"All that's left for me is misery."
Oh, my God.
Grand Duke Luxen unknowingly sought out the goddess of the earth, Luchena, who appears in the legend of the birth of the Duchy of Luxen.
“How can you make these children so pitiful?”
No one was happy.
Queen Sylvia was a woman with great ruling ability, but she was always under political pressure because she could not produce a successor.
He later found out that in addition to the foreign Grand Duke Luxen, she was also told to have a high-ranking nobleman from the Kingdom of Oberon as a mistress. What about the Duke and Duchess of Temnes, who suddenly had their child taken away?
Grand Duke Luxen was busy packing up gifts to send to Rowen in case Queen Sylvia decided to go on a trip.
When a wedding between kingdoms took place, rare items that could be sent as a Princess’s dowry were sent from Luxen to Rowen.
From Princess Elise’s perspective, having her child taken away was something that only those of low status and no means would have to sell their children to experience.
As soon as she gave birth, her postpartum depression worsened when her biological sister took her other son. The Duke of Temnes, who was struggling with his young wife who was much older than him, was having a hard time trying to appease Princess Elise.
So the Queen, who was so busy that she could barely spend time with her husband, the Grand Duke, went to live in Rowen every winter, which was a rough solution.
Princess Elise found comfort in seeing her children, the siblings, growing up together, even if only for a little while.
“The Queen hated me.”
“No.”
“It wasn’t until Bianque was born that I realized that I wasn’t her biological child and that’s why she treated me like that.”
“No. She tried to raise you as Oberon’s successor.”
“I experienced it myself.”
Valquiterre said sadly.
“I was always afraid of Her Majesty.”
All he wanted was for to her pick him up when he fell and to have a word of concern when he got hurt. He vaguely hoped that when he grew up and was terrified of the daunting and fearful tasks he would take on, she would pat him on the shoulder, encourage him, and sweetly praise him for what he did well.
“When I found out by chance that I was Kaian’s brother, all I could think was that everything was wrong.”
The world around him was twisted.
It felt like he had found the only path he needed to take amidst misfortune and heartache.
‘That place was originally mine.’
In his seething desire, Valquiterre took the name Kaian and grew up as the young master of the Rowen Castle and the successor to the Temnes family.
During his long stay in Rowen as a refugee, he had seen and heard how his brother had lived and grown, so every assumption seemed as if it were true as if a new self had been born.
“Because you were young.”
Grand Duke Luxen protected Valquiterre.
“You thought that way because you were not old enough to properly discern right from wrong.”
“Valquiterre was like an illusion.”
If he had grown up in Temnes, his life would have been very different.
Even though he was the eldest son of the family, he would have been pushed out of the lineage by Kaian, who had black hair and red eyes, according to tradition.
Even so, rather than feeling resentful, he might have become a member of Temnes and not have cared about it. He might have left all the bothersome land and family affairs to Kaian and lived a carefree life traveling around.
Or he might have been adopted by the royal family at that time and lived in the palace.
However, he would have grown up enough to be raised by his parents who gave birth to him, under the hot sun of Rowen.
“While living as the Crown Prince, I just lived like a doll with a shell called Valquiterre.”
If Valquiterre deviated even a little from the mold Queen Sylvia had created, his position would have been carved away alive.
When disciplining her young child, Queen Sylvia would scold him, saying that Valquiterre would make a joke without batting an eye.
“Sylvia.”
Grand Duke Luxen took a moment to choose his words.
“She wanted to be perfect.”
The Queen’s stubborn determination to not be found fault.
“She didn’t want to leave any possibility of trouble.”
She didn’t want to leave any room for the nobles to nitpick later.
“That’s why we made you our biological son instead of an adopted child.”
“Didn’t father dislike it?”
In a way, it was something that would have greatly hurt a man’s pride.
Grand Duke Luxen smiled faintly at Valquiterre's words.
“You were a great joy to me, Valquiterre.”
At that moment, Valquiterre's expression, which had been indifferent, cracked.
“I never thought you weren’t my son,”
Said Grand Duke Luxen slowly.
“Will you come with me to the Duchy of Luxen?”
“...”
“At this point, wouldn’t I want to pass the duchy on to my son?”
Unlike Queen Sylvia, Grand Duke Luxen still embraced him as ‘his son’ instead of criticizing him, and Valquiterre shed tears.
“Keuk.”
What he had wished for was something really trivial.
The heart of a bastard who had grown up without warmth had become cold and cruel. It beat crookedly, not hesitating to commit inhuman acts, and filled with jealousy and envy.
“Heuk.”
Was it really true that he was finally able to hear the words he had hoped for now, after ruining everything?
