Episode 106. I Regret Trusting You
The Grand Duke of Artaeum and Duke Flice sat across from each other.
The Grand Duke leaned back arrogantly and crossed his arms.
Duke Flice coming first? It was ridiculous.
He spoke to the Duke with a cool gaze, unlike the upturned corners of his mouth.
“You’ll see what happens if you live long enough. I didn’t know you’d come to me first.”
Duke Flice’s mouth twitched at the Grand Duke's words.
“How arrogant of such a young kid.”
He found it amusing how he was so arrogant after catching the traces of Chicagor’s biological experiments.
He had heard that Cedric was diligently working to clean up the mess.
The sight of the Grand Duke acting like a winner before everything had even been turned upside down was repugnant to him.
“There’s nothing you can do about being young.”
However, the one who was feeling sorry now was not the Grand Duke, but Duke Flice.
He tried hard to hide his displeasure and turned to the Grand Duke.
“I heard you were visiting the capital, so I couldn’t just sit still.”
As soon as Duke Plice finished speaking, a chuckle escaped the Grand Duke's lips.
“Since when have you been so concerned about me?”
Well, he had.
He was the one who had been waiting for an opportunity to kill him.
“Wouldn’t it be better to stop beating around the bush and get to the point? We’re both busy.”
The Grand Duke drew a sharp line at Duke Flice.
However, Duke Flice didn’t easily reveal his true colors.
“You’ve grown up so much. You resemble His Majesty the late Emperor, don’t you know?”
The Grand Duke's normally relaxed expression hardened when the subject of his deceased father came up.
The air in the room was incredibly chilling.
A heavy silence fell. The ticking of the clock heightened the tension.
“I didn’t expect you, Duke, to talk about my father.”
The one who broke the silence was the Grand Duke of Artaeum.
He couldn't stand the Duke of Flice talking about his father.
How dare he, shamelessly...!
His wide-open eyes were filled with rage. His fists were clenched, veins bulging out on his forearms.
"Who killed my father?"
"His Majesty the late King died of an illness."
Duke Flice spoke slowly, without blinking.
Hearing his answer, the Grand Duke of Artaeum's face flushed crimson. The anger he had been holding back exploded.
The Grand Duke leaped to his feet and roared, as if venting his anger.
"My father! He didn't die of illness!"
Despite the Duke's immense murderous intent, Duke Flice remained calm.
He smirked at the excited Grand Duke.
"Haven't I told you before? You won't be able to accomplish anything if you keep getting carried away like this?"
In front of the Grand Duke, who was grumbling, unable to contain his anger, Duke Flice leisurely savored his tea.
“Please, sit down. It seems we haven’t even begun the main topic.”
He set down his teacup with a clatter and looked up at Grand Duke Artaeum.
Grand Duke Artaeum glared at Duke Flice, his fists clenched.
Indeed, his experience was hard to match. To be swayed so much by his words.
Grand Duke Artaeum chewed his lower lip, grumbling. Then, he sank down onto the sofa.
He gulped down the water on the table in one gulp and roughly set down his glass.
A dull thud echoed.
The Grand Duke wiped the moisture from his mouth and glared at Duke Flice.
“Yes. So what is it you wish to say?”
“I have come to make a proposal.”
“Proposal?”
Grand Duke Artaeum’s eyebrows rose in displeasure at Duke Flice’s words.
“You’re not in a position to make an offer to me right now.”
The Grand Duke said, but he simply shrugged.
“How about joining hands with me?”
“Join hands with the Duke? Why me?”
For some reason, that damn bat-like man?
‘The guy who betrayed his father and sided with his uncle... now he’s joining me?’
He could only laugh in vain at the absurd situation.
“His Majesty is not such an easy man.”
“I know that very well.”
“Cedric, he’s even scarier than you think. What you know is just the tip of the iceberg.”
Duke Flice spoke arrogantly in front of the Grand Duke.
"If you join hands with me, I can share what I know with you. Of course, it all depends on your attitude."
He gave a patronizing expression, the corners of his mouth curling up.
"Who knows? If I like you, I might be able to tell you everything."
He was confident the Grand Duke wouldn't be able to refuse him.
No matter how much he disliked him, he was the current Emperor's closest confidant.
If he was just right, he could share all the information he had.
