DYBAR - Chapter 118 < Leopold Trying To Make The Most It >
Do Your Best And Regret
"Duke, please move your seat for a moment."
The Prince ordered in an impatient voice.
But the Duke of Madeleine could not say anything. Even the Crown Prince's call sounded like an unpleasant nickname.
What came through the gap were the whispers of the nobles.
"Are you really saying that it was Princess Madeleine who restored the Retail Estate?"
"Since when on earth did it start? Princess Madeleine took on the work of Her Royal Highness."
"My goodness, the Princess is truly a Saint."
The words piled up one by one, weighing down on the Duke's shoulders.
What is all this about?
The Duke couldn't understand.
So what he heard...
"Is it all true?"
But the voice that left his lips was extremely calm.
The Prince narrowed his eyes and sighed as if he was frustrated. Then he ran his right hand through his hair and got irritated.
"What are you talking about? I want to tell you something about Olivial"
"You bruised her wrist and you have something to say about Olivia?"
The words that had been filling his head the whole time came out just like that.
It was an instant before the Crown Prince's eyebrows furrowed. A sharp force came from the Prince, whose eyes flashed, but the Duke maintained his posture calmly. The Prince spoke with a displeased expression on his face.
"Why is your face like that?"
"I don't know."
Ha ...
The Prince's eyes rose fiercely. But he meant it. The Duke of Madeleine couldn't even tell what kind of face he was making.
After Hazel died, the Duke lived his whole life without having to worry about facial expressions.
Nothing made him happy except his children, and nothing was sadder than Hazel's death. He lived like a person left alone in a world where everything was gray and white.
But now. What on earth makes him feel so nauseous?
"You look in a bad mood, Your Highness."
The Duke suddenly raised his head when he heard someone talking a little away. There the Grand Duke was muttering, chewing his red lips.
"There are too many."
"Yes?"
"Do you believe Lord Interfield? There are endless things that my Young Lady would have done in all directions of this banquet hall. My Lady, who is only 20 years old, has done so much....?"
After hearing those words, the Duke's eyes became distant. He finally realized what was making him uncomfortable..
No matter how much he heard, it was too much.
Considering it was a Princess's achievement, it could have been possible with the imperial family at her back.
But if Olivia did it all....
His breath caught in his throat. The only personal belongings he would have given to that child would have been pocket money. It was said that at some point, she was even looking at the ledgers of the Madeleine duchy.
"What do you think, Duke?"
The distance between him and the Grand Duke had become so close that he couldn't tell at what moment he had arrived. The Crown Prince glared at the Grand Duke with wild eyes.
"Grand Duke, I'm talking to the Duke right now!"
"Then I will intervene, His Highness the Crown Prince. Duke, answer me."
Despite the Prince's sharp annoyance, the end of the Grand Duke's words was directed at the Duke of Madeleine.
It wasn't a sarcastic face. The Grand Duke was just asking calmly.
"Did the Duke help? Is that why my Young Lady was able to accomplish so many things that make her worthy of being praised as a Saint?"
The sharp question pierced the Duke's heart. The Duke shook his head unconsciously.
He didn't help anything. He just wanted to die from the Empress's persecution. Other than that, he didn't care about anything else. Of course, the fact that Olivia is taking over the Princess's job is...
"Or did you not know at all? You weren't even interested?"
The Grand Duke spoke calmly as if he had read his thoughts.
The Duke of Madeleine calmly faced the Grand Duke at the sharp remark like a dagger.
The Duke couldn't even guess whether what was fluttering within his red eyes was anger, affection, or a host of emotions that went beyond him.
It was then.
The Grand Duke muttered with a sigh.
"Something that no one knows about. Why did my Young Lady work so hard?"
Ah.
The Duke consciously bit his lip. Sharp fragments pierced the Duke's heart mercilessly.
That was such an easy question.
"Are you my father?"
Because he hated those round, green six-year-old eyes that first looked up at him.
"Okay, you can do it!"
Because he hated even the way she tried to look good.
"Me too, I'm Madeleine."
So he hated it even more.
By making Hazel die. Without even knowing the topic, he hates her so much that you are trying to interfere with this tight bond.
"Me too. Now I have Madeleine, too."
So he really didn't know.
The blurry afterimage in his mind became increasingly clearer.
Olivia was laughing when she said that she was erasing Madeleine.
"Madeleine, everything. I will erase it."
Very light-hearted, as if she had no regrets.
When all of that came to mind clearly, the Duke's amethyst eyes began to turn pitch black.
He knew how much she wished for herself to be Madeleine. So he never wanted to give it away.
But she really.. There's nothing wrong with it.
When confronted with the truth that he had always ignored, the Duke's upright back arched for the first time. He felt like he was going to die from suffocation.
One layer, another layer.
Guilt, love, and hate, all the emotions he had been holding were tangled and collapsed on the Duke.
The Grand Duke, who was looking at his pale face, unable to even breathe, slowly clicked his tongue and added his words.
