Liebert Castle (2)
“B-Bertha, why is t-that man here?!”
Amelia ran around the hall in exaggerated panic, promptly hiding behind a maid who appeared to be named Bertha.
“That is…?”
Bertha adjusted her glasses, squinting as she took a closer look.
“Ah. You must be Sir Vergil.”
“Don’t play games with me.”
Vergil’s eyes narrowed, already unsheathing his blade.
He had trusted Noah for one reason and one reason only.
Because he was the protagonist.
In the story he knew, Noah would eventually become ruthless. But right now, at this point in the narrative, he was still that naive nobleman who would smile too easily.
The kind who laughed beside Anneliese in flashbacks before her inevitable death.
That was exactly why this sight grated on him.
He had not expected Noah to keep Anneliese in the castle. Especially not when this meeting had been arranged in advance.
Quite frankly, it was exhausting.
Two months of travel had not been easy. And yet, despite Amelia having sent a letter beforehand informing them of his arrival, this was the sight that greeted him.
“He’s a guest of Lord Noah, My Lady. Were you not informed?”
However, aside from Anneliese, the atmosphere remained strangely restrained.
The servants kept their composure. Only the knights rushing in behind Vergil bristled with hostility the moment he unsheathed his blade.
“Put down your swords.”
Bertha’s voice cut through the tension. After a brief moment, the knights obeyed, lowering their weapons one by one.
Anneliese recoiled, her voice rising.
“A guest? What?! That man never tells me anything! Housing a criminal who murdered my brother… this is treason! That man killed my brother, your Prince! Is Noah serious?!”
“My Lady… please calm yourself.”
Bertha tried her best to control the situation.
“Even I do not fully understand Lord Noah’s intentions. Still, I am doing my utmost to follow them.”
Anneliese continued to glare at Vergil from behind Bertha’s shoulder.
Vergil, however, only alternated his gaze between the two, trying to piece together the situation.
There was an obvious lack of communication. Whatever Noah was planning, Vergil had no idea at all.
A small tug came at his sleeve.
“Vergil… I don’t like it here…”
He looked down at Mary. Her unease mirrored his own.
Bringing the Schäfers here had been a mistake.
Vergil turned toward the family, then back to Bertha and the others.
“I appreciate… whatever hospitality this is… But I’m afraid I must leave.”
Vergil turned away.
——Leaving so soon, my friend? What’s the rush?
The castle doors opened at that moment.
Noah stepped inside, followed by a group of knights who seemed to be his personal guards.
The Schäfers moved without thinking, drawing closer to Vergil.
In response, Vergil’s hand rested on the hilt of his blade, his eyes narrowing as he assessed the scene with suspicion.
Anneliese screamed at once behind Bertha, unwilling to come anywhere near Vergil as he stood between her and Noah.
“Noah! You have some explaining to do before I report this to my father!”
“Indeed, I do.”
Noah’s tone remained calm despite the absurdity of the situation.
“So, shall we move to the guest chamber?”
* * *
After several refusals from Vergil, they ultimately settled on the garden outside under the gazebo.
Vergil kept his eyes on Noah and Amelia in turn. The moment he had seen Anneliese, one fact had settled in his mind.
This was not how things were supposed to unfold.
Noah and Amelia were never meant to meet this early.
In the novel, Noah was supposed to be sent to the frontlines first, grievously wounded, only to be saved by a witch who appeared out of nowhere.
That encounter was meant to change everything.
And yet, here they were, already acquainted. And unfortunately, Anneliese was still alive for all this.
Noah clasped his hands together, turning toward his wife.
“Well, to begin with. You won’t be reporting anything to the Emperor, My Lady.”
“And who are you to decide that—”
Anneliese snapped back, but her voice faded mid-sentence the moment Noah’s expression shifted.
A cold smile surfaced on his lips, silencing her completely.
Anneliese clicked her tongue and turned away, arms crossed.
The moment Noah turned back toward Vergil and the others, that coldness vanished.
His face brightened as though nothing had happened.
“Sir Vergil. I truly appreciate you coming all this way. Sincerely.”
