The Mad Princess's Tale of Doom and Survival

  Duke Luteous stared silently at the empty seat left by Astel’s departure.

 

  As he listened to Astel’s words, it reminded him of a problem that had been bothering him for a long time.

 

  “Why don’t I feel any affection towards children? Everyone says having a child naturally brings about parental love, but I seem to be an exception.”

 

  He knew he wasn’t normal, but he didn’t know how to fix it.

 

  Duke Luteous had always been emotionally distant. He couldn’t understand other people’s feelings and didn’t realize it was a problem.

 

  He believed he was born to bring prosperity to his family and be loyal to his sovereign.

 

  But one day, he fell in love with a woman. It was like a miracle in his life.

 

  So, it was only natural that he didn’t feel any emotions towards the child they had together. He thought such miracles only happened once.

 

  Duke Luteous tried to justify his lack of affection by promising to protect the child no matter what.

 

  But then Marcella died, and his whole world fell apart.

 

  He couldn’t find a reason to keep living.

 

  The absence of Marcella, his only source of solace, was unbearable. He couldn’t stand the fact that he was still alive while she was buried in the cold ground.

 

  He didn’t even feel a desire to see the child they had together. He blamed himself for her death, thinking he was unable to love her or their child.

 

  To be honest, even thinking about Astel was painful for him.

 

  He tried to erase the child’s existence from his mind and drowned his sorrows by holding Marcella’s pillow and drinking alcohol.

  

  He would get drunk, pass out, and then wake   up only to start drinking again. He made a promise to himself that he would die once Marcella’s scent disappeared completely.

 

  But it was Frank’s words that snapped him out of his downward spiral.

 

  “My Lord, how should we handle the funeral arrangements without your consent?”

 

  “…What?”

 

  “Oh, right, you must have already given your consent. Sorry for asking such a pointless question. It’s impossible to arrange a funeral for a spouse without the other’s approval.”

 

  Naturally, he hadn’t given his consent.

 

  He found out about Marcella’s death after the funeral.

 

  Only then did Duke Luteous begin to investigate the undertaker.

 

  But the undertaker had taken his own life, and the funeral home had closed down.

 

  Everything was shrouded in mystery.

 

  How could the undertaker, who had broken his leg in a carriage accident, have managed to hang himself from a chair?

 

  Who was responsible for the closure of the funeral home? The undertaker had no family.

 

  That’s when Duke Luteous realized that  Marcella’s death wasn’t as straightforward as it seemed.

 

  But by then, it had already been three months since Marcella had died.

 

  While he was falling apart, enough time had passed for him to manipulate the events and hide the evidence.

 

  On top of that, Duke Luteous was a well-known swordsman who had made a name for himself.

 

  He had only focused on the battlefield as ordered by the Emperor, and he wasn’t really good at dealing with information.

 

  When he was feeling lost about where to start investigating, Duke Luteous had a change of heart.

 

   ‘I don’t have to handle everything on my own.’

 

  It would be more efficient to let someone else who was good at it take care of the areas where he lacked confidence.

 

  That’s when he went looking for an information guild to hire for the investigation.

 

  In the process, he heard some news about a certain information guild that was going downhill.

 

  That guild turned out to be “SeMOI.”

 

  Instead of just giving them work, Duke Luteous decided to buy the entire guild.

 

  He promised unlimited financial support for the guild’s future needs and instructed them to investigate everyone connected to Marcella’s death.

 

  Berman secretly began the investigation.

 

  There were way more people involved than he expected, and they were scattered all over the empire, so he had to track them down one by one.

 

  Because of that, it took five years, but eventually, they managed to find out the truth.

 

  The culprit was Silverein Arthur Queheirn Taycan.

 

  He was the Emperor whom Luteous had blindly sworn loyalty to.

 

  Duke Luteous sighed and said, “I still haven’t been able to grasp the sword for 21 years.”

 

  There was a time when the sword was a part of him. He never let go of it.

 

  People used to jokingly say that he was born with a sword in his hand…

 

  But everything changed with Marcella’s death.

 

  Duke Luteous felt a deep sense of disappointment.

 

  Just then, Berman Miller entered the restaurant, his long beard flowing.

