The laws of the Crania Empire were very complex.
Therefore, not all dukes were equal, and not all counts had to lower their eyes before dukes. Each title had different succession laws. In short, it was complicated, and each title had its own distinct value.
For example, under imperial law, the Duke of Ostein’s position was equal to that of the Grand Duke of Lusenford, even without the ‘Grand Duke’ title.
The former emperor, who used to stay in Ostein every summer, provided his beloved son with everything from the Ranpalar Palace to wealth and status. He legally guaranteed the position of Duke of Ostein.
In contrast, the current emperor pretended to treat the empress’s illegitimate child like an emperor’s son while sending him away with dangerous missions as a penniless person. Even positions of the same rank had such diverse cases.
The Monde Duchy was elevated to a ducal title when the Ravalley family’s only war hero in three hundred years, produced by quite a coincidence, achieved great merit.
Since then, mediocre successors made unwise marriages repeatedly, failing to increase their wealth and instead diligently accumulating debt.
So at first glance, although both were daughters of dukes, Beatrice Ravalley didn’t receive the title of “Her Highness” while Kaela de Chasser did.
This was because the former emperor granted Adeo, his beloved illegitimate child, a title equivalent to the grand duke position that emperor’s children received.
“Just say what we always say. The Duke of Monde is, yes, that’s right, unable to attend due to illness.”
The Duchess of Monde said as she sat at her vanity after barely managing to wash up.
“If they’re making a fuss about repaying debts, go to Lusenford and get some money.”
“They’re at war.”
Beatrice frowned as she read the notification for the seventh time.
“Oh my. The evil dragon?”
“No, foreign tribes.”
“Such a barbaric place.”
The Duchess of Monde mumbled.
“We shouldn’t bring up Father.”
“What does it matter? You’re old enough now, just succeed the title. Your father is already known as someone who’s always bedridden, so it wouldn’t be strange to announce his death gradually.”
“Are you crazy?”
Beatrice looked at her mother with great disdain.
“Are you really sane? What have we been holding out for all this time?”
“Do you think you can avoid succession forever? How old are you? Do you think you’ll still be popular in society when you’re forty or fifty?”
The Duchess of Monde scolded her daughter, who was already twenty-eight though she looked only in her early twenties.
“You need to settle down soon. You’ll be thirty before you know it. A woman without wealth has limitations no matter how hard she tries.”
“That’s why we’ve been working to build that wealth until now. We need to hold out longer. If I become the duke you know we can’t live like this anymore, Mother.”
There was quite a difference between being the Duke of Monde and the Lady of Monde. While the Lady of Monde was still free from succession and such matters, the Duke of Monde was not.
It meant becoming a lord responsible for the family and territory. Above all, Beatrice had been desperately holding out because she didn’t want to end up as just the Duke of Monde.
“Is there no difference between me making money in social circles and making money as a duke?”
“What I’m saying is that you need to plan for when you’re older. You can’t always be the most beautiful and attractive woman while waiting for marriage to someone.”
“Why not? I can.”
She could continue to tantalize men and throw them teasing attention even at thirty or forty. If she couldn’t, she would make it happen.
No, everything would be concluded before that anyway. The empress’s collapse was very fortunate for Beatrice. Many gaps had opened up for her to exploit.
However, it was problematic that the emperor was now at a loss over the collapsed empress, unlike before. Though uncertain how long it would last, it was very irritating to Beatrice.
“As if. Go dress up nicely and try to rope in some new debtors.”
The Duchess of Monde muttered gloomily while looking in the mirror.
“Mom, I can do it.”
Beatrice lowered her head but her eyes flashed sharply.
“How do you think we got this far, Mom? We dealt with Dad too. I can do it. Just watch.”
The Duchess of Monde said nothing, as her daughter looked like a child throwing a tantrum.
‘Right. She is still young. I gave birth to such a beautiful child. She’s different from ordinary children.’
While thinking this, the Duchess of Monde began contemplating which wine to serve at dinner. No, it might be nice to have champagne with snacks before that.