"Either the Duke condoned it or truly didn't know. I am indeed."
A familiar scent came from the Grand Duke who was walking past. A cozy smell again...
"I feel sick."
A sad smell like tears. The smell that came from Olivia.
The Duke stumbled from dizziness for a moment.
"Father!"
He saw Conrad and Jade running from afar. The children he blamed for being weak knew this before him.
The efforts of a small child who was not even half the size of him. What the sparkling, expectant look in his eyes meant..
There was one more person he had to atone for, not just Hazel, whom he had ignored because of his pain.
Olivia Madeline.
All the best moments about the name he abandoned.
***
"Grand Duke. Is it okay to ignore the royal family like this?"
The Prince gritted his teeth, but there was no reason to look.
There were no more tea parties. Edwin left the banquet hall with a dull expression. There was no one to hold him in this quiet place.
As soon as Edwin left the banquet hall, Winster, who was waiting, followed him. And he naturally started reporting.
"I have prepared all the knights. Even the newspaper companies, which receive full support from the imperial palace, were disappointed, so I said everything. What are the rumors..."
Winster paused for a moment and made an ambiguous expression.
"I took measures to ensure that it only spread within the capital, but outside the capital, it was spreading on its own like wildfire."
Edwin accepted the document presented by Winster. It was part of a letter sent by a vassal of the Tristan estate, a granary area.
Edwin laughed bitterly at the desperation contained therein.
"I understand why you make that expression."
As if measuring the number of times he had been ignored, the letter began with an apology for having contacted him multiple times.
Even so, Tristan's difficult circumstances forced him to write a letter.
Although he was happy for the empire to fall, Edwin knew better than anyone else that it was the people who would be harmed.
As he turned his gaze to feel refreshed, Winster suddenly asked.
"Did you read to the end?"
"Not yet. Why?"
"I wrote that the vassal would like the Young Lady to come."
After hearing Winster's words, Edwin read the letter again. At the end of the letter, which described the difficult situation without hesitation, it was written as follows.
"I know that it will be difficult for Her Highness the Princess to come, so I would be truly grateful if you could at least send the silver-haired maid who came last time. Because she was a woman with a heavy mouth, she never said anything negative to Her Highness, even here. Please have mercy on this rich Tristan."
A silver-haired maid. A girl with a heavy mouth.
Edwin bit his lip. He couldn't even guess how far this sad Young Lady would be able to make him feel bad.
"I have to go."
Only after blurting out such a sharp remark did Edwin clearly understand his current priorities. It was also important to uncover the secrets of the White Crystal Mine that his mother passed down to him.
"Edwin."
Liv, Olivia.
A cute young lady who possesses many of the Princess's weaknesses but doesn't even show them. He was dying to see his little girl.
"No, then what about mineral tax rate negotiations?"
Winster was startled and asked in horror. Of course, he fully understood his master's desire to see the Young Lady, but he was just about to discuss in detail why Her Majesty had stayed here.
Edwin said, tilting his head as if he didn't understand.
"What are you worried about? I have talented people"
"..... Yes?"
"You guys have done well so far with things like mineral tax rates. You can finish it on your own."
Winster became thoughtful and shouted at the unconventional statement that he would take over the negotiations on mineral tax rates.
"What about secret documents?! I'm sure. you're waiting for that document to arrive!"
"So, I guess I should take care of things and get the documents without My Lady knowing?"
"I, Your Highness?"
Edwin said with a grin, seemingly not paying attention to Winston, whose eyes were shaking in embarrassment.
"Anyway, if I show interest, the Emperor will start drooling. He pretended not to be interested. This too is an operation. Then, gentlemen, have a hard time!"
The Grand Duke, with one eye squinting charmingly, began to run down the hallway at a brisk pace.
The chamberlain of the Emperor's palace, who was walking from the opposite direction, was polite as if he had some business to attend to.
"Your Highness the Grand Duke. His Majesty the Emperor... I, Your Highness!"
Leaving behind the embarrassed voice of the Chamberlain, the Grand Duke quickly jumped down the stairs. The chamberlain of the Emperor's palace was embarrassed and called out to the Grand Duke.
"It looks like His Highness has already. gone. What is this about?"
"His Majesty is waiting for an important discussion on mining tax rates!"
***
Hearing the voice of the Emperor's Palace Chamberlain who had no idea what to do, Leopold turned around.
It was the moment when he followed the Grand Duke out of the banquet hall with a feeling of resentment that he could not shake off.
The guy who was said to be a great knight, but who didn't even notice his presence, irresponsibly left his knight in charge of negotiating the mine's tax rate and quickly disappeared.
Leopold, who was watching the figure running away, narrowed one of his eyes.
"Secret document?"
He doesn't know what it is, but it's something he wants.
In an instant, several puzzle pieces scattered in Leopold's mind began to fit together.
Leopold turned around making a loud noise. The destination is the Emperor's Palace, its deepest and most secret.
For example, it was like the Emperor's bedroom.
***
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty......!"
