He’s My Real Brother, Duke – Chapter 146

Author: Nikss

“We wish to search the Crown Prince’s Palace for any remaining records.”

The Duke of Anais stepped to the doorway following the announcement.

“Please do so.”

The Empress’s permission came belatedly.

“Argh!”

The Crown Prince could be heard wailing in the distance, but no one in the room heard his screams, which were as shameful as his miserable defeat.

Duke Anais pondered Astel’s words as he made his way to the Crown Prince’s Palace library.

‘Search the archives and exonerate the innocent families the Crown Prince destroyed.’

As he walked down the corridor, remembering his mission, he recalled his conversation with Astel.

A slight frown creased the corners of his eyes. He remembered the confidential conversation he’d had with her before she died.

— ‘I read in a book that the final Dark Villain, like the Crown Prince, has the final weapon that can tear down space and time.’

— I see.’

— ‘They said it was a weapon that could only be used once, and that it was to be used when one’s life was in danger.’

— ‘Yes.’

— ‘…Do you believe me?’

— ‘Yes. I believe it.’

No matter how ridiculous the story was, I believed it because it was Astel’s word.

Feeling uncomfortable with that boundless trust, she hastily covered her face with her hands.

— ‘I feel stupid…’

— ‘Yes.’

— ‘…I take it back, it’s undone, I don’t know what to say!’

And again.

— ‘I don’t know exactly what the Crown Prince’s weapon is, but if we’re going to destroy it, we need to corner him as much as possible, because then he’ll use that final weapon.’

— ‘I’ll keep that in mind.’

— ‘The Empress will come to your aid.’

— ‘The Crown Prince is the Empress’s biological son. Will she cooperate?’

Seeing the look of disbelief in his eyes, Astel burst into a hearty laugh.

— ‘Yes. Unlike the Crown Prince, she loves all of her subjects. And I’ve spoken to the Empress, and she’s an intelligent woman, so I’m sure she’ll help.’

— ‘…It will work out.’

— ‘Yes, it will work out, we will.’

Astel handed him a small defensive tool.

— ‘I was worried you might get hurt with that weapon, just in case…’

The old Duke of Anais had once said.

The Imperial Family has a storehouse of treasures, the most valuable of which was a totem that warped the timeline and caused regression.

— ‘If this weapon is what I suspect it is, I will not be in danger.’

— ‘What? Why?’

— ‘Because I’m not bound by time magic.’

Already robbed by the living of life, time that could have been more.

Astel’s eyes burned as he whispered, “I am not bound by time magic, such as regression to the past.

She looked up at him with sorrow in her eyes and stole a sniffle.

— ‘I’ll protect you now, Knox!’

She’d shouted back then, her tiny shoulders straight and proud.

But she wasn’t there anymore.

Astel, the one who had promised to protect him, was breathless in his mansion.

His eyebrows drooped slightly. But the mission must be accomplished. Duke Anais opened the door to the library.

As Astel’s faithful servant, he must fulfill her last wishes before she dies.

🐾

“Have you heard the news?”

“The news of His Highness the Crown Prince? Of course, I heard!”

Neither the merchants nor the customers lining the stalls had any intention to purchase or sell anything.

They huddled together, talking amongst themselves, and gossiped about the Crown Prince’s treacherous behavior.

“They’re already asking for the Crown Prince to be put to death!”

The braided-haired vendor pointed a finger at the street protests demanding the Crown Prince’s immediate execution.

An old vendor with his arms crossed in front of his chest looked at the procession and clicked his tongue.

“…Whatever, trying to poison the Emperor, it’s literally disgusting, and you should be glad it’s only a capital offense.”

The street protesters marched in columns, eager to spread the word of the Prince’s treachery and misconduct.

“They locked the Crown Prince in the lowest cell in the dungeon, didn’t they?”

“They say he’ll never get out.”

“When’s the trial?”

“They’ve taken the bunch away, and now the nobles and ladies who were close to the Prince are scrambling to save themselves!”

The Arvent Square, lined with shops, was in shambles thanks to the recent events at the palace.

But the women gathered here seemed to be looking for a different story.

“So he didn’t just want to kill His Majesty?”

“…Yes, I’ve heard that he targeted the nobility as well.”

“The Houses of Kant and Ashan are already deposed.”

“But…”

“Yes, but?”

The women’s voices lowered, “What happens to the Count of Vietry then?”

They looked at each other and swallowed hard.

“The Duke of Cornwall— No, he’s not a Duke anymore; he was framed by that freak!”

“A great traitor, they say, a bloody scoundrel, and an innocent victim.”

“They say his title is being restored.”

“What’s the point, they’ve executed everyone, not even those in the court.”

“It’s a shame… If only they had lived, they would have been rewarded with glory.”

After all this noise, everyone suddenly fell silent.

The House of Vietry had been stripped to the bone, and there was no longer anyone associated with it.

