Marked as the Tyrant's Daughter-in-Law - Chapter 9

“To be honest, I don’t know either. The Marquis only said to show this safe when someone who would inherit his will appeared before he departed.”

It seemed Adam had become certain that he should show this to me after I said I would rebuild the Marquis family.

At Adam’s words, I narrowed my eyes and looked up at him.

“How can you be sure that there’s something inside worth calling an asset?”

“I know it was something precious to the Marquis, and I’ve heard it has value in elementalism. And that it could be of great help to the country…”

Indeed, to anyone looking, it’s a hefty safe that seems to say, ‘I have something important inside.’

Value in elementalism, huh?

As far as I know, there aren’t many objects related to elementals in this world.

After all, elemental magic is almost entirely determined by the elementalist’s affinity with the elementals.

Moreover, if it’s something that could help the country… What could it be?

“Can’t we just break it open with something like a drill?”

I said, tapping the safe lightly with my soft, tangerine-like fist.

‘Hmm, it’s harder than I thought.’

“What’s a drill?”

“Or a saw. Anyway, physical force.”

But Adam shook his head at my words.

“It’s a safe made of magic stone, so it’s absolutely impossible without the key.”

“And I suppose I have to find this key.”

To be honest, I didn’t expect it to open so easily anyway.

Adam nodded like an NPC giving out a quest.

“He said that if someone were to inherit Mylar’s will, they would surely be able to find the key.”

Right, just looking at the trust in Hugo Brint, I was expecting that something of value wouldn’t easily fall into my hands.

“By the way, I have one of them.”

I looked up at Adam, a little surprised.

“For over a decade, I’ve kept it safe until someone who would inherit the Marquis’s will was found.”

Adam smiled gently and took out a round stone from his pocket, handing it to me.

Receiving the stone with both hands, I exclaimed with sparkling round eyes.

“Wow!”

The stone was flat, with a marbled color of brown and blue. When I held it, it felt heavy yet cool to the touch.

So this is one of the three keys, right?

When I inserted it into the groove, it fit perfectly with a click.

“It fits perfectly! So now, we just need to find the triangle and square ones, right?”

Since I received one of the three from Adam, two remain.

“I have an idea where one of the remaining two might be.”

Adam continued.

“It should be in the Grand Duke’s estate in the northern territory, the Marquis’s ancestral home. I’ve heard him mention that he kept it there.”

I recalled what I had heard about the northern territory.

A desert of cold where all you can see is snow, no matter how far you go.

If you keep advancing while fighting the White Bears, powerful predators of the ice fields, you’ll eventually see ice castle walls so high they seem to touch the sky.

There are iron-blooded soldiers wearing armor made of powerful metal that neither rusts nor freezes.

And the Mylar Grand Duke’s family, the rulers of the northern territory.

They are as cold and ruthless as ice, categorizing people only as enemies or allies.

‘I didn’t know my Dad was the son of the Northern Grand Duke.’

While the description of the Mylar Grand Duke’s family was typical of the Northern Grand Duke in romance fantasy novels, my Dad, who was the second son of the Northern Grand Duke…

‘He looked so gentle. He doesn’t seem like someone from the Northern Grand Duke’s family at all.’

At least, that’s how it seemed from the portrait.

Well, just because he’s the Northern Grand Duke doesn’t mean he only has children with other Northern Grand Dukes.

The problem was that I had no idea how they would think of me.

Dad had already separated from the Grand Duke’s family and received a title from the Empire, and I had never seen them even once since I was born.

I’ve never even seen Dad, and now we’re talking about paternal relatives.

“You mentioned contacting the Grand Duke’s family before, right?”

“Yes. But there’s still no response about the telegram. Given how difficult it is to access that land, it might take some time to arrive.”

“…Then we’ll have to think about it after we get a response.”

I feel nervous at the thought of meeting my grandfather and relatives.

I continued speaking carefully.

“Then, about the remaining key among these… Where could it be?”

“I think the Marquis might have entrusted it to one of the elementalists he was close to.”

“Elementalists?”

“Yes. That’s why we contacted the newspaper to publish an article about your arrival in the capital. If it becomes known that the heir to the Mylar Marquis family has returned, the Elementalist holding the key to the inheritance might react to your news.”

“Ah…”

It seems Adam had his own meticulous plan.

“But since there hasn’t been any contact yet…”

“Yes. It could be an elementalist who’s far removed from social circles to the point of not hearing the news, or they might not understand the significance of what the Marquis entrusted to them. In fact, many elementalists tend to be uninterested in outside news, so we might have to search for them one by one.”

Adam spoke as if it might become a bit difficult.

‘No. Let’s not get discouraged!’

The fact that there’s a safe and keys means we’re meant to find them, right?

I felt that even if it took time and effort, I would eventually open the safe.

“It seems difficult to obtain the remaining two keys right away. Please keep looking into it, Adam.”

“Understood, Miss.”

I stared at the safe with a pensive look.

I wonder what could be inside.

☁⊹₊┈ㆍ┈ ▫ ┈ㆍ🌱ㆍ┈ ▫ ┈ㆍ┈₊⊹☁

Beyond the towering ramparts where a snowstorm raged, somewhere in the outdoor area of the Grand Duke’s castle, a newspaper blown from somewhere was suddenly pierced by a sword blade that shot up towards the sky.

The old man was wearing a rigid uniform as hard as armor, and his snow-soaked white hair was, as always, frozen stiff, swaying slightly in the strong wind.

He slowly withdrew his sword, and the newspaper, skewered like on a stick, crinkled as it was caught in his hand.

Under the shadow of the rampart, he traced the words in the newspaper with sharp eyes tinged with a blue-green hue.

A small article in the corner of the newspaper caught his attention.

Former Grand Elementalist Marquis Mylar’s daughter, Arinel Mylar (11), returns to the capital.

In the black and white photo printed using alchemy, a small, soft face like a cream puff with hair tied in two braids was smiling broadly.

As he scrutinized the child’s photo with sharp, cold eyes for a long while,

“Your Grace.”

“Your Grace.”

An armored man and woman approached, each placing a hand on their chest and bowing to their lord according to the strict etiquette of the Grand Duke’s family.

Their hair was frozen stiff, and their eyes were as sharp as a hawk’s.

“A telegram has arrived.”

The armored woman with her blonde hair tied in a ponytail reported to the Grand Duke. Her voice was hoarse and rough.

“…It’s Heisen’s child.”

The armored man standing beside her continued.

The twins were the eldest son and daughter of the great Mylar Grand Duke’s family.

They were also masters of hunting, continuing the lineage of the fearsome Mylar Grand Duke, who was said to be able to pierce through the thick hide of a monster White Bear with a single sword strike and end its life.

Whoosh-

The biting wind echoed against the ramparts, freezing the mustaches of the soldiers standing guard.

After a long while of staring at the freezing newspaper with cold eyes and closed dry lips, the Grand Duke spoke.

“Send a reply. Tell them we will be there when summer arrives.”

Although the warm season with south winds had begun, the air in the north was still cool, and it was a time when barbaric enemies were rampant.

His sharp eyes were gleaming.