Chapter 38

Father is very enthusiastic. He’s in top form…

Incidentally, Father is wearing a smile for the outside world, but he is quite angry.

He is fully intent on executing everyone except for the royal family members Lucas and Leoard.

Incidentally, among those caught, the new face, Joshua, is actually a knight and bodyguard assigned to Lucas. It’s known that he has a crush on Renaria, so he has been pushed to the background. How pitiful. Findor is a teacher, so he was just doing his job. He seems to be on good terms with Renaria, but he hasn’t overstepped his bounds or done anything improper. At least not yet.

I want to focus on their story eventually. Probably much later.

It’s a lie, a lie!

In Lucas’s pale green eyes, a figure he never thought he would see is reflected.

He shouldn’t be here—yet, the Demon King stood there, mocking Lucas’s fear with his usual calm demeanor and unreadable smile.

“It’s not a lie—my daughter has been quite taken care of, but Prince Lucas is here, isn’t he?”

The beautiful baritone voice fell into the room.

But it was a presence that could make the hearts of everyone except the one who spoke it freeze with terror.

A tall figure stood in front of the door that the knights had left open.

Bright ash-brown hair, aqua-blue eyes, the usual unreadable smile. A deep blue mantle with intricate vine patterns embroidered in silver thread, a white coat with numerous medals, and long-legged trousers of the same color. A glossy gray vest. Always refined in manner and dress, the Duke of Latitche, with his perfectly composed and ageless beauty, stood there.

It was the same appearance he had when he visited the royal castle.

“Step aside.”

With those words, the royal guards, who were supposed to be his protectors, fell one after another, their knees trembling and collapsing.

Wollrieg, the only one, knelt on his own and bowed his head. He stepped forward to take the lead for his master, who could not properly respond. Lucas had become a mere creature, breathing heavily in a state of panic.

“I humbly beg your pardon, Duke Latitche. Please have mercy. I beg for your forgiveness and leniency! The Prince is still young! We will also admonish him, so please! I will certainly inform His Majesty the King! Please wait for his judgment!?”

“I have already obtained permission from His Majesty. Conditions were set, but I was told to do as I please.”

Lucas was stunned by these words.

He was aware that his father, King Lauses, had high expectations of him both as a king and as a father. The fact that the king, who had often criticized him, had given the Duke of Latitche the right to punish Lucas was a shock beyond belief. Indeed, he had been reprimanded many times before, but the thought that it could come to this was overwhelming.

The Duke of Latitche’s ruthlessness towards those he deemed enemies was well known to the king.

With a light wave of his hand, the Duke casually sent Sir Carreras flying into the wall, where he remained motionless, seemingly unconscious.

The only knight who had stood up for Lucas was easily defeated.

“You’ve been causing trouble for a long time. If you overstep, even a prince should take responsibility for his actions.

If you mistook the privileges of a respected position for a license to do as you please, it is the duty of a true vassal to correct you.

But, despite being repeatedly admonished by His Majesty, the Queen, and the nobles, you have become a tyrant.

…Prince Lucas of Or Sandis. Weren’t you warned to be careful around my ducal family?”

He had been warned.

For a very long time, since he was a child. So often that his ears were calloused from the constant reminders, not just from his attendants and teachers, but even from his father, King Lauses.

Do not anger that Duke. He is not a mere demon but the Devil himself, the foremost monster of the Sandis Kingdom.

If you do not anger him, he will be a strong ally—so his father had said with a playful smile. But to Lucas, the Duke now appeared as a harbinger of destruction.

“I have no interest in most things.

But my daughter, Albertina, is an exception.

Your Highness—what did Albertina do? What crime did my daughter, who merely came to visit her adorable stepbrother and childhood friends, commit?

Our family’s visit to the academy was permitted, albeit secretly.

As a well-known family, we have certain responsibilities. We had been preparing for this to avoid causing any trouble to the school. What fault did we have?”

“That… that woman, no, she… she did something to Renaria…”

The cold, icy eyes of the Duke pierced through Lucas, making his blood run even colder. Fear made his tongue tangle, and the words stuck in his throat, unable to form.

The pressure intensified. The already cold gaze grew even colder.

What had his beloved daughter done to Renaria? Had she glared at her?

That made sense. A mere baroness who acted too familiarly with a duke’s son and an earl should be punished. It was not unreasonable for someone of status to reprimand her.

Especially when the other party was the daughter of a duke, whose parents were from the Four Great Ducal Families, and whose father, the Duke of Latitche, was one of the most powerful figures in the Sandis Kingdom.

If she had found someone inappropriate lingering around her stepbrother, it would not be unreasonable for her to be sternly reprimanded—her seemingly innocent and gentle demeanor, even rumored to be antisocial, suggested a fear of social situations. A young lady who had never appeared in society would not act so harshly towards a first meeting.

