“What a strange thing this is! Bianque!”
Grand Duke Luxen had a gentle personality.
Queen Sylvia loved Bianque, but she was originally strict by nature, and Valquiterre had no intention of accepting her childishness.
In the midst of all this, after the Queen passed away early, the only person Bianque could rely on was Grand Duke Luxen.
Grand Duke Luxen, who was like the epitome of a caring father, got emotional and yelled at her without even saying hello, which hurt Bianque’s feelings.
She also skipped the greeting and answered sharply.
“Please speak.”
“What?”
“I am the Queen now. When Valquiterre usurped the throne and sat there, didn’t you show your respect to the King in your own way?”
Grand Duke Luxen placed his hand on his forehead and took a deep breath at his daughter’s unfamiliar appearance.
“Bianque.”
“Speak.”
“How could you do something like this without consulting me?”
Bianque replied in a childish tone to Grand Duke Luxen’s words.
“Father, did my mother consult me before adopting Valquiterre?”
“Bianque!”
Grand Duke Luxen was astonished to see her casually mentioning things that were kept secret by the royal family and the famous families.
“Why are you yelling like that? It’s not a secret that can be kept quiet anymore.”
“Huh.”
Grand Duke Luxen let out a long sigh.
“I cannot permit this marriage.”
Bianque’s eyes sharpened as he spoke negatively.
“Why?”
“Why? Aren’t you ashamed to marry your brother who you grew up with?”
Grand Duke Luxen seemed ashamed to even mention the briefly summarized facts.
Bianque sneered at her father’s appearance.
“Yes. I am not ashamed.”
“You...”
“My mother was a Queen.”
Bianque’s eyes narrowed as she recalled the late Queen Sylvia.
“She was a very beautiful and dignified woman. I always wanted to be an elegant and dignified woman like my mother when I grew up.”
Her blue eyes, like the legacy the deceased Queen had left behind, turned to Grand Duke Luxen.
“I am her daughter. I inherited her blood. What could I not do what my mother did?”
As she spoke, Bianque’s emotions grew more intense.
“I learned from good teachers. Although not as much as Valquiterre, I learned enough about the science of kingship.”
“...”
“But would I want to live like that if I were to marry a man I don’t even know and have children?”
“Bianque.”
Bianque, who clenched her fists with an indignant face, gradually opened her heart, which she had kept tightly shut only in front of her father, and revealed her inner feelings.
She pursed her lower lip as if she was about to cry.
“If you had done so earlier when I asked Kaian to marry me, wouldn’t this not have happened?”
“I couldn’t help it when the Duke of Temnes refused.”
“Don’t lie. If you had, why did Kaian follow the royal order given by Valquiterre?”
Bianque rubbed her eyes with her hand, not wanting to cry.
“Your mother could have given the royal order for Kaian and me to be betrothed.”
“That’s right. Wasn’t Princess Elise still alive at that time?”
“You have many excuses.”
She sneered.
“Have you ever thought about why Her Majesty Sylvia didn’t make you Queen?”
“No.”
When Bianque, feeling offended, answered straight away, Grand Duke Luxen exhaled briefly through his nose.
“She wasn’t happy.”
Bianque’s eyes widened at the unexpected words.
“You probably don’t fully realize the responsibilities that a Queen must shoulder.”
“Why did you say she wasn’t happy?”
She couldn’t understand. Queen Sylvia was the iron lady who boldly ruled the kingdom that occupied the center of the Ita Continent.
From what I saw of my mother before she passed away when I was young, I could not see any sign of her being ‘unhappy’ or dissatisfied with her life.
It was just that Bianque was young at the time and could not approach Queen Sylvia’s worries, but the words of Grand Duke Luxen were so out of the blue that they were so different from the memories of her mother.
“She sometimes wanted to run away from the palace. She wanted to live a free life unfettered by anything, but she could not choose such a thing from birth.”
However, Grand Duke Luxen’s words irritated Bianque even more.
“What do you mean? Then, even if I obediently marry him, what freedom would I have?”
“That’s not what I meant.”
“If Mother had truly cared for me, she should have given me the hilt of the sword from the beginning.”
If Bianque had become queen instead of Valquiterre, she could have ordered Kaian to become the King’s wife and ended things cleanly.
“You don’t want me to have a married life with a man who isn’t even your biological son and doesn’t speak the language, with nothing but greetings?”
“Bianque!”
“I don’t want to hear any more of this story because I’ll do as I please.”
As Bianque disappeared with a sour look on his face, the Grand Duke of Luxen covered his head with both hands for a moment.