It was literally a tragedy of epic proportions.

“What’s the point of putting their names back on the noble lists if they’re all dead…”

“Let us mourn.”

They stood still, eyes downcast, silent.

The merchant who had been the first to bring up the subject of the Vietry family curled her lip and glanced around nervously.

Fortunately, a situation presented itself in her line of sight that made it easy to change the subject.

A man dressed in navy blue and gray knight’s robes stood still in front of the stall.

He’d been standing there for quite some time, judging by the way his thick eyelashes fluttered down.

“Uh, hey, knight, why are you standing there? Didn’t you come here to buy something?”

The man called Knight blinked and laughed softly.

“Ah, yes. Can I have this necklace here, please?”

At the sound of his dashing voice, even the mourners’ eyes widened.

Everyone in the room fell unexpectedly silent. He had curly, glossy brown hair, eyes like lush greenery, and deep-set sunken eyes.

This man in front of them didn’t look like an ordinary person.

He was too handsome, to say the least. Swallowing hard, the merchant gazed at him and asked.

“…Hmph, are you giving this to your wife?”

A woman in a shabby tunic interjected, “A lover, perhaps? Alas, you are so handsome. I don’t think this is the first time I’ve seen such a handsome face… Where have we met before?”

The old vendor at the stall swatted away the woman’s hand that was about to touch the knight’s shoulder.

“Eh, you’re a fool, two hundred cents.”

“Alas, that’s all right, here’s the money.”

Smiling politely to the last, the vendor took the amber necklace in his hand and walked away.

The women gathered at the table stared after him, forgetting everything they had talked about and the noise of the protesters still filling the streets.

“Who was that? How could I not recognize such a handsome face… Huh.”

“How could he be so handsome?”

Only when the knight was completely out of sight did the old, gray-haired woman merchant clap her hands and look up.

“That’s him, isn’t it? Is that him?”

Everyone’s eyes widened at her words.

“It’s Sir Cassian Gray, isn’t it?”

At the mention of Cassian Gray, every woman in the stall swallowed hard.

“Yes, he is, and he’s the only one who’s as handsome as he is!”

The little girl playing with the amethysts at the stall pouted her lips.

“I should have gotten his autograph!”

“…Perhaps you should put up a new sign saying that this is the shop where Lord Cassian bought the necklace.”

They sighed in unison, as if in disappointment.

But Cassian was already gone.

Unaware of the trouble he had caused, Cassian left the square.

And entered a dark, chilling alleyway. He paid for a public carriage to the palace and climbed aboard, pulling the curtains down.

Outside the window, he could see protesters denouncing the Crown Prince and mourning Count Vietry.

As he watched each passerby clearly, he recalled the struggles of the past few days.

When Duke Anais, Cassian, and the mages sent from the Tower opened the Crown Prince’s library.

— ‘This is the secret archives of the crown prince’s palace, where we will be able to prove the truth of the crown prince’s misdeeds.’

— ‘…This is it.’

— ‘…Oh…I see…this is where the reputations of the hostile families are managed.’

At the far end of the archives, a large chest of drawers was lined with a large amount of black obsidian.

The mages from the tower frowned and stared at the stones, which appeared to be enchanted with black magic.

— ‘They must have used these stones to brainwash the people.’

— ‘What do you mean?’

— ‘Now, look.’

The wizard picked up a crystal with ‘House Kant’ written on its surface and flicked it to shatter.

Boom!

The shattered piece of the crystal fell to the floor and evaporated.

Cassian narrowed his eyes and muttered.

— ‘I have a strange feeling about this.’

— ‘Let’s see… the inscription on the crystal said that the Kant family was a cult, using the crystal as a brainwashing spell to control the minds of the entire capital city.’

The mid-level wizard who had come to the archives with him to investigate the case narrowed his eyes in puzzlement.

— ‘Come to think of it, why did I think the Kant family was a cult all this time?’

‘Brainwashing magic.’

After Cassian was silent for a moment, the mage shrugged.

— ‘Well, with such a wide range of opponents, individual offenses must be shallow. Still, I can see why people went crazy during the last bloody parade.’

With the bitterness behind him, the crystal was quickly cracking.

Once the brainwashing enchantment was removed from the people’s subconscious minds, it was a straightforward process.

Evidence of the Crown Prince and Cornwall’s manipulation of several noble families was uncovered.

Numerous families were exonerated, including the House of Vietry.

After much persecution, the House of Vietry was officially recognized as a noble family again.

All he had to do was announce to the Empire that he was the heir to the House of Vietry and that Astel was his sister.

He was about to make a grand return, so to speak.

Cassian’s eyes closed and opened slowly. Everything was in place, but a subtle sense of crisis stirred in the pit of his stomach.

The reason was simple, really.

Not when it came to dealing with the Crown Prince, not while uncovering the truth, not even now…

Astel was nowhere to be seen.

‘Astel, what are you doing?’