CH 9

“Still, thanks to the Grand Duke, don’t people here rely more on our Benio family than on the imperial family?”

His aide opened his mouth as if to comfort Ash.

“I’m sure the Grand Duke will appreciate it.”

“Of course, I should. How long have I been rotting in this corner of the empire?” Ash’s gaze, looking through the window, was filled with annoyance.

“By the way, we have received responses to the welcoming party that Your Excellency sent. I brought it, so let’s take a look.”

When the aide opened the drawer inside the carriage, letters were piled up.

“We got a reply from most of the young ladies who had been sent an invitation.”

At a glance, it seemed very much.

“Of course, there will be no lady who would refuse Grand Duke’s invitation.”

Ash flipped through the pile of replies meaninglessly.

“…”

Looking down all kinds of letters, he had only one thought. Who can he use? Who is the lady that will benefit him the most?

“Luna Lev? Ah, that’s the lady who is said to be the adopted daughter of Duke Felicite.”

“Yes, that’s right. Although she didn’t receive the surname Felicite, it was said the duke greatly cared for her… It would be good to keep her on the good side.”

Ash looked down at the letter with Luna’s signature. Maybe the fake one is more useful than the real one.

“But is this all?”

“Yes? Yes, that’s right.”

Are you sure this is all? Ash’s straight eyes crumpled. “Where is the reply from Siani? Did you leave it out on purpose?”

The two had annulled their engagement. Even so, over the past year, the number of letters from Siani exceeded 20 letters. There was no way that leech would ignore his invitation.

“No matter how much you despise Siani, you must not touch Princess’s belongings at will.” Ash shook his head coldly. “As soon as we return to the mansion, bring Siani’s reply as well.”

“Ah, Grand Duke.” Then the aide answered. “There was no reply from Siani Felicite.”

“…Does that mean she won’t come?”

“Yes.”

There was a moment of silence.

“Ha, that doesn’t make any sense.”

Ash burst out laughing as if it were absurd. From the time he sent invitations to all the families, he was sure that Siani’s reply would come first.

“How many letters did I get from her while I was stuck in this empire corner?”

Even when they annulled their engagement, Siani still behaved pathetically. So there was no way he would believe she ignored his invitation.  It was also an invitation to announce that he would return to the capital after a few years. So it didn’t make any sense.

“Look carefully again. Because you must have been mistaken.”

“But, Grand Duke.” The aide’s expression became perplexed. “Think about it. There has not been a single letter from Princess Felicite for the past month.”

“What?”

“Recently, I haven’t collected any letters from the princess and brought them to you.”

“…That.”

Ash, who was looking back on his memory, suddenly became speechless. When he looked back, it was true.

“Isn’t the princess slowly getting herself together?”

Getting herself together? Who? Siani to me?

“It’s time for her to get tired. It’s a very good thing for you, Grand Duke.”

But the aide continued talking without noticing anything.

Of course, Siani was beautiful. She was also a woman with noble blood. But her obsession with Ash was well known to everyone.

“You should feel relieved now that the troublesome thing has gone out on its own. Now just focus on holding this welcome party—”

“That’s right. I’m very relieved.” Then Ash opened his mouth. “Finally, it stopped.”

The sickening bundle of letters stopped, and her suffocating clingy obsession stopped. Ash always felt exhausted when he spoke of that existence. Right, that’s what Siani Felicite was to him.

“But why so?”

Ash’s forehead wrinkled.

How dare you…

“I feel in a bad mood?”

How dare you decline my invitation?

* * *

“What? Is he asleep?”

“Isn’t it strange? Never once had Redian fallen asleep properly.”

John stamped his foot nervously.

“So, in the meantime, we’ve been injecting all kinds of paralyzing drugs to force him to lose consciousness, I mean, to put him to sleep.”

Late at night, Irik heard the news from John.

“How did the princess get the key to the basement?”

John turned pale.

“No, how on earth did she manage to put Redian to sleep? Without a weapon, let alone a drug.”

Among the Norma in the basement, Redian was the most powerful Norma. Redian’s body was not that of an ordinary human being. It was also the reason why he had been tortured while being injected with all sorts of drugs.

