153 - Evil Husband (15th Anniversary Edition) Chapter 153
153
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Leone stared up at Cesare, his eyes wide. His eyes were bloodshot. Leone, staring at his only brother with bloodshot eyes, asked again.
"If there is?"
A sharp tone followed.
"If I lied to you, what are you going to do?"
Even as he met the glaring eyes head-on, Cesare showed no particular agitation. Unlike the blazing Leone, he was rather chillingly calm.
At the sinking light in the crimson eyes, Leone felt an indescribable negative emotion. It was a feeling directed at Cesare, and at himself.
"You're the one hiding everything from head to toe."
A black wave that had risen from the depths instantly engulfed Leone. Unable to endure the emotions that filled him to the brim, Leone couldn't hold back.
"Do you regret giving me the throne?"
The moment the words that had been deeply buried were finally brought out, a certain pain struck. It was the pain of losing a tightly knit relationship. It was also a loss that had been foreshadowed since the moment a gap of distrust had formed between the brothers who had trusted each other.
For a while, only the sound of breathing continued. Cesare still seemed calm, even indifferent, and only Leone was panting.
Cesare, who had been staring at Leone, returned an answer in a low voice.
"I've never regretted it."
Leone smiled, distorting his face. Even at this point, he was the only one who was moving ugly.
The inferiority complex, which had been hidden for a long time in the deepest part of himself so that even he could not properly recognize it, was as filthy as the years it had been concealed.
If only you had continued to be a perfect being. If only you had been in a position like a god, so far that someone like me could not reach you.
Then Leone would not have felt this inferiority. He would have thought that Cesare and he were different beings anyway, and that it was natural for him to be lacking.
But from the moment he said he would take Aileen as the Grand Duchess, everything was twisted. The brother he had regarded as a god made a foolish choice, no different from a human. And all of Cesare's incomprehensible choices were connected to Aileen.
"...Why are you doing this? Even just this time, the fact that you were injured is known throughout the empire, and you jumped into the collapsed Pantheon in such a visible place, digging through the rubble..."
He didn't even bother to mention the many strange things he had done before. Leone asked in a disbelieving voice.
"Are you going to destroy everything our brothers have built up until now for just one woman?"
"That's right."
"Cesare!"
Raising his voice, he grabbed Cesare by the collar. Even with the rough grip, Cesare's expression did not change. Leone glared at him, holding him close.
"Are you... out of your mind?"
Cesare's lips, which had been closed in a straight line all along, twisted for the first time.
"If I were in my right mind, I wouldn't have done this."
As he answered with a twisted smile, he grabbed Leone's wrist. He, who had lived his life as a soldier, was relentless in exerting his power. Leone had no choice but to helplessly let go of the collar he had been holding onto due to the strong force transmitted to his wrist.
"......"
He had only grabbed it for a moment. Yet the throbbing pain was chilling. Leone was reminded of how his brother in front of him was regarded by others.
The reason why he had not recognized Cesare's martial prowess until now was because he had never exerted his strength on Leone in this way. They were twins who had been on good terms since childhood. They had never even fought, as other brothers often do.
No, is it right to say that they never fought? It might be more accurate to say that nothing happened simply because Cesare was indifferent to everything.
Leone unknowingly took a step back. The hand that had been grabbed by Cesare faintly convulsed with pain.
"So, brother."
Cesare asked again in a calm voice, no different from when he first asked the question.
"Do you have anything you lied to me about?"
Leone moved his lips. This time, he couldn't ask back what he would do if he had lied. In fact, there was a memory that had come to mind from the moment he first heard Cesare's question.
It was a single mistake.
When the struggling Imperial Army seized victory by killing the prince of Kalpen. The imperial citizens cheered, but the nobles did not welcome it. This was because most of them had bet on Kalpen's victory.
Parvellini Duke, who had a marriage alliance with the Traon Imperial Family, was one of the few nobles who welcomed the victory. However, as the news of victory continued and the imperial citizens began to chant Cesare's name, the Duke changed his attitude.
This was because the target he had bet on was Leone, not Cesare.
"No matter how much of a hero he is, his name must not be higher than that of the Emperor."
Parvellini Duke wanted an Imperial Family that he could hold and shake. As Cesare, who was an uncontrollable target, began to rapidly make a name for himself, the Duke persuaded Leone that he had to curb his momentum.
"I also desire the victory of our country more than anyone else, Your Majesty. I'm just trying to correct a slightly misaligned part."
He wanted to give Cesare a moderate disgrace that would inflict political damage, neither too big nor too small.
At first, he laughed it off. But as his persuasion continued, and Cesare's name was published in the newspapers every day, Leone felt a strange feeling that even he himself could not understand.
That day was the day he received a report about Aileen. Following Cesare's request, Leone had people periodically check on Aileen Elrod.
While he was reading the report, Parvellini Duke came to see Leone. Leone felt a moment of impulse, and unknowingly, as if possessed, he mentioned her. It was a very short and simple statement.
"Cesare has a child he cherishes."
Parvellini Duke's eyes flashed as he recognized the target he had not even thought of.
That was the end. Leone did not know how Parvellini Duke handled the matter afterward. He just regarded what he had said as a mistake and passed it over to the back of his mind.
The forgotten memory reappeared when Cesare returned from the conquest of Kalpen and took Aileen as the Grand Duchess.
The fear that the mistake might one day return as a knife was aimed at Leone. The more Cesare made foolish choices because of Aileen, the clearer the fear became.
So how could he admit the mistake? It was already too late to do so. Leone felt the pain rising from his wrist and answered.
"...No."
He spat out a lie and avoided his gaze. He knew that he shouldn't avoid his eyes now, but he couldn't bring himself to look Cesare straight in the face. He looked at the pattern on the marble floor and then raised his head again.
Cesare whispered in a voice like the low notes of a piano.
"It was you, brother."
Leone died for Aileen. No, that's what he thought.
He became the first sacrifice in the Burnt offering that Cesare performed. He threw away his life, saying that he would become a sacrifice for Aileen himself. But Leone's suicide was only an expression of guilt and fear.
The first person to inform the King of Kalpen of Aileen's existence was Leone.
Leone chose to become a sacrifice because of the guilt that he was the starting point of all this, and the fear that Cesare might find out the truth.
The truth he realized after shattering trust was quite bitter. Even Cesare, who was not sensitive to most things, felt the bitterness.
Cesare, sitting in the back seat of the military vehicle, turned his meaningless gaze out the car window. After a long time, just as the Grand Duke's Residence began to come into view, he narrowed his eyes slightly.
He thought of Aileen, who was crying as if she was squeezing out all the moisture in her body. And the gold-green eyes that looked at him resentfully.
Even Cesare didn't know how to comfort Aileen this time. In fact, it was close to impossible.
He thought that she would find out the truth someday, but this was not the way Cesare had expected. But from the moment God warned him through the collapse of the Pantheon, there was no place to hide anymore.
There is still something he hasn't said, and if she finds out even that... Then she might not even want to see my face.
Just as he was thinking of smoking a cigarette, the car approached the Grand Duke's Residence. Cesare, who was looking at the mansion, noticed something strange. The area around the Grand Duke's Residence was noisy.
Cesare stopped the car at the main gate and lowered the car window. The soldier who was guarding the main gate saluted with a pale face.
"Your Excellency, Grand Duke!"
"What's going on?"
Even though it was the Grand Duke's question, the soldier couldn't answer right away. When he kept hesitating and frowning slightly, the soldier hurriedly opened his mouth and answered. His stammering voice was filled with fear.
"The, the Grand Duchess... has disappeared."
