“Butler, come out now! This is a big deal! There was a strange article in the morning newspaper!”
The butler of the Mansion of Light had just arrived for work.
He did not hide his annoyance at the fuss of the low-level employee who was interrupting his pleasant morning.
“What on earth is going on?”
“Look at this, come on!”
The butler accepted the newspaper handed to him by the servant with a somber expression.
And the moment he opened it, the butler's eyes opened wide as if they were torn apart.
“What kind of nonsense is this... !”
“Look at that, butler! I told you it was a big deal!”
“Kevin, go right away and bring the aide.”
At the butler's command, the young servant left.
The employees who were on their way to work at that moment sensed that the atmosphere was unusual and gathered around the butler one by one.
It was a time when the number of eyes reading newspaper articles gradually increased, and the noise became louder.
“Why are you all gathered here this morning?”
When the aide they had been waiting for finally appeared, everyone who worked there quickly opened their mouths.
“There was a ridiculous article about our Twins family in the morning paper, Assistant Director!”
“Shouldn’t we all take legal action against this newspaper?”
"That's right! These reporters, they need to come to their senses and realize that they will be scolded if they publish fake articles like this without any sense of responsibility!”
The aide looked a little surprised by the angry employees.
“What kind of article did they send out like this?”
The aide's face immediately hardened after directly checking the contents.
“Does it make sense for His Highness the Grand Duke and Her Highness the Grand Duchess to endure all those years of suffering for each other and now divorce?”
“That’s right. This is clearly meant to disparage our mixed-race demon world...”
The moment when the employees once again expressed their enthusiasm by adding their words.
“Everything in this article is true.”
The audience instantly became quiet at the aide's soft voice.
“Aide, no, it’s a joke...”
“It’s no joke. It is true that His Highness the Grand Duke and Her Highness the Grand Duchess secretly divorced.”
The aide had already heard from Cedric that they were divorced.
And that fact will soon be announced to the entire Empire.
The employees' faces turned into despair at the aide's calm words.
Some people denied reality, saying it was nonsense, while others sobbed.
After watching them with a confused expression for a moment, the aide tilted his head.
‘Yes, I heard it from His Highness in advance, but... Something's strange.'
His brow slowly furrowed as he hurriedly checked the date written in today's newspaper.
“Why was the divorce announcement date brought forward?”
Meanwhile, the imperial palace of the Western Empire.
The corridor leading to the Emperor's Hall was noisy from early morning due to the hurried steps of the two priests.
“Tell them I have arrived.”
His urgent feelings were clearly revealed in the voice of the High Priest Diat giving orders to the palace servants.
Permission to come in was soon given, and Diat and his successor entered the Emperor's Hall.
As soon as the huge door made of gold opened, Emperor Letitz glared nervously at High Priest Diat, as if he had been waiting.
“Diat, how on earth is this happening?”
“Your Majesty, that is...”
“Isn’t there still a few days left until the Grand Duke Twins’ divorce is announced? But why was the article published in today’s newspaper?!”
His angry voice rang loudly in the open space.
The young Emperor seemed to behave normally to the point of appearing insignificant, but he was cruelly cold-hearted when it came to mistakes that went beyond the boundaries of his close associates.
His successor, the priest, who had heard of the Emperor's temperament, trembled and eventually fell to his knees.
“It’s my fault, Your Majesty! Well, I accidentally classified confidential mail that was to be sent to the newspaper in 3 days as yesterday, so..."
Even though he was honest about his mistakes, the High Priest was dumbfounded that he had done such a thing.
'I can't believe I, the successor to such a great man and a minister who personally serves the Pope at the Vatican in the capital, would make such a foolish mistake!'
It was a time when his successor, the priest, did not know what to do with himself.
High Priest Diat stood before his kneeling successor and faced the Emperor.
“Your Majesty, this is no different from my fault. No matter how much I entrusted the work to a subordinate, I should have paid close attention to the end as it was an important task... It was my fault for not being able to do that.”