“Why? So you can sell me out later? Is the Emperor arriving with an entourage? I should warn you, I’ve never once been idle with the blade.”
Cold sweat dripped from Noah’s forehead.
“Y-Yes. Of course. And no, that isn’t happening. I thought I had already made that clear…”
Even so, Vergil’s suspicion was only natural.
There was a clear lack of communication here, after all.
“Speak.”
“Yes. First, Sir Vergil. When did you begin suspecting Cardinal Richelieu?”
“Haah?”
Anneliese turned sharply toward Noah, shock plain on her face.
“The Cardinal? Why would you suspect him?”
“Be quiet, My Lady.”
“No, what is this? Is this some kind of conspiracy, Noah?”
“I said be quiet.”
Anneliese attempted to rise from her seat. In the same instant, Amelia flicked her hand.
Thump!
Mana surged downward, forcing Anneliese back into place before she could fully stand.
In the same moment, mana formed again, sealing her lips shut. She struggled, but it only ended in muffled sounds and the chair scraping.
Vergil raised a brow, feeling more confused than ever.
Didn’t Noah love Anneliese?
If anything, this scene suggested the opposite. It looked less like affection and more like convenience, as if she were being kept around purely for appearances.
There was no warmth in Noah’s eyes at all.
He looked down at her the way one might look at something insignificant.
“Cardinal Richelieu…”
Vergil rubbed his chin as he spoke.
“What’s there to suspect?”
He continued probing, eyes fixed on Noah.
Noah was never meant to doubt Richelieu this early. Not while Anneliese was still alive.
And yet, this deviation was not unwelcome. In fact, Vergil quite liked this turn of events.
“Wasn’t the Cardinal the one who orchestrated your exile?”
“Mmph! Mmph…!”
No one paid the noise any attention.
Vergil crossed his arms, fingers tapping against his elbow.
“And even so. Would you truly go against the Crown over that? Would you throw away your Duchy, every privilege your ancestors spent generations cultivating?
“There are far bigger things to address, Vergil. A duchy is one thing. But what if everything collapses? Wouldn’t you say my privilege is a small price to pay?”
“……”
Vergil fell silent, thinking back to the narrative he knew all too well.
An Empire caught between wars on all sides.
Borders bleeding.
Races turning on one another.
And at the center of it all, Noah was seated alone in an iron throne, ruling an isolated duchy while waiting for the world to crumble.
A slow, suffocating tragedy.
Was Noah already aware of it?
Was that awareness the reason behind his sudden change?
“Lord Noah, by any chance—”
Noah continued before Vergil could finish.
“According to the Empire’s financial ledgers, this coming winter will devastate the lower districts. Grain reserves are already insufficient. Trade routes are already unstable. And several provinces are already falsifying reports just to avoid Imperial scrutiny.”
He clasped his hands together.
“And the civil unrest is no longer occasional. Noble factions are hoarding supplies. Border lords are refusing to send taxes. The military is stretched thin suppressing internal revolts while pretending the Empire is still unified.”
“Mmph! Mmph…!”
“The Cardinal controls information. He decides which reports reach the Emperor and which disappear. By the time the Crown realizes what’s happening, it will already be too late.”
“Mmph! Mmph…!”
Vergil met Noah’s gaze.
“And where do I fit into all of this?”
“You, Sir Vergil, are a necessary key.”
“Me?”
“I am a spoiled noble who knows little of the outside world. That much is true. Which is why I read. I study. I observe from a distance.”
“Mmph…!”
"But you were once hailed as one of the Empire’s Swords. Your exile, your public condemnation over a crime you did not commit, was not justice. It was wasteful. Farcical, even. And the Emperor’s willingness to believe it only proves how deeply he has been misled.”
“Mmph?!”
“Please. Lend me your strength.”
Vergil’s eyes turned from Anneliese, Amelia, then back to Noah.
“I killed the Prince.”
“And that was only the first step.”
“Mmph!”
“Amelia.”
At Noah’s instructions, Amelia nodded at once.
