CH 54

When he started heading for the North battlefield suddenly under the King’s order, Ather was bitter at the thought that he wouldn’t be able to go meet Little Star for some time.

At the Northern Mountain Range, he didn’t even dare think that he could encounter Little Star who had lived at the Capital mansion with his real appearance and not as ‘Atel’.

Even though he was embarrassed inwardly by the unexpected encounter, he made Little Star avoid the heavy rain and stayed by her side until the girl’s party came to find her.

Even after he avoided his position, afraid that she would receive bad attention due to being tangled up with him for no reason, he was thinking of watching Little Star return safely away from her sight.

“Tail Fur!”

It was unexpected to see Carl there.

“Older Brother?”

As well as the fact that the girl called him with the title ‘Older Brother’.

Not long after Ather, who oddly thought of it, arrived at the unit which he originally was supposed to join, he was able to hear stories about the Princess of Aslan.

A genius Miss who solved the supply problem which could’ve been a great catastrophe due to the fire that broke out by the military supplies warehouse.

An amazing Princess whose heart was full of care and thought towards the territory people and made groundbreaking discoveries even at a young age.

They even said that she was recuperating in the Capital because her body is weak, but then came back to the North to help after hearing the Family’s difficulties!

At the rumors, which were far from the Little Star that he knew, Ather’s questions grew bigger.

The child’s environment in the Capital mansion which he saw with his eyes, if that Little Star was a noble who was staying at a relative’s house for recuperation, it was clearly strange.

That’s why he quietly ordered an investigation. Although the results of the investigation had yet to arrive, his strong suspicion pointed to one person.

‘The master of the Capital mansion was definitely Viscount Seaulus.’

It’s now the time for the results to arrive soon.

Just on time for the banquet that was held at the Aslan Castle, his subordinate, who entered mixed among the invited guests from the Capital, approached him.

“Your Highness.”

“The thing I ordered?”

“Yes. Here’s the report of the investigation you ordered.”

Ather immediately turned over the document which was delivered.

The more he flipped each page, his eyes got freezingly cold, hardening with an unfriendly gaze.

***

At the moment the banquet was still in progress.

The Duke left the hall for a moment and entered into his office.

“Prince Ather told me to deliver this document. He said that Your Excellency must check it.”

“He said that it’s related to my daughter?”

It was because of the First Prince’s draft, saying that there was something urgent to deliver related to Baby.

The Duke carefully read the document after receiving it from the First Prince’s subordinate. At some point, he flutteringly passed over the pages with sinking eyes and quickly finished checking until the last page.

Bang!

There was a loud sound, as if the work desk was going to break at the hands of the Duke, who jumped up from his seat as he threw down the document roughly.

The murderous energy that was rising from him gradually filled the office.

“Y-Your Excellency the Duke.”

Standing around attending to the Duke, the aide made a sound like he was strangled, however the Duke didn’t care.

At the shocking news, he was now in a state where nothing else could even come into his eyes.

“Is this true?”

The growling roar of the angry lion was mixed with the voice that could crush one with just a single word.

At his turbulent emotions, the Duke’s shapeshifter form was on the brink of coming out.

“Answer me.”

The fuller the dark golden color in the Duke’s eyes was, the heavier the intense pressure weighed them down.

All the subordinates, who guessed his anger from the Lord’s appearance showing the sharp teeth of a lion, held their breath and bowed their heads.

“I asked, is this true!”

“Y-Your Excellency….”

The First Prince’s subordinate, who faced the Duke’s anger, trembled all over as he opened his mouth. However, he was tongue-tied under the feeling of the intense pressure.

From his behavior of not being able to give a different answer, the Duke, who read the report’s contents which were the truth, looked again at the crumpled documents on top of the desk with fierce eyes.

What was written on the document was the life that Beatty experienced in the Capital mansion without a filter.

Especially after the situation where the Duke went out to the battlefield and couldn’t return to the territory became prolonged, the environment that surrounded the child changed rapidly.

The best room of the mansion was changed into a corner room that was used as a servant’s residence, and the jewels that were left by her mother all went into someone else’s pocket.

For her meals, cold food was always sent, and even that was also sometimes not properly sent. It said that most of her clothes had holes that couldn’t be worn even after patching them up, let alone new clothes, and what was worse, even the lowest servant looked down and mocked the child lightly.

How dare he ignore and make fun of the Princess with his position as a mere employee, it was something impossible without someone’s connivance.

“That thing… is saying that it’s true that my daughter was treated that way.”

As if boiling up from the deepest place, the lava-like anger covered his whole body.