‘How did the children end up like this?’
He wondered but got no answer.
It was entirely Queen Sylvia’s job to raise Valquiterre and Bianque and make them her successors.
He planned to adopt a relative who was as old as her nephew to succeed the Duchy of Luxen. They were a couple who only exchanged letters twice a year if they were lucky, and when the internal affairs of the Kingdom of Oberon and the Duchy of Luxen were not going smoothly, there were times when a year would pass by.
However, it was not that they were an especially unusual couple.
Many nobles and royalty often lived like that.
When they had a territory to manage or were staying at a villa due to health issues, it was not uncommon for a couple to not meet for more than ten years.
'Sylvia. What should I do?'
In the first place, there was no burden of raising a male child, the heir, other than educating him.
It would have been the same even if they had lived under the same roof.
Therefore, it was even more frustrating for him not to know what the problem was and how it had come to this situation, which would have been a good topic of gossip if they had heard it from other countries.
Didn't they all sit together in the hanging garden and enjoy tea just a year or so ago?
'Which family's daughter is she? Since I'm already in Oberon, I wish I could meet her in person.'
Valquiterre had said that he had a woman in mind when the Grand Duke was trying to get him to marry.
'I'm sure you'd like her.'
Was that what he said about the Duchess of Temnes?
Both Valquiterre and Bianque had done something ridiculous.
But now was the time to protect Valquiterre, if only to stop Bianque.
"Take me to where Valquiterre is."
As he exited the hanging garden, the servants waiting in front of the door all bowed their heads and guided him to the other side of the Royal Lounge.
'Valquiterre lived on this floor.'
The palace, built on the top of a cliff, had square corridors that could be circled in a circle on the middle and higher floors.
Among them, the Royal Lounge contained the hanging garden, the King's office, the royal library, and the most luxurious guest bedrooms.
However, on the other hand, since Bianque mostly stayed in the Royal Lounge during her working hours, the fact that he was placed in the most heavily guarded Royal Lounge meant that he could not leave this floor even once without permission.
The face of Grand Duke Luxen, who knew this well, darkened. The more serious Bianque’s actions were, the more difficult it would be to resolve them smoothly.
The room where Valquiterre was staying was dark.
“Valquiterre.”
The man who had been sitting with his back to the door slanted and not paying attention to who was coming or going turned around at Grand Duke Luxen’s voice.
“Ah...”
However, Valquiterre closed his mouth as he tried to call him something.
The son who had called him father without formality in private, even though they were both the monarchs of the countries they ruled, closed his mouth.
Grand Duke Luxen pulled a chair and sat next to Valquiterre.
An uncomfortable silence flowed between the two who had once been rich.
“Why did you make this choice?”
His two children asked him why he had done this.
However, Grand Duke Luxen had no answer that could make Valquiterre and Bianque understand and convince them.
As time passes, the choices that parents make because they thought it was the best will be evaluated by their children.
What Grand Duke Luxen had now received was a perfect zero.
“Couldn’t you have stopped Her Majesty Sylvia?”
“I felt sorry for her a lot.”
That’s why he was able to confess what he had never told anyone else.
“Sylvia and I didn’t have any children.”
If the couple had been together normally, they would have had the capacity to try harder.
They didn’t have much of a choice, since they could only spend a month or so together in this state a year.
“When Princess Elise got pregnant as soon as she got married to Temnes, she became anxious.”
But twins were born.
As if it had been prepared for them, a child with royal colors miraculously, a child with a gray color that could not be a legitimate successor in Temnes.
“Elise did not want to send you to the royal family.”
“Is that true?”
Wasn’t it supposed to be ‘discarded’ like a secret of the Temnes family? Valquiterre's eyes, which had been listless the whole time, returned to light at the unexpected story.
“It’s a marriage between the royal family and the Duke’s family. Even if a blond, blue-eyed baby is born, it’s different from other babies, even though it’s of royal blood.”
However, Queen Sylvia wanted it.
Even if Princess Elise didn’t want it, it was what her older sister, the Queen, wanted.
“I couldn’t refuse her request. I accepted you as my own child.”
Valquiterre's name was also recorded as the eldest son of the Grand Duke in the Duchy of Luxen. Even if he inherited the Grand Duke’s throne legally, there was no way to stop him, since he was a biological child, not an adopted child.
“You are still my son, Valquiterre.”
He barely opened his mouth at the words that were filled with negation.
“Father.”
But Grand Duke Luxen's heart sank at Valquiterre's words.
