Revenge changed the world. It toppled powerful rulers, replacing emperors, and dragged glorious names that might have gone down in history into the mud. At the beginning of this revenge was a dragon with unprecedented power.
The exact cause of what made the dragon that way was never clearly established.
No one knows whether it was because he was raised by human hands from a very young age and was suppressed artificially for so long that he couldn’t awaken, or because he tasted death first when awakening instead of following the traditional path of dragons.
Even the wise dragon Gusalante could only speculate.
Unlike his wise and gentle father, the son of the dragon became the most human-like yet most inhuman being.
“Your Highness, hello.”
Everything had changed. The world transformed, Peon stepped into unprecedented territory, and Kaela began living a life she had never experienced before. A new life she had never lived.
Just appearing at the imperial palace attracted stares, and people tried their best to greet her.
It was widely known that the Crown Prince was incompetent, and when word spread that the Marchioness of Schroz was too ill to step forward anymore, power naturally flowed to the Regency Council members.
“Your Highness, the weather is lovely today.”
Noble ladies and gentlemen at the palace would flock around whenever the Grand Duchess appeared. Her position was too busy to deal with everyone individually.
“Take it easy, Your Highness.”
Peon had been saying that every day lately.
“He’s inadequate anyway, so there’s no point in paying attention to him.”
But Kaela had something to say too.
“Even if we take it easy, it’s still a coronation. We need to maintain appearances, Your Highness.”
And even just maintaining appearances kept Kaela plenty busy.
She was grateful enough that the Marchioness of Schroz, who had caused such chaos during the Crown Prince’s engagement ceremony, was no longer around. So Kaela was in the process of receiving the flood of greetings with appropriate smiles.
“Yes, hello. Yes, good morning.”
But there were too many people to acknowledge every greeting. Eyes hidden behind fans would glare as they passed, and whispers could be heard.
“Ah……”
Kaela flinched. The people’s gazes and the meaningless laughter heard from afar all made her pause momentarily. It was still like that.
“Your Highness, all the music for the coronation has been prepared and rehearsals are underway.”
“Your Highness, Suria has also indicated they will attend.”
“Suria too? Does the Foreign Minister know?”
“He’s actually waiting because of that matter.”
But regardless of whether those stares and laughter were directed at Kaela, there were still many people calling for her attention today.
It took exactly 5 minutes to meet with the Foreign Minister and decide which seats to allocate after hearing about an unexpected country’s intention to attend the coronation.
“Since it was decided so suddenly, we can’t help it. Let’s follow previous coronations’ precedents and simply skip what we lack.”
“Still, since His Highness is young, it would be good to maintain his dignity.”
Kaela dismissed the words of those belonging to the Crown Prince’s faction.
“We don’t have enough time.”
Originally, a coronation was the grandest ceremony that required nearly a year of preparation.
Usually, after receiving the abdication, the coronation would be held the following year. However, the Regency Council was trying to push for the coronation to be held as soon as possible, which was unprecedented.
Duke Ostein and the Grand Duke and Duchess of Lusenford planned to return to their territories immediately after the coronation and never enter Craine again.
This was because it was clear as day how the Crown Prince would run the empire. Even the bedridden Emperor knew this and tried to replace the Crown Prince, but it was too late.
The Crown Prince’s faction, resembling their master, wholeheartedly welcomed the Regency Council’s swift completion of their duties and withdrawal.
They thought it would be better if power transferred quickly. To them, the Regency Council was nothing but a thorn in their side.
Although the Emperor hoped the Regency Council would stay for even a few more years, no one acknowledged this wish.
“Tch, so high and mighty.”
“What does it matter when they’ll leave right after it’s done?”
“That’s right. It’s better for us if the coronation happens quickly and everything officially ends. Then we won’t have to see people we don’t want to see, right?”
Ah. The blatant gossip and laughter could be heard again. Still, Kaela maintained her composure as she walked through the corridor.
“…Ah, Your Highness!”
Kaela responded a bit late. While anyone could enter the corridor surrounding the flower-filled courtyard, to meet Kaela who was heading toward the more heavily guarded inner area, one had to catch her at least in the corridor.
So Prince Elkanan rushed forward, eagerly calling out to the Grand Duchess of Lusenford.
“Where are you rushing to? I’ve been calling for a while.”
“Ah, Your Highness the Prince.”
This small Grand Duchess, who was the same age as the Crown Prince and who used titles properly and showed clear courtesy, was at the core of the Regency Council.
She was particularly seen as a weak point in the Regency Council by Prince Elkanan, who wanted to interfere in internal affairs. After all, she was a young woman, so she seemed somewhat manageable.
“What brings you here?”
