If I Disobey the Duke

n front of the towering stone wall.
Soldiers at the entrance opened the way by splitting left and right in unison.
A shrill rustling sound rang out.

Tristan, whose eyes and mouth were covered, was dragged along by the two soldiers.

He was smashed roughly on the brown dirt floor, where the snow had been wiped clean.

“Argh!” Tristan shuddered at the pain that crushed his shoulder.

As the blindfold was removed, he squinted in the pouring sunlight, then raised his head in haste.
“Heup.
Uh…!”

Even as his vision grew spotty, he noticed something strange.

The order of execution of the death penalty was similar in all provinces.
The posture and arrangement of the knights and soldiers surrounding him was typical for a death sentence.

But the place where he fell was not the execution ground.
He had no idea what the hell was going on.

Heavy footsteps hit iron, a long shadow fell over his body.

When he looked up, a man in a black armor stood with a black helmet on his side.

Tousled black hair and cold gray eyes, dull and emotionless.

Tristan knew him.
It was the knight who broke his shoulder.

Could this be the executioner? A knight?

The fragmented information only added to his confusion.
He had never heard of a knight doing such a lowly job himself.

The only time a knight would behead another person was if it was an enemy prisoner of war or a deserter.

A man with a bald head came up to him, limping and holding a sword as big as his height.

He could feel the blood rushing from the top of his head.

Tristan was doomed.

The man politely greeted the knight and handed him a sword.
“Lord, I have brought you a sword.”

“…!”

Tristan was astonished.
 He had so much information coming in at once that he didn’t know where to start.

This was Duke Vladislav de Winter, famous for being ugly?

He was handed the sword.

Is the lord directly beheading my neck? Has there been such a case? No, am I really going to die like this…?

“Argh! Ugh…!”

Vlad put on a helmet and stepped on Tristan’s back.
“Looks like you’ve been playing pretty well with my wife.” Looking down at Tristan, who trembled like a leaf whilst putting the sword on his neck, Vlad spat out in a supremely plain tone, “You’d better be quiet.
I’m feeling… not very happy right now.

Immediately, a burning pain swept through his skin.
 He could feel hot blood dripping down his neck.

The entrance to the courtyard burst with noise.

Through the path made by the soldiers, Lily hurriedly ran in.

Vlad’s voice echoed low inside the helmet. “Take a good look.
Who should you beg?”