'Cedric, I must move quickly to deal with that snake-like bastard.'
Cedric had been a loyal subordinate, but not anymore.
He had cut off his own tail first.
However, he hadn't expected that bastard would come after him, living or dead.
'How dare you accuse me of being a traitor in front of His Majesty!'
After the Princess's birth banquet, Cedric accused Duke Flice of having ambitions for the throne.
As a result, the Emperor no longer trusted him as before.
Suspecting that he might seek the throne at any moment, he began to distance himself from Duke Flice.
His position at the center of power had become extremely ambiguous.
Not only was it ambiguous, but he faced the risk of losing his life if he made a single mistake.
His only way to survive was to cling to the Grand Duke of Artaeum and instigate another rebellion.
The Grand Duke of Artaeum glared at the Duke with a cold gaze. He opened his tightly shut mouth and spoke mockingly.
“You’re a ridiculous sight, Duke Flice.”
“!”
“To think you, so arrogant and ignorant of the heavens, would reach out to me.”
Duke Flice bit his lower lip.
It was hard to bear the sight of the young Grand Duke ignoring him.
Duke Flice expertly concealed his feelings and spoke calmly.
“You seem to be mistaken, Grand Duke of Artaeum. I’m reaching out to help you.”
At Duke Flice’s words, the Grand Duke burst into laughter.
“Me?”
The Duke's brazen speech seemed quite amusing.
"When you were trying to kill me, and now you're coming to help me?"
For a moment, the Grand Duke's expression froze coldly.
"You were the one who coldly abandoned me, who knew nothing. You threatened me, helpless, and threw me into the northern snowfield. When I, who had no one to trust, came to you, what did you say to me?"
Duke Flice quietly closed his eyes at the Grand Duke's words.
"You're bringing up old stories. Sadly, I'm old now, and I don't remember conversations from long ago."
"Since you say you don't remember, I'll tell you myself. Didn't you tell me? If you don't want to see any more blood, just put your head down and die. That's the best you can do."
He trusted Duke Flice more than his uncle, who was his family.
He braved the blizzard, desperately seeking help, but all he got in return was a command to die.
“Don’t push me away just because I don’t remember. You know how much I cherished and loved you.”
He refuted the Grand Duke.
However, the Grand Duke couldn’t forget the moment Duke Flice had spoken.
The wounds he had received as a child had sunk deep into his heart, leaving a scar he would never forget for the rest of his life. It was Duke Flice, and this very reason, that had made him so untrustworthy.
“We can’t communicate. It feels like a waste of time to continue talking.”
The Grand Duke stared at Duke Flice with cold eyes.
He said there was nothing more to say and then stood up.
“Grand Duke Artaeum.”
Duke Flice’s voice came from behind the Grand Duke as he was leaving.
The Grand Duke ignored the voice and continued on.
“Lucas!”
Duke Flice jumped to his feet and called the Grand Duke's name. He froze in his tracks.
“If you go now, you will surely regret it.”
Another voice came from behind him.
The Grand Duke slowly turned and looked at Duke Flice. Then, without a shred of regret, he spoke firmly.
“Regret? If it’s regret, I regretted it a long time ago. I regret trusting you to the death".
“Diana also went ahead, saying she had some work to do.”
“Did you have a good conversation? How did she react to your proposal?”
The reason Julius was summoned to the empire in the first place was because of Diana. After all, he had promised her something before.
“Hmm...”
Julius’s response to the Grand Duke's question was ambiguous. But that was only for a moment, and his expression brightened as he replied.
“Well, it wasn’t bad.”
“Really? That’s good.”
“Don’t worry about that, leave it to me.”
Julius gave a thumbs-up, looking confident.
The Grand Duke of Artaeum took Julius’s words that it wasn’t bad at all at face value.
If he had seen Diana, furious and sulking, it would have been different, but he saw nothing.
Diana, walking back to her palace, muttered harsh curses, forgetting even her dignity.
"Damn it! You said you'd stop me from marrying an old man, but where did you bring that worthless bastard from?"
Her face, flushed red and blue, was distorted.
She had hated Julius since childhood.
She had hated that sly, incompetent Crown Prince who liked to cross-dress.
But to marry Julius and avoid a political marriage!
That was like telling Diana to die.