"All that's left for me is misery."
Queen Sylvia loved Bianque, but she was originally strict by nature, and Valquiterre had no intention of accepting her childishness.
In the midst of all this, after the Queen passed away early, the only person Bianque could rely on was Grand Duke Luxen.
Grand Duke Luxen, who was like the epitome of a caring father, got emotional and yelled at her without even saying hello, which hurt Bianque’s feelings.
She also skipped the greeting and answered sharply.
“Please speak.”
“What?”
“I am the Queen now. When Valquiterre usurped the throne and sat there, didn’t you show your respect to the King in your own way?”
Grand Duke Luxen placed his hand on his forehead and took a deep breath at his daughter’s unfamiliar appearance.
“Bianque.”
“Speak.”
“How could you do something like this without consulting me?”
Bianque replied in a childish tone to Grand Duke Luxen’s words.
“Father, did my mother consult me before adopting Valquiterre?”
“Bianque!”
Grand Duke Luxen was astonished to see her casually mentioning things that were kept secret by the royal family and the famous families.
“Why are you yelling like that? It’s not a secret that can be kept quiet anymore.”
“Huh.”
Grand Duke Luxen let out a long sigh.
“I cannot permit this marriage.”
Bianque’s eyes sharpened as he spoke negatively.
“Why?”
“Why? Aren’t you ashamed to marry your brother who you grew up with?”
Grand Duke Luxen seemed ashamed to even mention the briefly summarized facts.
Bianque sneered at her father’s appearance.
“Yes. I am not ashamed.”
“You...”
“My mother was a Queen.”
Bianque’s eyes narrowed as she recalled the late Queen Sylvia.
“She was a very beautiful and dignified woman. I always wanted to be an elegant and dignified woman like my mother when I grew up.”
Her blue eyes, like the legacy the deceased Queen had left behind, turned to Grand Duke Luxen.
“I am her daughter. I inherited her blood. What could I not do what my mother did?”
As she spoke, Bianque’s emotions grew more intense.
“I learned from good teachers. Although not as much as Valquiterre, I learned enough about the science of kingship.”
“...”
“But would I want to live like that if I were to marry a man I don’t even know and have children?”
“Bianque.”
Bianque, who clenched her fists with an indignant face, gradually opened her heart, which she had kept tightly shut only in front of her father, and revealed her inner feelings.
She pursed her lower lip as if she was about to cry.
“If you had done so earlier when I asked Kaian to marry me, wouldn’t this not have happened?”
“I couldn’t help it when the Duke of Temnes refused.”
“Don’t lie. If you had, why did Kaian follow the royal order given by Valquiterre?”
Bianque rubbed her eyes with her hand, not wanting to cry.
“Your mother could have given the royal order for Kaian and me to be betrothed.”
“That’s right. Wasn’t Princess Elise still alive at that time?”
“You have many excuses.”
She sneered.
“Have you ever thought about why Her Majesty Sylvia didn’t make you Queen?”
“No.”
When Bianque, feeling offended, answered straight away, Grand Duke Luxen exhaled briefly through his nose.
“She wasn’t happy.”
Bianque’s eyes widened at the unexpected words.
“You probably don’t fully realize the responsibilities that a Queen must shoulder.”
“Why did you say she wasn’t happy?”
She couldn’t understand. Queen Sylvia was the iron lady who boldly ruled the kingdom that occupied the center of the Ita Continent.
From what I saw of my mother before she passed away when I was young, I could not see any sign of her being ‘unhappy’ or dissatisfied with her life.
It was just that Bianque was young at the time and could not approach Queen Sylvia’s worries, but the words of Grand Duke Luxen were so out of the blue that they were so different from the memories of her mother.
“She sometimes wanted to run away from the palace. She wanted to live a free life unfettered by anything, but she could not choose such a thing from birth.”
However, Grand Duke Luxen’s words irritated Bianque even more.
“What do you mean? Then, even if I obediently marry him, what freedom would I have?”
“That’s not what I meant.”
“If Mother had truly cared for me, she should have given me the hilt of the sword from the beginning.”
If Bianque had become queen instead of Valquiterre, she could have ordered Kaian to become the King’s wife and ended things cleanly.
“You don’t want me to have a married life with a man who isn’t even your biological son and doesn’t speak the language, with nothing but greetings?”
“Bianque!”
“I don’t want to hear any more of this story because I’ll do as I please.”
As Bianque disappeared with a sour look on his face, the Grand Duke of Luxen covered his head with both hands for a moment.