 

  “Phew! My Lord, I’m sorry for being late! Did you wait long?”

 

  “Take a seat.”

 

  “Phew…”

 

  As soon as he sat down, Berman poured himself a glass of water and took a quick sip, wiping his lips.

 

  “Phew, now I can finally relax.”

 

  “Do you want to eat?”

 

  “I’m good. It wouldn’t be right to come late and still expect a meal. By the way, Frank told me. You finally spoke up.”

 

  “Hmm…”

 

  Duke Luteous quietly drank his tea.

 

  Berman looked around cautiously and asked, “How did the Lady react?”

 

  “She got angry.”

 

  “Of course she did. From what I’ve seen, she’s not someone with a typical temperament. It’s a good thing she didn’t blow up this place.”

 

  “Is that so…”

 

  Duke Luteous stared at his glass in silence.

 

  “Why is that?”

 

  “I thought she looked just like Marcella when she smiled, but even when she was angry, her expression was the same.”

 

  “…”

 

  “As you know, I’m not perfect. That’s why I don’t regret how I treated her. If I could go back, I would still behave the same way. But…”

 

  Duke Luteous let out a bitter smile.

 

  “I do wish I had known that my daughter was so beautiful… I feel a bit sorry now.”

 

  Berman couldn’t hide his surprise.

 

  ‘He actually said ‘sorry.’’

 

  To Duke Luteous, regret was a waste of emotions and a weak excuse for the incapable.

 

  He never dwelled on things he couldn’t change, which is why he didn’t regret his loyalty to the Emperor, even though his beloved wife died at the Emperor’s hands.

 

  That’s just who Duke Luteous was.

 

  Since Marcella’s death, he had changed as if he had lost all his emotions.

 

  But lately, he had been showing more human-like reactions sometimes.

 

  Duke Luteous seemed unaware of it, but his closest aide, Berman, clearly noticed the difference.

 

  “My Lord, you’re definitely changing.”

 

  Every time it happened, Berman couldn’t help but be impressed.

 

  It was like witnessing a machine slowly turning into a human, capable of feeling emotions.

 

  ‘Even Lady couldn’t achieve what his daughter did.’

 

  Berman thought about Astel.

 

  The impressive swordsmanship and unmatched martial arts she displayed when she subdued the Crown Prince.

 

  True, it seemed like the Crown Prince had no intention of seriously facing Astel, but he was a Swordmaster.

 

  Even if he were restrained, he would still be a formidable opponent.

 

  That meant Astel’s abilities were on par with a Swordmaster.

 

  In other words, another Swordmaster had joined the ranks, which previously only consisted of three individuals in the Empire.

 

  “So, does that mean you have to be a Swordmaster to reach the top rank? What if the Crown Prince actually assessed her level?”

 

  Berman shook his head, feeling a headache coming on just from thinking about it.

 

  “But that’s a problem for another time. It seems Astel plans to use Semoi as an information source in the future…”

 

  Berman felt anxious, fearing that their connection to Semoi would be exposed.

 

  That’s why he couldn’t reveal to Astel who the informant was when she asked.

 

  “How can I possibly say that you, My Lord, are the informant?”

 

  Berman let out a sigh and suddenly raised his head.

 

  He hadn’t heard from whom Duke Luteous obtained the ranking list.

 

  “But, My Lord, where did you get the ranking list from?”

 

  “Through someone I know.”

 

  “Who might that be…”

 

  “Let’s stop the small talk.”

  

  Duke Luteous firmly cut off Berman’s question.

 

  “Now, it’s time to move on to the next step.”

 

  “Are you planning to spread rumors that you’ll establish a guild for Lady’s sake?”

 

  “I’ve chosen the most expensive building in the capital as the guild headquarters. Spread that rumor as well.”

 

  “Sigh… I have to say, actions speak louder than words.”

 

  “What do you suggest?”

  

  “Why not take Lady out for a walk? Just by doing that, without intentionally spreading rumors, people will naturally start talking.”

 

  Duke Luteous stubbornly kept his lips sealed.

 

  Whenever the topic revolved around Astel, he always reacted like this.

 

  Berman began his countless attempts to persuade him once again.