Chapter 70: The Tragedy of That Day (5)

While Grace and Elaine were eliminating the rebels one by one, Arthur was also busy.

Following Grace’s orders, he discreetly mobilized a small, trusted force to surround and monitor their targets.

Despite being occupied, Arthur’s expression remained deeply serious.

He had acknowledged her strength and allowed her to go after she overwhelmed him with sheer killing intent, even as the commander of the knight order.

However, deep down, he was restless, debating whether he should send reinforcements immediately.

Most areas were not a significant issue, but the Five Great Houses were dangerous.

They had a considerable number of private soldiers, and, more importantly, they had knights.

No matter how much Grace had inherited the blood of the Northrein family, facing multiple knights at once would not be an easy task.

‘My Lady—no, His Grace must have confidence in her own abilities to have stepped forward.’

But since he didn’t know the full extent of her strength, he couldn’t shake his unease.

He sincerely regretted not supervising her sword training more closely.

Thinking about swordsmanship reminded him of someone else.

‘At least Sir Elaine is with her. That’s a relief.’

If Grace had gone alone, Arthur wouldn’t have been able to stand still—he would have joined her without hesitation.

The only reason he could endure this situation, biting his lips hard enough to draw blood, was because Elaine was by her side.

The praise he had given Elaine in front of Richard had been no exaggeration.

If anything, it had been an understatement.

It wasn’t mere training—Arthur had simply helped refine her combat instincts and provided occasional advice.

Elaine was already an outstanding swordswoman even without his guidance.

She had greater talent with the sword than he did as the knight commander, a calm and analytical perspective, and impeccable judgment.

She never overestimated her own abilities, nor did she underestimate her opponents.

At the same time, she wasn’t excessively humble or fearful of her enemies’ strength—her emotional control was flawless.

Most impressive was her strong foundation in swordsmanship, seamlessly blended with her own unique style.

Learning the same sword techniques didn’t mean everyone fought the same way.

Each person had different strength, physique, and personality.

Thus, mastering swordsmanship meant adapting it to oneself, which required deep understanding of both the techniques and oneself.

Elaine, despite being only twenty, had already achieved this.

She had gone beyond merely adapting her swordsmanship to suit herself—she had begun evolving it into something uniquely her own.

She had only just set foot in that realm due to her lack of experience.

But once she gained that experience, she would quickly rise to Arthur’s level.

‘Still, not against Berta.’

Arthur was receiving reports on Grace’s movements.

She had single-handedly taken down Ironfall, one of the Five Great Houses, with Elaine.

She had also crushed multiple noble factions.

It was an impressive feat, but they were still human—they had to be exhausted.

Among the Five Great Houses, Berta was the most powerful.

Even compared to the others, it would be the hardest to conquer, and its head was an exceptional warrior.

Arthur couldn’t let them handle that one alone.

Judging by Grace’s movements, she intended to strike Berta last.

Once that battle ended, the encirclement strategy would no longer be necessary, allowing the troops stationed for surveillance to be redeployed elsewhere.

That meant he could join in at the final stage without hesitation.

As Arthur continued coordinating operations and calculating the right moment to intervene—

“A report has arrived. Suspicious movements have been detected from the Atik family. The head of the house is currently heading toward the military sector with his knights.”

“The military?”

If they were moving toward the military, then…

There was no way information about Grace’s encirclement strategy had leaked.

That meant they were likely aligning themselves with the rebel forces within the military to consolidate power ahead of the upcoming struggle.

They had been waiting for the Northern Grand Duke’s death.

By now, they must have received news through their own sources.

Yet instead of coming to the Winter Palace, they were already making their move.

‘Wait, hold on.’

The head of the Atik family had left his residence for the military sector?

Hmm… This was an opportunity.

“Lieutenant, take over command for now. Follow my instructions as I’ve been doing.”

“Where are you going?”

“I need to prepare a congratulatory gift for our new Grand Duke.”

Arthur grabbed his sword.

To reduce the number of enemies Grace had to face.

“Oh.”

Come to think of it, there was a potential ally he had yet to confirm.

It was time to find out where their loyalties lay.

Having judged and punished the nobles who had betrayed the Northern Grand Duke one after another, Grace finally stood before her final enemy.

A member of the Five Great Houses.

One of the masterminds behind this rebellion.

House Berta.

The Atik family had also been a major conspirator.

‘Deep Snow…’

When she arrived at the Atik estate, however, it was not the head of the family who greeted her.

Instead, she was met by Isaac, the eldest son of the Deep Snow family’s leader, Lionel.

Grace had initially been on guard, thinking that Dipsnow had come to aid Atique. However, the words that came from Isaac’s mouth were the complete opposite.

