The Impact Of The Villainess’ Fake Marriage On The Ending

Chapter 41

“Please forgive my rudeness just this once.”

Zion grabbed Adeline by the wrist with a serious expression and led her to the stairs.

“Zion. What did I see just now…”
“AAARGH!”

Just as she was about to ask what the identity of those eyes was, a tremendous scream echoed through the darkened space.
Adeline covered her ears at the ear-ripping sound.
The screaming didn’t stop. The wailing continued, as if vomiting pain, and the tremendous sound soon became a loud vibration that was transmitted to Adeline.

While she was frantically pulled upstairs, her whole body shook as if an earthquake was happening.

“Zion!”
“You can’t stop! We just need to go up one more level, so don’t stop, Your Grace!”

Hearing his desperate voice, Adeline finally held back her question and concentrated on going up.

When they went up one more level as Zion had said, the screaming abruptly stopped.
It was as if they had moved to another time and space. She could no longer hear the cry that seemed to be in pain.

“What… What the hell is this…”
“How did you end up here? This is a forbidden area, Your Grace. It is a dangerous place where only His Grace the Grand Duke and other tacticians, including myself, can enter.”

Zion looked at Adeline in astonishment.
It seemed that he could hardly accept what had happened.

However, Adeline was also out of her mind, so she could not immediately answer Zion’s question.
Although the sound was definitely blocked, the ruthless scream was still lingering in her ears.
The sound vibration that shook the area was still making Adeline’s body tremble.

“Are you alright, Your Grace? Let’s hurry to your room…”
“No. I’m fine. I was just surprised for a moment. It will pass soon.”

Adeline calmed Zion, saying she was fine.
After going to her room, she wouldn’t really be able to ask about the situation she had just seen.

“I wanted to walk for a while, so I went out alone and got lost. After walking around without thinking about it, I came all the way here, and it seemed like it would be easier to go down and get out of the building.”
“…”
“As I was going down, I had the feeling that it led underground, not outside. When I thought about going back, the stairs ended, so I just walked. But…”

The red eyes that had suddenly appeared seemed to be in front of her again.
Adeline, who was speaking, took a deep breath to calm her trembling chest.

“Did you see?”
“I saw red eyes. Eyes that burned like fire.”

As soon as he heard Adeline’s answer, Zion’s face turned pale.

“What the hell is that? The scream that seemed to rip your ears apart was also coming from that thing with red eyes, wasn’t it? It didn’t sound like a person. Clearly.”

It was not a sound that a human could make. It was like the sound of a monster struggling in pain.

“I can’t tell you exactly, Your Grace.”
“What’s the reason? I am the wife of the owner of this castle. There shouldn’t be things about this castle that I don’t know about, or things that you turn a blind eye to.”

Zion tried to remain silent, but Adeline had no intention of backing down.
It wasn’t a matter of the duties or sense of duty of the Grand Duchess, but more like as long as she had witnessed it, she had to find out the truth.

“The underground space that Your Grace has just descended to is a forbidden area where only the descendants of the original Inver family and a small number of people permitted by them are allowed to enter.”
“A forbidden area?”
“Yes. It has various magic tools passed down in the family, various kinds of objects and information, and other heirlooms.”
“But you keep that kind of place unattended without any guards?”
“There is a strong barrier, so you can’t enter unless you are allowed to. As soon as you go beyond that barrier, your whole body burns to death.”

Adeline looked at Zion with surprise.

“Then how did I…”
“The ring you’re wearing must have broken through the barrier. It is a ring that is only allowed to the Lady of the North. The truth is, there was no way to verify it since the position of the grand duchess had been empty since this space was created, but the fact that Your Grace was able to go inside safely is proof of that.”

Her light green eyes turned to the ring on her left hand.

“If you can talk about the space, why are you silent about the identity of those eyes?”

Adeline asked a sharp question after thinking for a moment.
Zion and Adeline’s gazes met tensely.

“It’s not the space that matters, but what that space contains.”
“…”
“Those who are allowed to enter swear an oath of blood in return. The moment you reveal a little bit about the many secrets in that forbidden area, you will die in flames like a person who has recklessly crossed the barrier.”
“…”
“So, I can’t tell you anything, Your Grace. Please understand.”

