Chapter 136
It was dark, the scenery was more dreary and eerie, and she was so scared.
‘If you’re going to kill me, please don’t hurt me.’
As she was muttering her useless wish, she suddenly caught sight of Duke Regent’s tired face.
‘Eh?’
Shs expected him to exude a murderous menace, like he was going to do something to her right now, but he didn’t seem to be in the mood for punishment, so she relaxed. And then…
‘Something’s different.’
The way he’s standing there, looking tired and distressed.
What the hell is it?
“So.”
The calm green eyes looked at Arellin.
“Have you seen the bottom of me?”
She whimpered. She’d guessed it from the look of the room.
“Why do you live like this?”
Duke Regent laughed.
“I don’t know, I’m wondering that myself.”
That’s not an answer.
When she glared, Duke Regent dropped his grip and patted Arellin on the head.
“You must not come here again.”
“Why?”
“Because it’s not a sight for children.”
A normal man speaking?
Her eyes widened in surprise, and Duke Regent, who had been studying her face, asked her a question.
“Are you afraid of me too?”
She blinked, still.
At first, she was scared…
‘Not anymore.’
Instead of answering, she looked around the room and asked.
“Where’s my mom?”
“She’s not here.”
“Why?”
“Because she ran away because she didn’t like me.”
Ran away…?
Does that mean she’s still alive?
“She is a terrible woman, because she ran away to a place I can’t chase, can’t reach, because she refused to give me a piece of her heart, a piece of herself to leave behind.”
Arellin head swam with a mixture of laughter and crying, mockery and self-help.
“Are you going to run away too, because you don’t like me?”
“I hate you.”
She was ready to lash out and run away, but when he asked her this, she was speechless.
A look she’d never seen before.
It’s a little hard to look into those eyes that look like they’ve been beaten to a pulp and say firmly, “Yes, I’m going back.”
As if he had already read the answer from her hesitation, Duke Regent smiled and returned to his cold expression, which made her feel even stranger.
For the first time this man seemed like a living person.
And…
‘I’m really curious.’
What the hell happened between her mom and this man.
“Did you really love my mom?”
Duke Regent eyes darkened after a moment of silence.
“I don’t know.”
The room was covered in chione. The chilly voice rang deeper and lower today.
“Someone once told me that’s not love.”
***
Ludwig was a man who could have anything and wanted nothing.
Until he met Sione Sigria Halbern at the age of seventeen.
The Imperial Family was unusually obsessed with pure bloodlines, as the power of the Pythals was rooted in the blessing of a forgotten ancient god.
Despite the many negative side effects of frequent incestuous marriages and obsession with blood, the imperial law that “only those whose blood is blessed by the gods may become Emperor and Empress” was upheld.
The perfect heir to the throne.
Ludwig was such a person.
“If only we had been blessed with this gift, we would not have had to suffer such hardships.”
In the imperial court, dodgy mania degenerated into jealousy and envy of Inung, which erupted into inferiority complexes against Albrecht.
The rancor of those who claimed the same Empire, but refused to recognize a relationship that could neither be dominant nor equal, was a daily occurrence in the Pfalz.
Ludwig was bored by it all.
‘So what?’
As long as the land remained blessed, no one could take it by force.
No matter how powerful Albrecht became, he would never be able to swallow up Pythals.
That was it.
“Brother, I keep seeing strange things… What should I do?”
He realized that his half-brother had developed mania.
As his brother grew thinner and thinner from the unseen, Ludwig turned to Albrecht.
“Oh no, the monster is coming to get me. Brother!”
No matter how much he had grown up apart and how much he resented the Imperial Family, it was impossible not to feel compassion for his brother, who was going mad before his eyes.
It was Halbern who reached out his hand.
And in his mansion.
“I’ve never met you before, who are you?”
Ludwig recognized her.
The wickedly beautiful woman.
***
Sione Sigria Halbern.
The eldest daughter of the Archduke of Halbern, Morden, and a woman of extraordinary beauty and ability.
Some say that if she had been born a man, she would have already surpassed Archduke Morden to become Archduke of Halbern, and that she has changed many things in Halbern even in her female form.
A de facto heir to Halbern, even though no one had ever called her heir due to the long-standing principle of first-born succession.
It was hard not to fall in love.
But what stole Ludwig’s heart was.
“You say strange things.”
Sione, hearing his anguish, replied.
“If your brother went mad and asked you to kill him, would you do it?”
His brother, growing crazier by the day.
The relic of Halbern was somehow authentic, but his hallucinating mind showed no sign of returning.
Ludwig had to decide.
Should he or should he not kill his brother before his mania worsened one day and he became a real monster.
“I’m willing to kill him, because I can’t leave the last of my beloved brother in the hands of another.”
An unwavering voice.
The clear, straight eyes.
A loving touch.
The firmly pressed lips.
When their eyes met and Sione smiled, Ludwig realized that his dull life had just come to an end.
And that he would go mad if he didn’t have her.
The one woman Ludwig had ever wanted to have.
And that was the beginning of the end.
At the time, Sione was at sharp odds with her father, Archduke Morden of Halbern.
Morden wanted to kill her, his biological daughter, and actually carried out some of his plans.
When Ludwig realized that Sione was close to death, he couldn’t take it anymore.
He has to get her out.
Pythal was also a dwarf, but not as much as Halbern.
“I hope it’s an arranged marriage. I was just thinking of getting rid of my own daughter, so you’ll do just fine.”
To take Sione as his wife, he could not be Emperor. The Empress of Pythal had to be of Pythal blood.
That’s how Ludwig, a potential Emperor, had gotten the grand ducal title and become Regent, and why Morden Halbern and Ludwig had made the deal.
Sione was strongly opposed.
But Ludwig thought it didn’t matter. He couldn’t let Sione die.
Compared to the cunning and skillful Archduke of Morden, Sione seemed as helpless as a day-old puppy to a killer.
“Inform you that I will not marry you immediately. Give me up.”
He couldn’t give in to Sione’s demands.
He knew what she wanted, but he thought he could ignore it.
He thought he could ignore it and still have her.
It was arrogance.
‘I should have known that the woman I fell for couldn’t be ordinary.’
“You ruined everything for me. You know that? It’s all because of you.”
“I saved you, didn’t I?”
“Why do you get to decide that? Listen to me, you ruined it.”
At the wedding, Sione cried and cried.
“Ah, Valar…”
She said, looking for what she’d left behind.
“My poor little brother.”
“…”
“He won’t know anything.”
Sione demanded.
“It’s not too late, I’ll give you a chance to take everything back. Annul this marriage right now. Take me back.”
How could he let her go when he could barely hold her in his arms, let alone send her off on such a limb?
It was impossible.
“I’ll do anything, but please, just see to that. Sione. You have to stay here.”
Ludwig fell to his knees and begged for pride.
“You’re only afraid of dying?”
“I’m afraid of you dying.”
“I can die at any time.”
It didn’t work for Sione.
“I’ve spent my whole life trying to die like that.”
There were moments of hope.
That Sione would break down, give up, give in, give up, and be just like everyone else.
“I won’t give you a piece of my mind.”
Until Sione declares.
“If you want to take it, you can take it.”
