The Northern Duke's Grip
Edrian’s smile stiffened for the briefest moment before sliding back into place.
“What do you mean by that, all of a sudden?”
“All of a sudden?”
I gave a short laugh.
“From the gate city all the way here, I saw more of the Grand Duke’s soldiers than the Northern Army. Checkpoints, reports, supplies—everything routes through the Grand Duke’s castle.”
Edrian answered calmly. “Order is necessary in the aftermath of war.”
“Order, is it?”
“Consolidating scattered troops, securing supplies, centralizing reports. It is only natural for the one entrusted with the North.”
It sounded plausible enough.
“Come here for a moment.”
I walked past him toward the map hanging inside the hall. Edrian followed a beat later. I traced my finger across the map without a word.
“Gate city. Grand Duke’s castle. And finally, the outer wall.”
My finger stopped.
“Doesn’t that strike you as odd?”
Edrian halted beside me. “What does?”
“The rear is thicker than the front line.”
I kept my eyes on the map. “The gate is thicker than the wall. The castle is thicker than the gate.”
A brief silence followed. Even Edrian did not answer immediately. Only then did I turn to look at him.
“Are you truly protecting the North?”
The hall fell quiet. Even the knights standing on either side held their breath. Edrian’s smile had vanished, yet he did not waver.
He glanced down at the map as if tasting the question, tracing the lines connecting the gate city, the castle, and the outer wall with his eyes before drawing a slow breath.
“The gate city is the North’s lifeline.”
I watched him in silence. He remained composed.
“Supplies pass through it. Troops march through it. Messengers come and go.”
“And?”
“If we lose it, no matter how thick the wall, the North will collapse from within.”
I offered no reply. Edrian continued.
“The outer wall exists to stop the enemy.”
“……”
“But the enemy is not always outside.”
I narrowed my eyes slightly. “That’s an interesting thing to say.”
Instead of answering at once, Edrian reached out and pointed to the gate city and the grain warehouses on the map in turn.
“What shakes first after a war is never the front line. It is supplies, distribution, and the chain of command.”
“So the Grand Duke’s house had to seize everything?”
“For stability.”
The words were exquisite. They framed the seizure of power not as ambition, but as responsibility. That was what made them grating.
I snorted. “You speak well.”
“You know the North as well as anyone, Marshal.”
“I do.”
“Then you should understand better than most. The North cannot be held by slow decisions.”
He met my gaze directly. “A single delayed order severs a pass, and a severed pass renders the wall meaningless. Scattered reports, troops moving on their own, late supplies—the North rots from the inside.”
The hall sank into silence. I looked down at the map before speaking slowly.
“So you bound everything into one.”
“Yes.”
“Not under the Northern Army.”
“……”
“Under the Grand Duke’s castle.”
This time Edrian did not answer at once. He lowered his eyes for a moment—a brief hesitation, weighing whether to keep hiding behind justification or to speak more plainly. Then he looked up again.
“Marshal.”
“Speak.”
“The North has always had to endure. Until the center decided. Until the capital finished its calculations. Until someone remembered the North again.”
His voice remained steady, yet rougher than before. “During that time, the North always bled first.”
The hall grew still. Edrian no longer smiled.
“I simply came to realize something.”
“What?”
He let out a short breath. “Without power, everything is taken away in the end.”
I narrowed my eyes. This was no longer only about the North. Edrian lowered his gaze briefly before meeting mine again.
“They seek us when they need us.”
“……”
“And discard us without a second thought once their hearts turn.”
His voice stayed calm as he added, “The same goes for land. And for people.”
I slowly twisted the corner of my mouth. “So you decided to seize everything.”
“At least if it is in my hands, it cannot be taken so easily.”
I gave a short laugh. “Are we still talking about the North?”
“……”
“Or something else?”
Edrian’s expression hardened. I had struck true this time.
“Those who have always believe they may take. Those who are chosen discard without thought, and those left behind must always understand why.”
The air in the hall turned cold. It was clear now—this man was not holding only the North.
“So you believe that if you seize the North and its power, you can take back what was taken from you.”
Edrian did not deny it. I took another step closer.
“I have no intention of blaming you for seeking power. In a land like this, what can you protect without it?”
I pointed once more at the outer wall on the map.
“The problem lies in what comes after.”
My fingertip slid slowly until it stopped over the Grand Duke’s castle.
“If you are the Northern Grand Duke, you should have protected the North first. The wall. The soldiers. The people.”
I looked him straight in the eye. “Instead, you protected your own position first—because of that petty greed.”
A short silence. Edrian’s mouth had flattened into a hard line. I drove the point home in a low voice.
“Pursuing power and authority was not the mistake.”
“Then…”
“Your only mistake was this.”
His gaze locked onto mine.
“You abandoned the duties of the Northern Grand Duke.”
