

 

“It would have been an uphill battle if it weren’t for you, Your Highness. Luckily, there was a lake at the bottom of the cave, so I’m sure we’ll be fine…”

 

Kalian held up a hand as if to stop him, and his face went as hard as a plaster statue.

 

“A lake?”