“Who is she?” He murmured and thought of the last words in her letter. She was quite plucky in that letter, and he did need a bride. She fit the requirements perfectly, and the timing was right. Milo informed him that Ilyin had been quite logical in persuading him.

She had mysteriously delved into the Biflten secret but had come to this faraway land for marriage alone. While she would like the title of a duchess, Biflten did not socialize with the empire, and the title had no meaning in that manner. What did she want? Aden thought that only the Imperial family would be dissatisfied enough to do something, as they did not like Biflten and bowing to them through generations. However, things were too lax for her to be an assassin, as the Imperial family could do things much more efficiently.

“Milo,” he summoned.

The merchant, who had been waiting outside, now came in, “I await your orders.”

“Bring the bride in,” Aden said as he placed the letter in the drawer.

Milo spoke in surprise, “We do not know her and where she got the information yet.”

“That’s why we’re bringing her in,” Aden smiled like a lion. While he looked relaxed, things could completely change if he saw a prey. Milo bowed to his master and went out to follow his orders.

Aden stood up. He did not back down from challenges and would find out how she knew about Ecid and Biflten. Her decision to come to Biflten was welcome, as Aden de Biflten’s home ground was here.

***

On the day Aden first met his bride, he was at a battlefield.

“Sir, enemies are coming!”

Aden held his sword. The monsters that had come to the Biflten castle walls were monsters from a large herd in this area. The red-scaled Mollies had been enemies of the Biflten family for a long time. While they were not intelligent, they fought well.

The elders of the three families, who could not hold a sword, thought the same thing on hearing that the Mollies were coming.

“What are the Delrose knights doing?” One of the elders yelled. They were slaying the monsters that the knights of the other three families were avoiding. While their job was to separate the monsters before they became a powerful herd, the designated knights were not doing their job. “The Blue North cannot agree to the succession ceremony when the leader cannot protect his people!” He continued.

“The Bright Elo agrees,” said another elder, and the elder from the Green Mille was nodding in agreement.

The three elders could pressure the Red Delrose only at the succession ceremony that had to be held every three years. The ceremony was the reason for all this trouble. They always said the same thing at this ceremony, that the Divine Objects the three elders had were needed for the succession.

Aden swung his sword, thinking he could push down his anger with it, which made him practice with it often. However, he had to burn the source of his anger and he raised an elbow to strike a monster, “You dare to provoke the Biflten family in the wintry lands!” Aden’s voice was angry, there was a reason why the Biflten family owned these lands. He struck his sword on the ground and the tall piles of snow vanished in an instant. White steam rose and the Biflten cold turned people’s breath into frost. Aden was surrounded by a vapor that filled the space as his rage did. At that moment, a monster lurched at him, as its instinct told him that a knight without his sword was easy prey. However, the monster collapsed as he encountered the heat, unable to attack Aden.

Only the Duke who had completed his succession ceremony could resist the cold in Biflten and the monsters began to talk among themselves.

“Isn’t he a Delrose knight?” One of them asked.

Aden had heard that monsters could not talk in the empire and so their conversation startled him and he watched them cautiously as he held his sword tightly, his knuckles turning white.

“The leader of the Delrose knights is the Duke?” Another monster questioned, his voice was deep and rough.

Aden listened as the monsters revealed his secret. He was not in a hurry because the mollies would be buried in snow by tomorrow. He raised his sword again in anger.

“Sir, I see a carriage!” yelled a knight.

He had been slaying the mollies around him when the Delrose knight shouted and he looked up and saw a simple carriage approaching in the distance.

“It’s being chased!” The knight shouted over the noise of the battle.

Mollies were after it, and Aden’s lips opened, “Idith! What path is that carriage taking?”

The Red Delrose ruled over this area, and the carriage seemed to be running on a carriage path owned by the Red Delrose. Mollies blocked the path, and while the castle walls had been excusable, that was an invasion.

The carriage stopped in the snow and Aden could vaguely make out the horseman, who seemed to be a Blue North. But Aden looked away again as the man began to battle the mollies, he looked capable and there was no reason to rescue a Blue North’s carriage.

However, Aden’s head turned again at a high-pitched scream. His eyes focused on the carriage and the door flew open as someone jumped out, looked around briefly, and started running in his direction.

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