I continued evenly. “Is the Commander-in-Chief still alive? Reina Noah.”
The adjutant standing silently beside me flinched. The Northern Army’s Commander-in-Chief was her twin sister.
“It is strange that she remained silent while the North fell into this state.”
“The Commander-in-Chief remains in her post.”
“In title only?”
I warned in a low voice, “I hope she is unharmed. If anything happens to the Commander-in-Chief…”
I left the sentence unfinished and turned away.
“I’m going to headquarters.”
“Yes, Marshal.”
The adjutant responded at once. Edrian’s voice came from behind.
“You will not find what you seek even if you go now.”
I did not stop walking. “I do not need your permission to move.”
I was nearly at the door when Edrian spoke again.
“Stop him.”
At his command, the knights who had withdrawn moved to block my path. Their numbers were not small, yet none drew their swords easily.
“……”
I swept my gaze over the knights barring the way. Unfamiliar faces—all of them the Grand Duke’s personal knights.
I exhaled shortly. “You would do well to stand down.”
The hall fell silent. I continued, addressing Edrian rather than the knights.
“If you force this, I will have no choice but to kill them all.”
The knights’ faces stiffened. Some swallowed. Others shifted their feet back a fraction. Edrian remained silent for a long moment. The composure he had worn until now had visibly thinned.
I looked at the knights. “Move.”
They did not. Edrian’s order had not been withdrawn.
Pointless loyalty.
“Marshal, if you would simply—”
Before Edrian could finish, my body moved first. A dark-blue light flashed across my eyes as aura gathered on the blade. The sword left its sheath in an instant and swept across the hall.
The arms of the three foremost knights dropped to the floor.
“Aaaagh!”
The screams came a beat late. Blood fountained afterward. The knights beside them went pale but raised their swords—only for the second strike to sever their arms below the elbows. The remaining knights tried to retreat, but they were slower than my blade. A third swing took their right arms, and they collapsed screaming, knees buckling.
It happened in an instant. The knights who had blocked the way moments ago now writhed on the floor, arms scattered among their swords as blood spread across the stones.
The hall froze. Edrian’s eyes trembled—he wore an expression I had never seen before. Only now did he seem to grasp the situation. I slowly raised my bloodied sword.
“Edrian Winterfell. Shall I take this as intent to rebel?”
Edrian ground his teeth and took a step back, but it was already too late. I walked straight up to him. He reached for his sword too late—my blade struck first.
Thud.
His left arm fell to the floor. Pain twisted across his pale face for the first time. He clutched the stump in silence, swallowing any sound.
I pointed my sword at him. “Next time, it will be your neck.”
Only groans and the sound of dripping blood remained in the hall. I walked past them without pause. Just before stepping outside, I looked back at Edrian.
“You let petty emotions blind you, Edrian.”
I opened the door and left. The adjutant followed at once.
The corridor was deathly quiet. They must have heard the screams from the hall, yet no one dared lift their heads.
We headed straight for Northern Army headquarters the moment we passed through the castle gates. My expression hardened the instant the building came into view. The men guarding the entrance were not Northern soldiers—they wore armor bearing the Grand Duke’s crest, and there were quite a few of them. At this point, they were not even trying to hide it.
I walked forward without slowing. “Move.”
They hesitated, then stepped aside the moment they saw the blood on my sword. The air inside was heavy with the scent of reports, ink, and exhausted men. Headquarters was still functioning, yet everyone spoke sparingly. Officers glanced toward the door first; clerks froze their pens and watched warily. It felt less like a command center and more like a prisoner camp.
I walked to the innermost room—the former office of the Northern Army Commander-in-Chief. Two of the Grand Duke’s knights stood guard at the door.
“Open it.”
They blocked my path. “Marshal, this place is—”
I met their eyes directly. “Do not make me repeat myself.”
They hesitated, then opened the door. The room was quiet. The windows were shut; unsorted reports lay piled on the desk. Behind it sat Reina Noah—black hair falling to her shoulders, pale face, eyes heavy with fatigue. Her arms and legs were unbound, yet the two knights stationed outside made it clear she was a prisoner in all but name.
Reina looked up. Recognition crossed her face, followed by surprise. She rose at once. The adjutant beside me could not hide her emotion.
“Sister…”
The single word was low and brief. Reina’s eyes wavered. The adjutant pressed her lips shut, realizing what she had said.
“…Forgive me, Marshal.”
I said nothing and surveyed the room. It was a mess. I did not even feel like laughing.
“This is headquarters?”
Reina was silent for a moment before answering. “On the surface, yes.”
I approached the desk. “Explain. Starting from the moment the Grand Duke’s house laid hands on this place—and why you have been unable to move.”
The air grew heavy. Reina let out a short sigh. “It will be a long story.”
“Good,” I said lightly. “That is exactly why I came today.”