He’s My Real Brother, Duke Chapter 107

 

I giggled with Mimi as I conjured up three traps to capture the Duke of Cornwall.

 

The first trap, making secret contact with Citer, the head of House Silver Fox, who had contacted me to offer his assistance in my business!

 

Thanks to an early invitation, I was able to host the House of Silver Fox in the Duke’s Capital Mansion’s reception room.

 

After leaving Rune with the maids and placing Mimi in a small basket in the room, I was ready to receive him.

 

To avoid arousing suspicion by being alone with him, I told him to come in with Bell, who was staying at the capital mansion…

 

“Astel, you said you wanted to meet me!”

 

“Long time no see.”

 

Citer and Belle walked into the room, hand in hand. My mouth curled up into a smile at the sight of the duo. I bowed my head in greeting them, then gestured politely to the sofa.

 

“Welcome, Lord Bell, Lord Citer. Please have a seat.”

 

Bell, who plopped down on the couch in a dignified manner, was the first to speak.

 

“Why did you call me and Daddy?”

 

Bell grinned happily, clutching his plump cheeks together, watching Citer’s eyes widen a little in surprise that their relationship had improved to the point where he could call him Dad.

 

“Like we talked about last time, I was hoping we could go into business together.”

 

As the head of the Silver Fox family, Citer was a seasoned businessman, and as a result, he had a lot of information about the trade, which made him well-suited to partner with me. At my words, Citer’s eyes suddenly turned serious.

 

“What kind of business are you considering?”

 

“I’ve narrowed it down to a few, but first, I’d like to hear your opinion on the business.”

 

“There are a few key factors that are important in doing business. Connections, location, and a monopoly.”

 

Business requires connections, and it helps to have a good location.

 

“What do you mean by monopoly standing?” I asked softly, taking a sip of my tea.

 

And he replied with a wry smile, “An area that only that ‘person’ can do. In my family’s case, that would be the horse tool business.”

 

I pondered. Sure, I had a talent for medicine, but there were more than a few people who were as good with potions as I was.

 

But…

 

“Now that you mention it, that makes perfect sense.”

 

“What?”

 

“I know of a possible market where I could have a monopoly.”

 

I slid the business plan and the list of employees I’d prepared in advance into his hands. 

 

Citer flipped through the business plan. I felt a little nervous as I heard the parchment rustle, so I made eye contact with Bell and smiled. 

 

I knew that one look at Bell’s baby face and chubby cheeks would ease my nerves.

 

Bell’s ears perked up, and his hands wiggled, and it wasn’t until he started giggling that Citer looked up from his business plan and sighed.

 

“How long have you been thinking about this…?”

 

“What do you think?”

 

I asked cautiously, hoping it wasn’t too unconventional, but Citer chuckled softly and replied.

 

“It sounds like the perfect investment for me, too.”

 

“So, you’d support it, then?”

 

“Of course.”

 

Nodding, I reached out my hand toward him. I meant to shake his hand, but Citer gently and unexpectedly rejected my offer.

 

“No handshake, we’ll make eye contact.”

 

I didn’t want to, but I obeyed and made eye contact with Citer. He glared at me, then smiled seductively.

 

“Actually, I stuck my neck out halfway today to see Lady Astel.”

 

“…What?”

 

“I’m afraid I’ll get in trouble if I get my hands on you.”

 

Clutching the sleeve of his coat, Bell held out his hand to me with a twinkle in his eye.

 

“Then let’s do it, shake hands!”

 

A flush crept up Bell’s chubby cheeks. I took Bell’s fluffy hand in mine and shook it, dismissing my doubts and thinking only of happiness. 

 

The deal with Citer was done, and all that remained was to execute it.

 

The next few days passed quickly.

 

The Duke of Cornwall had a great reputation, built up over time, and the men they had trained.

 

But in reality, the Duke’s mansion was quite dreary, unbefitting its stature.

 

The Duke of Cornwall’s mansion was often referred to as the house of a madman. His mansion was like a living creature. 

 

The mansion was closed and reopened, destroyed and rebuilt, depending on the mood of its owner, the Duke of Cornwall. 