“What a disappointment. I trusted that the Vatican would have the authority to announce the divorce, so I entrusted it to them, but this is the result?”
Emperor Letitz's eyes glowed like never before as he looked at High Priest Diat.
“This is not just a mistake. You clearly ruined the conclusion of the ‘contract’ between me, the Emperor, His Holiness the Pope, and the Grand Duke!”
Of course, the fact that such an important secret was leaked just a few days beforehand was a big deal.
However, there was actually something else that made Emperor Letitz so worried that he got so angry.
'Since the divorce has already been announced, the Pope must hope that the twins' cohabitation will end as soon as possible. However, if Cedric insists on continuing to live together until the scheduled date because this happened because of the Holy See's mistake...'
At any rate, the Pope's patience will disappear without a trace.
As a result, the implicit peace between the Holy See and the Emperor may be broken.
As the Emperor of the empire, Letitz could not sit idly by and watch such a troubling situation.
“...Receive the imperial command to convey to the Northern Twins Grand Duchy.”
The Emperor's heavy mouth barely dropped.
“Inevitably, the divorce announcement date was brought forward, but since there is not much difference from the promised date, I see it as unnecessary to raise an issue about this. Moreover, as long as this fact is revealed, the Twins Grand Duke and his wife cannot continue to live together.”
He eventually issued an imperial order to support the Holy See.
This was a declaration that the Emperor would take the initiative to bury the High Priest Diat's mistakes so that Cedric could not resist them.
It was a pity for his dear friend Cedric, but he had to make a cool-headed decision to prevent unnecessary political strife.
“I order that administrative procedures for divorce be carried out immediately and former Grand Duchess Rebecca be expelled from the Twins family castle.”
Emperor's order quickly flew to the north.
The aide's heart sank heavily as he had to report the contents directly to Cedric and Rebecca.
Rebecca accepted the imperial order more calmly than expected.
However, Cedric, whose hands and feet were tied by Emperor Letitz, whom he trusted, was silent for a while after hearing the imperial order.
Although he understood his friend who had no choice but to make such a decision, his feelings of resentment towards him seemed to be rising at the same time.
Cedric simply kept his mouth shut and remained silent.
Perhaps that was the best defiance and consideration he could give to the Emperor and Pope.
“I’ll go out, Your Highness.”
There was still no answer from Cedric.
Soon the aide came out of the office and his face gradually became confused.
The employees looked like they wanted to ask him something, but the aide climbed the central stairs with a fierce frown on his face to avoid conversation with them.
And that was when he finally reached the deserted hallway of the Princess Hall.
“Aide Lehman.”
The aide's face, which had been nervously looking at someone who had called him, soon calmed down.
"This.... It’s Agnes and Lobelia.”
She was Princess Bianca's nanny and a tutor who had recently been introduced to them by High Priest Diet.
The aide stared at Lobelia for a moment and then turned his gaze towards the nanny.
"...Does the princess know?”
The nanny shook her head in response to the aide's cautious question.
“No, not yet.”
“...That’s a good thing.”
“We are trying to get her to stay in the Princess Hall as much as possible. We have also tightened the speed at which the maid and servants join.”
The nanny gave a mixed smile as she looked at Bianca's bedroom door.
“The Princess is in the middle of a nap. Maybe when she wakes up...”
She paused as if she was afraid of what would happen next, but the aide cleared up the situation.
“At that time, the Princess will also have to face the reality of divorce between Her Highness and His Royal Highness the Grand Duke.”
The nanny closed her eyes tightly at the miserable feelings.
In the meantime, the Grand Duke and his wife were Bianca's parents, siblings, and only family.
Bianca was truly happy to see the relationship between the two men being restored.
She also said that she was truly relieved that her family would now be able to hold the child comfortably at any time.
She was so happy...
Isn’t this reality too harsh for such a child?
