Chapter 16
Word soon spread throughout downtown Kline that the carriage from the House of Monde had gone to the Lüsenford Duke’s townhouse before heading straight to the Imperial Palace.
The rumor was that the Duchess of Monde had chased after the duke all the way to the Imperial Palace, since he was too swamped with work there to even stop by home.
High society was dying to know whether the Duchess of Monde had actually met the Lüsenford Duke and what they might have talked about.
Of course, the Duchess of Monde had bulldozed her way into meeting Pheon without a care for decorum or etiquette. It was possible when one threw shame to the wind and resorted to brute force.
“How could you do this to her? Our Beatrice has only ever had eyes for you, and yet you just discard an innocent young woman like this?!”
Pheon stared at the Duchess of Monde with weary eyes. She had been renowned for her stunning beauty in her youth, and even now she retained some of it, but years of being hounded by creditors and enduring hardship had taken a heavy toll on her face.
That wasn’t her fault. It was the fault of her husband, the Duke of Monde, who had racked up gambling debts, and his ancestors before him.
But in the process, the Duchess of Monde had shed all sense of propriety and grown brazenly shameless, even coming to see others’ possessions as her own. And she herself was no stranger to extravagant spending.
“Do you even know how old Beatrice is now? If you were going to marry her off, you should have done it ages ago. Do you have any idea how many marriage proposals she’s received?”
He knew. They had simply come from men whose fortunes weren’t enough to cover all of Monde’s debts.
Only the prestige and wealth of Lüsenford could save Monde financially while also restoring their honor. That last part was especially crucial. The Duchess of Monde didn’t just want her debts paid. She wanted much more.
“And yet she turned them all down and let herself waste away to this age—why do you think that is? Of course, it’s because she knows how much you love her, so I let it go!”
Her voice was rising. Pheon sensed his aides’ expressions darkening as she crossed the line, so he waved them all back.
Then he endured—or rather, simply watched—the barrage she unleashed without restraint. At this point, she would slyly bring up the Empress to poke at his weak spots.
“And haven’t I always treated you like my own son? If Her Imperial Majesty hadn’t collapsed like that, she would have agreed with me. Do you know how much care I put into raising you like my own boy?”
What she meant was that she had received personal financial aid from the Empress and used that separate allowance to buy things Pheon needed and look after him. It was something anyone could have done, not just her.
“Our Beatrice has only ever looked at you, Pheon! And you just toss her aside like a dog on a rainy day? How could you do this, Pheon?!”
Pheon’s already frayed nerves felt like they might snap. He’d heard enough.
“There seems to be a misunderstanding here.”
“M misunderstanding? His Imperial Majesty announced the marriage because you said you wanted it!”
He tilted his head back slightly and leaned into the backrest. As the Lüsenford Duke’s cold violet gaze pierced her, the Duchess of Monde flinched belatedly, realizing she’d gotten too worked up.
“Anyway, isn’t that right?”
As expected, Beatrice hadn’t told her mother that Pheon had proposed marriage. That’s why she was charging in here all riled up and fuming. The flushed Duchess of Monde looked like she was daring him to say whatever he had to say.
Pheon toyed with several cards he could play. He could tell her that he had proposed to Beatrice and even informed His Imperial Majesty.
But if that reached the Duchess of Monde’s ears, the rumors would spread everywhere. The Emperor would be vilified for tearing apart a perfectly good couple, and Kaella would have to live forever in Beatrice’s shadow. It would repeat all over again.
Yes. Up to this point, it was just like his previous life.
“I appreciate the care you showed me as a child, Duchess. But you were compensated for that by my mother, weren’t you? A considerable sum was paid from the Empress’s palace to the Monde territory. I would appreciate it if you didn’t think I was unaware of that.”
When a mere child pointed out the money that had changed hands between adults, the Duchess of Monde’s face turned beet red.
“Pheon! How dare you say such a thing?!”
In his previous life, the moment the imperial decree came down for him to marry Kaella, he had rushed to propose to Beatrice.
Well, he had intended to. Before he could even do it, Beatrice had tearfully said there was no helping it because of the imperial decree, and they had ended up crying together in despair. And the Duchess of Monde had come storming in just like this, throwing a fit and demanding answers.
Pheon had knelt for hours, apologizing as if he were the criminal. He had always been so foolish, so powerless, clueless about what truly mattered. He was sick of it now. He was suffocating in self-loathing.
“But isn’t it the truth? And more importantly, if someone was coming to see me, shouldn’t it be Beatrice herself? Why have you come instead, Duchess?”
