He’s My Real Brother, Duke Chapter 159

“…Oh?”

 

Astel bit her lip hard, as if realizing she’d made a mistake. Cassian was quick to notice her embarrassment.

 

“Hahaha…”

 

The awkward attempt to dismiss it with a laugh and the sweat that broke out on her forehead. 

 

This Knox has some sort of relationship with Astel. A connection she wishes to keep hidden… 

 

Cassian lifted Astel’s chin, locked eyes with her, and asked her bluntly.

 

“Who is Knox?”

 

Astel smiled brightly, regaining her composure.

 

“He’s the one who saved me, I’ll tell you later.”

 

“You know him?”

 

Cassian’s furrowed brow puckered for emphasis.

 

“Uh, yeah. I’ll introduce you to him soon. I’ll also tell you how I got to know Knox, so stop looking so worried and smile.” 

 

But Cassian couldn’t smile. The sight of Astel looking at him like he was an overprotective older brother made him even less amused. He rubbed his temples and fell into serious thought.

 

It’s hard enough to stop Duke Anais, but who is this Knox guy?

 

Was he a good guy?

 

Could he be some kind of trickster trying to prey on the unsuspecting Astel?

 

Astel’s fierce spirit from her days as a sniffer dog doesn’t reassure me.

 

‘Knox, Knox.’ I thought I had heard that name before, somewhere…

 

💫

 

As he watched Astel furiously polish the gold leaf on the teacup, Cassian was contemplating his slight defeat.

 

Knox, the Duke of Anais, had somehow become Cassian’s nemesis.

 

He had just finished a brilliant job of disposing of the last of the remnants of deposed prince forces hiding in the Fulun Mountains.

 

The battle lasted less than five minutes. He narrowed his eyes at the five stunned warlocks sprawled in the grass.

 

“The battle… is already over.”

 

“We salute you, Your Grace!”

 

The knights shouted, exulting in the ease with which they’d dispatched the warlocks, but the Duke seemed a distasteful figure.

 

This was not going to go according to the plan he had designed with the old woman.

 

— ‘Firstly, you must look as pitiful as possible. People are supposed to pity the weak.’

 

— ‘Did you say pity?’

 

— ‘Yes, Your Excellency is such a bloodless, tearless beast of prey that your lover’s family may not like you.’

 

— ‘…’

 

— ‘So shed some blood, shed some tears. It wouldn’t hurt to get hurt a little bit, just a bit, in battle. It’s unexpected, and it will open their hearts.’

 

It certainly made sense. I figured I’d just have to get wounded and bleed a little while killing the rest of the warlocks’ forces.

 

…I overlooked the fact that the warlocks’ forces were too weak.

 

One swing of his sword was enough to knock them out.

 

He looked down at his bare hand and bit his dry lip.

 

To the Duke’s dismay, loyal knights tied up the remnants of the band.

 

The guilty were led away, while the knights, including the Duke, stood tall.

 

Duke Anais spotted a warlock being dragged away in a stunned state, his robes unusually thick at the chest.

 

He quickly approached the suspect, rifled through the robe, and found a note.

 

[Last contact at the hunting grounds of Count Vietry’s manor.]

 

The note was written by none other than Elder Warlock, and it bore a seal.

 

He smiled languidly and crumpled the note in his hand. His gaze, filled with affection, rested on the warlock.

 

To be able to lawfully enter Count Vietry’s estate.

 

He smiled languidly and muttered, “I will return to the capital immediately.”

 

Now, he had to prepare to be the perfect harbinger. His mind flashed back to the old woman’s last piece of advice.

 

Be helpful to the reputation of the other party, and play pitiful to gain sympathy.

 

And then…

 

To pull out a secret weapon at the right time.

 

💫

 

Thanks to the Emperor’s provision of imperial wizards, the dilapidated mansion of Count Vietry has been magnificently restored.

 

Tea parties and hunting competitions were planned to be held soon.

 

Astel and Cassian had moved from the Gray Manor to the Vietry Manor for the occasion.

 

With Astel busy organizing the tea party, Cassian had more time to spend alone with Rune.

 

Today was no different.

 

In the small study, the fireplace crackled and burned warmly.

 

Rune, who had opened up a bit since they’d slept together for a few nights, shuffled over to the rocking chair where Cassian sat.

 

“What’s wrong, Rune?”

 

Cassian asked, and Rune thrust the book in front of him.

 

“Rom and Julie.”

 

“Rom and Julie?”

 

“Mm, read please!”

He wanted to read to him. Cassian took the book, thrilled.

 

‘I don’t know about the rest of the world, but asking to read to me is a sign of great intimacy.’

 

A smile spread across his face.

 

“Well, then, I’ll read it to you.”

 

“Mm!”

 

“Now, before we get into the story…”

 

He scooped up Rune, who was sprawled on the carpet beneath the rocking chair, with one hand, and placed him on his lap.

 

Then he playfully patted Rune’s head and said, “A good baby reads on the lap.”

 

“Mmm!”

 

Innocently, Rune nodded his head vigorously.

 

Satisfied, Cassian opened the first page of the storybook and began to read.

 

“Title, Rom and Julie.”

 

The title was actually ‘Romeo and Juliet,’ not ‘Rom and Julie,’ but that didn’t matter.

 

My son said ‘Rom and Julie,’ so it had to be right.

 

“Once upon a time, there lived Romeo of the Montague family and Juliet of the Capulet family. They fell in love with each other, but when Juliet’s brother found out, he was against Romeo…”

 

Rune was listening to the story, her eyes shining, but Cassian was puzzled.