The nanny's eyes suddenly became moist as she thought about what followed.
“I still can’t believe it. Recently, their relationship seemed to be better than ever, but I heard the two have already agreed to a divorce?”
She still had a face that didn't feel real, or rather, wanted to deny reality.
But wouldn't someone in this Twins castle do that right now?
Upon hearing the news of the sudden divorce of the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess of Twins, whom they respected, all mixed-race demon users were as if they had been struck by lightning and were unable to come to their senses.
They pretended to be calm, but that was the same for the aide.
He suppressed the emotions rising up and patted the nanny on the shoulder.
“I can’t believe it either. Of course, I hope not, but if it's true... As a citizen of the Grand Duchy of Twins, I am also very sad.”
After saying that, Lobelia lowered her head in sorrow.
Her teardrops fell down her chin.
“Aide, are you really sure this isn’t a misinformation?”
Lobelia also seemed unable to believe the news.
The aide answered the women's successive questions with a confused expression.
“The article is true. I confirmed it with His Highness the Grand Duke and Her Highness Grand Duchess.”
The aide's expression sank as heavily as that of a doctor giving the final sentence.
“Now the two are legally strangers.”
It was something that expected, but hearing it from someone else's voice made it feel even more cruel.
The nanny's face was once again ruined.
“Now.. I thought I could finally truly serve Her Highness the Grand Duchess, but ugh...”
The nurse finally burst out crying, and Lobelia patted her on the shoulder.
It was then that a deep sigh escaped her aide's mouth.
“This is it... What are you talking about?"
A young voice came from somewhere.
They were all startled and turned their heads towards where the sound came from.
“Oh, Princess!”
The color drained from the faces of the aide and the nanny in an instant.
At that embarrassing moment, the aide had a vain hope that the young Princess might not have understood properly.
But that hope was soon shattered along with Bianca's teardrops falling on the floor.
“Princess...”
Tears welled up in the child's round eyes as she looked up at her nanny.
“Nanny, that’s... Really?"
He did not hide his annoyance at the fuss of the low-level employee who was interrupting his pleasant morning.
“What on earth is going on?”
“Look at this, come on!”
The butler accepted the newspaper handed to him by the servant with a somber expression.
And the moment he opened it, the butler's eyes opened wide as if they were torn apart.
“What kind of nonsense is this... !”
“Look at that, butler! I told you it was a big deal!”
“Kevin, go right away and bring the aide.”
At the butler's command, the young servant left.
The employees who were on their way to work at that moment sensed that the atmosphere was unusual and gathered around the butler one by one.
It was a time when the number of eyes reading newspaper articles gradually increased, and the noise became louder.
“Why are you all gathered here this morning?”
When the aide they had been waiting for finally appeared, everyone who worked there quickly opened their mouths.
“There was a ridiculous article about our Twins family in the morning paper, Assistant Director!”
“Shouldn’t we all take legal action against this newspaper?”
"That's right! These reporters, they need to come to their senses and realize that they will be scolded if they publish fake articles like this without any sense of responsibility!”
The aide looked a little surprised by the angry employees.
“What kind of article did they send out like this?”
The aide's face immediately hardened after directly checking the contents.
“Does it make sense for His Highness the Grand Duke and Her Highness the Grand Duchess to endure all those years of suffering for each other and now divorce?”
“That’s right. This is clearly meant to disparage our mixed-race demon world...”
The moment when the employees once again expressed their enthusiasm by adding their words.
“Everything in this article is true.”
The audience instantly became quiet at the aide's soft voice.
“Aide, no, it’s a joke...”
“It’s no joke. It is true that His Highness the Grand Duke and Her Highness the Grand Duchess secretly divorced.”
The aide had already heard from Cedric that they were divorced.
And that fact will soon be announced to the entire Empire.
The employees' faces turned into despair at the aide's calm words.