What had gone wrong?

Was it wrong to entrust Baby to the place where she had been since she was little because they were his wife’s blood relatives?

Was his doubt lacking by only not trusting all the reports that came up and putting surveillance?

How come the doctors whom he sent every time couldn’t discover the child’s strange symptoms?

The endless train of questions.

However, in the end, the final conclusion headed to one.

‘I- I should’ve been by Baby’s side.’

The guilty conscience that cut deep into his heart.

He couldn’t protect his child who was more precious than anything in the world.

Such sharp criticism about himself pierced his heart.

“Y-Your Excellency the Duke!”

Grind. Seeing blood flowing out from the Duke’s mouth which he bit strongly, his subordinate shouted in alarm.

Regardless of the blood that was flowing under his chin, the Duke walked and picked up the report on top of the cracked desk.

“This…”

The Duke glared at the report as if he was looking at a prophet of the end of the world as he opened his mouth.

“Among these things which were written down what my daughter had suffered at the Capital mansion… if there’s any bastard who’s contributed to even one of it.”

Crack.

The eyes of the Duke, who raised his head as he crumpled the report at once, shined with a fierce light like a predator encountered in the dark.

“Don’t leave out even one bastard, and go drag them here.”

He was thinking of completely making them pay the price.

The lion was ready to be a more merciless judge than anyone else. 

And it was clear who would be first in attendance of that strictly fair court.

“Capture Firina Seaulus right now. At this instant!”

With eyes as if he was going to bite and tear the back of her neck right away if she was right in front of him, the Duke ragingly growled and ordered.

“Yes!”

“Yes, Your Excellency!”

“I will send a person right away!”

At the threatening Duke’s rage, the subordinates shouted in unison.

If they, who received orders right in front of His Excellency the Duke whose murderous energy was spilling one after another, don’t bring the petty ones, they may also get bit in the neck.

At such a sense of crisis, they were trying to move quickly, however…

Bang!

Before the subordinates left the office, the office door opened again.

“….”

The one who came in with an insensitive face as usual was the Aslan Family’s Young Master, Carl.

“Y-Young Master?”

‘This time out of all times!’

At the appearance of the Young Master who usually raised the Duke’s anger more rather than calming it down, the subordinates were all on edge.

Just as expected.

“What are you doing carrying paper scraps?”

The very first thing the Young Master said was, tuk, touching the temper of His Excellency the Duke, who was already angry even if he didn’t do that.

‘N-No, no! I don’t have the confidence to endure the Duke’s anger that’ll be bigger than this!’

“Young Master, His Excellency has just urgently issued an order, how about if you come after we took care of the urgent matter….”

At someone’s word who said it with the feeling of pushing his head into the lion’s mouth, Carl looked back at him.

Gasp! The subordinate, who made eye contact with the Young Master, was suffocated without realizing it himself.

It wasn’t the same as usual.

The boy’s eyes, whom he thought were insensitive as usual, were boiling up with colder anger than ever.

“You didn’t hear it yet?”

“W-What is the Young Master saying about….”

People asked with a questioning look.

However, Carl’s nature wasn’t to kindly answer anyone’s question if they weren’t Tiny Kid.

“Hm.”

In Carl’s eyes, who naturally tossed the question aside and looked around the inside of the room, there were a bunch of documents that the Duke had crumpled.

Flutter.

Carl picked up a page of the document that fell from the Duke’s grip to the floor.

The disgusting letters which were written on top of the thin paper.

Facing the letters again of the matter which made him know of anger that could make him shake his head violently. 

Grin.

Carl’s eyes bent dangerously.

“Turns out the news was very late.”

In the pupils that were seen through the bent eyes, displeasure was overflowing like a black sea.

It was Carl who moved immediately after hearing from his friend, but the words he spat out were also relevant to himself.

The self-esteem he held, for the first-time, felt like it sucked.  

“Carl.”

Even at the voice of the Duke, who still had anger remaining, Carl raised his head indifferently without feeling intimidated.

“Did you see Firina Seaulus?”

“Why’s that?”

“Since there’s an answer I have to hear from her.”

At the Duke’s voice, who gritted his teeth as he mentioned the Viscount, an aggressive predator’s energy mimicking that of one who was about to bite its prey’s neck at any moment, lingered in the air.

Smirk.

Wearing a sneer-like smile on his mouth, Carl heavily approached the office’s door frame again.

And-

“You can ask her yourself.”

Creak.

In front of the door that was opened wide, Firina, who was all tied up like a sinner, was shaking.