Diana, who stomped back to the castle, screamed in frustration, unable to control her anger.
The Grand Duke of Artaeum and Duke Flice sat across from each other.
The Grand Duke leaned back arrogantly and crossed his arms.
Duke Flice coming first? It was ridiculous.
He spoke to the Duke with a cool gaze, unlike the upturned corners of his mouth.
“You’ll see what happens if you live long enough. I didn’t know you’d come to me first.”
Duke Flice’s mouth twitched at the Grand Duke's words.
“How arrogant of such a young kid.”
He found it amusing how he was so arrogant after catching the traces of Chicagor’s biological experiments.
He had heard that Cedric was diligently working to clean up the mess.
The sight of the Grand Duke acting like a winner before everything had even been turned upside down was repugnant to him.
“There’s nothing you can do about being young.”
However, the one who was feeling sorry now was not the Grand Duke, but Duke Flice.
He tried hard to hide his displeasure and turned to the Grand Duke.
“I heard you were visiting the capital, so I couldn’t just sit still.”
As soon as Duke Plice finished speaking, a chuckle escaped the Grand Duke's lips.
“Since when have you been so concerned about me?”
Well, he had.
He was the one who had been waiting for an opportunity to kill him.
“Wouldn’t it be better to stop beating around the bush and get to the point? We’re both busy.”
The Grand Duke drew a sharp line at Duke Flice.
However, Duke Flice didn’t easily reveal his true colors.
“You’ve grown up so much. You resemble His Majesty the late Emperor, don’t you know?”
The Grand Duke's normally relaxed expression hardened when the subject of his deceased father came up.
The air in the room was incredibly chilling.
A heavy silence fell. The ticking of the clock heightened the tension.
“I didn’t expect you, Duke, to talk about my father.”
The one who broke the silence was the Grand Duke of Artaeum.
He couldn't stand the Duke of Flice talking about his father.
How dare he, shamelessly...!
His wide-open eyes were filled with rage. His fists were clenched, veins bulging out on his forearms.
"Who killed my father?"
"His Majesty the late King died of an illness."
Duke Flice spoke slowly, without blinking.
Hearing his answer, the Grand Duke of Artaeum's face flushed crimson. The anger he had been holding back exploded.
The Grand Duke leaped to his feet and roared, as if venting his anger.
"My father! He didn't die of illness!"
Despite the Duke's immense murderous intent, Duke Flice remained calm.
He smirked at the excited Grand Duke.
"Haven't I told you before? You won't be able to accomplish anything if you keep getting carried away like this?"
In front of the Grand Duke, who was grumbling, unable to contain his anger, Duke Flice leisurely savored his tea.
“Please, sit down. It seems we haven’t even begun the main topic.”
He set down his teacup with a clatter and looked up at Grand Duke Artaeum.
Grand Duke Artaeum glared at Duke Flice, his fists clenched.
Indeed, his experience was hard to match. To be swayed so much by his words.
Grand Duke Artaeum chewed his lower lip, grumbling. Then, he sank down onto the sofa.
He gulped down the water on the table in one gulp and roughly set down his glass.
A dull thud echoed.
The Grand Duke wiped the moisture from his mouth and glared at Duke Flice.
“Yes. So what is it you wish to say?”
“I have come to make a proposal.”
“Proposal?”
Grand Duke Artaeum’s eyebrows rose in displeasure at Duke Flice’s words.
“You’re not in a position to make an offer to me right now.”
The Grand Duke said, but he simply shrugged.
“How about joining hands with me?”
“Join hands with the Duke? Why me?”
For some reason, that damn bat-like man?
‘The guy who betrayed his father and sided with his uncle... now he’s joining me?’
He could only laugh in vain at the absurd situation.
“His Majesty is not such an easy man.”
“I know that very well.”
“Cedric, he’s even scarier than you think. What you know is just the tip of the iceberg.”
Duke Flice spoke arrogantly in front of the Grand Duke.
"If you join hands with me, I can share what I know with you. Of course, it all depends on your attitude."
He gave a patronizing expression, the corners of his mouth curling up.
"Who knows? If I like you, I might be able to tell you everything."
He was confident the Grand Duke wouldn't be able to refuse him.
No matter how much he disliked him, he was the current Emperor's closest confidant.
