IDEFYEM - Chapter 21
Black Man, I'll Do Everything For You Except Marriage!
The previous Grand Duke Kronhard was a man with three wives and five mistresses. Women who had a desire to make their children heirs tolerated whatever they did to each other without any sense of responsibility.
Raphael's mother was the most powerless mistress among them. While pregnant, she drank tea sent by my second wife and suddenly became weak.
Alman barely survived and her baby was born, but she closed her eyes without even being able to hug him once.
"The child is not crying. I can't even feel a pulse,"
"What does that mean? Are you saying he's already dead?"
"He's not dead. It's subtle, but he's definitely breathing."
Among the maids who were at a loss for what to do with their master who had turned a blind eye, an old midwife opened her mouth.
"I've only heard of this once. Not a doctor. We have to take him to the wizard. I committed a very serious sin in my past life."
Even nobles with money and fame had to wait several nights to meet a wizard.
There was no way that a forgotten government would have that much money.
The moment everyone turned their backs, one loyal maid could not give up and set off on a journey without a destination.
She was going to look for a warlock who would ask for people's souls or lives instead of money.
On the third night, the breath of a child born without a heart began to fade.
A reclusive warlock heard the rumor and came to them first.
He spared the child's life on the condition that he would raise money until he was 10 years old.
The moment magical energy was infused into the body, the child cried for the first time.
***
Raphael Kronhardt's life began like this, being used as a test subject for a warlock. Because the warlock conducted all kinds of experiments to satisfy his curiosity.
Not only did he suffer from nosebleeds and headaches, but there were times when he couldn't wake up for a long time.
When he reached the age where he could understand language and take care of himself, he even took on difficult chores and errands.
There was something Raphael always heard when he glared at the wizard, dissatisfied with his situation, which was worse than that of a beggar in the slums.
"Where can you turn your attention to someone who was born under a curse? If you hadn't met me, you would already be dead."
Still, for some reason, the warlock steadily filled the empty heart with magical power.
However, if you forcefully pour water into a cracked jar, it is bound to break at some point. They said twenty was the limit. Maybe he'll get lucky and a few more years.
Raphael has known for a long time that he would not live long.
Used as a test subject and assisting in the dark wizard's evil deeds.
He thought his short life would end like this. Raphael heard that he inherited the blood of the Grand Duke. It was unbelievable.
"The reason I said I would only have you until you were 10 years old was because I was curious about how your cursed life would end. It's probably the most horrendous thing I've ever seen."
The last meeting with the warlock.
"Now go out and entertain me until the end of your life."
He laughed from ear to ear and saw Raphael off.
***
The Grand Duke's complicated relationships with women have always been famous.
Now, it wasn't a big problem for another child who was thought to be dead to appear. After a short confirmation process, Raphael was admitted into the Grand Duke's family.
Soft beds, hearty meals every day, and employees who wait on you one by one.
Before there was time to be dumbfounded by the extravagance, the first attempt at poisoning occurred.
For a moment, his excitement as he dreamed of a family calmed down.
"... It's better because if it's like this, not much has changed."
The young boy held his breath and endured. Drinking poison and dealing with assassins was easy to endure compared to being experimented on every day.
Raphael bribed a wizard on the street. The rotting body, almost like a corpse, was somehow filled with magical power and moved.
Using that power, he created my own faction within the Grand Duke family, and beyond what he could endure, he began a counterattack.
Raphael's first brother, who poisoned him, faked a carriage accident and died. My second sister, who sent assassins every morning, suffered a fall from a horse. The third, without any intention of hiding it, he ordered the assassination as an example.
The rest of the brothers were quick to marry or leave the estate.
When an evil rumor spread that a curse had fallen on the Grand Duke's family, he finally sent his father into his own hands.
It was the moment when the young Grand Duke, aged twenty, was born.
Everyone got to the position they were aiming for, but there was no emotion. At that time, Raphael wondered if he could really call himself a human being.
The dead brothers acted out of a desire to at least gain the Grand Duchy.
But is he not a beast that has killed people without even a goal?
They said it would be more horrendous than anything he had ever seen.
In the end, h thought he couldn't go against those words, which were like a damn curse.
Until Raphael met a woman who made his empty heart throbbing.
