“After eating whatever you pick up, it seems your tongue has finally lost its taste. Come, come, let’s go to where I’m staying. I’ve brought a famous chef from the capital Setia.”

Jerbek roughly grabbed Dion’s arm and pulled him forward. Naturally, Clementina was pushed to the background.

Jan nervously fanned herself and glared at Jerbek with wide eyes.

⁕⁕⁕

Jenia refers to expensive accommodations. Mainly large merchants, bishops, and nobles stay here.

Madam Falcon, located in an alley behind the central square, is a luxurious place among Jenias where particularly large amounts of money and secrets gather. Wealthy large merchants, wealthy bishops, and wealthy nobles buy alcohol, gamble, women, and men.

The Umbarot diplomatic delegation stayed at a fairly decent Jenia, but the day before the charity banquet, they moved to Madam Falcon at the whim of Jerbek, who had arrived in Drasia.

Although Dion came to Falcon to receive the Umbarot diplomatic delegation, he was not in a good mood.

Even when a minstrel came out to play an 8-stringed lute and sing, he was just planning to stay in his seat for an appropriate amount of time before leaving.

Jerbek, who visits Drasia two or three times a year, or at most five times, wasn’t a bad person, but there was something unpleasant about dealing with him.

“Ahaha. Duke of Drasia. Surely you weren’t really going to eat that garbage?”

“Garbage? You’re going too far.”

After hearing the territory residents’ food called garbage about ten times, Clementina could no longer hold back and voiced her displeasure.

“Oh my! Duchess, I’m joking. If you get so upset, you’ll get wrinkles. Since beauty is all you have, it would be terrible if it were marred.”

Unlike his handsome appearance, Jerbek’s rhetoric was cunning. Whenever Dion and Clementina tried to say something, he would somehow interject, driving a wedge between them, and making irritating comments while smoothly moving past them.

“You’re going too far.”

“Ahahaha. Duke, I’m joking. You seem overly sensitive today. Are you feeling unwell? Oh dear! Hey! Bring more alcohol! The Duke needs more to drink!”

Noticing Dion’s discomfort, Jerbek quickly changed the subject.

“Hey! Falcon! Where’s the Madam? No! With someone like this present, not even half of her b*tt is visible!”

Though it was still midday, Jerbek was already quite drunk. In fact, he might have been drunk since before meeting Dion, or perhaps even since the previous night.

Dion leaned toward Clementina and whispered in her ear.

“Don’t take it too badly. Here, try this drink. The alcohol here tastes decent.”

In Drasia, each household brews alcohol directly according to their own traditions. Famous jenias and taverns also brew their own distinctive signature drinks.

Clementina drank the red peony liquor brewed directly at Madam Falcon.

“You’re right, it’s delicious. The dancers here move exceptionally well. This seems like a good place for entertainment. Are you a regular?”

Clementina swept the interior with interested eyes.

Golden strings hung over red and white curtains. There were enough long sofas for people to lie down at any time, and the center of the hall was spacious enough for scantily clad beautiful dancers to perform.

Beautiful women, wearing only a thin piece of cloth on their bodies, were boldly dancing in circles around the singing minstrel.

Though it appeared to be a lewd spectacle, they were actually extremely flexible and skilled dancers.

“Huh? Oh, I come occasionally when there’s business.”

When Clementina smiled at the dancers without even looking at Dion, those who had been secretly stealing glances at the Duchess responded to her smile and cheered for her.

Jerbek, who had been watching this scene while sitting askew, let out a lascivious laugh.

Crash!

“Hey! Stop! This isn’t entertaining.”

Jerbek threw his crystal glass at the minstrel’s feet.

“How dare you crawl in here with such pathetic skills! Cut out his tongue immediately!”

At Jerbek’s shout, sturdy men who had been standing against the wall simply watching now dragged the minstrel away.

The door closed with the sound of the minstrel’s cries.

“Hmph! Like a Tabopis.”

“Count of Suderel. That’s excessive. He wasn’t that terrible.”

Dion pointed out his excessive measures.

