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nChapter 75

nProofreader: somnium

nAs soon as he escaped from Alphonse’s blade, Cadriol ran madly to the ground floor.

n“How many are left?”

n“It’s three!”

nThree elite members died in the hand of Alphonse.

nThinking about the crew who died to bring in the smoke bomb, he lost four in an instant.

nIn winter, Evron is sloppy.

nTheir power is concentrated in the direction of the Karam. They rarely even considered being attacked by the same human beings. This is because the frozen sea and cold weather were more powerful defenses than anything else.

nIn addition, for the hunting events, all the main figures in military relations, including knights, would be away.

nHe thought that if only the escape route could be secured, it would be easy for him to kidnap a weak woman.

nBut it wasn’t something to look down on.

nThe moment they realized that the enemy had entered, the stronghold itself shifted.

nA door made of steel descended on Cadriol’s front and back. Originally, it was intended to bind the feet of enemies invading from outside.

nNevertheless, as they fell simultaneously, it was easy to get trapped in the hallway.

nThe target position was close, but Cadriol had to go round and round. Jump into another room, open another door, and run into a new hallway.

nIf he had not been familiar with the structure of the stronghold in advance from Aubrey, even if his men were the best warriors of the South Sea, they would have been trapped and killed.

n“Damn it!”

nArrows flew from behind.

nGuards blocked the hallway. All entrances to this castle would have been blocked by soldiers.

n“Go!”

nA member of the elite team stayed behind. Cadriol shout out, “I will definitely pay you back!”.

nAnd finally, he arrived at the end of the corridor on the first floor.

nTurn the left and right wrist of the statue carved on the wall at the same time. It is a secret passage that was created to supply water.

nAs Aubrey told him, this secret passage opens from the inside, and only extends to the river.

nBut for Cadriol, that was enough.

nEimmel is a maritime kingdom, a kingdom of water.

nFor the people of Eimmel, handling the boat was like handling their own hands and feet. Manipulating sails and flying in the wind is something even a 10-year-old can do.

nEven if it is a frozen river, a river is a river. Once he got on the boat, he won’t lose to anyone.

nWith a rumbling noise, the wall with the statue of the saint opened.

nBam! Bam! Bam!

nShort arrows were stuck in the statue of the saint one after another.

nCadriol exploded the last smoke bomb left. And he jumped into the secret passage.

n***

nLysia lowered the crossbow.

nThere was no guarantee that Artizea would not be hit by shooting an arrow into that cloud of smoke.

nA group of soldiers rumbled into the secret passage.

nLysia said.

n“Send people outside the secret passage. We have to go through it.”

n“What’s going on here?”

n“Send a messenger to the Grand Duke right now. And secure Aubrey Jordyn.”

nLysia ordered one after another. Margaret’s face turned pale.

nLysia grabbed her hand.

n“We have to know who leaked the secret passage.”

nThere were three secret passages of the stronghold.

nThe most insignificant among them was the passage of the statue.

nRather than a secret passage, it was an emergency water supply route, so the length was short, and it was unreasonable to use it as an escape route.

nHowever, that is based on the Evron or Krates mainland people.

nAt the end, there is a river. And the opponent is a South Sea person.

n“Oh, Aubrey, how could you…”

n“Think calmly. Aubrey is the most likely suspect, Aunt. Aubrey is at the temple, and they were staying at the temple too. Didn’t she hate the Grand Duchess a bit?”

nLysia said coldly.

nIn addition, Cedric said that everyone knows of the passage, but in reality, it was hard to know how to open the secret passage.

nHe only informed it to his trusted vassals in case the stronghold was breached and the command was destroyed.

nAmong them were the caretakers of the stronghold, the Count Jordyns, who were the agents of the master, and their children who were expected to inherit the duty in the future.

nBlood drained from Margaret’s face.

n“We need to find out information about them, even a little. Aunt Margaret! If something goes wrong with the Grand Duchess like this, how are you going to see the Grand Duke’s face?”

nMargaret was startled and lifted her head. Then she nodded and ran out.

n***

nArtizea’s mind came after Cadriol got out of the stronghold and boarded a boat.

nArtizea opened her hazy eyes and raised her head. She was lying on the floor of a small cabin like a coffin.

nOver her body was a coat of thick fur-skinned leather. There was also a fur coat on the floor.

n“Ah….”

nHer whole body hurt, as if being beaten. She sat up.

nUnable to cope with the cold and frozen body, she pulled up the overcoat and put it on her. It was the length that reached her ankle.

nHer last memory was that she was pulled by the back of neck while being carried by Cadriol.

nShe stood up carefully. The feet in her indoor silk shoes were cold as if her toes were falling apart.

nOversized fur shoes were laid. Artizea wore it and stumbled and stepped out of the cabin.

nThe remodeled small ship was pushing forward, smoothly like a sled on ice.

nArtizea glanced everywhere, blankly. The sails were blown up by the wind.

