The graying hair wasn’t a big deal. The eyes were out of focus and looked dazed, and the mouth was open and listless. The biggest problem was the smell. The smell of filth that lingered on the Duke.
That meant that Duke Piellion could no longer dispose of his own waste.
“Ah, just then again…”
The butler muttered with a pale face and quickly disappeared, saying he would call an attendant.
“It certainly seemed like I had regained the consciousness that had been stolen at that time…”
Decan trailed off. It was Decan who told Lasilia that she had the ability to counter her demon power. Just as Yvette and Serven were able to be safe thanks to Lasilia, I believed that Duke Piellion would be as well.
“I guess so.”
When Lasilia, who was looking at the Duke, spoke, Decan raised his eyebrows.
“Ah… Do you feel anything?”
“It would be the opposite. I don’t feel anything. There is no trace of the demons.”
“I see. Then, Hapha Piellion is now…”
“Maybe he is sick. If my eyes are not mistaken, the Duke looks older than he did just a few days ago.”
“That’s how I see it, too. The thing about having strong hair… Perhaps the loss of consciousness caused him to lose his strength severely.”
“Maybe.”
The Duke did not have the foreign feeling that Yvette and Serven felt at that time. He just looked much older.
“I have a very bad feeling… Is it possible that when magic power is implemented, it erodes human life force? I think the death of the imperial tailor can be explained that way.”
“That never happened to Princess Shryden or Lord Sigress.”
“The two were affected by magic relatively briefly. Fortunately, Her Majesty the Empress was there.”
That was when Decan said so.
“…Dialena?”
The sparkling focus returned to the Duke’s eyes. What he was looking at was Lasilia.
“Dialena?”
When Lasilia was puzzled by the completely unknown name, Decan quickly informed her.
“It’s the name of the late Duchess.”
“If it is the Duchess…”
It was said that the Duke could not distinguish between his dead wife and his daughter. Decan’s expression darkened.
“Unfortunately, it seems that Hapha Piellion has developed dementia.”
“Dialena!”
Suddenly the Duke grabbed Lasilia’s arm with surprising strength.
“Tsk,”
“Your Majesty the Empress!”
Decan tried to pull the duke’s arm away. However, the Duke did not let Lasilia go easily. The duke scolded Lasilia, that is, the dead Duchess, with his face distorted horribly.
“Tell me where you hide it! Hurry!”
“…?”
“You know it’s not something you can hide! We have to find it now!”
Decan grabbed the Duke from behind.
“Hapha, let go of your hand. It is not the Duchess who you are being rude with, but Her Majesty the Empress.”
Decan separated the Duke by force. The Duke struggled and shouted louder.
“We have to find it and destroy it… We must kill it and destroy it!”
“…Kill it?”
The Duke’s words made Decan hesitate. What did the Duchess hide? The Duke had to find it and destroy it. When he said that getting rid of something means killing him, he meant that what the Duchess was hiding was a person. The Duchess had been dead for over twenty years, so not many people knew about her anymore.
The Duke’s old secrets were revealed when the Duke developed dementia.
“Who do you mean we should look for?”
After Lasilia pretended to tell Decan to step aside, she asked the duke:
It was a long time ago, but she couldn’t pretend not to know that the Duke was trying to kill someone.
“Is she still alive?”
The Duke, with his body free, grabbed Lasilia with terrifying force.
“You know, Dialena! If that kid is alive, she could become a threat at any time! Not only Carti’s position as empress, but the entire family!”
“What?”
Lasilia flinched in surprise, and the Duke pulled her with so much force that the sound of her sleeves being torn was heard.
Decan quickly pushed the Duke away and supported Lasilia.
“Your Majesty the Empress! Are you okay?”
“I’m okay. I need to hear more from the Duke. If there was a threat to the position of Empress, I might need to know about it.”
“I agree. If you allow it, I will try my hand.”
“I allow it.”
With a nod of his head, Decan turned to face the Duke. The Duke’s eyes were blank and unfocused again. Decan placed his hand on the Duke’s head and chanted a spell. It felt like an alien flow was added to the air surrounding the two people. But it was a moment.
“…Huh!”
Duke Piellion suddenly closed his eyes and collapsed. Decan hurriedly laid the Duke down and measured the pulse on the nape of his neck.
“His body is so weak. He lost consciousness before the spell took effect.”
“Ah… It’s a shame.”
It was a pity that the Duke was ill, and it was a pity that the spell did not work. And she was concerned that she couldn’t confirm any more suspicious things that the dementia-stricken Duke had said.
“Do you have any guess? I don’t know much about the Duke’s situation. Is what the Duke is talking about about a political opponent?”
“I apologize, Your Majesty. If it happened while the Duchess was alive, it was before I took over the Silver Shield.”
This was before he even became a knight, let alone a silver shield.
“If you want, I can find out. Please allow me some time.”
“Okay… I want to know what happened.”