****
Her body, not fully recovered, must have tensed up and then relaxed. Kaela knew she should tell Peon that she could walk on her own, but couldn’t get the words out. Her body was that limp.
Peon carried her very lightly and quickly left the cave. When she had entered alone, she thought she had walked quite far in, but when leaving, she realized she hadn’t gone in very deep. Light appeared quickly.
“Are you cold?”
Kaela shook her head, barely having the strength to speak. How daring of a Grand Duchess to express herself with just a nod to His Highness the Grand Duke – she was being incredibly bold.
While Kaela considered it impudent and disrespectful, Peon didn’t seem to mind. Anyway, he no longer matched her formal speech.
The evil dragon’s minions who had been densely packed outside the cave had all disappeared. Everything was peaceful and quiet.
The thunder and lightning that had torn through the sky, and the evil dragon’s wailing were gone. It had become perfectly peaceful as if nothing had happened.
“How did you get here, Kaela?”
The question was answered not by Kaela but by a monster standing alone at quite a distance.
Squeak.
It was that small monster with black fur and purple eyes resembling a squirrel. Making tiny sounds as if carefully watching Peon’s reaction, it quickly wagged its large, fluffy tail at Kaela.
“You know this one?”
“No, well, what happened was…”
Peon listened quietly with puzzled eyes as Kaela carefully explained how she came to be here.
When she explained how the creature had been squeaking at her near the stables before suddenly kidnapping her, he narrowed his eyes at the monster. The palm-sized creature held its tail tightly and trembled.
“…Perhaps you like things that look like that?”
“It’s a monster…? What does appearance have to do with it?”
“It matters. They probably chose to send the cutest one.”
The cutest one? Kaela looked at the monster again. The monster, which had been terrified in Peon’s presence, perked up its large ears as soon as it met Kaela’s eyes.
“It is cute.”
The creature seemed to understand her words as its eyes grew large and it began wagging its tail more enthusiastically.
“But it’s still a monster.”
Squeak…
As soon as Kaela finished speaking, it drooped its ears again. While it was cute and pitiful, a monster was still a monster. They were dangerous and shouldn’t be approached.
“Do you hate monsters?”
“They’re enemies. They’re dangerous.”
“What if they weren’t enemies?”
Peon looked down at Kaela. Unable to understand what he meant, she chose silence, the best response.
While the people of Lusenford despised the evil dragon, Kaela tried to sympathize with their feelings but couldn’t quite manage it.
So rather than finding monsters detestably horrifying, she just recognized them as dangerous beings. Even if such dangerous beings weren’t enemies, wouldn’t they still be dangerous?
Seeing she didn’t want to answer, Peon changed the subject.
“…From what I hear, you came all this way through hardship because of me. I’m sorry. The journey must have been uncomfortable and frightening.”
Kaela always listened carefully and responded after thinking rather than reacting immediately. Even now, she looked up at him once after hearing his words and was quietly thinking. It was a good habit. It reduced mistakes and showed prudence.
However, Her Highness the Princess shouldn’t have needed to be so extremely careful with her words. It was a habit developed in Lusenford where every word was scrutinized. She was so light in his arms, and even had these burn-like marks.
He held the small Grand Duchess closer to protect her from the cold wind.
“‘Because of Your Highness’?”
“Yes.”
Though her response was slightly delayed after careful consideration, Peon answered naturally. His wife knew how to get to the heart of the matter. That’s right.
Those monsters had kidnapped Kaela and brought her here because of Peon. Kaela had sensed they were asking her to soothe Peon, to bring him back to his senses, and Peon readily admitted it. That she was right. Her intuition was correct.
So there was a reason why that squirrel-like creature had been crying fountains of tears. It wasn’t crying anymore. While glancing cautiously at Peon, it was eagerly wagging its tail.
“Let’s go. I’ll take you back.”
Knowing Kaela’s gaze lingered even slightly on that creature, Peon swiftly moved. As he moved, their surroundings changed rapidly.
