He’s My Real Brother, Duke Chapter 157

At that moment, Cassian turned to Knox and asked.

 

“Why, is there a problem?”

 

Knox smiled, trying to force the corners of his mouth into a smile.

 

“No, there’s none.” 

 

It couldn’t be helped. The man who’d shattered this warm atmosphere was none other than…

Cassian Vietry, Astel’s brother.

 

Glancing at him, Cassian flashed a shameless smile of triumph, just as Knox had once done. 

 

Then he gripped Astel’s shoulder lightly.

 

“Let’s go, Astel.”

 

Cassian lifted his chin, enunciating each word like it had been etched.

 

“To my house.”

 

‘Okay, one step forward, two steps back.’

 

Astel frowned at Cassian’s grip on her shoulder, knowing she should start with her grumpy brother.

 

Cassian gave her a sheepish look, then spoke, “Astel.”

 

“Shush.”

 

Cassian stiffened sharply as Astel squinted sternly at him, restraining him from saying anything.

 

Astel rolled her eyes at Knox and smiled, “I’ll see you again soon!”

 

“…Yes, I will.”

 

Somehow, the hierarchy of this place seems to be set in stone…

 

Astel smiled softly and took her brother’s hand.

 

As soon as she had a chance, Astel vowed that she would visit the Duke of Anais’ residence.

 

In other words, she was sure her separation from Knox would be short.

 

💫

 

…Since the day of the banquet, more than a full month has passed.

 

So many people have sent me love letters.

 

From invitations to join them for dinner or tea to poems of romantic love.

 

But I was unable to meet Knox for a while longer. Because as soon as the banquet was over, I was off to deal with the remnants of the deposed prince.

 

The Duke of Anais, the protector of the North, suddenly took it upon himself to deal with the deposed prince!

 

It was quite a topic for the social newspapers.

 

The Crown Prince’s mistress should have been handled by a lesser knight.

 

Maybe that’s why. The social circles were saying things like, ‘The Duke of Anais’s anger towards the Crown Prince was so deep that he set out to make sure that none of the Crown Prince’s men were spared.’

 

But I shook my head inwardly.

 

‘This sounds more like my brother’s intervention.’

 

He’s warm as a breeze to me, and he’s an idiot who panics at the slightest squint.

 

Yet he’s always giving Knox a fierce glare, and he’s so harsh that it’s a cold battlefield.

 

Pouting my lips in anguish, I grabbed the gossip magazine. It was just the right amount of distraction to take my mind off Knox.

 

But today’s gossip had Knox’s name in it.

 

Normally, it’s a fairly straightforward story, but today’s report made me uncomfortable.

 

[True Love Comes to the Duke of Anais.]

 

From a cursory glance, it was a vague statement that didn’t specify who it was, but it certainly wasn’t me.

 

‘Who the hell knows what true love is?’

 

I snapped at Knox, ‘Was there someone else before you met me?’

 

I squinted to read the article. And then it happened.

 

“What are you doing, Astel?”

 

Startled, I looked away from the article.

 

My brother, cradling Rune like a newborn baby, had walked soundlessly over to the couch where I was sitting.

 

He set Rune down on the couch and flipped through the unopened gossip magazine.

 

“What is this?”

 

As soon as he recognized the word ‘gossip,’ my brother’s face scrunched up.

 

“Anyway, the Duke is too famous, his name appears in the gossip papers even on days that are far-fetched… It’s just annoying to be around someone like him. Don’t you think?”

 

I shuddered as I listened to my brother disparage Knox.

 

“He’s a celebrity, so are you…”

 

“…”

 

I interrupted, trying to coax my brother out of his momentary stupor.

 

“It’s just gossip, and if you don’t care about it, it’s just gossip.”

 

My brother had been a victim of gossip stories himself. He nodded, surprisingly easily, after all the anger he’d been through earlier.

 

“…By the way.”

 

Even as he said it, he was still glaring at Knox’s name in the gossip papers.

 

I shivered, biting my lip hard, and asked, “Well, um. What do you hate about the Duke, besides his name being in the gossip magazines?”

 

“I don’t know where to begin. I could list them in a booklet.”

 

…That’s a problem.

 

Although my brother repays favors and enemies alike twofold, we’ve both had our fair share of help from Knox.

 

“But… well, he’s a high-ranking man, and he’s been good to me.”

 

“There’s a lot he hasn’t done for you yet, and… love changes, Astel.”

 

How could I tell him that I didn’t think Knox’s heart would ever change?

 

Gazing into my brother’s green eyes, I smirked.

 

“So you’re still against it because you’re worried about me getting hurt?”

 

He glanced over at me, and then asserted gravely.

 

“Of course not!”

 

I scanned his handsome face. His expression wavered, but then it slowly settled into a firm position.

 

‘No matter how it looks, I don’t think he’s going to let this go easily.’ 

 

Sooner or later, I decided, we’d have to have a three-way confrontation. I’d tell him everything he’d done for me in the past, one by one.

 

Maybe my brother would understand him a little better.

 

“Anyway, if he hurts you, I’ll kill him.”

 

Wait a minute.

 

If Knox’s portrait appears in the gossip magazine, and he stares at it with menacing, bloodshot eyes.

 

…and their relationship would forever draw parallels.