As Valquiterre sobbed in regret, a wrinkled and rough hand wiped away his son’s tears.
The carriage arrived in the capital six days after leaving the Castle of Valmonde.
“Madam!”
When the carriage stopped at the Temnes family mansion in the capital, Hannah ran out to greet us.
“Hannah!”
I and Hannah hugged each other and greeted each other warmly.
“How have you been?”
Hannah, who had been taking care of me after giving birth for a while, seemed much more energetic and lively than when I left Rowen.
“And Rohan?”
When we went there, we took a boat along the river to the capital, rested for a day at the mansion, then changed to a carriage and headed north.
It was a big deal that Kaian had learned that if they went back the way they came, they could get from the capital to Rowen in just three days if they hired a good captain.
“He’s at the dock.”
When I went from the capital to Valmonde, the road was much frozen.
It took almost three weeks to go to Valmonde, hold an event, and return to the capital. In the meantime, Rohan returned to Rowen, and when he came to pick me up, Hannah and the baby came with him.
“I’m glad you look healthy.”
Hannah frowned at my words.
“Madam, what’s wrong? I heard there was chaos at the lake.”
“As you can see, I’m fine.”
“You almost died!”
Hannah shouted.
“I should’ve gone with you.”
“You couldn’t help it since you were carrying a baby anyway. By the way, why are you using formal language again? It’s been a while, so welcome me. Okay?”
Hannah rolled her eyes left and right as I pressed her, taking notes and whispering softly.
“This is the capital mansion. The servants aren’t from Rowen Castle.”
She seemed worried that rumors would spread that the maid dared to speak informally to the Duchess.
“By the way, where are Uncle Evan and Mama Leonie?”
At the gateway city in the middle, Evan and Leonie got off Temnes’ carriage and rescued two horses.
‘I think I should go to Plogne once since I’ve come this far.’
My eyes widened at Leonie's words.
'Plogne Village?'
'There's something I want to check.'
'Isn't it dangerous?'
Evan coughed at my words.
'What could be dangerous when I'm here?'
Plogne Village was about three days drive from the capital, along the border of the territory, on the road that went almost straight down.
It wasn't too far, but since the road was winding through the mountains, horses were better than carriages, so Evan and Leonie rode away and parted ways.
"There were times when I thought I'd like to go there too."
Hannah looked surprised at my words.
"Really? I've never thought about that."
"I'm just curious. It seems like everything I did when I was young is a dream."
"If you go, there'll only be burnt ruins left."
She was right.
But there might be people who give up and think only about what's next after confirming that it's completely over.
I guessed that my mother and father had decided to visit the village of Plogne for that reason.
“I’ll ask them when they get back.”
“Yes. I’m curious.”
Hannah tilted her head back and looked around.
“But what about the lord?”
“Kaian...”
I smiled bitterly.
Kaian walked along the long corridors of the palace and looked around the places that he was familiar with.
“The atmosphere has changed quite a bit.”
“That’s right.”
The palace attendant who was walking beside him answered.
“Her Majesty Queen Bianque wants a fresh new look, so we’re renovating it here and there.”
“She's doing something useless.”
Everyone flinched at the sight of him making such bold remarks about the reign of a newly crowned Queen, but they all thought the same thing inside, so they pretended not to notice.
When Kaian appeared, the soldiers standing guard in front of the door were startled and straightened their postures.
When they hurriedly knocked on the door and tried to report, Kaian raised his hand to stop them.
“No need to do that.”
Kaian entered the room without even knocking.
Valquiterre was sitting in a room that had been darkened even though it was still bright daylight.
Sadly, the room where Valquiterre was locked up was the same room where Claudel had stayed before.
Was there some reason for this room?
Everyone who stayed there was so sad that they were just crouching in the dark shade.
“The general has come, but you don’t even pretend to know?”
Kaian said deliberately, and only then did Valquiterre turn his head to look at him.
“Does the general have anything to say?”
“I have a mouth.”
“What brought you here?”
Hostility rose in Valquiterre's eyes.
“How dare you sell me to Bianque?”
“Didn’t you sell me to Vermont a long time ago with a food wagon?”
Kaian responded nonchalantly.
“And when you were controlling Bianque, you toyed with the idea of giving her up as prey. If she did as you said, you would make her the Duchess.”
“How could you...”
“Why? You can do it, but I can’t?”
Valquiterre clenched his fists in anger.
“You came all the way here to mock me. Are you that carefree, Duke of Temnes?”
Valquiterre had a habit of drawing a line when it came to giving titles to his family.
It also meant that he was extremely displeased.
Kaian looked at the shadowy wall and asked.
