CH 80

Chapter 80

Although not fully decorated yet, the exterior of the greenhouse was large and beautiful. It was like this, even though the exterior was given just a little touch. There was no way to build a greenhouse like this that no one would come to.

“But… it felt like it was managed.”

“This greenhouse was built by the early Grand Duke.”

…That old greenhouse? It was far too fine for that. In addition, it was difficult enough to believe that it was built recently.

“Of course, it was managed from generation to generation. Just enough not to collapse.”

Just enough to not collapse?

Elysia wondered. If that was usually the case, wouldn’t it be right to get rid of the greenhouse altogether? If they were just going to leave it alone and not use it, it seemed like it would be better to demolish it.

“Then, wouldn’t it be better to just get rid of it?”

“You’re right, wife. I tried to get rid of it several times, but I couldn’t.”

Was there a story behind this greenhouse? Hearing his words, she wondered why he couldn’t get rid of it.

“This is a place made as a gift from the first Grand Duke to the Grand Duchess, and it was the tradition of the Raphael family to decorate the greenhouse and give it to the Grand Duchess.”

She was surprised to hear that there was such a tradition. There must be a lot of jewels, so why bother giving a greenhouse?

“But in the end, no one gave the Grand Duchess a greenhouse. Although there may be people who have not been recorded.”

“Because it was… an arranged marriage?”

It seemed that the first Grand Duke did not have an arranged marriage. It was amazing that there were people like that even back then.

Did the first Grand Duke die early, too? She wondered if there was some kind of genetic disease. If it had been like that since the first Grand Duke, there was a high probability that it was a genetic disease.

“That’s not why.”

Damon, who just stared into the greenhouse, was unfamiliar.

“Everyone wanted to get rid of this greenhouse, but they couldn’t.”

Elysia didn’t know how to react to his self-deprecating smile. It seemed that there was some secret hidden in this greenhouse.

“Did Your Grace want to get rid of it, too?”

“I wanted to get rid of it in a different way. It’s a place with bad memories for me.”

“A bad memory?”

Come to think of it, Damon said earlier that no one had come to the greenhouse except for one.

“Do you know how the former Grand Duke raised their heir?”

She didn’t know exactly how he grew up. All she knew was that the previous Grand Duke had many children and that Damon had pushed everyone to be at the top.

“All I know is that they gave birth to many heirs.”

“That is what the public knows. Though where have all those children gone?”

“Weren’t they raised by the Grand Duke’s family?”

Naturally, she thought that all the heirs would have been raised in the grand duke’s family. While they were not the children of the imperial family, they were the children of the Grand Duke. Even she grew up in the Count family…

“The man did not even know how many children he had made.”

Make.

Damon expressed it as if a thing was made.

“As soon as it was confirmed, he would be in a hurry to fill the Grand Duke’s family because what he wanted was fierce competition.”

“Fill it…”

“It was literally filled in. If it was confirmed that one was of the Grand Duke’s blood, they were immediately captured.”

So, he was saying he was separated from his mother?

“Your mother…”

“Mother? Women who give birth to the Grand Duke’s children usually die on the spot. If they’re lucky, they die soon after.”

Hearing Damon’s words, her body trembled. What she originally knew and what he admitted with his mouth were different.

“So did I. Destined to kill my mother from birth… of course, I have no mother.”

Elysia covered her mouth with her hand when she heard that he was destined to kill his mother. It was because if she didn’t cover her mouth, it felt like a cry would come out. It was the first time she had heard such a thing.

“Because of this damn blood, the Grand Duke’s family can recognize each other so they know right away when the child is born.”

“Then….”

“Do you know what the first thing the Grand Duke’s child does when they’re born?”

Elysia forgot she was breathing as she listened to his voice.

“They will kill the mother.”

* * *

How should she respond to what he told her? All she could do was keep silent, and even then, she tried desperately not to scream.

“Because they can’t control their power, they turn everything around into ruins.”

“That means… all the women who were pregnant with the Grand Duke’s child… they die?”

“It only happens to unmanaged women, but it is.”

She didn’t understand what being managed meant.

“As soon as a child is born, they cannot control their strength. The power exploded in an instant and attacked everyone except themselves.”

Even though Elysia wanted to pretend that nothing was wrong as much as possible, she couldn’t hide her trembling body.