If he was just right, he could share all the information he had.
'Cedric, I must move quickly to deal with that snake-like bastard.'
Cedric had been a loyal subordinate, but not anymore.
He had cut off his own tail first.
However, he hadn't expected that bastard would come after him, living or dead.
'How dare you accuse me of being a traitor in front of His Majesty!'
After the Princess's birth banquet, Cedric accused Duke Flice of having ambitions for the throne.
As a result, the Emperor no longer trusted him as before.
Suspecting that he might seek the throne at any moment, he began to distance himself from Duke Flice.
His position at the center of power had become extremely ambiguous.
Not only was it ambiguous, but he faced the risk of losing his life if he made a single mistake.
His only way to survive was to cling to the Grand Duke of Artaeum and instigate another rebellion.
The Grand Duke of Artaeum glared at the Duke with a cold gaze. He opened his tightly shut mouth and spoke mockingly.
“You’re a ridiculous sight, Duke Flice.”
“!”
“To think you, so arrogant and ignorant of the heavens, would reach out to me.”
Duke Flice bit his lower lip.
It was hard to bear the sight of the young Grand Duke ignoring him.
Duke Flice expertly concealed his feelings and spoke calmly.
“You seem to be mistaken, Grand Duke of Artaeum. I’m reaching out to help you.”
At Duke Flice’s words, the Grand Duke burst into laughter.
“Me?”
The Duke's brazen speech seemed quite amusing.
"When you were trying to kill me, and now you're coming to help me?"
For a moment, the Grand Duke's expression froze coldly.
"You were the one who coldly abandoned me, who knew nothing. You threatened me, helpless, and threw me into the northern snowfield. When I, who had no one to trust, came to you, what did you say to me?"
Duke Flice quietly closed his eyes at the Grand Duke's words.
"You're bringing up old stories. Sadly, I'm old now, and I don't remember conversations from long ago."
"Since you say you don't remember, I'll tell you myself. Didn't you tell me? If you don't want to see any more blood, just put your head down and die. That's the best you can do."
He trusted Duke Flice more than his uncle, who was his family.
He braved the blizzard, desperately seeking help, but all he got in return was a command to die.
“Don’t push me away just because I don’t remember. You know how much I cherished and loved you.”
He refuted the Grand Duke.
However, the Grand Duke couldn’t forget the moment Duke Flice had spoken.
The wounds he had received as a child had sunk deep into his heart, leaving a scar he would never forget for the rest of his life. It was Duke Flice, and this very reason, that had made him so untrustworthy.
“We can’t communicate. It feels like a waste of time to continue talking.”
The Grand Duke stared at Duke Flice with cold eyes.
He said there was nothing more to say and then stood up.
“Grand Duke Artaeum.”
Duke Flice’s voice came from behind the Grand Duke as he was leaving.
The Grand Duke ignored the voice and continued on.
“Lucas!”
Duke Flice jumped to his feet and called the Grand Duke's name. He froze in his tracks.
“If you go now, you will surely regret it.”
Another voice came from behind him.
The Grand Duke slowly turned and looked at Duke Flice. Then, without a shred of regret, he spoke firmly.
“Regret? If it’s regret, I regretted it a long time ago. I regret trusting you to the death".
Now, he truly wanted to leave. Even talking to him face-to-face was disgusting. When Grand Duke Artaeum refused to budge, Duke Flice finally pulled out his trump card.
“Marquis Bled! You clearly said you saved him from a strange monster. It wasn’t a monster, it was a demon!”
An urgent voice spoke to the Grand Duke.
“Cedric! He must have killed Marquis Bled! I know Cedric’s secret!”
“A monster?”
Duke Flice’s eyes lit up at the Grand Duke's interest.
“Yes! If you join hands with me, I’ll tell you the secret!”
Duke Flice’s back was suddenly soaked with moisture.
His hands were soaked with cold sweat. If the Grand Duke refused even this... he might die soon.
The Grand Duke closed his eyes and fell into deep thought.
‘A secret... Could it be that Cedric possesses Luna’s tears?’
He had suspected Rose on the night of the full moon. He had thought that she possessed Luna’s tears and could use them to control monsters.
However, hearing Duke Flice’s words, he somehow felt that Cedric might possess Luna’s tears.