‘How did the children end up like this?’
He wondered but got no answer.
It was entirely Queen Sylvia’s job to raise Valquiterre and Bianque and make them her successors.
He planned to adopt a relative who was as old as her nephew to succeed the Duchy of Luxen. They were a couple who only exchanged letters twice a year if they were lucky, and when the internal affairs of the Kingdom of Oberon and the Duchy of Luxen were not going smoothly, there were times when a year would pass by.
However, it was not that they were an especially unusual couple.
Many nobles and royalty often lived like that.
When they had a territory to manage or were staying at a villa due to health issues, it was not uncommon for a couple to not meet for more than ten years.
'Sylvia. What should I do?'
In the first place, there was no burden of raising a male child, the heir, other than educating him.
It would have been the same even if they had lived under the same roof.
Therefore, it was even more frustrating for him not to know what the problem was and how it had come to this situation, which would have been a good topic of gossip if they had heard it from other countries.
Didn't they all sit together in the hanging garden and enjoy tea just a year or so ago?
'Which family's daughter is she? Since I'm already in Oberon, I wish I could meet her in person.'
Valquiterre had said that he had a woman in mind when the Grand Duke was trying to get him to marry.
'I'm sure you'd like her.'
Was that what he said about the Duchess of Temnes?
Both Valquiterre and Bianque had done something ridiculous.
But now was the time to protect Valquiterre, if only to stop Bianque.
"Take me to where Valquiterre is."
As he exited the hanging garden, the servants waiting in front of the door all bowed their heads and guided him to the other side of the Royal Lounge.
'Valquiterre lived on this floor.'
The palace, built on the top of a cliff, had square corridors that could be circled in a circle on the middle and higher floors.
Among them, the Royal Lounge contained the hanging garden, the King's office, the royal library, and the most luxurious guest bedrooms.
However, on the other hand, since Bianque mostly stayed in the Royal Lounge during her working hours, the fact that he was placed in the most heavily guarded Royal Lounge meant that he could not leave this floor even once without permission.
The face of Grand Duke Luxen, who knew this well, darkened. The more serious Bianque’s actions were, the more difficult it would be to resolve them smoothly.
The room where Valquiterre was staying was dark.
“Valquiterre.”
The man who had been sitting with his back to the door slanted and not paying attention to who was coming or going turned around at Grand Duke Luxen’s voice.
“Ah...”
However, Valquiterre closed his mouth as he tried to call him something.
The son who had called him father without formality in private, even though they were both the monarchs of the countries they ruled, closed his mouth.
Grand Duke Luxen pulled a chair and sat next to Valquiterre.
An uncomfortable silence flowed between the two who had once been rich.
“Why did you make this choice?”
His two children asked him why he had done this.
However, Grand Duke Luxen had no answer that could make Valquiterre and Bianque understand and convince them.
As time passes, the choices that parents make because they thought it was the best will be evaluated by their children.
What Grand Duke Luxen had now received was a perfect zero.
“Couldn’t you have stopped Her Majesty Sylvia?”
“I felt sorry for her a lot.”
That’s why he was able to confess what he had never told anyone else.
“Sylvia and I didn’t have any children.”
If the couple had been together normally, they would have had the capacity to try harder.
They didn’t have much of a choice, since they could only spend a month or so together in this state a year.
“When Princess Elise got pregnant as soon as she got married to Temnes, she became anxious.”
But twins were born.
As if it had been prepared for them, a child with royal colors miraculously, a child with a gray color that could not be a legitimate successor in Temnes.
“Elise did not want to send you to the royal family.”
“Is that true?”
Wasn’t it supposed to be ‘discarded’ like a secret of the Temnes family? Valquiterre's eyes, which had been listless the whole time, returned to light at the unexpected story.
“It’s a marriage between the royal family and the Duke’s family. Even if a blond, blue-eyed baby is born, it’s different from other babies, even though it’s of royal blood.”
However, Queen Sylvia wanted it.
Even if Princess Elise didn’t want it, it was what her older sister, the Queen, wanted.
“I couldn’t refuse her request. I accepted you as my own child.”
Valquiterre's name was also recorded as the eldest son of the Grand Duke in the Duchy of Luxen. Even if he inherited the Grand Duke’s throne legally, there was no way to stop him, since he was a biological child, not an adopted child.
“You are still my son, Valquiterre.”
He barely opened his mouth at the words that were filled with negation.
“Father.”
But Grand Duke Luxen's heart sank at Valquiterre's words.
"All that's left for me is misery."
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