“What brings me here, you ask.”
Prince Elkanan smiled down at the young Grand Duchess who was so busy her feet might catch fire.
After all, when Beatrice Ravalley fell spectacularly into ruin, this Kaela de Chasser Ferraro rose rapidly. She was a noble lady from such a distinguished family that she maintained her maiden name even after marriage.
She had married the man who was said to have the deepest connection with the queen who dominated social circles, and while it was predicted she would be crushed soon, she overturned all expectations.
After the scandal that shook Craine’s social circles ended, the Grand Duke of Lusenford, who was thought to be terribly entangled with Beatrice Ravalley, took control of the military aspect of the Regency Council. And his wife was overseeing the administration.
The Grand Duke and Duchess of Lusenford remained alone and dignified through the scandal, the Emperor’s collapse, and the Marchioness of Schroz’s quiet disappearance, and even seized power. So they were the victors.
Everyone was desperate to get close to them, wanting to be at the social center with this accomplished wife of an accomplished husband. The people who gathered outside every morning, trying their best to befriend the Grand Duchess and get involved in the coronation, were proof of this.
“I should greet you and ask for your favor.”
Prince Elkanan took Kaela’s hand and politely kissed the back of it. It was a common courtesy, but he didn’t release her hand immediately, and when he straightened up while still holding it, his gaze was sticky.
The prince had gathered his own information about the Grand Duke and Duchess of Lusenford while touring the Cranian Empire.
From his perspective, this young Grand Duchess was far more capable than the Crown Prince of the same age, but she must have been quite displeased by her husband’s mistress’s disgraceful fall from grace.
Though her husband looked refined, he must be of the same ilk as that vulgar woman. For an heiress raised properly to inherit the Golden City, it must have been extremely insulting.
Prince Elkanan judged that this young Grand Duchess, pushed aside by her stoic soldier husband who even kept a mistress, would surely seek comfort. This wasn’t just his thinking, but a widespread assumption in Craine’s social circles.
“You’re working so hard as a Regency Council member. You should rest in this heat.”
“I’m fine.”
But what Craine’s social circles didn’t know well was that this Grand Duchess was extraordinarily cold on the surface.
She cut things off more than necessary and sometimes acted like someone older than twenty-one. The Grand Duchess quickly and naturally pulled her hand away. One shouldn’t approach easily. It would take effort.
“Do you need any help with the coronation? If there’s anything I can help with, I’ll do my best.”
“We would be more grateful for your help after Her Highness the Princess becomes Empress.”
So this means don’t meddle when you’re just from her fiancée’s country? Prince Elkanan smiled.
“Of course I’ll help then too. Do you think I would pretend not to know then?”
“I have no doubt you will help then.”
Ah, it was indeed telling him not to meddle. Prince Elkanan felt more curious than displeased.
She seemed to have been quite cautious and careful before, but how did she become so bold? Has she become arrogant because she knows all of society is watching her now?
“Then all I can do now is to have enjoyable meetings and quality conversations as a good friend when Your Highness the Grand Duchess has free time, to help you relieve your fatigue.”
The Grand Duchess neither blushed nor was flustered by these quite suggestive words. Surprisingly, she smiled brightly.
“That’s alright! Well then.”
And then she just breezed away.
Prince Elkanan blankly watched the Grand Duchess’s rapidly retreating figure. His breath caught for a moment before releasing.
Here in the corridor where shadows stretched, he saw golden brilliance that was summer itself.
With scattered sunlight crowned on her head, sky blue in her eyes, and red roses pooled on her lips, when this woman smiled, this tiring summer instantly became fresh.
Prince Elkanan couldn’t take his eyes off the retreating summer. He meant to watch until she disappeared. The short morning corridor shadows suddenly deepened and rushed at him.
“Huh?”
He blinked, startled, making a breathing sound. No, no. It was an illusion. His view was just briefly blocked. The man who had been watching the Grand Duchess disappear while naturally blocking Prince Elkanan’s path turned his head.
“Your… Your Highness the Grand Duke.”
Prince Elkanan couldn’t even make a smooth greeting and only called out the man’s title, somehow feeling a chill on the back of his neck.
“It’s been a while, Your Highness.”
In contrast, the Grand Duke of Lusenford, this man who was said to have had a deep relationship with the woman who caused the scandal of the century, greeted him more smoothly and even smiled.
Where did he come from? Could he have heard what was said to the Grand Duchess? Prince Elkanan tried to interpret the smile on that perfect face which, though irritating as a man, he had to acknowledge.
“Yes, it’s been a while.”
The Grand Duke of Lusenford was slightly taller than Prince Elkanan and was looking down at him. Just his broad shoulders alone made him quite threatening.