The Duke called her the one who could threaten her position as Empress. It was said about a young person. For what reason could a child threaten the future Empress and the entire Duke’s family? It was something that made no common sense. So, rather than a problem with the child itself, it may have been a problem with the child’s origins.
‘Maybe it’s just the Duke’s problem…’
But for some reason, she couldn’t just ignore it. It was as if a rock had appeared in the path her heart was walking on, and it kept tripping over her feet.
‘The shaman from Trinidad said so. Trust your heart rather than your ears. The answer can come in any form.’
So she had to look into why she kept tripping.
* * *
As the Duke lost consciousness again, Lasilia was stranded in the Duke’s house. As the sole heir to the duchy, Cartagena Piellion had the obligation to listen to the Duke’s will. Since he didn’t know how much longer the delay would take, Serven hurriedly sent a messenger to the imperial palace. Meanwhile, Decan was away to find out the Duke’s secret.
It was a moment when the sun set.
At the request of the butler, Lasilia had to look after matters in the duchy that required immediate approval from the Duke.
It was quite an unfamiliar task for the prophet of dell’arta to suddenly take on, but she could not refuse the deacon’s tearful appeal.
‘You should think of it as compensation for borrowing this body.’
Lasilia smiled bitterly as she looked at the pile of ledgers, letters, and other documents on her desk.
‘If I have to live as an Empress, I can’t help it.’
It was a quiet evening. The Duke had not yet thought of opening his eyes, and the royal guard remained silently in place, just like in the imperial palace.
In the Duke’s study, there was only the occasional sound of Lasilia moving her pen.
“…?”
A faint noise ended the quiet and boring time.
“I think I hear something outside.”
Lasilia got up and opened the window of the study.
“It’s an intruder! Catch him!”
“It’s over there!”
When she opened the window, the shouting of the guards came rushing in. The front door and front yard, which could be seen at a glance from the window of the third-floor study, were in disarray. The Royal Guard was running desperately.
“An intruder…?”
While Lasilia was twisting her eyes, Serven’s voice was heard.
“Do not forget! Her Majesty the Empress is here! Her Majesty’s safety is our top priority!”
Serven’s appearance came into view. Serven was running straight towards them. Then he noticed Lasilia standing at the window and waved his hand wildly.
“Go in and lock the door, Your Majesty! Everything, including the windows!”
“Ah…”
After hearing his words, Lasilia quickly moved her body.
She didn’t know what the Duke’s intruder was after, but there was no way it wasn’t her. The intruder could have been Malik’s knight who had disappeared.
Slam!
Lasilia lowered the bar on the open window. She then ran towards the study door and turned the key in her doorknob.
Slam!
The big key turned and she let out a heavy, solid sound.
“Oh, there must be a window in that room too.”
In Duke Piellion’s study, there was another small room with an attached door. It was a place where the duke’s letters for the next year were classified and stored, and was called the letter room among servants.
Lasilia was on her way to the letter room.
“…”
Suddenly, Lasilia stopped walking. She heard clearly. She heard a small metal sound as the latch on the window she had just locked was lifted.
“Don’t move from that spot. Don’t even scream.”
Before she knew it, an intruder came in and spoke to her from behind. There was no sound, but she could tell he had lifted his hand holding his sword. She felt a cold energy behind her back.
“Don’t even try to look at my face. I am simply a person who would like to speak with Duke Piellion. Once I finish my business, I will quietly disappear.”
“You said that… How can I believe it?”
“Even though I have a witness in front of me who will make things complicated, I just hold the knife, so I hope you will believe me for now. Where is Duke Piellion now?”
“Do you need to meet the Duke?”
“As you can see. And if you’re thinking of wasting time, I guess I’ll have to say no. I’m sorry you don’t seem willing to follow my lead, but I’ll have to knock you out for a moment.”
Shh!
She could feel a hand being raised behind her back. Lasilia quickly opened her mouth.
“The Duke lost consciousness.”
“…?”
The intruder’s hand stopped just before striking Lasilia in the back of the neck with the handle of the knife.
“So that’s probably the one that didn’t work out. It would be impossible to talk to the Duke without being rewarded for intruding.”
“Why… No, there is a possibility that that statement is false. I will see it with my own eyes.”
“You don’t believe me. I can’t help it. That will be your fate today. Just remember that the responsibility for disbelief is entirely yours.”
“Sleep… Wow, those words…”
Lasilia was right to bide her time. Serven would arrive soon, and the intruder had no intention of using his sword right now. But what was strange was the intruder’s reaction.
“That word! Where on earth did you hear that?”
“…? What are you saying?”
“The saying that disbelief is also human destiny!”
The intruder suddenly moved his feet and came back in front of Lasilia. Lasilia saw his eyes widen in shock.
“No way… Lady Lasilia?”
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Translator Note:
Hello there! This is RJR. I hope you liked it <3
If you like my work please support me with Ko-fi or Patreon. Next post will be released on June, 2.
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