– Did Sir Arthur send you?

– That’s correct. The head of the Atique family is currently on his way to the military headquarters, and the Knight Commander has gone to take care of him.

– ……

– The Commander requested our family’s support, and under my father’s orders, I came to stop the Atique family.

Isaac explained that his father, Lynel, had also been invited to participate in this conspiracy and had attended one of

their meetings, meaning he knew the list of enemies.

Furthermore, he promised that Dipsnow would help eliminate the nobles that Grace had yet to deal with.

As proof, Lynel himself was currently in the process of purging another noble house.

To be honest, Grace was growing exhausted from handling multiple noble families at once.

In such a situation, Dipsnow’s alliance was more than welcome.

Knowing that at least one of the Five Great Houses was an ally gave her a sense of relief.

And then there was this man, Isaac, who had come as support.

She had heard that the eldest son of Dipsnow was competent, but for him to be able to hold off another of the Five

Great Houses, Atique, with only a small force was proof of his exceptional ability.

She would have to keep an eye on him for the future.

The news that Arthur had headed to the military headquarters to eradicate the head of Atique and the rebel faction

within the military was also a relief.

Even if they managed to eliminate the treacherous nobles, if the remnants hiding within the military attempted a

rebellion, all their efforts would be in vain.

Thanks to this, she could put aside one major concern.

Now, all that remained was eliminating the head of Berta.

No matter how much she tried to handle things discreetly to prevent a civil war, there were limits.
Every noble house they visited was left in ruins, and fierce battles broke out within their mansions each time, so cracks were bound to form in the information control.
They needed to finish things before their enemies noticed something was off.

“Sir Elaine, are you holding up?”

“…I’m fine.”

Even on Elaine’s face, exhaustion was evident.

“Do you remember what I told you before?”

“?”

“That I need a reliable guard.”

“Yes, I remember.”

“One person won’t be enough.”

Elaine seemed to agree, taking a deep breath and adjusting her grip on her sword.

“There may be more incidents like today. A personal guard that can move freely according to Your Grace’s will, independent of both the military and the knights, is necessary.”

“Exactly. If we had that, even without relying on Sir Arthur or Dipsnow, we could divide our forces and take down enemies separately.”

The moment Grace stepped onto the grounds of the Berta estate—

Swish. Swish!

Hearing the sharp sound of wind slicing through the air, Elaine swiftly swung her sword.
The thrown daggers she deflected clattered onto the ground.

“Your Grace.”

Elaine called out while keeping her eyes on the daggers, and Grace’s expression hardened.

“So, they intend to fight even knowing what’s coming.”

So the cracks in information control had indeed formed.
The enemy had caught on and strengthened their defenses.
The final battle would not be an easy one.

The Sword of the Beast King in Grace’s hand let out a powerful hum in response.

“My lord, Grace has arrived.”

“Hah. How fascinating.”

Upon receiving his subordinate’s report, the head of Berta chuckled, though his amusement was genuine.

The moment he learned of Richard’s death, he had wanted to rush over immediately.
However, he had held himself back.
Power struggles were like tug-of-war—pulling too hard too soon would expose weaknesses.

The head of Berta had decided to stay put until Grace came to him first to ‘report’ the Grand Duke’s death and ‘request’ him to come to Winter Palace.
This was his way of establishing dominance in their relationship from the start.

But after waiting endlessly with no word, he sensed something was wrong and discreetly investigated.

‘What an audacious little thing. Heh.’

Winter Palace remained silent, while soldiers were reportedly handling affairs at the estates of his fellow conspirators.

It seemed Atique’s plans had been exposed, and everything had spiraled into chaos.
If things had come to this, then a full-scale war was inevitable, and he had considered heading straight to the military to rally his forces for battle.

‘But if I leave this mansion, that fox Arthur might do something unexpected.’

Besides, the military still contained many who had supported Richard.
If he carelessly walked into their den, he could end up being purged before he even had a chance to make his move.

So, he decided to sit and wait for Grace.

It seemed that they were dealing with the rebels one by one, like a pilgrimage.

That meant she would arrive here soon, exhausted.

At that moment, he would put the arrogant brat in her place as an adult should.

Moreover, the thought of that woman walking all the way here on her own feet while he sat still made him feel quite pleased.

It already felt as if he had ascended the throne.

“But to think she’d really take care of everything and come here. I have to give her some credit.”

The praise was sincere.

Perhaps that princess really did have enough strength to stand as the Grand Duke of the North.

But this was as far as it went.

Not only did he possess superior military forces to suppress both Nosrein and other competitors, but he had also hired assassins from outside the North.

