Previously
Resurreccion orders Edwin to place Dolores under the surveillance of Sothis while feeling confident the Emperor will permit their union. Meanwhile, Madame Rouare manipulates Adrian and the Emperor into agreeing to downsize Adrian and Dolores's state wedding under the guise of mourning the Howard Street disaster.
A servant was the first to snap back to his senses at Resurreccion’s command.
“…! Yes, Your Highness!”
While the servant hurried to refill the glass, Adrian gathered his wits as well.
“Haha. Brother, even for a jest, you’ve crossed the line!”
“Have I ever joked with you, Brother?”
“You—then! Ha, if it isn’t a joke, do you honestly think this makes any sense?!”
“Why wouldn’t it?”
“Dolores is my woman! She’s your older brother’s fiancée!”
Adrian was becoming more and more incredulous.
No matter how one looked at it, Resurreccion was the mad one here, yet he remained utterly composed.
“Technically speaking, the marquisate only wished to form an alliance with the imperial family.”
“That’s the exact same—!”
“There shouldn’t be an issue if I’m slotted in at the last minute, right? Wouldn’t you agree, Your Majesty?”
Resurreccion knew full well this was sheer obstinacy.
Even so, he slowly cast his gaze toward his trump card.
The very person who would take his side in this situation.
“…Father.”
“Oho… Resurreccion, to think you would bring up such a thing.”
“…”
“Do you truly wish to marry?”
“Yes.”
“Hmm.”
The Emperor peered intently at his second son.
Until now, he had pressured Resurreccion relentlessly about marriage.
Yet every single time, this insolent son had paid him no heed.
The Emperor had even gone so far as to shove a woman into his chambers.
And each time, Resurreccion had gotten the woman dead drunk before sauntering out of the room at his leisure.
Resurreccion raised his golden eyes and met his father’s gaze straight on.
“Unless it’s Lady Rochester, I have no particular interest in marriage at all.”
“Hmph. It is good that you’ve finally developed an inclination to build a family…”
A strange glint crept into the Emperor’s previously dull eyes.
It was a look of unadulterated greed.
“…In return, you intend to father a child, do you not?”
“…”
“If that is your intention, I shall grant permission. Only on the condition that you produce an heir.”
Resurreccion briefly glanced down at the knife in his hand.
If the knife happened to slip and stab the old man, would that count as accidental patricide?
‘You sly, monstrous old bastard.’
Still, Resurreccion humored him for the moment.
“Well, if we labor day and night, one is bound to come out.”
“Hahaha!”
The Emperor burst into hearty laughter.
At the sound, Adrian trembled and leapt to his feet.
“Father! This wretch is spouting utter nonsense! How could you—!”
“Now, now. Calm down, Brother.”
“Shut your mouth, you mad bastard!”
“Oh, my. How terrifying.”
“You…!”
Adrian shrieked, spewing foul curses entirely unbefitting his handsome face.
Then, wheeling around, he stormed straight out of the dining hall.
He ignored the startled voices calling after him.
‘The marquisate! I must coordinate our story with them at once!’
If House Rochester refused to budge, there would be a way to fight back together.
And so, Marquis Rochester’s estate was thrown into absolute turmoil.
Dolores was not surprised by the Crown Prince’s sudden visit.
‘Hmm. What was bound to come has arrived.’
Had Resurreccion not made a prompt declaration of courtship, she would have been dragged into wedding preparations.
Adrian summoned the Marquis, his eldest son James, and Dolores into the drawing room before charging right in.
“My mad dog of a brother claims he intends to court Dolores.”
The Marquis and James were equally astonished.
“The Grand Duke…? Dolores, of all people?”
“Your Highness, could it not have been merely a jest on the Grand Duke’s part?”
“It is no jest!”
Adrian fumed, losing his temper in an uncharacteristic display.
Dolores quietly watched his contorted face.
‘He wore that exact expression when my infertility was revealed.’
It felt truly delightful to see it warp over something that was not her fault this time.
Adrian’s eyes glinted with cold malice.
“He might secure His Majesty’s approval any moment now. I cannot let Dolly be handed over to such a filthy mongrel—!”
“Oh, my. Prince Adrian.”
Dolores, who had considered keeping silent, changed her mind.
Hearing that sickening pet name made her feel as though she might have a fit.
“I have no objections whatsoever to marrying the Grand Duke.”
“What…? Dolly, what are you talking about?”
“Precisely what you heard, Your Highness.”
Dolores stared at the youthful face of the husband who had tormented her for twenty years.
The day he had announced the bastard born of Angelica as his own son.
When Dolores wept bitterly in her room from sheer humiliation, Adrian had instead flared up in anger.
‘Dolly. What did you do to earn the right to weep like that? I cannot fathom it.’
‘Your Majesty…!’
‘Poor Angelica cannot even claim her own son before others!’
Remembering that moment made her nauseous.
