He’s My Real Brother, Duke Chapter 105

 

“What is it?”

 

He growled, threatening me, but his words failed to reach me. Lord Mayer stood in the Duke of Cornwall’s way, his eyes narrowed.

 

“I beg your pardon, Sir, but Lady Astel was brought here by His Grace, the Duke of Anais himself. I assume you have asked His Grace the Duke of Anais for permission to speak with her.”

 

“Nonsense!”

 

Duke Cornwall reached out and shoved Lord Mayer away. It was in vain, for he stood so firmly that he could not be pushed in the slightest.

 

“Leave him be.”

 

The Duke heard my trembling voice, glared at my innocent-looking face, and the corners of his mouth turned up in a sneer.

 

“You, give it to me.”

 

I cringed and blinked. He must have thought I was freaking out, because he grabbed Lord Mayer’s arm with a staggering hand.

 

“My painting.”

 

Ever since the incident in the salon that day, the world had labeled me a noble and terrifying lady.

 

But contrary to the rumors, I was young and innocent-looking, with no apparent connection to voodoo, and therefore easy to intimidate in the eyes of the Duke of Cornwall.

 

His grave eyes stared at me as if to consume me. He seemed to know that if he scared me badly enough, I would cower and give him what he had.

 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Your Excellency.”

 

Seeing me undaunted, he smiled meekly and said, “The painting you stole from the salon, which belongs to me, and I demand it.”

 

He must mean the 《Beach》. Based on my hypothesis that a person desperately seeking the painting 《Beach》 was likely to be the final villain deeply involved in voodoo, the Duke of Cornwall’s demeanor at this moment was quite suspicious.

 

‘I never thought he’d say it so bluntly.’

 

Of course, he must have resented the painting when he realized it would be used as a medium for voodoo.

 

It was placed in the deepest depths of the Duke’s mansion, and I doubt the Duke of Cornwall would have dared to approach it. If he wanted to use it now, he might have lost his nerve.

 

I looked at him and shrugged. Now that I’d narrowed my search to the Duke of Cornwall, I needed to provoke him with some tasty bait. I rolled my eyes, feigning innocence, my acting skills enhanced by the extra effort.

 

“I didn’t steal the painting, I paid for it, but…”

 

Wiping at my lips, I turned to him and said briskly, “Unfortunately, I lost it, a thief broke in and stole it.”

 

It was a lie, of course. No big thief would ever sneak into the Duke of Anais’ mansion, and《Beach》 was deep in the mansion, locked away.

 

He smirked when he realized I was still looking terrified.

 

“How dare you lose it, that precious thing?”

 

He had traveled to this place to intimidate me, and now he began to cackle and laugh like a maniac. 

 

The others frowned slightly at Cornwall’s demeanor, a far cry from that of the Duke of Anais.

 

“You’ve got a great heart, my dear, we’ll see.”

 

I looked him in the eye and said approvingly.

 

“Yeah.”

 

Still glaring at me, the Duke of Cornwall shuffled away, still looking like a stinking beggar.

 

All the nobles in the room frowned at his ungentlemanly demeanor, but at a ball without an emperor, they couldn’t say much. I took a deep breath and glared at the Duke of Cornwall’s back.

 

At my demeanor, Lord Mayer cautiously opened his mouth to speak.

 

“Lady Astel, are you all right?”

 

Nodding, I answered, “Yes, but I would like to stop by the powder room for a moment.”

 

Now that I had met the Duke of Cornwall and was convinced that he was suspicious, it was time to proceed to the next step.

 

🌸

 

Escorted by Lord Mayer, I entered the palace’s private powder room and grabbed the Chamber Summoning Artifact that Warret had handed me.

 

With the artifact he’d handed me, I could create a small chamber and summon Cassian at my will, once and for all.

 

After a few seconds, the room suddenly turned white on all sides and transformed into a chamber. 

 

At the same time, the summoned Cassian looked at me with a dumbfounded expression.

 

“No, how did you suddenly appear… I must have been somewhere else…”

 

“There were some conditions, and I won’t be here long, so I’ll be straightforward.”

 

He stared at me with a puzzled expression. But there was no time to breathe. 

 

Warret may be a genius, but he couldn’t break through the palace’s double-magic security for long. Faster than I could wrap my head around it, it was my turn to tell him why I had come to Cassian.