“Our daughter doesn’t even have the strength to walk around right now! The moment she heard about your marriage, she took to her bed in agony! How can you be so heartless, Pheon?”
She doesn’t lack strength; she just can’t get up during the day because she’s been sneaking in and out of Soleil Palace all night.
“If my marriage displeases you, then you should take it up with His Imperial Majesty, who arranged it. If I refuse to marry, that would be defying an imperial decree. Are you telling me to defy His Majesty’s command, Duchess?”
People always bully the weak and cower before the strong. The Duchess of Monde was no different.
“How can you twist my words like that? What I’m saying is that as a man and a knight, you need to take responsibility for the lady!”
“Then petition His Majesty to make it an imperial decree. If it is, I will obey.”
“You coward, Pheon! You’re such a coward!”
“Yes. I am a coward. And one more thing, Duchess.”
He decided to say something he hadn’t planned to declare this early in this life.
“My lady and I are no longer anything to each other.”
He had even planned to use his relationship with Beatrice. He could exploit her for anything to drag the Emperor to ruin.
But if that relationship hurt Kaella or tarnished her honor, he had to give it up, no matter how useful it might be. That was the right thing to do.
“We’re simply two people who cherish the good memories from our past and wish each other happiness, nothing more. I won’t tolerate anything beyond that. Wilberg.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“Please escort the Duchess out.”
“Yes, Your Highness. This way, Duchess.”
“How dare you, Pheon! You—!”
As the Duchess of Monde screamed in rage, unable to hold back, Knight Wilberg’s expression hardened instantly.
“Mind your manners before His Highness, Duchess. This is the Imperial Palace, ruled by His Imperial Majesty, and that man is the sole Grand Duke enfeoffed by His Imperial Majesty.”
Of course, the Duchess of Monde threw an even bigger tantrum at his words, but from Pheon to all his aides, no one paid her any heed.
Once ejected, the Duchess of Monde vented her fury everywhere, spreading Pheon’s words across all of Kline and accusing him of every injustice.
Thus, Pheon became the bastard who had abandoned his debt-ridden, spendthrift childhood friend for a wealthy heiress.
He thought it far better than being called the fool who couldn’t forget his childhood friend, betrayed his vows, and mistreated his wife.
*
Wedding preparations began in a frenzy. A long engagement would have allowed for a more measured pace, but with this unprecedented situation, everyone rushed headlong toward the marriage at an extraordinary speed.
“Your Highness?”
Knight Wilberg, in the middle of his report, cautiously called out to Pheon.
“Shall we stop if you’re tired?”
Lüsenford had erupted in chaos at the sudden engagement news.
Years ago, whenever creditors swarmed Monde, Beatrice would often seek refuge in Lüsenford. From then on, the northerners had assumed the Grand Duke would naturally marry her.
But suddenly marrying a duke’s daughter from the south? And one arranged by the Emperor at that? The people of Lüsenford grumbled that their Grand Duke was being dragged off by the Emperor yet again.
“No, I’m listening. Continue.”
“Yes. The minerals from the newly discovered mine are indeed diamonds, as Your Highness predicted.”
The experts secretly mobilized were stunned and raising toasts in excitement, but the Lüsenford Duke, who had pinpointed the mine’s location and ordered the investigation, remained nonchalant.
If anything, he looked fatigued. Perhaps from the wedding preparations.
“The scale is enormous.”
“Keep it under wraps for now and begin extraction in utmost secrecy. What happened to the first diamonds we mined?”
Instead of answering, Knight Wilberg opened the large box he had brought and placed it before Pheon.
“After cutting the 4300-carat rough stones, we produced a total of twelve diamonds.”
The secretly summoned artisan had lost a tremendous amount of weight carefully polishing those massive rough stones. Pheon gazed down at the twelve enormous diamonds, ones the Emperor was sure to covet.
This mine would be a massive boon to Lüsenford’s finances. Knight Wilberg cautiously speculated that the other three mines the Grand Duke had ordered investigated might all hold tremendous value as well.
Around the time the Empress collapsed, the Lüsenford Duke he served had changed in some indefinable way. He didn’t know the details, but there was a newfound confidence and composure about him.
“Good. And?”
The report was quite long and highly confidential. It covered the latest on Lady Lavalle under constant surveillance, suspicious regular comings and goings at Soleil Palace, and even an internal investigation into Lüsenford itself.
The final item was truly baffling, but Knight Wilberg was as loyal to Pheon as his own limbs, alongside Knight Lenar. He simply carried out the orders silently and reported.
