He’s My Real Brother, Duke Chapter 142

🐾

 

Cassian Gray slipped stealthily into the Imperial Palace. He was reviewing the notes Astel had handed him with the potion.

 

The first note read roughly like this.

 

「Brother. By the time you read this, you’ll have already been teleported to the palace. Go to the Emperor immediately and give him the potion I gave you.」

 

Cassian was able to slip into the center of the palace relatively smoothly.

 

However, the Imperial Palace was a place of ancient magic and knights. He sucked in a breath and ducked down the hallway.

 

In the center of the hallway, in the distance, he could see the door to the room that was supposed to be the Emperor’s bedroom.

 

But if any unauthorized person dared to enter the Emperor’s bed-chamber, they would be burned alive.

 

There are only a few ancient enchantments in the Imperial Palace.

 

Although he had managed to evade them so far, the enchantments in the chamber would be even more powerful.

 

Cassian stared at the doors of the settlement as if he were looking at a painting.

 

To make matters worse, footsteps sounded farther down the hall.

 

Tap, tap, tap—

 

The footsteps were getting steadily closer.

 

Tap, tap, tap, tap—

 

Looking closer, I realized it was more than one person.

 

‘Crap, it’s a guard.’

 

In the center of the hallway, with no place to hide, Cassian’s mind flashed back to Rachel’s words like lightning.

 

— ‘I have information about a secret passage in the Imperial Palace.’

 

— ‘Is that really necessary?’

 

—’Yes, but it was hard-won.’

 

The footsteps of the patrolling guards grew closer.

 

Tap, tap, tap, tap—

 

Cassian ducked toward the stairwell at the far end of the hallway, listening to the footsteps slowly approach.

 

The hallway was well-lit, and the guard’s footsteps slowly made their way to the corner of the corridor where he stood.

 

If the guards found him at this rate, it would only be a matter of time before he was captured.

 

The imperial palace guards are impossible to kill or bind.

 

They are protected by the ancient magic that surrounds the palace, and they are innocent.

 

— ‘Place yourself in the corridor and say, 🪄Resno pia, and you’ll be able to enter the secret passage.’ 

 

— ‘But even if I get into the secret passage, there’s no way out, so what’s the point?’

 

— ‘Well, you’d have to be a god or a royal to know that.’

 

Cassian bit his lip hard. Chances are he’d be a specter in the secret passage, but it’s better than being found out right now.

 

It was all or nothing.

 

Standing in the corner of the hallway, Cassian muttered a series of spell words just before the guard’s foot closed in on his own.

 

🐾

 

Cassian pulled up the Emperor’s beaded robe.

 

It was easier than he thought to slip out of the secret passage.

 

‘I wonder who the hell put the secret passage with the signposts.’

 

…In any case, trusting the signposts, which seemed to have been made only a short time ago, he followed them to the Emperor’s bedchamber.

 

There was no reason to hesitate any longer.

 

Cassian roughly shoved the potion Astel had handed him into the bluish-complexioned Emperor’s mouth.

 

「If he consumes this potion, something amazing will happen, and I’ll leave the rest to you, my brother.」

 

Cassian coldly stared at the Emperor’s closed eyelids.

 

A few tens of seconds, like a year, passed.

 

The Emperor, having taken the potion, opened his eyelids very slowly. Cassian spoke the words he had rehearsed in a monotone.

 

“To save Your Majesty, comes Cassian Gray, a commoner knight.”

 

“Oh…”

 

The Emperor was still too dazed to move properly, but he managed to open his eyes, his fingertips twitching convulsively.

 

“It will take time for you to regain your strength. Let me help you, Your Majesty.”

 

The Emperor’s glazed eyes squinted. Not surprisingly, they seemed to be searching for Cassian.

 

“My brave knight has come…”

 

“I have come to rescue you, Your Majesty.”

 

The monotone Cassian’s words sent a chill down the Emperor’s spine.

 

“How should you know of my plight.”

 

“Tales of your Majesty’s plight have been circulating. Because of my familiarity with poisons, I thought I might be able to save His Majesty’s life, so I concocted a potion.”

 

“Indeed…”

 

The Emperor stared at Cassian for a moment, speechless. 

 

His gaze was malicious, as if he was considering whether the other man had actually arrived at this imperial palace out of loyalty.

 

‘I have no such thing as loyalty.’

 

Cassian spoke the next words without even bothering to disguise his expression.

 

“However, Your Majesty, the potion is in my hands, and I am the only one who knows how to make it.”