Of course, at the very end of life.
***
"Most of them are dead. Some in my hands."
Hmm.
Uhmmm.
I, pretended not to be embarrassed as much as possible.
If this had happened in the previous world, it would have been something that would have freaked out and broken off the engagement right away without even looking back. This kind of setting is common in novels.
Still, it's too harsh a setting for extras whose names aren't even mentioned.
I felt like I could get a glimpse of the dark side that sometimes appeared on the face of a seemingly perfect man.
"You didn't kill innocent people, right? So, if you did that, there must have been a reason."
"Yes."
"Then that's it. As you know, I don't have a very decent family either."
Hehe, then I should take his side too.
I pretended it was no big deal and smiled at Kael, who had a strange expression on his face.
The man was silent for a long time, his face a complex mixture of emotions.
"I know it's an inappropriate question for this situation, and I know you don't like bringing this up."
"What is it?"
I pricked up my ears at the somewhat defensive introduction.
"I couldn't bear to wonder what the Grand Duke did to you for protecting the man who killed his family."
I was taken aback by the sentence, which was so unexpected yet got to the point.
It's selfish, but the one you killed was others, and the one the Grand Duke killed was me.
It's impossible to say that.
"If I had to be honest, you would be the one receiving special treatment. I am naturally generous to my people."
Phew, this went well.
Kael stared at me for a few seconds, as if this was an unexpected answer.
"I was definitely trying to keep him by my side...."
He let out a sighing laugh and said.
"You keep making me greedy."
I didn't bother to ask again the meaning of the sentence that seemed to be muttering to himself.
Kael, who was fiddling with the ends of my hair, walked to the door.
"Something comes up and I'll have to eat dinner alone. Just rest."
Uh, I stared blankly at his back, which had disappeared without any time to catch it. If you were always with me, why would something suddenly happen?
Did I make a mistake?
After thinking about it alone for a while, I asked the maid to bring me a meal to my room.
Eating and drinking bread in a calm atmosphere.
I also placed the flowers I received from Tristan in the water bottle earlier.
While I was doing all of that, I was concerned about the expression on Kael's face that I last saw. When I couldn't sleep even on a moonlit night with a full moon, I realized the seriousness of the situation and left the room.
***
I paced the hallway with a frown on my face.
I was lost in my thoughts and didn't know where my steps were leading, so I kept going.
It was early in the morning when I thought everyone was asleep that I noticed something strange.
The sound of a conversation pierced my ears. Hey, where am I?
I opened my eyes and looked around, and an unfamiliar scenery caught my eye. An isolated hallway that I have never been to before. I could hear a man I knew talking in the last room. Kael?
"...Is it best?"
It was a voice that was familiar, but at the same time so cold that it
For a moment, I remembered the night I met the Grand Duke at a banquet and got goosebumps.
The instinct and curiosity that I should not enter came at the same time.
But if I leave here, I definitely won't be able to sleep tonight.
'I don't know. Sorry!'
After thinking about it for quite some time, I finally crept closer to where the voice came from and crouched down, holding my breath.
"To me... I think so, but do you think differently?"
"I'm sorry."
"The Princess said she was seriously ill two months ago. Her memories back then... I know I did it... I guess it's strange... There are a lot."
That sounds like my story.
Ugh, only the important parts aren't heard properly!
It was the moment when I narrowed my eyebrows and tried to get closer.
Suddenly, an ominous feeling came over me.
I quickly retreated and looked for a place to hide, but ended up clinging to the side of the door.
Immediately after that, there was the sound of the door suddenly opening. If there had been any delay in movement, it would have been caught right away.
"Someone there."
Kael opened the door and said.
It was a cold voice, different from what I usually hear.
If I get caught... It's a big deal.
It was a fact I could instinctively know.
I tightly covered my nose and mouth with both hands and closed my eyes as if praying.
Another person's voice rang from inside the room.
"Is anyone eavesdropping?"
"No. Let's keep talking."
Kael glanced down the hallway and entered the room again. I forced my legs, which were shaking from tension, to stand up and hurriedly left.
Suddenly, that thought occurred to me for the first time since holding hands with Kael.
Is it okay to continue to stay by this dangerous and suspicious man?
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