“What was that!? Sir Bonmer. That sound just now…” Lorraine was scared.

“Hmph!”

Bonmer quickly stepped in front of her and looked around. Despite clearly hearing the chilling, insidious voice, no one was present in the vicinity except himself and Lorraine. Moreover, he could no longer hear the voice. It was as if the two of them had hallucinated.

‘C-could it be?’

Bonmer flinched as he recalled a rumor that recently started to circulate.

“Let’s go in for now, Lady Lorraine. I will talk to His Excellency Crawlmarine,” Bonmer said.

“Y-yes.” Lorraine hurried inside with a deathly pale expression. She was extremely afraid of ghosts. Bonmer inspected the surroundings once more with an anxious heart, then quickly started toward a certain place.

“Sir Bonmer.”

“Hello there, sir!” Several well-dressed young men greeted Bonmer politely. All of them were direct descendants of the Batla Duchy’s vassals. They were the ones who had been taken hostage due to their parents not attending the succession ceremony.

“Sirs, could I talk with you all for a moment?” Bonmer asked.

“Ah, of course.”

“Of course...”

The young men immediately nodded with great delight. Although all of them were prisoners, Lorraine and Bonmer were in a vastly different position compared to themselves. Everyone was afraid of the duke and they also found it quite difficult to talk to Count Crawlmarine. In addition, Lorraine was always by the count’s side. As such, the young noblemen knew exactly what Lorraine’s actions represented.

“What would you like to discuss?”...