Some people denied reality, saying it was nonsense, while others sobbed.
After watching them with a confused expression for a moment, the aide tilted his head.
‘Yes, I heard it from His Highness in advance, but... Something's strange.'
His brow slowly furrowed as he hurriedly checked the date written in today's newspaper.
“Why was the divorce announcement date brought forward?”
***
Meanwhile, the imperial palace of the Western Empire.
The corridor leading to the Emperor's Hall was noisy from early morning due to the hurried steps of the two priests.
“Tell them I have arrived.”
His urgent feelings were clearly revealed in the voice of the High Priest Diat giving orders to the palace servants.
Permission to come in was soon given, and Diat and his successor entered the Emperor's Hall.
As soon as the huge door made of gold opened, Emperor Letitz glared nervously at High Priest Diat, as if he had been waiting.
“Diat, how on earth is this happening?”
“Your Majesty, that is...”
“Isn’t there still a few days left until the Grand Duke Twins’ divorce is announced? But why was the article published in today’s newspaper?!”
His angry voice rang loudly in the open space.
The young Emperor seemed to behave normally to the point of appearing insignificant, but he was cruelly cold-hearted when it came to mistakes that went beyond the boundaries of his close associates.
His successor, the priest, who had heard of the Emperor's temperament, trembled and eventually fell to his knees.
“It’s my fault, Your Majesty! Well, I accidentally classified confidential mail that was to be sent to the newspaper in 3 days as yesterday, so..."
Even though he was honest about his mistakes, the High Priest was dumbfounded that he had done such a thing.
'I can't believe I, the successor to such a great man and a minister who personally serves the Pope at the Vatican in the capital, would make such a foolish mistake!'
It was a time when his successor, the priest, did not know what to do with himself.
High Priest Diat stood before his kneeling successor and faced the Emperor.
“Your Majesty, this is no different from my fault. No matter how much I entrusted the work to a subordinate, I should have paid close attention to the end as it was an important task... It was my fault for not being able to do that.”
“What a disappointment. I trusted that the Vatican would have the authority to announce the divorce, so I entrusted it to them, but this is the result?”
Emperor Letitz's eyes glowed like never before as he looked at High Priest Diat.
“This is not just a mistake. You clearly ruined the conclusion of the ‘contract’ between me, the Emperor, His Holiness the Pope, and the Grand Duke!”
Of course, the fact that such an important secret was leaked just a few days beforehand was a big deal.
However, there was actually something else that made Emperor Letitz so worried that he got so angry.
'Since the divorce has already been announced, the Pope must hope that the twins' cohabitation will end as soon as possible. However, if Cedric insists on continuing to live together until the scheduled date because this happened because of the Holy See's mistake...'
At any rate, the Pope's patience will disappear without a trace.
As a result, the implicit peace between the Holy See and the Emperor may be broken.
As the Emperor of the empire, Letitz could not sit idly by and watch such a troubling situation.
“...Receive the imperial command to convey to the Northern Twins Grand Duchy.”
The Emperor's heavy mouth barely dropped.
“Inevitably, the divorce announcement date was brought forward, but since there is not much difference from the promised date, I see it as unnecessary to raise an issue about this. Moreover, as long as this fact is revealed, the Twins Grand Duke and his wife cannot continue to live together.”
He eventually issued an imperial order to support the Holy See.
This was a declaration that the Emperor would take the initiative to bury the High Priest Diat's mistakes so that Cedric could not resist them.
It was a pity for his dear friend Cedric, but he had to make a cool-headed decision to prevent unnecessary political strife.
“I order that administrative procedures for divorce be carried out immediately and former Grand Duchess Rebecca be expelled from the Twins family castle.”
***
Emperor's order quickly flew to the north.
The aide's heart sank heavily as he had to report the contents directly to Cedric and Rebecca.
Rebecca accepted the imperial order more calmly than expected.