Snapping her fingers, the binding sealing Anneliese’s mouth vanished.
“Are you people insane?!”
She shot to her feet, slammed her palms against the table, and swept her gaze across everyone present.
“This… All of this… It’s a conspiracy!”
Noah reached out, catching her hand, and pressed a kiss against her knuckles.
“My Lady, you are a Liebert now.”
“So what?”
Her voice rose even higher as she yanked her hand back.
“I tell my father, and this marriage gets annulled on the spot! You’ve clearly lost your mind, Noah!”
Her finger pointed toward Vergil.
“That man. I still remember the lecherous way he looked at me! And now you’re telling me it was all a lie? Maybe I led you on. Maybe I gave you the wrong idea. Fine. I’m sorry. But in what world do you think a Princess like me would ever be with a brute like you?!”
She laughed hysterically.
“They even found my underwear in your drawers. You freak!”
“......”
“And most importantly, you killed my brother, you basta—”
Smack——!
The sound came first.
Everyone froze.
Mary had leaned forward before anyone could react, standing on the edge of the table as her small hand struck Anneliese’s cheek.
The force was nowhere near strong, but the intent behind it landed harder than any blow.
Anneliese staggered back a step with wide eyes, her hand slowly touching her face.
For a moment, the world seemed to stop.
Then her lips trembled.
“What… what did you—”
Mary’s chest heaved as tears began welling up in her eyes.
“Apologize to Vergil, now!”
Her voice shook, but she did not look away.
“You don’t get to say those things. You don’t know Vergil!”
Hannah gasped, reaching out.
“Mary—”
Vergil moved first, placing a firm hand on her shoulder.
“That’s enough, Mary.”
At his voice, her lower lip trembled, but she did not pull away. Vergil drew her closer, then gently took her hand and turned it over, inspecting her knuckles.
They were red.
“You hurt yourself. You didn’t need to do that for me.”
That was when Mary broke.
She wailed and sobbed into his chest.
“But she’s… she’s saying bad things to Vergil…”
Vergil rested a hand on her head until Hannah took her into her arms. Mary continued to cry as she was held, gripping her mother’s sleeve.
Vergil turned back toward Anneliese.
“Delusional brat. The world does not revolve around you.”
“......”
“If you ever bothered to open your eyes, you’d notice that no one actually gives a shit about you at all.”
He paused.
“Not even your husband.”
Noah let the words hang in the air before finally speaking.
“Sir Vergil. I think you’ve said enough—”
“Lord Noah. If you truly want me to work with you, then have your wife understand the facts first. Because, quite frankly, this is poor communication on your part. You won’t accomplish anything if you can’t even handle your own household.”
“I was just about to get to that part.”
“Hm?”
At that moment, Amelia stepped forward.
Several documents materialized in her hands, as if pulled straight from thin air, and she laid them out on the table before Anneliese.
“Read these. Then understand, My Lady.”
Anneliese swallowed hard before picking them up. As her eyes moved across the pages, the color drained from her face with every line.
“This… this can’t be true…”
Noah gently sat beside her.
“I apologize for showing you this only now, My Lady. I only managed to piece everything together recently. But everything written there is true.”
“My brother… wanted to kill me…?”
Even Vergil was perplexed. Not because the revelation was impossible, but because Noah had uncovered it far earlier than he should have.
“Let me see that.”
Vergil approached and took the papers.
Letters exchanged between Prince Cristoph Bernard von Friedeberg and Cardinal Richelieu, detailing plans, with names crossed out, and orders to eliminate every sibling one by one.
Vergil lowered the pages slowly.
“How did you get your hands on this, Lord Noah?”
“Easy peasy.”
Amelia’s voice cut in before Noah could answer.
Vergil exhaled through his nose.
Of course, what else could a witch not do?
Anneliese stood at once.
“I… I must warn father…”
She barely took a step before Noah moved, placing a hand on her shoulder.
“That would be a mistake.”
“What?”
“If you tell him now, the Cardinal will know within the hour. These letters will vanish, the witnesses will disappear, and you will be next.”