“Even if he looks decent, if his skills are pathetic, he should be cut off. You shouldn’t be so lenient with just anyone. Yet when it comes to wielding a blade, you’re so cold-blooded. Hehehe, you haven’t grown attached to such a fellow, have you?”

“That’s not what I meant. I’m saying don’t waste energy unnecessarily.”

“If you really want, I’ll give that fellow to you. I just discovered a suspicious Tabopis in the Monk Principality. Shall I tie him to it and present both to you?”

The Monk Principality is the greatest ally of the Akarti Kingdom, which is at war with the Ronakia Empire.

“A suspicious Tabopis?”

“Isn’t that why I’m late? Well, one tree bore a hundred fruits. I considered destroying it on the spot but decided to uproot it entirely and bring it back.”

“What?”

Cha-ra-ra-rang.

Just then, as the ornate door opened, a new minstrel entered spinning on one foot.

He was a handsome man for a minstrel, with a thin body wearing quite luxurious clothes and deep dimples.

Without faltering, he made dozens of rotations as he moved to the center. He stopped spinning in front of the ducal couple and removed his hat, placing it in the middle of the hall.

Amid the noisy hall, the minstrel skillfully took out a 12-stringed lute and plucked all the strings at once, creating a strange noise.

As the women’s screams and men’s sharp cries ended, the minstrel quickly strummed the lute strings, creating a beautiful melody.

“A brave man who rides

A ferocious monster that flies

Falls in love with

A beautiful bird trapped

In a shabby cage

Eating only its master’s feed!

Does the pure man know the truth?

Is the bird trapped in the cage

Truly an innocent bird?

Finally, they kiss.

Fall, fall.

If you love, then fall.

Fallen, fallen.

The cat living beneath the cage

Knows the truth.”

“Kyahahahaha, ahahahahaha! That’s a masterpiece. You’re quite good at singing.”

As the minstrel’s song ended, Jerbek burst into laughter like a madman.

“I can no longer tolerate this.”

Clementina stood up abruptly and looked at Jerbek with a cold face.

“I don’t understand why Your Highness remains sitting quietly next to such a person.”

Clementina glanced sideways at Dion and turned her back, walking toward the door.

No one’s laughter could be heard except Jerbek’s.

Dion rose from his seat, pulled his doublet forward, and cleared his throat.

“You’ve gone too far this time.”

“Oh dear, you must really be unwell. Getting so angry over a mere minstrel’s song. It’s just a song, isn’t it? If it’s not true, can’t you just let it go?”

“If something untrue is sung as if it were the truth, it becomes a serious matter.”

“Then I’ll cut out that fellow’s tongue too.”

“I can’t be on the same level as you. However.”

The minstrel was looking at Jerbek with affectionate eyes and a dignified gaze. He showed not the slightest embarrassment. He clearly didn’t realize how dangerous and insulting his song was.

That ignorant attitude angered Dion even more.

“Making my beloved Duchess of Drasia uncomfortable is a different matter. I’ll handle it myself. Whether of not I cut out his tongue.”

Jerbek, who had been giggling and laughing like a madman all along, tightened his grip on the wine glass.

“Or cut off his head.”

Jerbek’s wine glass shattered in his grasp.

“You can tie him to the Tabopis and send him over.”

The Duke of Drasia, who had always generously accepted his pranks, would not tolerate this moment when the Duchess was involved.

Dion signaled to Lillian. At that signal, the minstrel was dragged out by the Gold Dragon Order.

“Jerry! Jerry!”

The pitiful screams of the minstrel calling the nickname of Jerbek Sichenti, Count of Suderel, remained in the hall.

Dion put on leather gloves and spoke languidly.

“He seems to be quite dear to you.”

Jerbek began to laugh exaggeratedly as if he couldn’t breathe.

“Hahahahaha. How could that be?”

“Then you won’t mind whatever I do. And.”

Dion placed his hand over the sword handle hanging at his waist, making sure Jerbek could see.

“Today I’ll overlook this for Grand Duke Arti’s honor, but if there’s ever another incident insulting the Duchess of Drasia, then that precious face of yours will never be seen again.”

In the place where Dion turned away, only coldness and Jerbek’s rage at losing his lover remained.

⁕⁕⁕