 

As my anxiety filled me, my brother spoke brightly.

 

“Astel, this is not the time for us to be talking about such dreary things.”

 

He smiles at me with the brightest expression he’s ever shown me.

 

“We need to get ready for our welcoming party! Once the Vietry estate is repaired, we’ll have to have a hunting tournament and a tea party at the same time.”

 

My brother said he was planning to invite people back to Count Vietry’s mansion.

 

“Yes, indeed. I’ll have to prepare.”

 

I smirked as I shuffled through the various tea party invitations he’d forwarded me.

 

‘Yeah, let’s just keep him busy until Knox gets back.’

 

By now, I wonder if Knox has dealt with the aftermath of the fallen prince’s rebellion?

 

…I wonder if he’s healthy, if he’s feeling better, I thought, and sighed anxiously.

 

💫

 

“Why did you summon this old man all the way here, Your Grace?”

 

Inside a dreary, dark barracks, near the nearby Fulun Mountains, where the remnants of the deposed prince were said to reside.

 

It was a hard place to get to and from, even for a young man, let alone an old woman who’d been through a whole mountain range of war.

 

‘What the hell is he doing here?’

 

Biting her lip, the old woman struggled to compose herself and looked at Duke Anais, who sat across from her.

 

He stared at her expressionlessly, his front teeth clacking from the cold.

 

Perhaps this sullen, heavy atmosphere was created by this fearsome man, she thought, and then the Duke spoke up.

 

“It is a very important matter.”

 

“You’re entrusting this old fool with something important…?”

 

“Yes.”

 

The Duke’s serious expression made her even more puzzled.

 

She was an ordinary street astrologer. While she could read the stars, she couldn’t predict the fates of humans, so she was limited to giving love readings.

 

It just so happened that she was incredibly good at it, and had matched a lot of couples.

 

To be fair, the old woman was more famous for being a love expert on the streets than an astrologer.

 

To her, a man like the cold-blooded Duke of Anais was nothing more than a nobleman she’d read about in the newspapers…

 

— ‘His Excellency, the Duke of Anais, has summoned you.’ 

 

— ‘Oh, wait, no. I’m a street beggar, His Grace, the Duke of Anais? Isn’t that a fraud?’

 

— ‘Never mind, follow me. He promised you gold if things go well.’

 

— ‘Gold…’ 

 

…I was lured into the Fulun Mountains by the promise of gold.

 

After my private audience with the Duke of Anais, I felt quite regretful.

 

‘This was a waste of time… You should’ve asked me why you called me here before leaving. I’m baffled, tsk!’ 

 

She swallowed hard as she glared at the Duke, and barely managed to compose herself before she realized why he had called her.

 

‘Let’s see, the Duke of Anais must have some dark, sinister business of his own.’

 

If so…

 

‘Hooray, he must have found out about my use of curses in my youth. What can I do about it?’

 

In the past, I’ve been forced to read the stars and cast curses as an astrologer to get rid of some cheating men.

 

At the time, I liked to think that my curses had worked and that justice had been served!

 

If she had known she would be caught and hauled before the Duke, she would never have practiced such a sinister act.

 

As the old woman’s thoughts raced, the Duke spoke coldly, as if pronouncing a death sentence.

 

“I hear you are an astrologer.”

 

“Yes, I am. Some have called me that, even though I have a lowly form.”

 

The old woman glanced at the cold Duke, and with all the courage of her youth, she added, “One thing, however, is that this old woman’s job is to be a janitor.

 

“But it’s just this old woman’s trick, and it’s nothing.”

 

“What did you say, a trick?”

 

He gave her a look that said, ‘I’ll kill you if you don’t perform that trick.’

 

The old woman swallowed hard and answered, “Yes. I know a few curses, but I’m not much of a spell caster.”

 

“Curses…”

 

The Duke muttered slowly under his breath, and the old woman spoke up urgently.

 

“Yes. Th-that is. I don’t know who you’re cursing, but I’m afraid my little trick won’t be of much use to you, Your Grace.”

 

When she had finished speaking, the old woman took hold of her trembling hand and stared at him intently.

 

The Duke of Anais squinted and gave her a look that was unmistakably disapproving. It’s a look that hides his growing irritation.

 

The old woman’s shoulders slumped, as if she thought this was the end.

 

“I don’t intend to curse anyone.”

 

“What?”

 

“I’m just trying to get some relationship consultation.”

 

The old woman replied with a puzzled look, “What, do you mean like death consultation, or love counseling?”

 

The Duke nodded as if he had heard correctly. The old woman’s eyebrows drew together in disbelief.

 

‘Relationship counseling, that’s ridiculous. Wait, hang on. Let me see…’

 

Come to think of it, as a subscriber to every gossip magazine in the Empire, she had some idea…

 

“So, um, if you wish to kill a noblewoman who is in love with Your Grace the Duke… you might want to find a different bard than me…”

 

…The Duke of Anais considered the ladies of noble families who courted him like unclean flies.

 

Certainly, a man of his stature would not tolerate such a nuisance.

 

But for a man of his caliber to invite a mere fool to come this far into the mountains to curse a lady, he had no idea what kind of curse it would be.

 

She snorted, feeling sorry for the unknown lady.

 

A momentary look of incredulity crossed the Duke’s face.