* * *
“That damned b*stard is back!”
It was inside the morning state affairs meeting room. After the meeting ended and most of the nobles had left, only Vientin and Count Florette remained in the now quiet room. And when Vientin met Count Florette’s gaze, the count looked so furious he could have chewed through rebar.
“Your Grace, listen to me. I may be pursuing Giselle’s divorce, but it’s also true that I’ve been training in swordsmanship just to kill that b*stard who hurt her.”
Given that Count Florette was over six feet tall, his presence was quite intimidating. But Vientin regarded him with a little concern.
“Don’t pursue the divorce, Father-in-law.”
“That’s not the point…! Anyway, what I mean is, it’s better for my daughter to stay at your family than to ever meet that b*stard again!”
“Yes.”
“Listen. As if it wasn’t enough to treat my daughter like filth…! He even sent a letter to my family.”
At that moment, Vientin’s eyebrows twitched.
[I’d like to meet Giselle. Please contact me. I want to see her as soon as possible.]
“He dares not only to disgrace my daughter with scandal, but now he sends a letter saying he wants to meet her? That damned b*stard…”
While Count Florette gritted his teeth in rage, Vientin looked surprisingly calm. After all, Giselle was currently his wife, so it was a simple matter for the family to refuse contact. At times like this, it is best to stay composed and act with cold reason. He was, by nature, an exceptionally rational man.
“But it’s a bit strange, Your Grace. People are saying it’s almost like Duke Reshaniel himself is searching for Madam Giselle…”
Snap. The moment he recalled his aide’s report from that morning, the barrel of Vientin’s pen twisted and broke under his grip. Whether or not Count Florette stared in shock at the pen that had shattered in his grip, Vientin replied with utter indifference. “It’s nothing.”
“No, suddenly snapping your pen like that is definitely not nothing…”
Thinking of his scheduled meeting with Duke Reshaniel later that afternoon, Vientin spoke in a tone so casual it almost sounded careless. “As luck would have it, I’ll be meeting him first. The thought makes me rather happy.”
* * *
“It’s really a shame about Wot’s reputation…”
As Giyet meticulously checked my condition, I muttered to myself, and he practically jumped out of his skin.
“N-No! What are you talking about?!”
“Calm down. I just mean it’s nothing compared to Duke Reshaniel’s reputation.”
After deciding to use my alter ego, Wot, to undermine that b*stard Duke Reshaniel’s standing, I’d started digging into everything around me. I hated to admit it, but as Giyet had said, at this point, Wot was probably the easiest card I had to play. Absurd as it was, Wot was held in the highest esteem by the doctors. But still…! Among commoners, Wot actually has a pretty good reputation. But if you include the nobility, the current score is probably Wot: 1, Duke Reshaniel: 100.
The elegant, graceful, and beautiful Duke Reshaniel, and Wot, a commoner woman. The gap between them was even more staggering than I’d thought. Isn’t there some way I could market Wot to ruin Duke Reshaniel’s schemes? But no matter how hard I racked my brain, I couldn’t come up with a chance for Wot to turn things around. Nothing like raising her reputation by saving Neslan.
I propped my chin on my hand, lost in thought, wondering what on earth I could do, when Giyet cautiously added, “Oh, by the way, it looks like Duke Kalinos will be meeting with that holy family soon.”
“Hmm?”
He was talking about Duke Reshaniel so calmly, right in front of me. Come to think of it, Giyet doesn’t know about the rumors swirling around Reshaniel and me… Ah, right. He was stuck in the Blue Lagoon until recently.
Giyet kept chattering away without pause. “The holy family, Duke Reshaniel’s family! I think he’s going to propose a collaboration, probably about restoring the territory or healing issues.”
“Hmmm…”
A meeting between that damned mosquito and my contract husband. Why did I feel so weird about it?
As I wondered, Giyet muttered absentmindedly, his face blank. “I heard about it while examining Lord Garno. Apparently, the meeting is today. I’m kind of curious to see how it’ll go.”
“I’m curious too.”
The best employer and the worst regretful male lead, meeting face-to-face. Since it’s just for business, maybe nothing will happen. But why did I have such a bad feeling about this?
It was almost as if the two of them…
Yeah, that weird, ominous feeling you get right before all hell breaks loose.
…Like they might actually end up fighting?
That can’t happen. Duke Reshaniel, that b*stard is my prey.
* * *
Long ago, Saint Solin performed a miracle by bringing someone back from the dead, earning Dainan Castle the title of ‘Holy Castle’.
