Chapter 67

Contents of the secret letter 

❊

[I miss you. When are you coming?]

[Cassian.]

[How are you?]

[I love you.]

…The letters were well pasted into pieces

[There are a lot of patients here.]

[It seems like there’s a war in the air.]

Below it was a note from the director of the treatment center.

[How promiscuous, a woman who hasn’t even gotten married has written so many love letters! Besides, as you can see from the contents of this letter, I have noticed that even Duchy’s secrets have been revealed. After all, as a human being, it is clear that she betrayed His Majesty the Duke’s grace. Why don’t you dig a little more, Sir!] (Miles)

He crumpled the note with a contorted expression.

“Thanks to you.” (Duke)

The Duke raised his lively gaze.

“I got the information that I didn’t want to know.”

For example, Astel said ‘I love’ or ‘I miss you’ to Cassian Gray… Duke Anais gritted his teeth fiercely.

“I’m curious as to what the director meant by stealing Astel’s letter and delivering it to me.” (Duke)

He now needed a proper vent, an appropriate object of anger.

“He… That, direc—, the director of the treatment center said that it must deliver to you…”

The aide was sweating profusely. Whether it was him or the director of the treatment center, he seemed certain to have made the wrong decision.

“Then, now, find out about the director of the treatment center’s actions.”

With those words, the fate of the treatment director has just been decided.

“Oh, Your Excellency, if you find it unpleasant… Shall I catch him alive?”

“Yes.”

After giving that order, the Duke fell into deep thought.

I was guessing, but I felt like I had been shot to death seeing how much Astel loved Cassian Gray.

If so, then the child… After meeting with the Knight Commander of the Rose Order, he was going to sift through the movements of Cassian Gray.

It has been put off for a while, but the time has come to find out about the rumors of Cassian Gray.

Wearing a robe, he went straight out of the Duke’s Castle and visited a bar where rumors within the Empire gathered the fastest among the northern regions.

So the past and present movements of Cassian Gray tracked by the Duke of Anais were trashy.

It was not much different from the contents of the thorny paper seen in the capital, but in the meantime, there were more rumors.

—’Oh, the flower of the capital, Cassian?’

—’The guy who was rumored to be in a multilateral love affair?’

—’But didn’t you think there was a woman who was special to him?’

—’There are rumors that he had a child with her.’

The drunkards of the bar were talking one by one on their own.

—’ I heard that he’s meeting the youngest daughter of a certain Count these days.’

—’Leaving your child and the child’s mother? It’s okay if it’s Cassian that’s understandable. Isn’t he so rumored! Haha!’

—’ It sounds like it’s one or two children.’

—’ But where are the kids? Brother, isn’t this just a rumor?’

One of them was here, at the Duke’s castle.

Duke Anais clenched his teeth. Someone in the capital had seen Cassian Gray with a child about three years old.

But from that moment on, the child was nowhere to be seen. On the other hand, Cassian Gray has since acted like he had no children and met countless women.

As if there’s no tomorrow… 

A cold rage broke out in the Duke’s fists.

How can that bastard ignore Astel, leave his child with her, and freely play around with his lower brain? Without exaggeration, I wanted to tear him apart and kill him alive. 

But it was Astel’s sparkling voice that hit his brakes.

—’Just, I thought it was cool that Cassian Gray was an imperial hero, and he was my friend!’

At the same time, I remembered a letter full of affection written by Astel.

—[I miss you, Cassian. I love you!]

Why is Astel…

Does she like such a promiscuous, beggar-like young man?

Unlike trash like Cassian Gray, she was the most precious person in the world. If she liked me the same way, it would feel like having everything in the world.

His eyes, hidden in the robe, shone lifelessly.

On the way back to the Duke’s Castle, the situation in the bar resurfaced in his mind.

Some people stared at him as if observing him with a strange gaze, not an ordinary bet, but he didn’t care.

It was bothersome to pay attention to every single glance. In the first place, he didn’t care how others would look at him.

Only Astel’s gaze is important. After returning to Castle, he reflected on all the information he had collected so far.

He thought, and thought, and thought about the relationship between Cassian Gray and Astel.

When talking about Cassian, Astel’s face turned red and her big eyes rolled around as if she was pretending not to care about it.

On the other hand, Cassian Gray laughed at Astel as if it was insignificant.

It’s not enough to take her money, and now the unscrupulous Cassian Gray even left the child with her.

Nevertheless, Astel writes a letter to him that he likes him and appeals to him that she wants to see him.

It was in the middle of an endless stretch of the imagination about the relationship between the two of them that turned miserable.

An aide knocked on his door, “Your Excellency, Duke.”

“…Yes.”

“It’s about the flower language of the white magnolia that you asked before.”

The aide who entered the office tilted his head with a vague look on his face.

“I don’t know if it’s… An ancient language or not.”

“Yes…”

“It means ‘I can’t give my heart to you.”

Upon hearing the report, Duke Anais clenched his teeth violently.

❅

At that moment, Cassian noticed that his silk cord was burning.

He was with Rachel, discussing their plans for the future.

I had to take revenge and get Astel and my child from the Duke as soon as possible.

“Cassian, do you have anything against the Duke?”

“Yes.”

“…What is it? The Duke of Anais is looking for you.”

Rachel of the Dark Guild tried several times to attach an information prize to the Duke of Anais.

Most of them failed, but strangely enough, today the Duke didn’t seem to care much if anyone stuck behind him.

Immediately, the informant caught up with him and found out that the Duke was walking around the bar himself and listening to information about Cassian Gray.

“…”

“As you know, the Duke seems to have something to do with the fall of the Vietry. Besides, he’s after you… ” (Rachel)

Cassian frowned slightly. Even if Rachel didn’t say that the Duke of Anais was certainly suspicious.

“The Duke should know that I’m filthy trash.” (Cassian)

“Is that image okay for you though?” (Rachel)

“It’s good to be a piece of junk that he wouldn’t want to check.” (Cassian)

“Honestly, you’re not that type of person.” (Rachel)

In the eyes of Rachel, who was close to him, Cassian was rather a stoic man.

But Cassian waved blandly saying, “Well, I’ll be on my way. I have something to do.”

“…Aren’t you overdoing it?”

“I have to do it.”

Cassian held his sword. Next, it was time to meet Anne at the log cabin.

Anne was said that she had quite a unique memory when she had worked as the maid of Count Viertry.

—’There was a dangerous guy in the family. That guy used to brag that he knew how to manipulate…’

If I take over the information from the rest of them, I might be able to find a clue about one of the capable men who destroyed the Vietry family. Now I had to speed up finding more clues.

❅

Meanwhile, washed up and fit, I was working hard to find criminals inside the Duke’s Castle.

Now that I brought my nephew to the Duke’s Castle, I had to catch the next one in a hurry. Of course, I had to refrain from hasty action as much as I could, but moving indecisively was my loss.

But it’s never early to use the artifacts I got from Sam in any way I want.

“Mr. Warret, listen.” (Astel)

Holding Sam’s Artifact tightly in my hand. Then, with a click, I pressed the front part of the artifact.

“…Huh?”

While the white light flickered like a flash, I spoke solemnly in a serious tone.

“Actually, all of my money has been stolen, but can you lend me all of your fortunes?” (Astel)

“Your entire fortune?”

“Yes!”

He would normally have rejected it with a single blow as soon as he heard it, but he tilted his head with a face of deep concern.

I stared at him with sweat in my hands. ‘Oh, is this how Warret’s entire fortune comes into my hands…?!’