The Male Lead I Raised Is Obsessed With Me

From the beginning, the village itself was a huge trap.

The village had been prosperous in the past, but naturally, people left after the Duke of Valfurga collapsed.

The plan began with the first attack on Viscount Schtrim’s army in the canyon.

‘Since he was attacked at the canyon once, he’ll try to avoid areas with high landscapes now.’

After that, Lucius continued to attack Viscount Schtrim before showing a weakness.

So that they can believe that this place was safe.

Bircher and the secret organisation scattered through the village, discreetly started a fire and quickly escaped before Viscount Schtrim’s men woke up.

The flames spread around quietly in the dark.

“Hmm, burn the wood lightly. The heat is killing me…”

A soldier woke up with his shirt drenched in sweat.

Then, he screamed.

“Fire! Fire! Hey! Wake up! There’s a fire!”

The soldier shouted and slapped his comrades who had fallen asleep around him. But the soldiers, who had not been full or gotten proper sleep for a long time, could not wake up easily.

When their body started to catch on fire, the people who had belatedly woken up, shouted.

“Aargh! W-What’s happening? Help me!”

The whole place was engulfed in flames and it would not extinguish easily.

On top of that, because of the smoke, they couldn’t see a single thing in front of them.

“Someone help! Cough! W-Water, bring water!”

Then, someone shouted loudly.

“There’s a river to the west! Let’s all go there and put the fire out!”

During the chaotic situation, there was no time to even figure out whether the person who said that was an ally or an enemy.

Viscount Schtrim followed the person’s words in a daze and hurriedly headed west.

With the thought of putting out the fire on his body, he jumped into the river.

But it was the wrong choice.

Viscount, who fell into the river, floundered and waved his hand.

“Help me! Help……! The water is too deep!”

At that time, the Duke of Valfurga appeared on the other side of the river.

Unlike Viscount Schtrim’s army, who could not even wear their armour properly since they had just woken up from their sleep, the Valfurgas were well-armed. 

Sitting atop a giant black horse, Lucius commanded as he looked down at the people who had fallen into the river.

“Shoot.”

It was an overwhelming sight.

Fire arrows flashed like meteors, piercing the dark night sky.

Not a single one of the tens of thousands of men of Viscount Schtrim survived the river.

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It was truly a complete victory for the Duke of Valfurga.

Upon hearing the news of the Valfurga family’s victory, the citizens of Schtrim Viscounty trembled with fear.

“Oh no, we are done for. The Duke of Valfurga will come and kill us all.”

“There was nothing to eat because the lord was making a fuss about the territorial war. Now, the Valfurga Duchy is going to conquer us all.”

Whether you win or lose, wars cost a fortune.

Because of that, when the war was over, the lords would raise the taxes.

“It was already difficult when the lord raised the taxes, saying that he was going to war.”

“If they raise the taxes again, I might as well die. My newborn baby is crying hard from hunger, it hurts my heart……”

“It’s the same for us. I haven’t had a proper meal for several days already.”

“No matter who becomes the lord, our lives will not improve.”

The citizens sighed in sync.

When the Duke of Valfurga finally arrived at the Schtrim’s territory, the fear of the people reached its peak.

The people of the Schtrim Viscounty trembled in fear at the sight of the Duke of Valfurga, who was tired and sensitive from the long journey.

And the day after the Duke of Valfurga arrived at the castle, the duke’s army called the citizens to the square.

“They’re finally trying to devour us.”

“Why are they trying to gather us all together? Is it true that the Valfurga’s walls were eroded by the demon king’s demonic energy?”

The citizens arrived at the square shakingly.

However, a different scene unfolded in the square then what the citizens had thought. 

They thought there would be a group of terrifying soldiers, but although there were soldiers, they were all cooking.

“Come, there’s plenty of food, so get in line!”

“There’s enough food for everyone, so no need to rush!”

Every time the soldiers stirred the large pot with the ladle, a delicious smell wafted out.

The citizens of the viscounty were stunned by the smell of food they hadn’t smelled for a long time, but they followed the Duke’s army’s instruction and lined up.

Upon receiving the food, one of the citizens asked cautiously.

“Um……Why are you giving food to us?”

Then, the duke’s soldier smiled gently.

The smile was like a saint who had received a divine revelation.

“The madam says that people should not discriminate in terms of food.”

“Huh…? Are you referring to the Duchess of Valfurga?”

When the citizen asked again with a puzzled look, the soldier answered with a soft smile on his lips.

“Yes, that’s right. She’s one of the nobles who saved our land. It’s a special order from the duchess, so citizens, don’t worry and eat to your heart’s content.”

The duke’s soldier added a spoonful of soup which had plenty of meat to the citizen’s bowl.

“Tell me if it’s not enough.”

Due to Viscount Schtrim’s tyranny, he had not eaten properly for several days.