However, Cedric, whose hands and feet were tied by Emperor Letitz, whom he trusted, was silent for a while after hearing the imperial order.
Although he understood his friend who had no choice but to make such a decision, his feelings of resentment towards him seemed to be rising at the same time.
Cedric simply kept his mouth shut and remained silent.
Perhaps that was the best defiance and consideration he could give to the Emperor and Pope.
“I’ll go out, Your Highness.”
There was still no answer from Cedric.
Soon the aide came out of the office and his face gradually became confused.
The employees looked like they wanted to ask him something, but the aide climbed the central stairs with a fierce frown on his face to avoid conversation with them.
And that was when he finally reached the deserted hallway of the Princess Hall.
“Aide Lehman.”
The aide's face, which had been nervously looking at someone who had called him, soon calmed down.
"This.... It’s Agnes and Lobelia.”
She was Princess Bianca's nanny and a tutor who had recently been introduced to them by High Priest Diet.
The aide stared at Lobelia for a moment and then turned his gaze towards the nanny.
"...Does the princess know?”
The nanny shook her head in response to the aide's cautious question.
“No, not yet.”
“...That’s a good thing.”
“We are trying to get her to stay in the Princess Hall as much as possible. We have also tightened the speed at which the maid and servants join.”
The nanny gave a mixed smile as she looked at Bianca's bedroom door.
“The Princess is in the middle of a nap. Maybe when she wakes up...”
She paused as if she was afraid of what would happen next, but the aide cleared up the situation.
“At that time, the Princess will also have to face the reality of divorce between Her Highness and His Royal Highness the Grand Duke.”
The nanny closed her eyes tightly at the miserable feelings.
In the meantime, the Grand Duke and his wife were Bianca's parents, siblings, and only family.
Bianca was truly happy to see the relationship between the two men being restored.
She also said that she was truly relieved that her family would now be able to hold the child comfortably at any time.
She was so happy...
Isn’t this reality too harsh for such a child?
The nanny's eyes suddenly became moist as she thought about what followed.
“I still can’t believe it. Recently, their relationship seemed to be better than ever, but I heard the two have already agreed to a divorce?”
She still had a face that didn't feel real, or rather, wanted to deny reality.
But wouldn't someone in this Twins castle do that right now?
Upon hearing the news of the sudden divorce of the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess of Twins, whom they respected, all mixed-race demon users were as if they had been struck by lightning and were unable to come to their senses.
They pretended to be calm, but that was the same for the aide.
He suppressed the emotions rising up and patted the nanny on the shoulder.
“I can’t believe it either. Of course, I hope not, but if it's true... As a citizen of the Grand Duchy of Twins, I am also very sad.”
After saying that, Lobelia lowered her head in sorrow.
Her teardrops fell down her chin.
“Aide, are you really sure this isn’t a misinformation?”
Lobelia also seemed unable to believe the news.
The aide answered the women's successive questions with a confused expression.
“The article is true. I confirmed it with His Highness the Grand Duke and Her Highness Grand Duchess.”
The aide's expression sank as heavily as that of a doctor giving the final sentence.
“Now the two are legally strangers.”
It was something that expected, but hearing it from someone else's voice made it feel even more cruel.
The nanny's face was once again ruined.
“Now.. I thought I could finally truly serve Her Highness the Grand Duchess, but ugh...”
The nurse finally burst out crying, and Lobelia patted her on the shoulder.
It was then that a deep sigh escaped her aide's mouth.
“This is it... What are you talking about?"
A young voice came from somewhere.
They were all startled and turned their heads towards where the sound came from.
“Oh, Princess!”
The color drained from the faces of the aide and the nanny in an instant.
At that embarrassing moment, the aide had a vain hope that the young Princess might not have understood properly.
But that hope was soon shattered along with Bianca's teardrops falling on the floor.
“Princess...”
Tears welled up in the child's round eyes as she looked up at her nanny.
“Nanny, that’s... Really?"
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