Moreover, a high-ranking noble’s daughter would not be punished for mistreating a baroness who did not even own a small estate. If she had been pursuing her stepbrother, who disliked her, she might receive a verbal warning from a higher-ranking noble. But unless it was a particularly cruel act, it would not happen after just one encounter, especially between two young ladies. Verbal sparring might occur, but violence was unlikely.

What Lucas had done was the abnormal situation.

Lucas looked down, trying to escape the cold aqua-blue eyes. The familiar carpet of the salon room felt unfamiliar.

“Renaria… Renaria, the Baroness of Daches.

You seem to have insulted my daughter, whom you have never met or seen.

You portrayed her as a notorious villain, didn’t you?

What did you say? That she had been bullying her stepbrother Kistaria for years, entrapping various people, and manipulating men into various relationships? That she had used her subordinates to commit murder? That she had oppressed lower-ranking nobles and treated commoners as less than human?”

Cold sweat ran down Lucas’s spine. Each of these descriptions matched the image of Albertina that Renaria had told him about. Did he know? No, had he investigated?

Renaria, a baroness, was not particularly skilled in social interactions. She had many male friends but no female friends of equal status to share rumors with. Those who tried to curry favor with the royal family through Renaria had increased since she began spending time with Lucas.

“Strange, isn’t it? We even have foreign servants who are not well-liked in our country, but they are her favorites. She treats them like younger brothers.

Unlike me, Albertina is a very kind-hearted child.

She gets along well with her stepbrother Kistaria, and my wife Latine is very close to her. She dotes on her daughter, and their relationship is deeper than that of a stepmother. They have tea together almost every day when their schedules allow.

She is somewhat timid and shy, but she does not intentionally hurt others.

She is averse to violence and even fears it. She couldn’t do such things.

Moreover, who could have known about Albertina, who is strictly protected in the Latitche household?

Our servants are discreet, and we carefully select those who come in and out.

She is more cherished and loved by our servants than I am.

Neither Latine nor Kistaria would ever speak ill of Albertina.

The only other possibility is the House of Dmitrius, but they are indebted to Albertina and would never betray her.

I have investigated, but there is no connection between my family and this Renaria. Where did you get your information?”

The Duke of Latitche spoke fluently, pressing Lucas with questions.

If the Duke had investigated, it was on a level equivalent to a national effort to gather information. The fact that nothing was found meant there was truly nothing.

The House of Latitche and the House of Daches, a minor noble family, were worlds apart in the noble hierarchy.

He was accusing Lucas of spreading false rumors that severely damaged his daughter’s reputation, which in noble society could lead to significant conflicts. Honor is something that cannot be ignored by a noble.

And Lucas had no material to counter it.

The Albertina Lucas knew was a tragic duchess’s daughter who had been kidnapped as a child and bore deep scars. She was from a prestigious family that could have produced a future queen, but the psychological scars were too severe. She had not appeared in society since her first and last tea party. Even at the age of debut, she never appeared.

She never attended the royal invitations to tea parties and balls. The Duke’s Grail, the Duchess Latine, and the Duke’s son Kistaria attended events with decorum, but Albertina never did.

After the kidnapping, Albertina’s name became a taboo in society, with various speculations and rumors circulating. A gag order was rumored to have been imposed. She was a mystery, known only by name and age.

Even the first prince, Lucas, had never seen her face—she had been kidnapped just before her debut. She was a princess who had everything taken away on that day.

Albertina’s grandmother was King Lauses’s sister, making Albertina a noble with royal blood.

Her grandmother, Cistina, was known as the most beautiful princess in the royal family. She married into the House of Fortuna and had a daughter, Christina, who resembled her in beauty. Christina, with her noble lineage and appearance, was highly sought after. She rejected many marriage proposals and even defeated her original fiancé in a duel to marry the Duke of Latitche. The story is still a popular tale. At the time, it was a grand love story between a young, handsome duke and a princess with royal blood. The dramatic wedding saga was even known to commoners and became a popular ballad.

Suddenly, the dots connected.

Ah, yes… that woman, no, she resembles Aunt Cistina.

In his anger, he had overlooked it. He hadn’t noticed the resemblance in her face and eyes, which he had seen many times in the royal portraits. Cistina had beautiful golden hair and noble Sandis green eyes.

Despite the complex relationship between his father and his siblings due to the struggle for the throne, his father had spoken proudly of his sister when he was in a good mood. He had even mentioned his cousin Christina, who was much older than Lucas.

Lucas realized now. He had been trying to kill a young lady who had done nothing wrong, a noble with royal blood.

And that had certainly touched the Demon King’s wrath.

“Prince Lucas, I have no intention of taking your life.”

At these words, the tension in his shoulders relaxed for a moment.

But the calm voice continued.

“But I cannot overlook this. I will dispose of all your so-called ‘friends’ and ‘guards