On top of that, the troops were led by the outstanding sons of Bertha.

A young, wild foal that had exhausted itself from thrashing around could be captured easily.

“I never intended to kill her, though. Tsk.”

Things had gotten complicated.

Fortunately, since they had moved quietly to avoid a civil war, the situation was still manageable.

And the dead told no tales.

Now, how should he handle this?

Would it be best to claim that Grace tried to purge other noble families to secure the title of Grand Duke of the North?

And how should he deceive the military that had remained loyal to Richard?

Ugh, this kind of complicated scheming was Artique’s job.

Since Grace had arrived here, that meant he had already been taken care of.

It was good that a competitor was gone, but the additional workload was annoying.

Creak.

At that moment, the door opened.

“Oh?”

Faster than expected.

Was she that exhausted?

As he pondered what greeting to use first, he turned his head.

“!!”

He couldn’t say a word.

Grace stumbled in, her body drenched in blood.

“S-Surely… you didn’t break through all the troops down below?”

“Ah.”

Grace let out a long sigh, as if she were tired, then answered.

“To be honest, it was a bit dangerous. If Sir Arthur and the knights hadn’t arrived in time, I might have worn myself out dealing with all the small fry. Well, thanks to all that trouble, I finally leveled up.”

Her face was a mess.

There were visible scratches, and her breathing was rough.

And yet.

She had truly wiped them out—all of them.

The Lord of Bertha looked utterly dumbfounded, his mouth opening and closing in disbelief.

“Now, the only one left is you.”

Step, step.

As Grace approached, the Lord of Bertha flinched.

“W-Wait! If you kill me, your entire family will be wiped out!”

Grace stopped.

“…What do you mean by that?”

“Heh, did you think this was all the forces I had? When I heard about your actions, I sent assassins to Nosrein’s estate—just in case. To take hostages.”

“…”

“Reckless little princess, you’ve gone too far. If you keep acting out, your precious household will be annihilated. You don’t want to lose them too, after your father, do you?”

It was a desperate gamble, but the Lord of Bertha rejoiced inwardly.

Nosrein had few people, which meant they valued their family immensely.

Even if they weren’t blood relatives, even if they were mere servants.

In reality, he had only sent five or six assassins.

But that didn’t matter.

Just the knowledge of their existence would throw Grace into turmoil.

“Fine.”

Grace, seemingly pressured by the threat, quietly lowered her sword.

Emboldened by her weakness, the Lord of Bertha smirked and held out a communication artifact before her eyes.

“Good. From now on, this is your leash. As long as you don’t do anything foolish and obey me, I’ll guarantee your family’s lives.”

Grace silently stared at the artifact in his hand.

Then—

Whir.

Swish!

The sword she had placed on the ground moved on its own, slicing through the air at an incredible speed—

And tore into the Lord of Bertha’s hand.

“Arrrghhh!!”

A sudden, searing pain made the Lord of Bertha scream as he clutched his arm.

Confused, he turned toward the sound of approaching footsteps.

“!”

Grace stood before him, sword back in her hand.

“W-What was that just now?”

“I don’t have the energy to explain.”

Grace wore a weary expression as she raised her sword high.

The Lord of Bertha clenched his teeth so hard it seemed they might shatter.

“Yaaaaaah!”

In desperation, he drew his sword and attempted to fight back.

The Lion Sword, Great Claw.

Crash!

With a single powerful downward strike, his blade shattered like glass.

“Hah…!”

Thud!

Immediately after, Grace’s foot slammed into his body, sending him flying into the wall.

“Cough! Cough!”

Even as he coughed violently, he refused to give up and clenched his fists.

But—

Slash!

Grace mercilessly severed his remaining hand.

Now deprived of both hands, the Lord of Bertha trembled and let out a piercing scream.

“N-No! I worked so hard for this position! To die so pathetically without even a proper fight—I can’t accept such a foolish end! At the very least, I want to die like a warrior!”

“No. This is the death you deserve.”

Crack.

“The greatest warrior in the North wasn’t granted a glorious end. Why should you? Die like the worm you are.”

Grace prepared to swing her sword to finish him off.

But then—

“No, using the Grand Duke’s sword to kill a worm is a waste.”

She withdrew her sword.

And raised her hand instead.

For a moment, he wondered if she intended to beat him to death with her bare fists.

Then—

Shhhhhh.

The shattered fragments of his sword floated into the air.

“Wait… No, it can’t be—!”

“This will hurt.

Not as much as being betrayed by family or poisoned by someone you trusted, but still.”

“AAAAAHHHH!!”

Slash, slash, slash!

Thus, those who dared to defile the Grand Duke of the North met a miserable and gruesome end.