[Kill the Grand Duchess.]
That was unacceptable.
“This is an order from Blanchett to the spy.”
If it was Blanchett’s spy, it was already dealt with by Damian. Even the order to send the body to the Duchy was quietly arranged internally thanks to Ivan’s desperate persuasion, so Blanchett must have thought that the spy was still alive.
Kill the Grand Duchess.
Damian gave it back to Ivan before he could damage the evidence. And from within his arms, he took out a silver dagger. It was something familiar to Ivan as well.
“You haven’t used it since you met Her Highness, have you?”
“Indeed.”
Damian answered as he slashed his palm with the tip of the blade. Blood gushed out and started dripping on the floor.
Damian cut his palm once more as the wound healed. He did that three times before he let go of his knife.
As Ivan said, he hardly used this dagger since he met Lilian. The act of injuring the body only reduces the possibility of runaway by scattering the mana, but doesn’t soothe the pain. In order for the effect to be large, the wound had to be that large.
Until then, Damian had been stricken with this knife or any other weapon and felt the pain rising from the wound to keep his mind together. And while the mana healed his wounds, he managed to regain control of himself.
‘At least the efficiency is better if I use this enchanted dagger with sealing magic.’
It’s a way of life far from peace. The only thing that eased Damian’s pain was Lily and the knot still hanging from his sword.
Damian belatedly guessed that the knot was probably made by Lilian as well.
When he touched Lilian, he was able to effectively calm down without any pain.
But the problem was that whenever the turbulence intensified, his body, which tasted the only relief called Lilian, began to want more than just touches, kisses and hugs.
He can’t make his wife do something she doesn’t want to do. Even if Lily allowed it, her weak body wouldn’t be able to get over Damian.
In the face of uncontrollable anger, Damian eventually left Lilian and resumed the habit he had stopped.
Ironically, it was to protect Lilian from Damian.
“Was that the last instruction?”
“No. Instructions have just arrived canceling the order.”
“I guess so.”
If Lily died in this situation, anyone would be able to guess who the culprit was.
When the words Lilian and death entered the same sentence, Damian couldn’t stand it again. He gritted his teeth and cut his hand again.
Ivan, who couldn’t bear it, stopped him.
“Your Highness! Please stop.”
Even if mana dramatically increased the speed at which wounds were healed, in the end, the base was the human body. Even Damian was not wthout the possibility of permanent injuries that couldn’t be resolved by his regenerative powers.
Damian squeezed his hand. He also knew this was too much. At least it was right after contact with Lilian so he could still hold on.
Damian’s reverse scale and only resting place. She is the one who taught him that the world seen through those eyes is beautiful.
‘To kill her…’
A crackling, ominous sound leaked out. From the moment he knew Lilian could not live long, his heart, which he had been barely suppressed, poured out into the narrow outlet of anger.
Damian’s rage began to stifle the air, leaking like water through a broken bowl.
As the intangible energy overwhelmed the surroundings, Ivan urgently exclaimed.
“Your Highness, please stop! Her Highness is in the next room!”
The swirling flow of mana stopped.
Damian slowly turned his gaze to Ivan. His purple eyes shaped like those of a beast.
Ivan took a step back without even realizing it. It’s hard to bear even though the anger wasn’t pouring toward him.
Damian suddenly asked in a hoarse voice.
“Ivan, I know that.”
“What…you’re talking.”
“My wife is weak.”
“I know. Her Highness…”
“Her body is weaker than you think. Do you know what that means?”
Only then was Ivan able to roughly grasp the situation.
‘This…’
Duke Blanchett had touched something more enormous than he thought.
Ivan opened his mouth to calm Damian.
“Your Highness, please stop. There must be some way. There must be a way to save Her Highness…”
At that moment, Damian burst into a dry laugh.
“You’re right, Ivan. Of course there must be a way. There has to be.”
Damian had no intention of losing Lilian like this. He was thinking of finding a way one way or another.
“Because I don’t know what value a world without my wife would have.”
Damian’s eyes twinkled.
Ivan thought.
No matter what, he must keep Lilian alive.
He didn’t know what the madman would do otherwise.
If he made up his mind, it’s possible for this country, the Rupenwein Empire, to disappear form history.
“But I have to be patient now. As you said, my wife is asleep in the next room.”
Lilian Islar is alive and breathing in a safe place.
Only that presence was suppressing the explosion that was about to explode.
As long as she was alive and breathing, this house should be a cozy home for Lilian.
He couldn’t destroy the safest place in the world.
“Not here. Don’t do it here…”
The Grand Duke was smiling, but there’s madness in his eyes. Cold sweat broke on Ivan’s back.
“That means…”
“Um.”
Damian laughed mischievously. It was a beautiful smile that made the viewer dizzy…
“We’re going to Duke Blanchett’s mansion.”
The direction of the wrathful sword has been decided.
It happened while the only person who could stop Damian with a word was in deep sleep.
***
Fortunately or unfortunately, the mansion of Duke Blanchett was not far away.
And there, a fierce confrontation was now taking place.
“How can you do that?”