 

The reason I needed to meet Cassian was simple.

 

《 Bloody Revenge》 was a novel about Cassian’s hopeful torture, and he had come close to succeeding in his revenge, slaying several.

 

‘Readers had a rough idea of what the final mastermind had up his sleeve, and where the incriminating evidence might be.’

 

It’s not a sure thing, but the most likely place to find the key to exoneration would be the Dark Manor.

 

‘The Duke of Cornwall is very attached to his manor, and he has not been out in years.’

 

The only way to find the final villain’s evidence would be by searching his mansion.

 

And the only person I could trust to search Cornwall in my absence was Cassian.

 

“The Duke of Cornwall is suspicious, so I want you to infiltrate the estate at the right time.”

 

Cassian was not surprised. He should have sensed that the Duke of Cornwall was suspicious.

 

“I’ve tried to infiltrate the ducal family myself, but it’s impossible because the estate is tied to the Duke of Cornwall, both living and dead.”

 

Cornwall House in the capital was not like any other mansion. 

 

The Duke of Cornwall had made all sorts of modifications to his mansion. 

 

Word on the street was that the erratic Duke of Cornwall was so attached to it that he had modified it so that he could live and die with it.

 

I glanced around the chamber once more and gaped. The enchantment that Warret had created seemed to be wearing off.

 

“I don’t have time to go into details, I’ll do the work of weakening Cornwall’s power. I’ll let Cello know when the time is right, and you can search the mansion.”

 

Wow, I was just so charismatic saying that. Smiling to myself, I glared at my brother.

 

“What are you…”

 

Cassian’s lips twitched, as if he was about to say something more to my unfamiliar appearance, but I glared at him and shook my head hastily.

 

“I trust you.”

 

My eyes remained fixed on him.

 

Up until now, he had never shared any of his revenge schemes with me because he thought I was too young.

 

But now we were both in a position where we had to put our heads together. There are few people in the world I trust more than my family.

 

“Everything is working out the way I intended. I made this thing.”

 

Despite my seeming weakness, despite my childhood nickname of crybaby, nevertheless…

 

“So for once, do as I say, not as you please!”

 

I was always sincere in my revenge, and in a future where we could all be happy together.

 

“You little hamster…”

 

My brother’s lips twitched at the sight of me, but his words were cut short. He was interrupted by the sound of the chamber being destroyed by a crash.

 

Unfortunately, the mini-artifact of concealment didn’t last long in the imperial palace, where ancient magic was woven into the fabric.

 

“Mark my words.”

 

With those words, the artifact’s enchantment was completely broken, and Cassian returned to where he belonged.

 

I, too, stood alone again in the private powder room of the Imperial Palace. With a long sigh, I dry my face and look around the room.

 

And then…

 

“Meow.”

 

…On the floor, I ran into a cat with a moon symbol on its back, the symbol of the divine beast.

I looked at her black fur and piercing eyes and realized that she was definitely Mimi, the divine cat.

 

‘What the hell, why is Mimi in the palace, and this powder room?’

 

As if she had come all this way to find me. I stiffened in bewilderment at the abruptness of the situation. I had expected to run into Mimi soon, but I hadn’t expected to find her in the imperial palace.

 

“Meow.”

 

Mimi nuzzled her face into my dress.

 

…If she’s pretending to be a normal cat, then she’s pretending not to know me?

 

Or maybe she really doesn’t know me.

 

But it didn’t matter.

 

All that mattered was that I’d met Mimi.

 

I grinned at Mimi with a smile of conviction.

 

“Hello?”

 

As luck would have it, the current Mimi had somehow fallen into my lap.

 

“Nice to meet you.”

 

Sure enough, she circled me and sniffed me. The sight of her unable to leave my presence filled me with immense satisfaction. I lowered my head and stretched my hand toward the cat’s head. 

 

Mimi’s eyes squeezed shut, and she began to purr.

 

“Meow?”

 

Mimi, who was about to pull her head away, quickly stuck her head back into my hand. The cat clung to me, her eyes sparkling.

 

“I don’t know why you’re here, but… For now, come here.”

 

I grinned wickedly and patted Mimi’s well-groomed back.

 

“Meow?”

 

Mimi blinked her tipsy eyes and buried her round face in my arms. This innocent little divine creature had obviously not yet grasped my vicious intentions.