This chapter is broken. Please report this on discord.
T/N: I think she will choose Damian, because she was never pregnant in the first place. But still, how my hatred for Sergei is growing every chapter.
Chapter 49
The words that Nick uttered were truly shocking. Madam was planning to poison the Princess.
“Last night, I found poison in Daphne’s belongings.”“Ah…”It was the truth.
Alec blinked, unsure of how to react. Then, a sense of doubt crept in.
Why did His Excellency intervene to stop it? Whether the attempt to poison the Princess succeeded or not, the very act of plotting it would have landed Daphne in prison. That would have naturally led to their divorce.
Ah, but Madam carries His Excellency’s child.
Alec belatedly remembered this fact and nodded to himself.
“No.”
At that moment, Edmund suddenly stopped, prompting Alec to turn back toward him.
“We’re returning.”“It hasn’t even been an hour yet.”Despite Alec’s protest, Edmund pulled at the reins of his horse. It was then, as a vague sense of unease began to creep up from his feet, that a voice called out.
“Duke?”
It was Carlito who appeared at that moment. Edmund loosened his grip on the reins slightly.
“Are you participating as well, Your Highness?”“Ah, my father’s cough worsened suddenly, so I’m here in his place.”Carlito, realizing that Edmund’s gaze was directed toward the empty space behind him, offered a sheepish smile.
“I was chasing prey and ended up alone.”Edmund suppressed a sigh. He couldn’t simply leave Carlito, who was separated from his men, alone, so they began an awkward journey together.
“So, the decapitated animal carcasses were all your doing Duke?”Carlito asked, glancing at the headless animals strewn about. Carlito did most of the talking, while Edmund only responded briefly when addressed.
“Oh, by the way, it seems the Young Lord has taken quite a liking to the Duchess.”Edmund turned his gaze toward Carlito at the unexpected remark. Carlito shrugged.
“After the hunting competition ended yesterday, he hurried off somewhere, so I followed him and saw that he went to visit the Duchess. The Duchess appeared to be with Elizabeth and other noblewomen at the time.”At the mention of Elizabeth’s name, Edmund’s brow furrowed slightly. He glanced at Alec, who also shook his head slightly, looking perplexed.
Chris, whom they had assigned to keep watch, hadn’t reported anything like that.
“But Duke, no matter how much the Young Lord admires the Duchess, isn’t the most important thing your own feelings?”Carlito moved closer to Edmund, steering his horse alongside his.
“What do you think of my sister, Duke?”“…”“To say it myself is a bit awkward, but Elizabeth is beautiful, even in my eyes. More so than anyone else.”There was something particularly grating about how he emphasized the last part. The statement seemed to point directly at Daphne, despite being phrased as if it included everyone.
“Well, if you became my brother-in-law, that wouldn’t be so bad either.”“Your Highness! Where are you? Oh, Your Highness! If you vanish like that, what are we supposed to do?”“Ha! You fools couldn’t keep up with me, and now you blame me?”As Carlito finished speaking, a group of men, presumably his attendants, emerged from the bushes. Carlito’s expression briefly twisted into annoyance before he quickly smoothed it over and greeted them with a bright smile, raising his hand.
And then, suddenly, Carlito’s body swayed.
“Your Highness!”One of his attendants cried out sharply, and Edmund, who was nearest, reached out instinctively. Carlito, as if waiting for it, grabbed Edmund’s hand. Using the momentum, Carlito pulled himself closer to Edmund before letting go and stepping back.
“If it weren’t for you Duke, that could’ve ended badly.”“Please, take better care of yourself.”Carlito’s near fall left his attendants pale with worry. Turning to them, Carlito raised a hand in farewell.
“Take care, Dukce.”Even after Carlito disappeared from sight, Edmund’s face remained tense. In his hand was a magical stone that Carlito had slipped to him. It was infused with divine power.
* * *
“Return to the estate.”
“Excuse me?”While the young page tilted his head in confusion, Damian dismounted and tied his horse’s reins to a nearby tree.
“I’ve left marks along the way, so finding your way back won’t be difficult.”Realizing where Damian intended to go, the page’s face turned pale.
“Y-Young Lord, that place is…”“How many times must I tell you?”“…Understood.”With Damian’s piercing gaze bearing down on him, the page reluctantly turned back. Only after the page disappeared, leaving no trace of human presence, did Damian move.
The deeper he ventured into the Black Forest, the heavier the air pressed down on him. All sound vanished. No rustling leaves, no calls of animals, replaced only by an eerie silence.
Instinctively, Damian’s hand twitched toward his sword hilt, his unease growing with every step. When he finally reached the designated meeting point, Damian licked his dry lips. The oppressive atmosphere of the Black Forest was one thing, but the anticipation made him even more anxious. He glanced down at his sweat-dampened palms and took a deep breath.
“Haah.”Then he muttered under his breath.
Even if this ended in failure, he wouldn’t despair. This was just the beginning.
Encouraged by the thought of uncovering more information in the future, Damian suddenly found himself wondering.
