Chapter 3

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‘Is this a…. dream? Or is it another premonition?’

In the midst of the haze, she could feel the touch of an opaque shroud surrounding her.

It was like being submerged in water. She also felt a sense of floating into the air.

Whether it was a dream or a premonition, one thing was certain. There was little room for Rose’s will to intervene.

There had never been a case where the cause and effect had been as clear as the precognitive dream that led her to being the empress. Additionally, it was often difficult to tell her dreams and premonitions apart.

‘So was today’s dream a premonition? Or just a mere dream? I’m a little tired, so can you show me quickly?’

Rose’s face began to burn as she looked around with a sour expression.

‘What… is that?’

There was a man.

A naked man.

Rose’s face became distorted. What kind of resentment did God have against her that he was showing these kinds of premonitions in her mind?

What was most upsetting was the fact that she couldn’t avoid this. She couldn’t close her eyes or turn her head.

It wasn’t based on her own will. It was the environment that she had originally created, making her ashamed.

Rose was at her wits’ end and just wanted to get dressed soon.

‘Or let me just look at something else!’

Then unexpectedly, the man turned around.

He was naked!

As Rose struggled to wake up with a pale expression and struggled with her own volition, her dream began to shake and her body felt like it had been sucked away.

She was grateful to the God who had finally brought an end to this dream. Rose, who breathed a sigh of relief at the joy of waking up from her dream, looked straight ahead at something eerie.

The man was looking at her.

His black eyes felt as if they were staring straight at her.

“Ah!”

Finally awakened, Rose looked around. As soon as Rose confirmed that there were no people around, she buried her face into the blanket.

Unable to hide her embarrassment, she raised her head and muttered blankly.

“What the hell. This dream.”

This could never be a premonition. The mere thought of witnessing such a scene made her blush.

“But if it’s not a precognitive dream, then I’m shocked….”

Rose wanted to grab and shake whoever showed her this dream. For what it’s worth, she had been wanting to take the breath out of this guy who had been showing up in her dream lately.

If possible.

However, Rose did not realize that this dream was very persistent.

She was tired of counting the number of times already. Rose, who had been dragged into the middle of the battlefield, looked at the place where slaughter and screams were rampant.

It looked terrible enough to make her feel sick, but she did not faint or cry.

She had been through more than this, and she had seen much worse.

Rose didn’t pay attention to the corpses and the painful screams. This was just a dream. No matter how much she yells, they won’t know.

In her dream, she herself was nothing more than a helpless and uninvited guest.

One day, she suddenly saw a precognitive dream about her own relationship.

He was still giggling, saying, “Did you think it would only benefit you?”

It was when Rose, with a bitter smile, was watching a cruel dream where she wasn’t even allowed to close her eyes.

[ Kill them. ]

Her skin stood up at the voice she suddenly heard, piercing all other sounds, and blood fell down like rain.

Before she could even see, she was already dragged to his side, standing all alone.

In the midst of the battlefield, filled with harsh breathing, sweat and the smell of blood, only this man stood alone.

The dark red blood flowing down his entire body dropped to the floor, wetting his armour.

Every time his blade swung, the hot blood of the enemies poured out like a fountain and splattered all over the man. With a straight face, the man continued to cut off the people without wiping the red blood off his sword.

With feelings of wonder and fear, the people fighting together behind the man were looking up at an object that seemed to be not of the world.

However, standing on the other side and defending himself against the surging enemies, his face looked as if he was bored to death.

‘It seems like…. he would lie down and fall asleep at any moment.’

Rose was fascinated by his strength.

Looking at his rough skin and his dark eyes in the sun, she was amazed that she had never noticed.

Black eyes and black hair.

Rose stared intensely at the eye-catching attractive man with a strange look.

After that, she dreamed of that man several times.

Occasionally, whenever she would feel suffocated by her fear of the emperor, he would appear.

Why was it like this? On those days, Rose would be able to sleep deeply for the very few times in her life.

The strength of a single man.

He had eyes that held no fear.

It came with a touch of impregnable comfort.

For the first time, Rose had been curious about someone. However, this state of mind didn’t last long.

Because reality always prepared you for something far more extreme than dreams.

“Say it again.”

At Rose’s ringing voice, Grey swallowed dry saliva.

“The Duke of Aytan is dead.”

“The reason?”

“Old age.”

She couldn’t believe those words. Rose stared at the ‘guardian contract’ in front of her eyes.

It almost seemed as if glaring at it would bring the duke back to life. Of course, no such thing happened.

“Miss Rose, even if you look at it like that, nothing will change.”

Grey tried to soothe her unsuccessfully. But he was well aware that this wasn’t an easy matter.

Instead of solving the problems of the Aytan estate, the duke, who had intended to take care of Rose as her guardian, could not overcome old age and passed away.

Someone who had been nicknamed as a swordmaster!

This was absolutely beyond words.

Rose felt extremely resentful.

She wanted to shake the collar of that damn prophetic dream that she had seen.

‘Thank you for helping me create the Kaos sect without a single failure.’

But at every moment, the wickedness that swayed her life caused her to grit her teeth.

This is the kind of thing that she should be warned about in her dreams!

If the prophetic dreams only show up when they feel like it, isn’t it as bad as just having a sort of vague intuition?