‘...I guess I need to look into it a little more.’
After organizing his thoughts, he slowly opened his eyes. And he opened his mouth to Duke Flice.
“Let me hear what the Duke has to say.”
The Grand Duke, having finished his conversation with Duke Flice, walked out with a complicated expression.
“It’s taken quite a while, Lucas.”
The person waiting outside was none other than Julius.
“...The conversation has become a bit long.”
Julius, seeing the confused look on the Grand Duke of Artaeum, grabbed his shoulder.
“Lucas, just in case, I’m telling you, never join hands with Duke Plice.”
“...”
“You know better than anyone how experienced he is. He’ll use you as a shield. And he’ll run away with only his own life to spare.”
Julius was worried about the Grand Duke of Artaeum.
It wasn’t because he didn’t trust the Grand Duke, but because Duke Flice was that despicable.
“Don’t worry. Do you think I’m still a child?”
The Grand Duke answered slowly and looked at Julius. Even at the Grand Duke's words, Julius’s eyes still looked anxious.
He gave Julius a faint smile and looked around.
“Rose must have gone out with Neruan... and what about Diana?”
“Marquis Bled! You clearly said you saved him from a strange monster. It wasn’t a monster, it was a demon!”
An urgent voice spoke to the Grand Duke.
“Cedric! He must have killed Marquis Bled! I know Cedric’s secret!”
“A monster?”
Duke Flice’s eyes lit up at the Grand Duke's interest.
“Yes! If you join hands with me, I’ll tell you the secret!”
Duke Flice’s back was suddenly soaked with moisture.
His hands were soaked with cold sweat. If the Grand Duke refused even this... he might die soon.
The Grand Duke closed his eyes and fell into deep thought.
‘A secret... Could it be that Cedric possesses Luna’s tears?’
He had suspected Rose on the night of the full moon. He had thought that she possessed Luna’s tears and could use them to control monsters.
However, hearing Duke Flice’s words, he somehow felt that Cedric might possess Luna’s tears.
‘...I guess I need to look into it a little more.’
After organizing his thoughts, he slowly opened his eyes. And he opened his mouth to Duke Flice.
“Let me hear what the Duke has to say.”
***
The Grand Duke, having finished his conversation with Duke Flice, walked out with a complicated expression.
“It’s taken quite a while, Lucas.”
The person waiting outside was none other than Julius.
“...The conversation has become a bit long.”
Julius, seeing the confused look on the Grand Duke of Artaeum, grabbed his shoulder.
“Lucas, just in case, I’m telling you, never join hands with Duke Plice.”
“...”
“You know better than anyone how experienced he is. He’ll use you as a shield. And he’ll run away with only his own life to spare.”
Julius was worried about the Grand Duke of Artaeum.
It wasn’t because he didn’t trust the Grand Duke, but because Duke Flice was that despicable.
“Don’t worry. Do you think I’m still a child?”
The Grand Duke answered slowly and looked at Julius. Even at the Grand Duke's words, Julius’s eyes still looked anxious.
He gave Julius a faint smile and looked around.
“Rose must have gone out with Neruan... and what about Diana?”
“Diana also went ahead, saying she had some work to do.”
“Did you have a good conversation? How did she react to your proposal?”
The reason Julius was summoned to the empire in the first place was because of Diana. After all, he had promised her something before.
“Hmm...”
Julius’s response to the Grand Duke's question was ambiguous. But that was only for a moment, and his expression brightened as he replied.
“Well, it wasn’t bad.”
“Really? That’s good.”
“Don’t worry about that, leave it to me.”
Julius gave a thumbs-up, looking confident.
The Grand Duke of Artaeum took Julius’s words that it wasn’t bad at all at face value.
If he had seen Diana, furious and sulking, it would have been different, but he saw nothing.
Diana, walking back to her palace, muttered harsh curses, forgetting even her dignity.
"Damn it! You said you'd stop me from marrying an old man, but where did you bring that worthless bastard from?"
Her face, flushed red and blue, was distorted.
She had hated Julius since childhood.
She had hated that sly, incompetent Crown Prince who liked to cross-dress.
But to marry Julius and avoid a political marriage!
That was like telling Diana to die.
Diana, who stomped back to the castle, screamed in frustration, unable to control her anger.
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