 

It was a familiar deal for the Emperor.

 

“… How disloyal of you. Is this the price you ask?”

 

Cassian shook his head slightly, recalling the contents of the note Astel had handed him and reciting it aloud.

 

“Yes, but it will also be of benefit to Your Majesty.”

 

The Emperor’s eyes lit up with doubt.

 

“My liege, Cassian Gray. I ask you in person, as His Majesty’s loyal servant.”

 

The next words were kindly written in Astel’s note.

 

「The Emperor will need to take the potion many times, perhaps for the rest of his life.

 

And there are only a few people I know who can make the potion, so if the Emperor wants to live, he’ll have to give in to my brother’s demands unconditionally.

 

Tell him that the crown prince’s behavior is suspicious, and that you want to get to the bottom of it.」

 

“I want to get to the bottom of what the Crown Prince and the Duke of Cornwall have been doing.”

 

The Emperor’s mouth tightened.

 

“You are aware, I presume, that the Crown Prince has been subjected to… unseemly behavior?”

 

“Yes, sire.”

 

“Then.”

 

The Emperor’s eyes narrowed.

 

“I want you to find out the truth, now.”

 

“As a loyal servant, I accept your order.”

 

The Emperor’s intentions are fulfilled, and the Crown Prince must be executed.

 

At the same time, he planned to speak to the families who had been framed for the deeds of the Crown Prince and Cornwall, and gain access to the truth.

 

Among them, are the Vietrys.

 

‘Astel, you’re done with this.’

 

「Open the second note after that, okay? It’s not urgent, when everything is done.」

 

That was the end of Astel’s note.

 

It was all Astel had to say about her intention to deal with those who had harmed their family, according to the law.

 

Thinking of his too-good-to-be-true sister made his heartache.

 

She wasn’t like him. He was roguish, brash, and sometimes a thug, looking to take advantage of others for his gain. 

 

Those who wronged him would be doubly vindictive.

 

What he would do if it were him, not Astel?

 

Cassian thought of a quicker way to complete the big picture Astel had laid out for him.

 

“In addition, Your Majesty. There’s one last thing I need to ask of you, my lord.”

 

“What is it?”

 

Cassian caught the Emperor’s gaze and was about to open his mouth when he realized.

 

Crunch—

 

At that moment, someone’s footsteps sounded outside the sphere. 

 

While Cassian was focused on the Emperor, someone had entered the bedchamber.

 

“What…”

 

The Emperor opened his mouth, and Cassian shook his head. Their nervous gazes simultaneously turned to the source of the sound.

 

If it was the Crown Prince’s spawn that had entered the palace, they would have to kill it immediately.

 

🐾

 

At the same time, the Crown Prince remained in his palace. He had just been informed that contact with the warlocks had been cut off ten minutes earlier.

 

Most likely, Cornwall had cut off contact on his initiative, but it was the Duke of Anais.

 

His heart fluttered with anxiety. The Crown Prince set his jaw arrogantly, hiding his nervousness.

 

“Any word from Cornwall, then?”

 

“None as yet…”

 

The plan was to use the poison to kill the Duke of Anais, and then rally the troops.

 

Shortly thereafter, they would convene a council, make a quick administrative adjustment, and then seize the Duchy of Anais.

 

‘What if it doesn’t work out?’ 

 

But even if things weren’t so easy right now, he still had one last card to play.

 

‘I have a final weapon, a weapon only reserved for royalty.’

 

A precious weapon that now rested in his arms.

 

The Crown Prince tapped his fingertips on the table, his lips curled in a leisurely smile.

 

If Cornwall’s time out of reach increased, he would have to use the ultimate weapon.

 

‘It will be quite a waste of manpower, but if the calculations are wrong…’ 

 

The door to the Crown Prince’s palace opened as a wicked grin played on his lips. 

 

The pale-faced chamberlain screamed like he was about to vomit blood.

 

“Your, Your Highness, the Crown Prince, the beast!”

 

A scream like a stallion’s.

 

But his words were cut short by the Duke of Anais, who appeared from behind him. 

 

The chamberlain was thrown to the floor by the nape of his neck in the Duke’s rough hands.

 

A faint gasp of horror went up around the round table where the Crown Prince sat. 

 

Only the Duke of Anais remained unperturbed, as if nothing had happened.

 

“Greetings, Your Highness.”

 

He trod on the chamberlain’s foot with simple courtesy. His entrance was elegant, but not aristocratic, more like a lightning bolt.