 

In fact, on days when he was in a bad mood, it was impossible to enter, and the outer walls were damaged whenever he felt uneasy.

 

Of course, even in such a hideous mansion, some spaces were well-maintained and beautiful. 

 

The Duke’s garden, where parrots of all colors chirped and trees were planted in all seasons of the year. It was one of the best-kept gardens in the empire, except for the two graves that dotted the center of the garden.

 

The Duke of Cornwall stood stiffly, as he always did, facing the graves.

 

“Your Excellency, Duke.”

 

He whipped his head around to stare at the man who had called him.

 

“I assume you have learned more about the woman named Astel.”

 

“Yes, it is the same as I reported to you the other day.”

 

“If it’s the same, why bother reporting it?”

 

The aide hastily interjected, his face lighting up at the look on Duke Cornwall’s face.

 

“There’s little record of her childhood, only that she was left in the Zenette orphanage. I dug further into that orphanage, and it says she had no close friends and was briefly connected to a knight named Cassian Gray.”

 

“And?”

 

“Other than that, she lived a normal life, except for one thing…”

 

“More than anything?”

 

The puzzled vassal lowered his voice another tone to a whisper.

 

“Her behavior since entering the Duchy of Anais. We found evidence that she’s been trying to find out about Sam. Sam’s and Yvor’s deaths in the Duchy were all linked to her, and I wonder if it was all her doing… I found that suspicious, so I searched further and found that she lived in Count Vietry’s domain before entering the Zenette Orphanage.”

 

“Could she be connected to the Vietry in some way… I haven’t heard the name of those traitors in a long time, I thought they were all dead.”

 

He chuckled, then let out another grim laugh.

 

“If it turns out they were spies sent by the Vietry, it’s going to be quite interesting, yes.”

 

The puzzle didn’t quite fit together, but there was no doubt that Astel’s behavior was suspicious.

 

From what he could tell, she was probably closely connected to Count Vietry.

 

“Perhaps there are still remnants of the foolish traitor.”

 

The Duke of Cornwall muttered to himself, looking like a madman as he stood there in a daze.

 

He muttered to himself, “It’s all very strange, for surely all of those who bear the surname Vietry are dead, including the whole family, and I have seen all of their bodies with my own eyes…”

 

He continued to mutter madly to himself, one after the other, as he stroked the grass in his pouch.

 

The man standing beside him asked cautiously, a little wearily.

 

“Shall I contact ‘him’ privately, then, Your Excellency?”

 

The Duke of Cornwall shook his head and sneered. A new look of incredulity crossed his face.

 

“No, it is not my place to contact him.”

 

“And yet you say…”

 

The Duke of Cornwall stiffened, and his entourage, feeling threatened, swallowed hard and tensed.

 

The Duke of Cornwall, his expression stiff, suddenly broke into a wide grin and whispered.

 

“We’ll just have to kill it.”

 

“But… Your Excellency, Duke Anais, seemed to care quite a bit about her.”

 

At his words, Duke Cornwall’s eyes flickered for a moment, then snapped back up.

 

He gritted his teeth at the thought of the Duke of Anais, always a thorn in his side.

 

“They were not merely guardians, but lovers…”

 

“The beast, with her?”

 

The entourage fumbled in his pockets and pulled out a tiny image sphere.

 

“Yes, yes, their relationship has been quite tense so far, and today I saw that they went to the slums…”

 

“Ha.”

 

The Duke of Cornwall squinted through the grainy image to see the two of them in the slums.

 

The image quality was very poor, but he could see Astel and the Duke of Anais standing side by side on a street in the slums.

 

They were smiling happily.

 

Through the screen, I could see the Duke of Anais’s affectionate eyes staring intently at Astel.

 

Unlike the last time they’d met, the Duke of Anais seemed very happy.

 

He gritted his teeth and muttered, “Why did you two go to the slums?”

 

The Duke of Cornwall grabbed his aide mercilessly by the jaw and glared.

 

“Shameless brutes, acting like people…”

 

Seeing the two of them pretending to be a couple of happy lovers was quite irritating.