“Did you like my wife?”
Grand Duke Luxen unknowingly sought out the goddess of the earth, Luchena, who appears in the legend of the birth of the Duchy of Luxen.
“How can you make these children so pitiful?”
No one was happy.
Queen Sylvia was a woman with great ruling ability, but she was always under political pressure because she could not produce a successor.
He later found out that in addition to the foreign Grand Duke Luxen, she was also told to have a high-ranking nobleman from the Kingdom of Oberon as a mistress. What about the Duke and Duchess of Temnes, who suddenly had their child taken away?
Grand Duke Luxen was busy packing up gifts to send to Rowen in case Queen Sylvia decided to go on a trip.
When a wedding between kingdoms took place, rare items that could be sent as a Princess’s dowry were sent from Luxen to Rowen.
From Princess Elise’s perspective, having her child taken away was something that only those of low status and no means would have to sell their children to experience.
As soon as she gave birth, her postpartum depression worsened when her biological sister took her other son. The Duke of Temnes, who was struggling with his young wife who was much older than him, was having a hard time trying to appease Princess Elise.
So the Queen, who was so busy that she could barely spend time with her husband, the Grand Duke, went to live in Rowen every winter, which was a rough solution.
Princess Elise found comfort in seeing her children, the siblings, growing up together, even if only for a little while.
“The Queen hated me.”
“No.”
“It wasn’t until Bianque was born that I realized that I wasn’t her biological child and that’s why she treated me like that.”
“No. She tried to raise you as Oberon’s successor.”
“I experienced it myself.”
Valquiterre said sadly.
“I was always afraid of Her Majesty.”
All he wanted was for to her pick him up when he fell and to have a word of concern when he got hurt. He vaguely hoped that when he grew up and was terrified of the daunting and fearful tasks he would take on, she would pat him on the shoulder, encourage him, and sweetly praise him for what he did well.
“When I found out by chance that I was Kaian’s brother, all I could think was that everything was wrong.”
The world around him was twisted.
It felt like he had found the only path he needed to take amidst misfortune and heartache.
‘That place was originally mine.’
In his seething desire, Valquiterre took the name Kaian and grew up as the young master of the Rowen Castle and the successor to the Temnes family.
During his long stay in Rowen as a refugee, he had seen and heard how his brother had lived and grown, so every assumption seemed as if it were true as if a new self had been born.
“Because you were young.”
Grand Duke Luxen protected Valquiterre.
“You thought that way because you were not old enough to properly discern right from wrong.”
“Valquiterre was like an illusion.”
If he had grown up in Temnes, his life would have been very different.
Even though he was the eldest son of the family, he would have been pushed out of the lineage by Kaian, who had black hair and red eyes, according to tradition.
Even so, rather than feeling resentful, he might have become a member of Temnes and not have cared about it. He might have left all the bothersome land and family affairs to Kaian and lived a carefree life traveling around.
Or he might have been adopted by the royal family at that time and lived in the palace.
However, he would have grown up enough to be raised by his parents who gave birth to him, under the hot sun of Rowen.
“While living as the Crown Prince, I just lived like a doll with a shell called Valquiterre.”
If Valquiterre deviated even a little from the mold Queen Sylvia had created, his position would have been carved away alive.
When disciplining her young child, Queen Sylvia would scold him, saying that Valquiterre would make a joke without batting an eye.
“Sylvia.”
Grand Duke Luxen took a moment to choose his words.
“She wanted to be perfect.”
The Queen’s stubborn determination to not be found fault.
“She didn’t want to leave any possibility of trouble.”
She didn’t want to leave any room for the nobles to nitpick later.
“That’s why we made you our biological son instead of an adopted child.”
“Didn’t father dislike it?”
In a way, it was something that would have greatly hurt a man’s pride.
Grand Duke Luxen smiled faintly at Valquiterre's words.
“You were a great joy to me, Valquiterre.”
At that moment, Valquiterre's expression, which had been indifferent, cracked.
“I never thought you weren’t my son,”
Said Grand Duke Luxen slowly.
“Will you come with me to the Duchy of Luxen?”
“...”
“At this point, wouldn’t I want to pass the duchy on to my son?”
Unlike Queen Sylvia, Grand Duke Luxen still embraced him as ‘his son’ instead of criticizing him, and Valquiterre shed tears.
“Keuk.”
What he had wished for was something really trivial.
The heart of a bastard who had grown up without warmth had become cold and cruel. It beat crookedly, not hesitating to commit inhuman acts, and filled with jealousy and envy.
“Heuk.”
Was it really true that he was finally able to hear the words he had hoped for now, after ruining everything?