Bang-.
The Emperor pushed away the Empress, who called to him pleadingly and closed the door to the drawing room. He let out a rough breath with his face distorted and red and full of anger.
"Your Majesty, here comes the Princess. It's His Majesty's enemy. Please have mercy....!"
"I don't want to hear it! If you're going to say something like that, get the hell out of here!"
Even at the faint sound of a knock on the door, the Emperor became angry. As if he was surprised, silence came. Rather, he was glad. The Emperor sat down on the sofa with a heavy sigh.
His head was pounding.
A Princess whose strings have fallen and she is worthless.
She is an incredibly stupid Princess. At the same time, she was a Princess who couldn't do her job properly.
"Really, if she wasn't just the Princess....'
The Emperor thought about it in horror, but all he could do was sigh. He couldn't even remember how he saw off the delegation.
Now the moment he wanted to avoid the most was approaching.
A man who publicly insulted the Grand Duke and the royal family and left them in shame. He felt sick just thinking about it.
He has to compromise. He couldn't find an answer as to what to do.
What should he do?
He was so nervous that his heart was pounding. It was then. The chamberlain came in with a knock.
Strangely enough, the Chamberlain who had been sent to return with the Grand Duke was alone.
"Why are you coming alone? Chamberlain."
"Well, that is."
The chamberlain bowed his head and said with a bewildered face.
"He says he is going to see Princess Madeleine and have left for Vikander territory."
"How could he leave behind something he wanted so much?!"
The hallway leads to the bedroom. The Emperor burst into anger and touched his forehead.
He couldn't understand. The Grand Duke's priority was his dead parents above all else. Has it changed now?
The Emperor turned the corner, trying hard to suppress the feeling of anxiety that was weighing heavily on him. And he stopped walking for a moment.
"Why is my bedroom door open?"
The servant, who was trembling in front of the bedroom at the words blurted out, fell to the floor It was quite strange. If a servant who did not open the door even for the Empress would open the door...!
The Emperor entered the bedroom with his fists clenched. The bedroom was empty.
But his deceptive intuition led him to the innermost recesses of the bedroom.
No way. No matter how stupid he is these days, there is no way the Crown Prince would come into the Emperor's bedroom. And without even permission.
The moment his anxious heart fluttered, the Emperor entered the innermost part of the bedroom. And he found Leopold there, looking up at the portrait.
"Prince, you bastard......!"
This was his most intimate space.
Unlike the Emperor, who seemed to have his blood boiling, Leopold muttered extremely calmly.
"It's this woman. The Princess of Lowell."
"How dare you.....!"
"He really looks a lot like the Grand Duke. But the eyes... They are just like the Princess's eyes."
It was strange.
"Is that correct, Your Majesty?"
His son's face was the most calm in a while as he looked at him and asked for reassurance. It was the exact opposite of how he acted like a dazed idiot.
" ..."
At the Emperor's searching eyes, Leopold raised the corners of his mouth.
"Speaking of secret documents, is it a document about the White Crystal Mine that the Princess was said to have been stolen from?"
"What are you trying to do with that? Are you going to mess things up again like that girl, Maria Ethel?"
Despite the bitter criticism, Leopold smiled calmly and shrugged his shoulders.
"If that is what the Grand Duke desperately wants. Please give it to me, Your Majesty."
"What?"
The Emperor shouted at the flagship Leopold.
"Didn't you see it! I gave the Princess the name of White Crystal Mine, so I wonder what this imperial family is going through now!"
"We can fix that, Your Majesty."
"What?"
The Emperor narrowed his eyes at the confident appearance of Leopold.
Yes. This was the Prince he knew. It's not about being rejected by someone in a helpless state.
A look that looks down arrogantly.
At the same time, Leopold spoke slowly.
"If that's what the Grand Duke desperately wants..."
Leopold knows very little about Olivia Madeleine. But he was sure of one thing.
She always did her best for her people. Whatever it is.
He hates to admit it, but Olivia's best right now is...
"Because I will be able to bring Olivia back to my side."
Grand Duke Vikander, because she's reaching that bastard.
The sea-colored eyes were dark and shining fiercely. An eerie obsession momentarily flashed over the eyes that looked like the depths of the ocean.
A noble Prince.
His goal was to get Olivia back by his side.
The Duke said she noticed bruises on Olivia's wrists. When he thought of those words, an exhilarating feeling of joy ran down his spine.
When she comes back, he'll hold her wrist so she doesn't bruise.
The Prince raised the corners of his mouth and smiled.
The love that the Crown Prince, who had never loved anyone perfectly, could only have was such a twisted obsession.
Like father like son. They are both sick and disgusting creatures.
ReplyDeletePls someone disposed the whole royal family, they are gross af
ReplyDeleteThe fact that no woman in this book can stand alone without the backing of a man (father/husband/son) continues to be quite blatant. Yikes.
ReplyDeleteReally, the entire members of the Empire are very stupid. This PM is dumb. Wow I'm speechless
ReplyDelete