“Duke Reshaniel is truly incredible.”
“He’s a real saint, that’s for sure!”
In front of Dainan Castle, the area was filled with sick commoners. Word had spread that Duke Reshaniel was healing the sick here with his divine power. The castle itself was old and crumbling, giving off a gloomy atmosphere since it hadn’t been properly maintained, but that didn’t stop crowds of people with torn flesh and aching bodies from flocking there.
In this world, divine power existed, but the temples themselves never really flourished. It wasn’t that people lacked faith in the gods, but you didn’t have to become a priest to wield divine power. Amidst all that, one family rose to prominence: the Reshaniel family, renowned as the holy bloodline, whose every member was blessed by the gods and possessed divine power. And above all, the most extraordinary was the current Duke Reshaniel.
The commoners gazed at him with shining eyes, hands clasped as if in prayer, praising him.
“They say the current duke has both mana and divine power, right?”
“How is that even possible? It’s amazing…!”
“He really is a living miracle.”
“No wonder he has so many followers. I heard the competition among the ladies is fierce since his fiancée’s seat is still open.”
The commoners spoke with admiration, and the girls chattered with romantic longing. The one thing they all had in common? They were all ecstatic over Duke Reshaniel. The elegant, handsome man dressed in robes as white as a priest’s vestments. Some even hovered nearby, hoping for the chance to touch his hand, even just once.
Perhaps he’d overheard the ladies talking about him. Duke Reshaniel turned toward them and offered a gentle, warm smile. As the crowd gathered like clouds watching him, their gazes filled with even deeper reverence.
A pure white light began to radiate from Duke Reshaniel’s hand. The moment that light touched a patient’s injured leg, the person who had been limping suddenly sprang to their feet.
“T-Thank you! Thank you so much!”
“D-Duke, you really performed a miracle…!”
While everyone was marveling at this miraculous sight, a few perceptive people glanced around, shivering.
“Doesn’t it feel kind of creepy all of a sudden?”
“Yeah, it’s like there’s some kind of demonic energy here.”
Those who felt the chills tried to shake them off, and when they turned their heads the other way… At the edge of their vision, they saw Duke Kalinos, his entire body shrouded in black. True to his strange nicknames, the Grim Reaper of Terror, the Bloody Shadow, he radiated a gloomy aura even from a distance.
So-Somebody, save us…
With someone’s muttered plea, an odd silence fell over the area in front of the massive castle. At that moment, Duke Reshaniel, who had been focused on channeling his divine power, lifted his gaze and looked around.
“Ah… Duke Kalinos.”
A handsome man with dazzling blond hair and eyes as blue as the sea after a storm, Duke Reshaniel. A cold man with jet-black hair and unsettling red eyes, Duke Kalinos. The standoff between the two was like seeing black and white. As if the Red Sea itself were parting, people hurriedly cleared a path between Duke Kalinos and Duke Reshaniel.
Duke Reshaniel looked at Duke Kalinos. He was still a man with a dark impression. With a gaze like a glass bead, Duke Reshaniel asked quietly, “Saving the sick is truly a noble and beautiful act, isn’t it?”
“Not really.” It was a serious, curt reply. Without the slightest interest in Reshaniel’s opinion, Vientin cut straight to the point. “I have something to say.”
Seeing that he had no intention of persuading anyone, Duke Reshaniel replied with his usual elegance. “You’ve come to ask for someone from my family, someone blessed with divine power, to heal your injured kin, haven’t you?” In other words, he was saying, ‘You’re the one in need here.’
At that, Vientin replied indifferently. “You seem almost disturbingly infatuated with yourself.”
“Pardon?”
“Move.” He jerked his chin and looked behind him. That was the area where Duke Reshaniel sat, healing the people. It was, in fact, the very spot where Saint Solin had once performed miracles, and also the entrance to the labyrinthine ‘Holy Castle,’ Dainan Castle.
As if to remind everyone of that fact, Vientin spoke again, his tone icy cold. “You’re standing in my way.”
“Ah…” Duke Reshaniel looked momentarily flustered, but quickly rose to his feet. Even the way he stepped aside was strikingly elegant and beautiful.
Just like that, Vientin clearly intended to pass by him indifferently. At least, until Duke Reshaniel, as Vientin brushed past him, let slip a whisper by his ear.
“Isn’t it Giselle you want to ask me about?”
That was when Vientin’s steps came to a slow halt.
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