As Valquiterre sobbed in regret, a wrinkled and rough hand wiped away his son’s tears.
***
The carriage arrived in the capital six days after leaving the Castle of Valmonde.
“Madam!”
When the carriage stopped at the Temnes family mansion in the capital, Hannah ran out to greet us.
“Hannah!”
I and Hannah hugged each other and greeted each other warmly.
“How have you been?”
Hannah, who had been taking care of me after giving birth for a while, seemed much more energetic and lively than when I left Rowen.
“And Rohan?”
When we went there, we took a boat along the river to the capital, rested for a day at the mansion, then changed to a carriage and headed north.
It was a big deal that Kaian had learned that if they went back the way they came, they could get from the capital to Rowen in just three days if they hired a good captain.
“He’s at the dock.”
When I went from the capital to Valmonde, the road was much frozen.
It took almost three weeks to go to Valmonde, hold an event, and return to the capital. In the meantime, Rohan returned to Rowen, and when he came to pick me up, Hannah and the baby came with him.
“I’m glad you look healthy.”
Hannah frowned at my words.
“Madam, what’s wrong? I heard there was chaos at the lake.”
“As you can see, I’m fine.”
“You almost died!”
Hannah shouted.
“I should’ve gone with you.”
“You couldn’t help it since you were carrying a baby anyway. By the way, why are you using formal language again? It’s been a while, so welcome me. Okay?”
Hannah rolled her eyes left and right as I pressed her, taking notes and whispering softly.
“This is the capital mansion. The servants aren’t from Rowen Castle.”
She seemed worried that rumors would spread that the maid dared to speak informally to the Duchess.
“By the way, where are Uncle Evan and Mama Leonie?”
At the gateway city in the middle, Evan and Leonie got off Temnes’ carriage and rescued two horses.
‘I think I should go to Plogne once since I’ve come this far.’
My eyes widened at Leonie's words.
'Plogne Village?'
'There's something I want to check.'
'Isn't it dangerous?'
Evan coughed at my words.
'What could be dangerous when I'm here?'
Plogne Village was about three days drive from the capital, along the border of the territory, on the road that went almost straight down.
It wasn't too far, but since the road was winding through the mountains, horses were better than carriages, so Evan and Leonie rode away and parted ways.
"There were times when I thought I'd like to go there too."
Hannah looked surprised at my words.
"Really? I've never thought about that."
"I'm just curious. It seems like everything I did when I was young is a dream."
"If you go, there'll only be burnt ruins left."
She was right.
But there might be people who give up and think only about what's next after confirming that it's completely over.
I guessed that my mother and father had decided to visit the village of Plogne for that reason.
“I’ll ask them when they get back.”
“Yes. I’m curious.”
Hannah tilted her head back and looked around.
“But what about the lord?”
“Kaian...”
I smiled bitterly.
***
Kaian walked along the long corridors of the palace and looked around the places that he was familiar with.
“The atmosphere has changed quite a bit.”
“That’s right.”
The palace attendant who was walking beside him answered.
“Her Majesty Queen Bianque wants a fresh new look, so we’re renovating it here and there.”
“She's doing something useless.”
Everyone flinched at the sight of him making such bold remarks about the reign of a newly crowned Queen, but they all thought the same thing inside, so they pretended not to notice.
When Kaian appeared, the soldiers standing guard in front of the door were startled and straightened their postures.
When they hurriedly knocked on the door and tried to report, Kaian raised his hand to stop them.
“No need to do that.”
Kaian entered the room without even knocking.
Valquiterre was sitting in a room that had been darkened even though it was still bright daylight.
Sadly, the room where Valquiterre was locked up was the same room where Claudel had stayed before.
Was there some reason for this room?
Everyone who stayed there was so sad that they were just crouching in the dark shade.
“The general has come, but you don’t even pretend to know?”
Kaian said deliberately, and only then did Valquiterre turn his head to look at him.
“Does the general have anything to say?”
“I have a mouth.”
“What brought you here?”
Hostility rose in Valquiterre's eyes.
“How dare you sell me to Bianque?”
“Didn’t you sell me to Vermont a long time ago with a food wagon?”
Kaian responded nonchalantly.
“And when you were controlling Bianque, you toyed with the idea of giving her up as prey. If she did as you said, you would make her the Duchess.”
“How could you...”
“Why? You can do it, but I can’t?”
Valquiterre clenched his fists in anger.
“You came all the way here to mock me. Are you that carefree, Duke of Temnes?”
Valquiterre had a habit of drawing a line when it came to giving titles to his family.
It also meant that he was extremely displeased.
Kaian looked at the shadowy wall and asked.
“Did you like my wife?”
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