Yet Dolores smiled serenely. If she didn’t smile, she felt she truly might throw up.
“Come to think of it, I believe a man with a wilder charm is more to my taste.”
“What did you say…?”
“It is embarrassing to admit so late, but I’ve realized that I am drawn to well-muscled, imposing men.”
The drawing room fell dead silent at her unladylike remark.
Adrian glared at Dolores, his eyes filled with contempt.
She could not comprehend his reaction.
‘Why look at me like that?’
He had sneered at her so relentlessly, calling her a flawed, vicious wife.
For twenty years, he mocked her as damaged goods and forced her to love another woman’s child.
‘And he wears such a grim face after being compared to another man just once?’
Just then, the Marquis bellowed before anyone else could.
“Have you lost your mind, Dolores Sienna Rochester?! Where does an unmarried wench get off spouting such filth?!”
“Father, His Highness has already shared a bed with Angelica.”
“…!”
Dolores’s second bomb, dropped with utter composure, brought silence once more.
Dolores calmly gauged the reactions of those around her.
First, her brother James seemed genuinely shocked.
As for her father…
‘Ha. So he already knew even back then.’
No wonder he had brought Angelica along as though everything had been prepared in advance.
Adrian had gone the palest of all, but he quickly rearranged his expression.
He adopted the look of an utter sinner.
“Dolly. I did not realize you would feel hurt simply because I hold a little fondness for Angelica.”
“…”
“But I do not love Angelica. The only one I care for is you, Dolly. My heart will always belong to you.”
Right on cue, James cut in, completely oblivious to his place.
“He’s right, Dolores! How can a wife hound her husband over a fleeting diversion as if—!”
A light knock interrupted the chaotic mess.
It was Resurreccion, arms crossed, tapping on the open drawing room door.
Behind him, servants hovered helplessly, unable to stop him.
“Excuse me, but I heard barking coming from the marquisate.”
Dolores rose from her seat without realizing it.
To think she would ever be so glad to see that swaggering man!
“Grand Duke…!”
“Lady Rochester.”
He inclined his head with surprising courtesy. The sarcastic gleam usually present whenever he looked at her was nowhere to be found.
He offered a brief nod to the Marquis as well, who had also risen.
“And prospective father-in-law.”
“Your Highness the Grand Duke. Pray explain the meaning of this.”
The Marquis’s wrinkled face twitched faintly. It was not out of fear, but sheer revulsion.
As a pureblood imperial noble, the Marquis harbored a quiet disdain for Resurreccion, who carried the blood of a ‘filthy foreigner.’
“I’ve fallen for Lady Dolores Rochester. So I am currently courting her, and I have obtained His Majesty’s permission.”
Resurreccion concluded his explanation in a strictly businesslike tone.
Then, drawing a gilded envelope from his coat, he tossed it into the Marquis’s hand.
“Here, an imperial decree from His Majesty. He grants permission for my courtship, or so it says.”
The Marquis unfolded the letter with trembling hands.
It was the Emperor’s ‘command’ sanctioning the marriage between Resurreccion and Dolores.
Faced with this unprecedented turn of events, the Marquis’s eyes widened in fury.
“Grand Duke, this is entirely unacceptable…!”
“Marquis, just think of it as your son-in-law having a different skin tone and accept it.”
“Do you honestly think that makes any sense?!”
The Marquis stumbled backward as if clutching the back of his neck.
Dolores was secretly impressed.
‘Right. This is why I fought tooth and nail with him.’
During her time as empress, that very tone had made her clutch the back of her neck more times than she could count.
‘Back then, I thought he was just an ill-mannered ruffian.’
Now that the ruffian was on her side, watching this circus was rather amusing.
Adrian, fuming, jabbed a finger into Resurreccion’s chest.
“Resurreccion! How do you plan to handle the fallout of this stunt?! Stealing my woman…!”
“There are plenty of noblewomen among the ones you bring to the Ruby Room. Pick one of them.”
“You…!”
“Ah, do spare the married ones, though. Half the capital’s houses might turn on you otherwise.”
Resurreccion mocked him as he stepped toward Dolores.
“I roll around the borders often enough, but I have no desire to clean up that kind of mess.”
With that, his hand took hold of Dolores’s.
He tilted his head and looked down at her with an arrogant air.
“You won’t throw me out the moment I’ve arrived, will you? I am your suitor, after all.”
“Of course not.”
Dolores pointedly linked her arm through the one Resurreccion offered.
“It is late, but allow me to show you the garden.”
“Dolores!”
The Marquis, James, and Adrian stepped toward her all at once.
At that moment, however, Resurreccion shot a chilling glance over his shoulder.
“What? Are you all planning to join us for an evening stroll?”
His tone was light, but his golden eyes burned like the sun.
It was the bloodthirsty aura of a beast, promising to rip their throats out the moment they even thought of following.
Naturally, no one dared to contest him.