She wanted to get out of this situation where she was always swept away by her prophetic dreams which would settle in Rose’s head every once in a while.

‘I’m someone who has escaped death. Did you think I will be swayed away by a mere dream?’

Rose gritted her teeth.

The Duke of Aytan, whom she thought she had finally got her hands on, slipped out of her hands like sand.

Rose closed her eyes tightly and looked at Grey.

“Who is his successor?”

“It is said that he has gone to the emperor for approval. But….”

“Tell me.”

“Nobody saw him. The informants said that they had followed him several times, but they couldn’t catch him.”

“It’s a family of swordmasters. Apparently, none of the previous Dukes of Aytan have ever missed even one swing of a sword. You think a man like that wouldn’t be able to get away from a bunch of informants? Tell everyone to be careful and not touch a sleeping lion’s nose.”

Rose responded despondently.

“Yes.”

Rose closed her eyes again.

It’s like she was crossing a mountain on top of a mountain.

“Grey.”

“Please say it.”

Feeling nervous, Grey looked at Rose’s lips which had always commanded the Kaos sect with complete trust and faith.

“How old is the man who is supposed to become the Duke of Aytan now?”

“Thirty.”

“What is the probability that the man is gay?”

“….There isn’t any.”

“At least, what are the odds that the man wouldn’t be interested in women?”

Grey laughed bitterly.

“I don’t know. There’s such little information about the new heir that it’s hard to confirm.”

Rose looked at the contract and and felt convinced that her life was like that of a beggar.

She had usurped all the money all over the continent. She even carried the entire Kaos sect on her back, being known for her midas touch.

But when it concerned her new life, she lost every time.

What was the point of having everything?

It was like a situation where she was being warned that Arga would soon take away everything from her.

When she thought that she had just received a strong shield, the Duke had already died.

She closed her eyes and wondered if God was helping her or troubling her.

“Gray, I have to go to Aytan.”

“I’ll prepare for the journey.”

Rose grabbed the contract she had placed on the desk.

‘F**k.’

Aytan Manor, the North.

Jack, the grey haired butler gulped as soon as he looked at the quiet face of his new master.

The young new successor wasn’t an easy man to deal with.

Above all, this man had clearly refused to meet anyone after the succession ceremony, but Jack was sickened by the nobles who persistently asked for a meeting.

“The noble landlords are asking to see you. Recently, it’s impossible to deliberately drive them off in this atmosphere….”

“The rats hiding in the estate.”

As if he didn’t care about the nobles, the man talked about something else.

Just listening to the low pitched, deep voice could bring chills all over one’s body.

Even Jack, who had lived with the duke for a long time, could hardly breathe.

“We’ve caught them.”

“And the ones behind the scenes?”

“We haven’t discussed it yet. However, I guess some of the noble landlords are trying to sound out the duke. And the Duke of Ducan from the capital is also suspicious.”

For the first time in life, Jack’s dignified face had become distorted. It became even more unpleasant to think of the dirty tricks he had resolved to using spies to dig up secret information.

“He is still denying he isn’t. Moreover….”

Kane shook his hand at Jack’s voice, who was being wary of conveying information from behind the scenes.

The old butler quickly voiced out a report.

“I dare not infiltrate Duke Ducan’s estate, that…. or even approach them at all.”

Kane remained silent for a moment with a face that looked bored.

“Of course.”

“Well, what should I do?”

Kane leaned back against his chair as a look of annoyance appeared on his face. When he recalled what had happened to him recently, he laughed with ridicule.

The man who was hiding his face was certainly very skilled. Most of all, he couldn’t catch him despite the situation.

Kane was reminded of his intriguing appearance and turned towards Jack.

“Do as you please.”

“Understood.”

The spies hadn’t exactly lied. None of them had the gaze he remembered.

They didn’t even have the extraordinary ability to escape. As his faint interest disappeared, he leaned back into the chair with a dull, languid look on his face.

“Jack.”

“Please say it, Master.”

“The Kaos sect is coming here. Send them in when they arrive.”

It was a random order.

Jack, an experienced butler, simply bowed down gracefully and didn’t ask any questions.

This young duke never said anything meaningless. He was a terrifying man, but to Jack and to North Aytan, as the duke of this family, he was awe inspiring.

Even though the family had very few descendants, none of them had ever fallen short of expectations.

Above all, Kane, who had become the only heir and the new duke, was unlike any other man.

Jack bowed his head and replied to his new master.

“I’ll take your orders.”

Less than a day after the order of the new Duke of Aytan had been issued, the visitors arrived.

“Who is here?”

“The Kaos sect has visited.”

Jack lifted his eyebrows for a moment and nodded. He went outside and greeted the visitors who had emerged through the harsh winter.

“You’re the Kaos sect. It’s been a while.”

Grey, the head officer, bowed his head and greeted the butler.

“Yes, It’s nice to see you too. We respectfully apologize for suddenly visiting without an invitation.”

“Actually, he’s waiting.”

Grey’s eyes, which were fixated on the butler, turned strange.

They hadn’t really hidden themselves, but it means their movements had been exposed.

Grey looked back, hesitating for a moment. He spoke to the butler only after exchanging glances with Rose, who was accompanying him.

“Please guide us.”

Gray was reluctant, but the grip on the contract in his hand turned tighter.

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