Ethan, who grasped the situation during the confrontation between the Duke and his wife, acted belatedly.
“I wouldn’t have done this if you had done it right.
If you’re the heir to the Blanchett Duchy, you have to think about how to help the family, you…!”
“Isn’t it natural that I can’t!”
Ethan groaned.
“His Majesty the late Emperor was my guardian as a child and I grew up in his court. I can never betray him!”
“Who told you to betray His Majesty! His Majesty Claude is his brother!”
“His Highness Matteo is his only son!”
What he’s saying makes no sense.
Duke Blanchett knew that, but he shouted unconditionally to win over his son.
“This bastard…!”
However, unlike usual, Ethan did not give in.
“It’s clear to me that following father unconditionally was not my role as a son.”
“What?”
“Loyalty is useless to father, and neither to his wife and daughter.
Isn’t only the family’s prosperity important?”
“Ethan Schmidt!”
“I won’t stand by any longer. Before my father crosses the line any further, I’d rather…”
“Ethan! I’m your father!”
“Yes, I know.”
He had to do this because he knew. Ethan gritted his teeth as he thought so. Just then, kuaang!, a deafening sound rang out.
“Ugh!”
Somone had mercilessly kicked the parlor door. Unable to overcome the shock, the door that was pushed back made a squeaking sound and then fell to the floor with a bang.
“…you’re all here?”
Stepping on the door that fell off, a man appeared.
“Even if I knock, no one will listen.”
No, he’s not a person anymore. It’s the incarnation of great anger and madness itself.
“D-Damian Rupenwein…!”
“Is it customary for this family to omit honorific names?”
Gulp, Duke Blanchett swallowed.
The moment Damian appeared, he wondered if the attempt to assassinate the Grand Duchess had been caught.
But the way he spoke of honorifics made him think that he might not have known about the assassination attempt and was simply upset about Marianne.
“M-Marianne, I was going to send her to the countryside for recuperation soon. There’s a side of her mind that’s not intact…”
His daughter, whom had been dear to him until yesterday, had become a child with a disease in his mind.
“But to talk about that and opening the door of someone else’s house at such a late hour…”
“Is Lady Marianne out of her mind?”
Standing in front of Damian’s enormous fury, Duke Blanchett’s head turned white. The terror was so great that he could hardly stand still.
‘No, aren’t I still standing right now?’
He can’t stand still like this.
At that thought, Duke Blanchett desperately smiled.
“Since she disrespected Her Highness, the G-g-grand Duchess, I can’t leave her along any longer using illness as an excuse.”
At that moment, Duke Blanchett saw the man standing behind the Grand Duke raising a hand to his forehead and shaking his head.
‘Huh?’
Did he do something wrong?
Unlike his father, Ethan, who realized the seriousness of the situation, hurriedly stepped forward.
“His Highness the Grand Duke! We have committed a mortal sin. We…”
“Stop.”
Damian raised a hand to block Ethan’s words. Ethan was a tier high with 6 tera. However, it was useless in front of Damian’s overwhelming power.
Damian approached the Duke before he knew it. He even had a smile on his lips, but the Duke froze like a frog in front of a snake.
“Duke Blanchett, do you know what this is?”
“Your Highness, Grand Duke, I…”
“I asked if you knew what this was.”
“I…”
What the Grand Duke showed him was a piece of paper with the words [Kill the Grand Duchess].
Damian knew everything. Even Duke Blanchett was not stupid enough to confess in this situation, ‘I sent it, but I also sent an order to cancel it right away’.
Finally, when the Duke was silent, Damian whispered in a hoarse voice, ‘that’s right’. It was as if he was complimenting him on a job well done, but Blanchett could feel death drawing closer to him than ever before.
“Then what about this?”
Thankfully, the dagger Damian showed him next was something he had never seen before. Duke Blanchett replied confidently.
“I-I don’t know!”
“Yes, you wouldn’t know. This is what my brother sent to kill his little brother.”
Damian laughed giddily.
“It’s an item with a spell that seals the mana of the person stabbed. The way to solve it is not passed down in practice. By the way, if you fall under this sealing spell, your mana will be completely sealed. But mana and vitality form a strangely inseparable relationship.
“Y-Y-Your Highness, I-I…!”
“If you get stabbed by this, most people will vomit blood and die.”
Unless they’re overflowing with mana like Damian, they’ll vomit blood from all pores of their body and erythema rises all over the body, eventually twisting and dying black, with eyes upside down.
“Of course that wouldn’t happen if I helped.”
The Grand Duke’s overwhelming mana was the only way to survive the curse.
“But there’s no way I’d help the Duke, so please die in peace.”
“Argh…!”
A sharp silver awl dug into the back of Duke Blanchett’s hand.
Ivan stared at the scene with disgust. It’s because the reason why Damian dared to stab him on the back of his hand to avoid a fatal vital spot was so obvious.
“K-kuk…”
If the wound wasn’t fatal, it would take about a week to die. It meant suffering for as long as possible without dying.
Damian had no intention of mercifully killing anyone who dared to approach Lilian’s life, which was incomparable to the whole world, let alone a thousand gold.
Leave a Reply