nThe riverside passed by in a flash. Even when it was warm, it didn’t get to this speed even when she rode Evron’s ship.

n“You woke up.”

nCadriol clicked his finger.

n“The hospitality is not very good, but hang in there. I know that the Marchioness is not very healthy, but I can’t afford to carry a hearth.”

nArtizea took a quick breath. The cold air froze her lungs.

n“I don’t know what kind of hellish weather this is. Is Evron insane? They built a castle and built a town to live in a place like this?”

n“His Majesty Cadriol.”

n“Are your fur shoes warm? Cutting off the bride’s toes with a knife is not what I want.”

n“How….”

n“Hmm how.”

nLeaving the sail line to another sailor, Cadriol approached Artizea’s side.

nArtizea stepped backward.

n“Where do I start? How did I escape? How did I know the structure of the stronghold? How did I get here?”

nCadriol laughed brightly.

n“Or, should I start from the moment my neck fell? You haven’t seen it have you? My neck fell off with an axe.”

n“Your Majesty. “

n“The executioner told me. My father deliberately told him to use an ax that didn’t work well, but the Marchioness spent money and replaced it with a sharp one. Should I say thank you for that shallow mercy?”

n“That’s….”

n“Actually, I was really grateful. I had my neck drop in one swing. If I had been axed five or six times, I would have gone crazy as soon as my memories revived.”

nArtizea took one more step back.

nCadriol snatched her waist. Her wrist, which swung like she was trying to resist, was easily caught.

n“Be careful. If you fall under the boat now, your body will be shattered by ice, and you die immediately.”

n“How.”

nArtizea could only ask.

nCadriol, the first prince of the Eimmel Kingdom, was the pirate king of the South Sea.

nThe kingdom of Eimmel was a small island in the South Sea.

nThe population was small, and the land mass was smaller. There were no resources, and agriculture could not develop in the salty land.

nEven so, they did not develop a delicate technology like the Kingdom of Ianz in a similar situation.

nThe industry that did develop was fishing. However, distribution of seafood is possible only on the beach at best.

nDuring the development of Krates, Eimmel grew poorer.

nSo it was piracy that Cadriol turned his eyes to.

nIt wasn’t that way from the start. Initially, they used their advanced navigation technology to engage in shipbuilding and relay trade.

nHowever, the Duke of Riagan, who was backed by imperial support, crushed it.

nIt didn’t even take a few years to realize that Cadriol could hardly stand up against the large business of the Krates Empire.

nHe subdued the pirates of the South Sea and gathered them all under his banner.

nIn the first place, many of the South Sea pirates were from the Eimmel kingdom. Even some that came from other kingdoms, it was commonly dominated by the South Sea people.

nOrganized pirates intensively plundered the Kratesian merchant ships, periodically sweeping the southern coastal regions, weakening the naval forces.

nAt the same time, he declared himself the protector of the South Sea as the Prince of Eimmel.

nIt was said that a merchant ship protected by the Eimmel Navy could safely cross the sea.

nIt was from the beginning of the country’s founding that the southern regions of the empire suffered from piracy.

nHowever, in the next ten years or so from now, the imperial navy is at its weakest and the power of pirates rises.

nIn fact, there was a position where they could do nothing without the help of the Eimmel Navy.

nIt was all done by Cadriol.

nSo Artizea joined hands with Cadriol. The first transaction was to manipulate grain prices to oust Grand Duke Roygar.

nIt was a deal that Cadriol couldn’t refuse.

nHe took the money separately, and obtained the grain merchant shop. As the price of grain rose, the plundered grain was released back to the southern regions and gained triple benefits.

nThe alliance continued for some time after Grand Duke Roygar was expelled. This is because Lawrence wants to subdue even the Duke of Riagan.

nBut in the end, Artizea betrayed Cadriol. It was because he had evidence of her conspiracy.

nAfter trusting Artizea, Cadriol was arrested by the king for treason and lost his neck.

nIt was the Krates Empire that lent soldiers to King Eimmel that day. It was Lawrence to be precise.

n“How…?”

nArtizea was forced to ask again. Cadriol smiled.

n“About 4 months ago, I woke up while sleeping, and I was so surprised and grateful that my neck was intact. I remember my neck being cut by the death penalty. At first, I thought I had the oddest of nightmares.”

n“….”

n“But from that day, it was very weird. The documents, the people, all I had already seen, and even the day the storm came. The memories became more vivid and I couldn’t say that I had a dream.”

nSaid Cadriol.

n“So what do you think was the first thing I thought about? Marchioness?”

n“I do not know. “

n“I had to get you in my hand.”

nCadriol’s hand grabbed Artizea’s chin and fixed it.

n“I don’t know how long I’ve missed you. I’ve thought about it many times. Should I strangle you or kiss you when we meet?”

nHe laughed furiously. A whisper fell over Artizea’s lips.

nArtizea stopped breathing.

nNo one else would have any memory. Artizea has checked it in many ways.

nCadriol kissed her. Artizea bite down the lip hard with all her might.

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