“Craine’s summer is quite radiant. You must be enjoying it too after so long, Your Highness the Grand Duke.”
Prince Elkanan was someone who believed attack was the best defense. And there was also arrogance in believing this stoic, sword-wielding Grand Duke wouldn’t catch his diplomatic rhetoric.
The prince alluded to the ‘summer’ he had just seen. The corner of the Grand Duke’s mouth, who had been looking down at him, curved up elegantly. The man who possessed the summer knew how to smile with winter’s coldness.
“I quite like Your Highness’s personality. You have good taste, ambition, and know how to act on it.”
The strangely condescending tone was very natural. No, the prince already felt overwhelmed.
“It’s fortunate that Your Highness worked so hard to arrange the marriage with our Crown Prince. I’m relieved. If Your Highness had been a bit more careful and a bit less brazen, the picture I wanted wouldn’t have emerged.”
Picture? What? Prince Elkanan felt like a puppet dancing in the Grand Duke’s hands.
What kind of political game was all this? What is it? His head spun urgently with a sense of crisis, but no answers came. The instinctive anxiety, or rather fear, was too great for answers to emerge.
“I, I don’t quite understand what you’re…”
Because of this, he not only stumbled over his words but unconsciously became more polite in his speech. However, those violet eyes that seemed to pierce through Elkanan at once, turning his insides out and scraping his bones, didn’t offer a clear answer.
“You do know.”
Though the Grand Duke’s tone was appropriately polite, somehow it seemed to be looking down on and threatening the prince. No, it was a threat. It was clear.
“Your excellent diplomatic talent that immediately perceives things and knows when to properly assess and withdraw – I’m always amazed by it. It would be good if you could teach our Crown Prince many things. He’s become someone who needs such things now.”
Prince Elkanan stared at the Grand Duke of Lusenford. In those staring eyes, pride, anger, and arrogance mixed and shattered. The Grand Duke of Lusenford, who had been meeting that gaze, nodded.
“Well then, until next time.”
“…Yes, until next time.”
The two men immediately turned and walked in opposite directions.
Prince Elkanan kept looking back, feeling unnecessarily anxious and uneasy, while the Grand Duke of Lusenford walked straight towards where his wife had disappeared without looking back. The shadows wavering in the corridor shortened again.
Prince Elkanan is easy to deal with because he understands words directly. Those with working brains could at least be handled with words. Though it was annoying to pretend to be human and deal with words because killing them would make his wife unhappy.
‘I’ll have to kill him someday.’
If he hadn’t committed sins against Kaela, he might have very proudly and justly torn off Prince Elkanan’s limbs.
Logically, dealing with a rival in such a way doesn’t make sense. But he was a dragon who transcended common sense.
When the Marchioness of Schroz poisoned Kaela, if he hadn’t judged that she could endure it and desperately tried to wake up, Peon would have torn apart the empire until his anger was satisfied right then. He was that kind of being.
So in a way, the boiling cruel impulse was natural.
‘I’ll hold back for now.’
He had no right to act rashly when he hadn’t even recognized his wife early on and had neglected her. Let’s hold back for now. He can kill him later.
Peon ran his hand through his hair and headed towards the room his wife had slipped into, past the stairs and door. The door was wide open because it was summer.
“This is for me?”
“Yes. They asked me to deliver it together.”
And inside the open door, Kaela was in the process of receiving a thick list along with a single red rose from a servant.
“And this too.”
“Ah…”
Kaela awkwardly picked up the envelope that the servant handed over separately, using only her thumb and index finger.
“Thank you.”
The servant bowed their head and immediately disappeared through the side door. Kaela held the perfume-scented envelope and looked around.
“Looking for the trash can?”
At the sudden question, Kaela turned her head and smiled with delight, then became troubled again as she nodded. Peon approached and held out his hand.
“Here.”
“Your hand isn’t a trash can though.”
“It’s a trash can. Give it here.”
She handed over the envelope with an even more troubled expression.
“The rose too.”
“Th-the flower is innocent, but since it’s not from you, here. I don’t need it.”
Kaela mumbled timidly while avoiding his gaze and quickly held out the flower too.
Having experienced many such situations from Peon’s perspective, she knew well how upsetting it could be. Peon silently pulled out an enormously large bouquet of roses from thin air.
“Then let’s not throw it away, but trade it for this instead.”
Kaela’s eyes widened, and she quickly hugged the pink rose bouquet that was too big for both arms to hold, nodding her head. Peon crushed the rose and letter in one hand. It was obviously from a male. He simply chose his true nature.
‘What holding back? I should just kill right away.’
All of them.
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