 

Something clicked in his brain as he read the plot.

 

‘This sounds like something about Astel, me, and the Duke?’

 

…In that sense, he was the villain in this relationship.

 

Cassian quickly folded the cover of the novel and coughed in disbelief.

 

Rune tilted his head in question.

 

“What’s the matter?”

 

The Rom and Julie novel was far too conventional for a child-like Rune to read.

 

And certainly not because he was being poked.

 

“Rune, son, where did you get this?”

 

“Old house!”

 

Cassian made an ‘Aha’ sound at the cheerful Rune’s words.

 

“Yes, it was…”

 

In his knightly days, he had often kept a stack of gossip magazines and novels in his study to help visitors to the manor kill time.

 

Rune had found one of them and brought it with him when he moved in.

 

Oh, and incidentally…

 

Cassian’s gaze slid from Rune to the book.

 

It read, ‘Forbidden love, burned by family disapproval.’

 

An unnecessary feeling of unease rose.

 

‘Is this… is it possible that Astel, and the Duke, and their feelings will burn more because I broke them apart?’

 

The novel crumpled mercilessly in Cassian’s hand.

 

Rune, whose mouth was pouting, pointed a finger at the book.

 

“Huff, it’s crumpled!”

 

“…Oh, no, Dad made a mistake.”

 

Cassian paused at Rune’s surprised expression.

 

‘He mustn’t think he’s violent!’

 

Cassian straightened up and flipped open the novel, then grinned at Rune with an overly broad smile.

 

Rune looked up into Cassian’s green eyes and stiffened.

 

“Hmm…”

 

“Huh?”

 

Rune’s shoulders slumped, as if he were looking for something.

 

“I say…” (I want to tell you something)

 

He swallowed hard and studied Rune’s complexion.

 

It was serious, but the way he was shyly tucking a strand of hair behind his ear suggested he was about to say something serious…

 

“What is it?”

 

It was my son’s first request, the same thing.

 

A moment of tension and trepidation.

 

Cassian kept his gaze locked on Rune’s lips as they moved in a curl.

 

“Baby, miss Duke, when are you coming?”

 

As soon as Rune’s words were out of his mouth, Cassian’s face crumpled.

 

“Why?”

 

“Duke does everything from the beginning to the end. Baby miss him.” Rune said. 

 

…Did that mean the Duke had read the book to the child from cover all the way through?

 

“That’s… that’s a good job.”

 

“Hmm! Good job! I want to see Duke!”

 

To be honest, when I left my child in the Northern Duchy, I thought I’d be lucky if Duke Anais didn’t beat Rune to death.

 

But to see a pure Rune follow the Duke to this extent…

 

Duke Anais has certainly been good to Rune.

 

Cassian’s heart threatened to crumble like a sheet of paper at the sight of his son’s cheerful expression.

 

But Cassian pressed his lips together and held himself together.

 

It was one thing to be grateful to the Duke, but quite another to allow him to associate with Astel.

 

‘There’s still so much I want to give her, and I can’t let her go to another house before she’s had what’s rightfully hers. She’s a vulnerable girl, and if she’s hurt…’

 

Cassian wanted to show his sister more of the world.

 

Astel was only twenty years old and hadn’t seen much of the world, living in fear of her family’s blood feud.

 

He wanted her to meet more people, to make friends, to feel the warmth of happiness among them.

 

As hard as it had been, he hoped that in the future, she could enjoy her life to the fullest, that he would do all the hard work and just be happy.

 

So he whispered, forcing himself to stiffen from his softening heart.

 

“I’m your father, Rune. I’ll do all those things for you.”

 

Rune glared at him for a moment, then leaned his head awkwardly against Cassian’s body and mumbled, ‘I’m not sure…’

 

“Duke, bounce-bounce. Dad too please.”

 

“Bounce?”

 

“Baby, bounce-bounce, do it all the time, from day to night!”

 

Cassian lowered his eyes.

 

‘Duke of Anais.’

 

A fiendish creature by nature, he thought.

 

For a moment, he thought he was only hiding his true nature because he liked Astel.

 

But maybe, just maybe, he was…

 

Just then, the door swung open. Cassian stared at the open door in surprise, as if he had been caught in the act.

 

“Brother!”

 

It was Astel. Seeing Cassian’s panic, Astel took a step toward him, puzzled.

 

“What, why are you so surprised?”

 

Cassian replied, quickly straightening his expression.

 

“No, nothing. Why?”

 

A second glance at Astel’s outfit was a bit puzzling.

 

She was wearing a bright, yellow dress, her hair in a pretty braid, and a wreath.

 

“Where have you been?”

 

“Yes, I have a visitor, and I really want to invite him to the party, do you mind?”

 

“Hmm! Ant!” (Auntie!) 

 

Cassian opened his mouth to speak, but Rune spotted Astel, his eyes twinkling as he crossed his tiny hands.

 

Astel sighed heavily and shook her head.

 

“I’m not an Ant…”

 

Cassian, the man responsible for turning Astel into an ant, interrupted her with a slightly piercing look.

 

“Astel, who do you want to invite?”

 

“Uh, someone. My brother would know.”

 

Astel smiled, a little sheepishly, a little meaningfully.

 

Then she struck before Cassian could open his mouth.

 

“Since you’re already here, why don’t we have a little chat?”

 

She pushed the door wider open and shouted down the hallway.

 

“Here, come on in!”

 

Cassian narrowed his eyes and stared intently at the man walking up behind Astel.

 

‘If I know this person, is this the Knox you were talking about?’