The citizen bowed his head to the duke’s soldier.

“T-Thank you! Thank you so much!”

“Give your thanks to the Duchess. Now that the Viscounty of Schtrim has also become the Duchy of Valfurga, we are all under the madam’s grace.”

“Say, was the Duchess the one who saved the Duke of Valfurga’s family?”

The soldier smiled brightly and nodded at the words of the citizen.

“Yes, that’s right! As in the duchess, Felia Valfurga! Did you know, when madam first came to the castle, she caught an administrator who secretly embezzled the family’s property……”

Lucius’ gaze, who was standing in the distance, turned towards the soldier talking about Felia.

“What, does it bother you?”

Logan followed Lucius’ gaze and saw the soldier talking about Felia.

‘He seemed to be on good terms with his wife, but in the end, he’s an aristocrat who craves for power. Sigh, he’s still young, but if his wife succeeds like this, he’ll feel a sense of crisis since his authority is threatened.’

Logan looked at Lucius, with thoughts full of the aristocracy.

Lucius muttered while looking at the soldier, not caring whether Logan was observing him or not.

“What should I do?”

Logan thought to himself.

‘Clearly, when we return back, his authority…’

However, Lucius’ words that followed shattered Logan’s thoughts.

Lucius placed his hands on his cheeks and said with a worried face.

“Only I wanted to know that sister is the prettiest and coolest person in the world, but there are more people that know about it too. What should I do?”

“…….”

“Actually, I was prepared for it. Sister is not only the prettiest and coolest person in the world, but she’s also lovable and smart, right? If such a brilliant person exists, there is no way that people with eyes won’t recognise it.”

Lucius sighed heavily.

“Sigh, I’m jealous but I have to hold it in, right? What do you think?”

Logan was so dumbfounded that he couldn’t even speak.

And he barely moved his lips to answer.

“No, well…….Yeah, I don’t know.”

Then, Lucius looked at Logan in ridicule. 

“An adult doesn’t even know what to do?”

Logan said nothing.

No matter what he said, it seemed that he would only ridicule himself.

Lucius didn’t want to hear Logan’s answer either, so looked towards the mountain where the Valfurga duchy was located.

“I miss sister.”

Logan decided to pretend that he didn’t hear Lucius’ soft mutter.

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Please do not repost. Read only at Dropped Inks.

Busy days passed by for a while as the Schtrim Viscounty was incorporated into the Valfurga Duchy.

There were many changes, but the biggest one of all was the military.

I stood by the window and watched the people wielding their swords vigorously.

The training, which began early in the morning, continued again after lunch until the afternoon.

“Hey, third guy over there. Your sword keeps falling helplessly. Give your best effort all the time until I say so. This won’t do. Everyone swing for a thousand times. Start!”

Logan, who became the training instructor, pointed out sharply.

When I first entrusted this task to him, he complained, thinking that he would only be teaching Luc, but he unexpectedly seemed to fit this position.

Even though he said was unwilling, he was very meticulous. 

Since everyone had gone shooting all over the snowy mountains to hunt for monsters, they had good stamina that was able to endure the harsh training, else they would have collapsed a long time ago.

And next to him was Luc, who was now the commandant general of the army, and Riya, who had officially become a knight commander from the monster hunters’ representative.

The two were having a discussion with serious faces.

And when I turned my head back to my desk, I saw a pile of paperwork that I needed to go through.

Among them, a letter with a seal that glistened like white flames caught my eye.

There was only one place in the empire that used a white lion design.

It was the imperial family, the owner of a divine beast in the form of a white lion.

‘Sigh, I really don’t want to open it.’

Perhaps because of the image I felt from the original story, I thought that there would not be any good news when I opened it.

Surprisingly, the content of the letter was nothing special.

“The time has come for the grand five meeting to take place, please participate.”

If it was the grand five meeting, I remember hearing it in the original story.

It was a meeting between the people of the highest authority in the empire, the Emperor and four great dukes.

“What are they going to discuss about?”

“Since we had won the war against Viscount Schtrim, they’ll likely try to probe about it. The North has traditionally been a region where the Emperor’s power was low.”

“I’ll have to leave soon to be on time for the date of the meeting. Where would I be staying in the capital? The imperial palace?”

“We usually stayed at the inn.”

“Isn’t there another mansion in the capital?”

“We used to, but it was sold because of the debt. Would you like to look for one?”

A house in the capital!

I nodded at the word that made my heart flutter just by thinking about it.

“Yes!”

“Do you have any type that you want?”

“I want it to be somewhere sunny and warm. The Valfurga castle is a little cold.”

“Alright.”

“I can’t wait to get to the capital. Are you looking forward to it?”

I was having a friendly conversation with Treon, when Naol, the only administrative officer of the castle who was silently handling the paperwork beside me, sprung up and slammed on the desk.

“Absolutely not!”