The butler finally recovered his rationality as the man attempted to open the desk drawer.
“What are you doing? It’s locked and won’t open how much you pull!”
“…….”
“Take your hand off and leave immediately! How dare an employee of a loan shark sit in the Duke’s seat!”
The butler approached the man, attempting to pull him away.
The man lightly brushed off the butler’s hand and removed his veil. Behind the veil, a shocking face was revealed.
“You say this seat is not mine?”
The man looked up at the butler with cold silver eyes.
The face of a young boy overlapped with his handsome features. It was a face the butler could never forget. He was the boy scorned for his low status. But in truth, the one most suitable to be the master of this house.
“M- Master Brantley?”
“You have the key, don’t you? Open it,” He commanded the butler.
The boy who once spoke politely to the butler with immaturity now commands him with an authoritative voice.
“How are you alive..?”
He was undeniably alive.
‘How could this be…?’
Had he been living in hiding, only to return now for revenge?
The butler, whose hand had instinctively trembled, quickly composed himself and spoke.
“I-I cannot open it. Everything in this study belongs to the head of the Eisen Duchy.”
“So open it.”
Brantley stood up and walked towards the butler.
“You must know that I am the rightful heir to this house.”
The butler looked up in shock.
The fact might have slipped out of his mind momentarily, but Brantley’s words were indeed true. For Brantley had never been stripped of his title as the next lord.
He had died as an heir.
Or rather, it was believed that he had passed away.
“If things continue as they are, Duke Eisen and Jacob will bring this house to ruin. Will you just stand by and watch?”
“!”
“I’m asking if you’ll just stand by and watch as the house that your father and even his father have protected for generations disappears.”
The butler swallowed dryly. A sharp premonition suddenly flashed through his mind. Brantley being alive might be a divine sign that this house was not yet meant to fall.
“E-Even so, I don’t have the key.”
“Then?”
Brantley asked in a chilling voice.
The butler approached the wall where a statue stood nervously. It was a statue of a goddess holding a bundle of keys.
“It’s not there.”
The butler touched the seventh key in the bundle, and the wall behind the statue quietly slid open.
“But here.”
“…”
“All of Duke Eisen’s confidential documents have been stored in this chamber.”
The butler stepped back and bowed deeply trying to show respect to the new master.
Brantley walked past him and entered Duke Eisen’s secret chamber.
***
The Duke of Eisen returned to his mansion, panting, as soon as he had recovered his senses.
The sun had set and it was already dark.
What was strange was that despite the darkness, the mansion, which was always brightly lit as if it were daytime, was now entirely dark.
“Have those b*stards already seized my mansion?”
But the mansion’s doors were wide open. No one stopped him from entering, nor was there anyone to greet him.
The mansion was dark and empty, like a haunted house. Terrified, the Duke of Eisen pushed his escort forward.
“You! Lead the way!”
Inside the mansion, not even an ant was in sight.
Then, suddenly, there was a loud crash from somewhere.
Both Duke Eisen and his guard froze in place.
“G-Go and find out what that noise was!”
“Y-Yes, Your Grace.”
The guard hurriedly ran toward the source of the noise.
‘D*mn it, what on earth is going on here?’
Where was the Duchess, and where had Jacob gone?
Duke Eisen still felt as though he was dreaming. He couldn’t believe something like this could happen to him.
Just then, he noticed a faint light flickering from somewhere. It was coming from his study.
“Is someone there? Madam? Jacob?”
Duke Eisen cautiously approached the study. As he stepped inside, his face twisted in confusion.
Someone was sitting at his desk. And the target was a person who should never have existed.
“B-Brantley?” Duke Eisen murmured in a trembling voice.
At that, Brantley, who had been sitting, raised his head. His features were now more defined and sharp. But it was unmistakably him, the Brantley Eisen, who had jumped off the cliff right before his eyes.
“T-This can’t be. You’re supposed to be dead. How can you be here…?”
Duke Eisen started muttering like a madman. Suddenly he remembered a nightmare he had once had.
“Th-That’s right! This is just another nightmare. You showed up in my dreams before, even after you were dead.”
“…”
“Haha, yes. This can’t be real! There’s no way my Duchy could be ruined! This is all just a nightmare. I need to wake up, I need to wake up now!”
Desperate to wake up, Duke Eisen slapped his own cheeks hard.
Seeing this, Brantley coldly sneered.
The sound of his mocking laughter made Duke Eisen stop what he was doing and look at Brantley.