With Peon’s first step, they had already left the cave entrance, and with his second step, they were near the stables of Lusenford Castle.
Kaela was too shocked to say anything as she looked at Peon standing among the bushes and trees, and the spot where she had been kidnapped.
“Better go to the bedroom.”
Surveying their surroundings to assess the situation, Peon muttered this and took another step. They immediately arrived in the bedroom. The Grand Duke’s bedroom was empty.
“Now. Take it off.”
He naturally started removing her coat first. His hands moved confidently as he attended to her as if it were the most natural thing.
“Lie down on the bed for a moment.”
“Where are you going, Your Highness?”
“To take care of the outside matters you were going to handle.”
His fingers smoothed her disheveled hair.
“I also need to visit the evil dragon’s domain.”
Kaela’s eyes widened slightly. Peon smiled wryly.
“Why are you surprised? You already suspected it.”
Indeed she had. With monsters and spirits all appearing, hearing the evil dragon’s wailing, and coming all this way, it hadn’t been unexpected.
“…You must go there, Your Highness?”
“I have to go.”
He who had described himself as having grown distant from humans didn’t hide it.
“Father is waiting.”
This time, Kaela’s eyes truly widened.
Father?
“You should meet Father at some point, but I’m going alone now because I think you might faint.”
Peon sat her in a chair, grinned, and lightly tapped her cheek.
“Your… Your Highness.”
The evil dragon is my father-in-law, right? Did I understand that correctly? Kaela called out to Peon to confirm. She could barely get the words out.
“Oppa will be back soon, so wait here.”
Somehow it sounded like he was correcting her to call him ‘oppa’ instead of ‘Your Highness.’
“There’s bath water ready inside, so wash up. Wash and lie down.”
Kaela, exhausted from experiencing so many difficult things, looked up at Peon’s infinitely gentle face.
“Rather than washing and lying down, if what you’re saying is true, I should go to Craine now, Your Highness.”
As a citizen of the Crania Empire, it was her duty to go and report about the suspicious relationship between the Grand Duke of Lusenford and the evil dragon.
“The road to Craine is long and treacherous, it’s dangerous to go alone, Kaela.”
“Would you let me go?”
Her clear face asking him held no desperate expectations or hope. She was just asking. It was Kaela’s form of rebellion, asking while knowing the answer. He slightly pulled up the corners of his mouth in a smile and pressed his forehead against hers.
“That would mean divorce – do you think I’d be foolish enough to do that again, Kaela?”
Now she wasn’t even afraid of him anymore. She just stared at him expressionlessly.
Peon smiled. He’d expected this. Kaela had no feelings whatsoever for Peon. He was rummaging through an empty trash can abandoned by its owner, trying to find even scraps.
“You said you’d grant me a divorce. We even wrote a prenuptial agreement. Don’t you remember?”
Has his memory deteriorated along with his personality change? Kaela spoke carefully to the madman claiming to be the son of an evil dragon.
She was effectively needling the madman with remarkable composure. It would have been impressively efficient if intentional. The problem was that it wasn’t intentional.
“You don’t think I forgot, do you?”
He answered with a sigh. It was like when Kaela was about seven years old.
His tone was exactly like that of the fourteen-year-old His Highness who had helped up the crying princess when she fell while running excitedly to see him upon his brief return to Lusenford, saying ‘Didn’t I tell you not to run?’
“Stop bringing up divorce when you don’t even expect it. Why would I grant you a divorce when you wouldn’t live well after it?”
Peon deliberately didn’t mention that he had seriously considered divorce. The woman in his arms would likely try to die before the ink dried on the divorce papers. Now he would hold onto her and live.
“Stay here. Sorry I can’t attend to your bath. I’ll send someone in.”
After saying nothing but shocking things, Peon looked at Kaela’s tiny face once more, kissed her cheek with a smacking sound, and stood up.
“I’ll be back shortly, so don’t do anything bad.”
Instead of vanishing instantly, he normally opened the door and left.
It meant don’t even dream about trying to die.
