CH 24

Chapter: 24 (Leanhardt’s POV)

Damn, why do I have to go through this?

That bastard Alfred really told my father! He told him about all the things I did, like slapping Miri and forcing Alfred to take that stupid girl!

So I’m summoned to my father’s study.

He had looked at me with a sour face when I broke off my engagement to Charlotte, and he was not so happy about my engagement to Miri either.

I explained to him how much I loved her and made him forgive me.

So it hurts to be asked about it.

It hurts me so much. And when the royal family of Albania is involved…

“Leanhardt, you… I heard you went on quite a rampage. I didn’t expect His Highness the Crown Prince of Albania…!”

My father stares at me with an intensity I’ve never seen before.

Father is trembling, as if remembering how he had been bowing down to His Highness Prince Alfred in anger at the shame our family had brought upon us.

“No, no, father…His Highness Alfred is exaggerating a bit…”

I was already losing my grip on him. He is the absolute leader of this family.

He values the tradition and dignity of the dukedom above all else, and he hates to see the family name tarnished.

And this incident has gone far beyond his capacity for anger.

—That is why I have no other choice but to make excuses.

“So it was a lie that you beat Miri, that you loved her so much that you wanted to leave Charlotte and marry her?”

“No, no, it was light. It’s as light as a fresh spring breeze.”

Father asked if what Alfred had told him was a lie.

It was true, I had actually slapped her without much force.

But Miri was simply overreacting.

I tried to convey the nuance, but—.

“You idiot!!”

“Hiii!”

The sound of my father’s fist hitting the table echoed in the room.

because I didn’t really hit her. I have to convey that nuance properly.

And that was when I was at the height of my frustration at finding out that stupid Miri had said something stupid.

“Remember what you said to me when you said you were going to get engaged to Miri? You said, “I’ll be her shield and protect her at all costs, no matter what troubles lie ahead.”

“Huh? Did I say that?”

At that time, Miri was so adorable and so cute that I felt like I could do anything for her.

—The excitement was high for a while.

“What are you laughing at?! I’m not laughing at all! We’re not talking about something that happened years ago! Not even a month has passed! I can see through your small human comprehension!”

“Sh*t…”

Father has no idea how stupid Miri is, which is why he can say such a thing.

Try to face her for even a week and you’ll feel nothing but stress.

In short, it’s as if I had an accident. There aren’t many stupid women like that.

It was bad luck. I’d have put up with it if I’d had any brains left in me.

“Elmhardt, come in here…!”

“Yes, Father…”

He yelled at me for a while and then let my brother, Elmhardt, who had just turned 15 this year, into the room.

Elmhardt is a timid and unreliable boy who is always scared of something.

“As you know, Leinhardt has brought shame on our family. An embarrassment of epic proportions… —That’s why I want you to take charge of the family, not Leinhardt.”

“Hey! Father, wait!”

The thing I feared would happen.

He really said he didn’t want me to take over the duchy, you damned father!

But I’m sure Elmhardt, who’s so frightened of me, will refrain—.

“Really?! I’m so glad! Now I can live my life without worrying about my brother!”

“What…?”

Elmhardt had the biggest smile on his face.