“So, when giving birth in the Grand Duke’s family, several layers of barriers are applied. The same goes for the mothers… There were many spells, and they wore protective gear.”

“Protection?”

“I know they wore protective gear throughout the pregnancy. Otherwise, the mother cannot withstand the child’s strength.”

Listening to his words, she didn’t know what the Grand Duke’s lineage was though it sounded terrifying. It was as if the mothers were pregnant with a monster, not a child.

“I can’t make the wife do that, can I?”

So, until now, all the grand dukes had children despite knowing all of these facts. After all, both the Grand Duke and the Grand Duchess were just tools. She couldn’t tell who was benefiting from this. The Grand Duke was short-lived… so who benefited?

“I will cut it out of my hand… this cursed bloodline.”

Damon’s resolute tone conveyed a sense of firm determination. He really hated the Grand Duke’s family.

“Is it Your Grace?”

“What?”

“The only person who has ever been to this greenhouse.”

His eyes were shaking, albeit briefly. Seeing that, Elysia knew that that one person was Damon.

“What does that matter?”

“I was curious. Your Grace must have come to the greenhouse that everyone said was abandoned.”

Why did he stop by this greenhouse that everyone was not interested in? Nonetheless, he also seemed to have been here for a long time. Did that mean he came here when he was young? Did young Damon have a reason to come to the greenhouse?

“Do you know how many children the former Grand Duke made in the name of finding a strong successor?”

Elysia shook her head. Even that was unknown to the public, she only knew that they had multiple children.

“They met many women, but it was difficult to have a child safely. If there is no management, both the child and the mother die along the way.”

“….”

“I was very lucky. Even though I was abandoned, I survived.”

It seemed that the Grand Duke only had a child from the Grand Duchess since it must be difficult to manage like that while keeping the secret of the Grand Duke’s family.

“That’s why there weren’t many children in the Grand Duke’s family, except for the time of the previous Grand Duke. At that time, there were ten other children besides me.”

Ten.

She had no idea there were so many children.

Ten more children like him…

“Even that excludes the dead children. Children born without management usually die because they are weak.”

“Then, Your Grace…”

“Yes, that’s right. I was weak and almost died. I developed slower than my siblings and lacked strength.”

Damon was slow to develop… she couldn’t imagine it. The man she knew was always arrogant, confident, and perfect in everything. To think that when he was young, he fell behind his other siblings.

“When I was young, I lived being run over by my siblings every time. In the name of rivalry alone, the Grand Duke condoned fighting between the siblings.”

“….”

“Every time I ran away… to live here at the greenhouse.”

His life had been a battlefield and hell since childhood. He had to run and run fiercely to survive.

“…Because this is a place no one cares about, they didn’t notice it.”

She couldn’t take her eyes off his bitter smile.

Elysia didn’t expect him to be able to make an expression like that, so she was taken aback. Damon Raphael was a vicious and cruel villain, and she thought he would never have the pain of his childhood. As she thought all he desired was to kill, he couldn’t find any more interest.

“Unless you want to die, there are no humans to enter the greenhouse.”

“Are they not allowed to enter the greenhouse?”

“Ordinary people don’t matter. Only those born with the blood of this family should not enter.”

His words were strange.

Why was it that people of the Grand Duke’s family were not allowed to enter the greenhouse built as a gift from the Grand Duchess…?

She didn’t understand.

“Why…”

“Especially for young children who cannot control their strength.”

However, Damon had been in and out of the greenhouse since he was a child.

“Death outside, dying inside the greenhouse… but I had no choice. The greenhouse that everyone else avoids was the safest place for me.”

Was this ordinary greenhouse a dangerous place that everyone avoided? Still, neither Julia nor Sebastian had ever told her such a thing, and she didn’t feel anything strange now either. If it were a really dangerous place, she would have noticed before Damon did.

“So, most of my childhood was spent in this greenhouse.”

“Was it like this then?”

“You mean the conditions in the greenhouse? It was the same as when the wife first saw it. Rather, it has been organized a lot now.”

Elysia took a fresh look inside.

“Why can’t people from the Raphael family come?”

“This glass wall looks just like a regular glass wall, but it’s all made of magic and there are countless invisible barriers in the greenhouse.”

Somehow, everything he explained was the same as what they do to mothers giving birth.

“When those born with Raphael’s blood come here, they lose control.”

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