She couldn’t fully trust Zion’s words to be true.
He was loyal to Kael, not Adeline, so it was possible that he had made up something just to hide that identity.
However, as long as it was said that his life depended on it, she couldn’t keep asking him to tell her.

“I understand. I won’t ask anymore.”
“Thank you, Your Grace.”

Zion bowed politely and thanked her.

“I have one more request, Your Grace.”
“What is it?”
“The barrier may have allowed Your Grace, but the rules of the North don’t.”
“What do you mean?”
“If you set foot on the forbidden area even though you are not one who inherited the blood of the Inver family or a vassal permitted by His Grace, you will be executed unconditionally. This is the most strictly enforced law. There will never be an exception.”

Adeline’s brows crumpled more and more.

So, according to Zion, Adeline was the subject of an execution.

“His Grace only allowed me and one other tactician. No one else is allowed.”
“Are you telling me I have to die?”
“No. I’m telling you that you have to stop so that it doesn’t happen. Never tell His Grace about the forbidden area, Your Grace.”

Zion appealed to Adeline in a voice that felt desperate.

“Without any exception, no matter who it is, that person will have to die. If that doesn’t happen, you will incur the wrath of His Grace.”
“…”
“So don’t ever speak to His Grace about this. The moment you tell him you have crossed the barrier, His Grace will have to kill you.”

It was an extremely horrible law.

“Don’t inflict such pain on him, Your Grace. I beg of you.”

Adeline, who was doubting whether the story she was hearing was true, heard Zion’s voice and erased her doubts.
He was serious. It was clear.

“… Alright. I promise.”

Adeline nodded in understanding.
As she did, Zion was visibly relieved. He said he would take her to her room and immediately showed her the way.

While walking behind Zion, Adeline’s head was thinking busily.

‘If I tell him this, will Kael kill me unconditionally? Then, it means I would somehow die by his hands… I may have gotten my hands on a good card to end this possession easily.’

It was a card that could be used as the final bastion.
Even though the complicated situation had been sorted out to some extent, it was perfect for use when there was no other way to die at Kael’s hands.

‘There are a lot of things that haven’t gone to their rightful place yet, so I shouldn’t right now…’

Adeline cleared her thoughts, closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them.
Nothing was easy, but things just kept happening and her head felt like it was going to explode.

“Zion?”

When she was thinking she should go back quickly and lie down for a while, Zion, who had been guiding the way, suddenly stopped.
Adeline, who stopped along the way without knowing what the reason was, immediately followed Zion’s gaze.

A carriage decorated with a colorful golden pattern, indicative of the imperial family, was coming inside the castle loudly.

“That…”

No one could stop the imperial carriage.
The carriage arrived at the castle with a loud trumpet sound, and as soon as it stopped, one of the tacticians, who had brought the emperor’s edict, came out of the carriage.

“Receive His Majesty’s decree!”

At the sudden commotion, the castle servants lined up around the carriage according to rank.
Since the emperor’s edict was identified as being the emperor, they had to receive the carriage as if the emperor himself had come.

“Your Grace Grand Duchess Inver. I salute you.”
“You must have gone through a lot coming here. But what is this sudden decree?”
“His Majesty was in a hurry because of the urgency of the matter.”

Adeline approached the tactician with a clean and elegant movement and waited for the emperor’s edict.

“It is a summoning order. I have been ordered to bring you to the capital through the portal right now.”

Adeline’s eyes widened, and Zion looked at the tactician, not knowing what he was hearing.

The summoning order was one of the most powerful commands the emperor could give a nobleman.
It couldn’t be questioned, and it couldn’t be refused.
Rejecting the summons was enough to count as treason.

“I apologize, but as you know, His Grace Grand Duke Inver is watching the northern boundary. Is he being summoned while he is working for the Empire? His Majesty must have been informed of the reason why His Grace is absent from the castle right now.”
“Yes. He has received it. There will be no interruption to the patrol.”
“What does that…”
“His Majesty’s summon is not Grand Duke Inver, but the Grand Duchess.”

——