“…”
With a twisted smirk on his lips and silver eyes glaring at him with an intensity that could tear him apart. No, the person before him was too real to be a ghost.
“This is no nightmare.”
Brantley rose from his seat and approached Duke Eisen.
“I’ve come to reclaim my place.”
“Y-Your place…?”
“Yes. I’ve come to take back the rightful heir’s position from you, who has driven this house into ruin, and from Jacob, who disgustingly resembles you.”
Duke Eisen’s trembling face contorted.
“Why would it be your place? This house is mine, and my heir has always been my son Jacob, not some lowly illegitimate child!”
Brantley looked down coldly at his biological father, who denied him of his position. When Brantley remained silent, Duke Eisen gained confidence and shouted spitefully.
“Just because I’m short on money doesn’t mean I’m not the Duke of Eisen. As long as I’m here, this house can always rise aga—!”
“I don’t think that’s going to happen.”
Brantley picked up a stack of papers and thrust them in front of Duke Eisen.
“What is this…?!”
Realizing what the documents were, Duke Eisen was horrified.
They were papers related to the plot he had orchestrated long ago to get rid of Brantley.
Records of the plans to eliminate Brantley.
Documents detailing the people he had hired to corner Brantley.
Confidentiality agreements he had forced them to sign, and more.
“H-How did you get your hands on these…?!”
“The butler couldn’t bear to watch you ruin this house any longer. He opened the door to your secret chamber.”
“!”
“Not just this, but I have records of all the corruption you’ve committed.”
Duke Eisen hurriedly looked toward the wall where the secret chamber was hidden.
He hurried inside, but the room was empty. The Duke of Eisen stared at the chamber in disbelief.
Brantley had already moved all the papers.
The Duke of Eisen’s legs gave way, and he plopped on the floor.
He heard Brantley’s voice behind him, “If you are executed, it will not be Jacob who succeeds you, but me, the original heir.”
“That can’t be! I- I don’t know how you’re still alive, but before you died, you were a criminal in league with witches! Even if you were to be exonerated now, your title would be forfeited due to that offense!”
Brantley burst out laughing.
It was a laugh so ghastly that the Duke of Eisen stiffened.
“Have you forgotten,” he said, “that you covered my sins in exchange for jumping off the cliff?”
“!”
“I am still the heir. Jacob only got that position due to my absence.”
The Duke of Eisen’s eyes shook like an earthquake.
The legitimacy was on Brantley’s side. Duke Eisen knew it wouldn’t be difficult for Brantley to reclaim his position from Jacob. But that wasn’t the only card Brantley had in his hands…
The secret chamber also contained documents covering up Jacob’s misdeeds. His exposed wrongdoings were more than enough to expel Jacob.
Brantley approached the collapsed Duke Eisen and whispered, “Now that I’m back, this house is mine.”
***
I had been watching the view outside from the carriage window the entire time.
Philip remained quietly by my side.
‘How long have passed?’
Someone staggered out from the direction of Duke Eisen’s mansion. I immediately got out of the carriage and ran toward him.
“Brantley!”
Brantley, who had been walking with an exhausted expression, saw me and smiled brightly.
“It’s all over now.”
Brantley sighed as he spoke, his face showed a mix of emotions.
‘Facing Duke Eisen and bringing all this to an end couldn’t have been easy for him.’
But I knew Brantley had to be the one to finish this. And as I had expected, he had wrapped it up well.
Soon, loud noises came from the direction of Duke Eisen’s mansion.
“Let go of me! Do you know who I am?!”
It was the city guards, under the Emperor’s orders, dragging Duke Eisen away.
When the commotion subsided, Brantley hesitated before whispering.
“Thank you, Hanelope. It’s all thanks to you.”
“You did great. Everything’s back in its place now!”
“Actually, I wanted to tell you that I…”
Brantley was about to say something when Philip suddenly interrupted.
“It’s time to go back.”
As Brantley and I both turned to look at him, he suddenly averted his eyes and spoke, “It’s getting dark… His Highness the Crown Prince will be worried.”
It was uncharacteristic of Philip to sound so defensive. For some reason, Brantley gave Philip a cold glare.
“Fine. There’s always tomorrow.”
Then he said something I couldn’t quite understand. When I looked at him in confusion, Brantley smiled lightly, as if he had never been offended.
“Let’s go back.”
Brantley extended his hand to me.
“Okay.”
I took his hand and climbed back into the carriage.
It was time to return home.