“…And so, all of Lüsenford has received news of Your Highness’s marriage with considerable shock.”
“It’s a marriage forced upon me by His Imperial Majesty, right?”
“Yes.”
It was awkward, but true, so Knight Wilberg had no choice but to answer. In his previous life too, Kaella had arrived in Lüsenford already branded as one of the Emperor’s people from the moment of their marriage.
Pheon knew well how the northerners’ lofty pride made them insular. And how much rougher they were compared to the capital.
“Even so, we need to prepare properly to receive the bride.”
Knight Wilberg watched as Pheon rose from his seat. In just a few days, he had grown thinner, his face gaunt and stubbled.
Serving him up close, he knew Pheon wasn’t eating or sleeping properly. With the Empress’s collapse and now this marriage weighing on him, he must be deeply troubled.
“If I may be so bold, will you go through with the marriage?”
Repulsive. Pheon found himself repulsive beyond endurance. No matter how he searched for a way out, he loathed himself most for being unable to avoid marriage in this situation.
“They say illegitimate children should marry the daughters of illegitimate children.”
“You’ve even heard that much.”
“It’s a marriage they’re pushing precisely so everyone will hear it. How could I not?”
The Emperor might smile, but he was a sinister man.
He had blocked the House of Ostein from any foreign marriages, shown due propriety to the Empress’s beloved son, but in the end, bound the illegitimate bloodlines together in mockery. It was ridicule. Pheon, ever sensitive to insult, couldn’t possibly miss it.
“The lady shouldn’t have to hear needless barbs because of me.”
Pheon muttered as he closed the box containing the twelve diamonds. Knight Wilberg immediately caught the respect and courtesy toward the Ostein Duke’s Daughter in his words. At the same time, there were no lingering childhood memories.
“Even with a short engagement, we must have everything in place. See to it properly.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“I won’t tolerate any foolish pranks.”
“Yes.”
The Emperor was herding the Lüsenford Duke like sheep or pigs, ensuring he couldn’t marry Beatrice or devise any countermeasures.
The date had even been arbitrarily announced, and Pheon knew coldly that this marriage was advantageous to both Lüsenford and himself. Knowing that only made it worse.
Then what good did it bring Kaella? A husband who respected her enough and would divorce her later as promised?
A noble lady as esteemed as the Ostein Duke’s Daughter deserved better than a man who had been entangled with another woman.
He had returned this time for proper revenge, but now the happiness of Kaella—which he had personally shattered—was weighing on his shoulders too. Revenge would take time, and so would rebuilding her happiness.
Pheon covered his anguished face with his hands. He had no face to brazenly meet the light.
*
Whenever Kaella went to the Imperial Palace, she could see groups of people gathered here and there in corners or down the corridors, whispering as they spotted her.
It had been common even before her death. As the infamous interloper who had shattered a legendary romance of the century, she was used to it by now.
Her father was handling the wedding preparations, but Kaella had no interest.
She was merely going through the motions, perfunctorily managing the palace duties the Emperor had assigned her after the Empress’s collapse. Having been bedridden for days from her own severe illness, she needed to show her face at least briefly today.
“Hello, Countess.”
“Hello, Your Highness.”
“Lovely weather today, isn’t it, Ostein Princess?”
“It is, Marchioness Tulenang.”
Still, when she encountered people, she had no choice but to exchange greetings. She even received congratulations on her marriage. Ah, yes, thank you. Yes. We’re busy with preparations. Yes. She walked on, murmuring empty formalities.
Leaving behind the noblewomen gathered to pray for the Empress’s recovery, Kaella pressed deeper inside with an indifferent expression. Even after dying and coming back to life, things had turned out this way, so marrying the Lüsenford Duke must be her fated destiny.
‘And then I’ll die. Convenient and easy.’
Having died once, she figured she’d do better the next time. Thinking that, Kaella walked on until she came upon the Duchess of Monde sitting in a chair by the door.
“Hello, Duchess of Monde.”
Proper greetings between nobles were a given, and her father Adeo had always strictly taught his daughter to greet elders correctly. It was a natural response.
But the Duchess of Monde gave her a cold glare before closing her eyes and sharply turning her head away.
Kaella gazed at the duchess for a moment before turning and resuming her path.
What could her foolish self possibly do by confronting her? It was better to just leave it be. Besides, she was tired. As she walked, she suddenly felt as if she’d been slapped hard across the cheek for no reason at all.
She could brush it off skillfully out of familiarity, but she wouldn’t forget the feeling.