“Originally, he’ll have to vomit blood all night and then collapse from exhaustion.”

In order to control Redian, they had to use stronger medicine.

“But today, he slept so deeply and peacefully.”

That’s how it was. He was obviously asleep, not faint. Moreover, he slept deeply!

“Could it be that the princess has something stronger than the sedatives we have? Or…” John hesitated for a long time and then said, “D-does she have any power? Something that was passed down from the Felicite family that…”

“That?”

“Didn’t our Meteora Empire be founded by the power of a goddess?”

“…”

As John said, the Meteora Empire was founded after the goddess sealed the devil and then disappeared. At that time, the three spirits who followed the goddess were the first family owner of the three meritorious families.

Rixon Imperial Family, meaning golden sword.

Grand Duke Benio of the shield.

And Duke Felicite of the arrow.

After a long time, the sacredness of the spirits who founded the family disappeared. However, there were also those who believed that their power would be manifested again one day, just like John right now.

“I mean, m-maybe the power of the spirit manifested in the princess!”

“You can write a novel.”

But Irik burst into laughter.

“If she had such power, why would the duke treat his own daughter like not his daughter?”

“That’s…”

“Why did His Grace adopt me and Luna?”

John was at a loss for words.

Duke seemed to implicitly consider Irik to be his successor. But if that power manifested again… He would never do anything to taint Felicite’s bloodline.

“Well, as you said, let’s assume that the spirit’s power can be manifested again. But why does that have to be Siani Felicite?”

Irik said as if it was pathetic. “The power that was cut off even from the imperial family appeared in Siani Felicite?”

Even if the power of the spirit was annihilated, shouldn’t it be manifested in the Rixon family or Benio family instead of the Felicite family? Moreover, why should it be to Siani Felicite? It was to the point that the third-rate novels were more fun than this story.

“He must have felt at ease now that someone took his side. Just let him sleep for a day or so.”

“I suppose so.”

“You’ve seen it in person, but Siani is a little…”

Irik murmured at the memory that came to him.

When he first came here, she was the person that surprised him the most. The magnificence of the sky-piercing Felicite Castle was incomparable to that girl with shiny golden hair and cold red eyes.

“This is my daughter, Siani.”

Siani Felicite standing on top of the high stairs…

Could it be said that it was like a human who lost their mind after facing a goddess in mythology? Irik couldn’t bear the same. Compared to that dazzling girl, his appearance was so shabby.

No one knows. That he still felt that way in front of Siani. Even if he wore nice clothes and rode a fancy horse, everything about him was shabby compared to her.

“Yes? A little what?”

“A little, uh, she has a look that makes you feel flustered, anyway.”

She was beautiful, disgustingly beautiful. No matter how much she called for Redian, Redian was still a man too. Just like he was, Redian must have been shocked too.

“She really is. When she came down the stairs, I was really surprised—”

“That’s enough. You must know that today’s matter must never reach into His Grace’s ears.”

Irik squeezed his eyes shut.

The duke also seemed to notice the recent change in Siani. In this situation, if it became known that Siani skillfully controlled Redian…

Sh*t. He spontaneously cursed out.

“Don’t worry. I’ll keep my mouth shut.”

“Stop talking and get out.”

“Please rest now.”

After John went out, Irik leaned back. “What medicine did he take?”

He spoke calmly to John but couldn’t help but be annoyed. How can people change so suddenly?

Redian was someone who couldn’t be controlled easily by himself or the duke… But the answer didn’t come out, no matter how hard he thought about it.

“Ohoho. This is the beginning.”

It felt as if Siani was floating all over the place and laughing at him.

But more than that…

Mine? When did she claim it as hers?

The image of Siani stroking Redian’s head kept coming to his mind.

It’s really annoying.

Besides, she had been raiding the basement to protect that one Norma. The kindness that she didn’t even give to him, who lived together for a few years, but to Norma…

It’s really annoying, Siani Felicite.

Whenever he thought of Siani, Irik gritted his teeth.