‘How did Vent know about this?’
In his excitement and relief, he had forgotten to ask. He resolved to inquire once he returned, but just then…
Rustle.
At the faint sound, Damian froze, even his breathing coming to a halt. In this place, devoid of wind or animal calls, the only one who could create such a noise was the person who had summoned him here.
Taking a deep breath, Damian turned his head
“!”
And froze.
* * *
“Oh, you’re here.”
Sergei turned around with a smile as Daphne arrived.
It had been about an hour since the hunting competition began when Daphne made her move. She didn’t even know the proper location, but as soon as she entered the forest, someone appeared in front of her.
[“I’ll guide you.”]It was one of Sergei's men. After walking for a while, she arrived before Sergei.
“Noah, good job.”
“It’s nothing, Sir Sergei.”“You’re a bit late,” Sergei said with a sly smile, checking the time. “Did the princess summon you?"[“Let me get straight to the point. Divorce the Duke.”]
Just before the hunting competition began, Elizabeth had abruptly appeared and said those words.
Her excuse for coming was to apologize for having chosen Edmund as her partner, but the reality was different. Elizabeth had boldly demanded Daphne to get a divorce.
“...You don’t need to worry about that.”
Daphne said, suppressing the memory that floated to the surface. She nervously scanned her surroundings and then spotted the man who had been talking to Sergei earlier.
“You are…”Nick. It was Nick Archer. The emperor’s assassin, Nick, stared at Daphne indifferently with his crimson eyes.
“The Duke must have been desperate. Bringing in Nick Archer to search for his sister proves it.”
Sergei said, patting Nick on the shoulder. Nick’s red eyes flared even brighter.
“It was tough to break through the brainwashing, but it turned out alright, don’t you think? Look, he can even hide the red in his eyes now.”
Snap. When Sergei snapped his fingers, the red hue in Nick’s eyes disappeared, gradually returning to brown.
Daphne trembled as she witnessed the revival of life in Nick’s gaze. Her mouth dried out no matter how much she tried to swallow.
“...No way.”“That’s right. A new experiment succeeded.”Sergei turned his gaze from Nick to Daphne.
“The temple caused such a ruckus that I had to speed up the experiments, which led to a lot of failures, but in the end, I succeeded.”Sergei chuckled.
“Isn’t it ironic? That the second child of the Saint possesses more divine power.”The temple had deceived everyone.
The Saint’s mark didn’t appear based on specific criteria; it was simply passed down to the first child of the Saint’s lineage. It was all an act to maintain fairness and faith.
But as the divine power of the Saint became fainter over time, those who worshipped the first child belatedly realized the truth. The second child carried a greater reservoir of divine power. We chose wrong!
However, it was too late. The truth had already become public knowledge and could not be undone. Thus began the secret dealings between the temple and the Bled family. To seal the deal, countless lives, thousands, even tens of thousands, were sacrificed for Sergei’s experiments. The success rate was abysmally low.
“Shall we reintroduce ourselves?”Daphne’s body froze.
“My dear sister, my beloved failure.”
She was one of the failed experiments.
Sergei, ever the devoted experimenter, even cherished his failures. To Daphne, this was horrifying beyond words. Horrifying enough to endure a five-year marriage full of scars, just to escape his grasp.
But once again, she had made the same mistake.
[“If you don’t want the ones you cherish to get hurt…”]She had walked into yet another obvious trap. Just like when she ascended to the capital a few months ago.
“In the meantime, I have a new experiment, sister.”Sergei pulled out a small vial as he grinned at Daphne, who was trembling like a leaf at the mention of the word ‘failure.’ The vial contained a crimson liquid.
“This potion causes one to lose all reason and unleash their power uncontrollably until they die. Have you ever seen a Sword Master in a frenzy?”Daphne froze, the color draining from her face.
Sergei handed the potion to Nick. In the blink of an eye, Nick vanished. Daphne couldn’t even follow his movement with her eyes.
When she belatedly turned around, Sergei clapped his hands, as if he had just realized something.
“Oh, but I didn’t check who he went after.”“...What do you mean?”Daphne had assumed it was Edmund, but her shoulders flinched at Sergei’s words.
“The Young Lord wasn’t satisfied with your love, it seems. The moment I leaked some information about his biological mother, he took the bait and obediently came to the Black Forest’s entrance.”The Black Forest.
Daphne’s heart pounded as if it would burst.
“Come to think of it, the Young Lord never really had your love, did he? Even from afar, just looking at him made me queasy. Considering he inherited a stronger bloodline than the Duke, it’s no wonder his aura is overwhelming. Aura-induced nausea is such a persistent issue.”Sergei stepped closer to the visibly shaken Daphne, gently holding her shoulders and turning her around. Then he whispered.
“Choose wisely.”His gaze dropped to Daphne’s flat stomach.
“The father of the child in your womb, or the son you’ve spent five years raising at the cost of your own life.”Sergei lightly pushed Daphne’s shoulder. Staggering, Daphne broke into a run, her destination already decided.