Free Web NovelChapter 16: Duke’s Decision⁵
He didn’t move or say a word for nearly five minutes, sipping from the cup of tea in his hands whilst gazing at the sky with a vacant, distant stare; one might say that the blackness of his eyes only added to his gloomy, sombre appearance.
Why is he acting so dramatically?
After what seemed like an eternity, he finally parted his lips and spoke quietly
"Like most of your brothers, I know you have doubts about your mother’s true identity, especially given my refusal to allow Julian to marry that commoner girl, and many other illogical events, such as how she knew about culture, history, geography, and all the arts, sciences and etiquette that the commoners would look down upon because they wouldn’t put bread on their table."
"..."
"Unlike the foolish Imperial Court, we were not foolish enough to let danger grow right on our front doorstep without taking action.... What the Imperial Court does not know is that there are the ruins of an entire nation lying beyond the frozen sea, for the Empire has never been there before, not even centuries ago.... And whenever they tried to send a secret expedition, not even the bodies returned to them, because our army, stationed secretly nearby around the Frozen Sea, always took care of them... At least that has been the case for about four decades, on my father’s orders, and I, too, have not withdrawn that army of a hundred thousand from there; before that, the army of that kingdom was in charge of them."
Well... it seems I’ve got myself into something far bigger than I bargained for, as one might expect from a place designated for a tragic heroine, whose grandfather even prepared an army for her in secret decades before she was born.
"..."
"Originally, we were going to send a mission there at some point, but we needed a pretext so as not to disobey the orders of the Imperial Palace."
"Are you still hesitating about those wretches?" "
Silence... He took a sip of tea and then spoke calmly
"You’re insolent...."
Does that mean he was really afraid of them?... Although I don’t understand his attempt to justify his position to the Imperial Palace when he’s literally killing their men!!
"Hah... It’s not about the expedition itself, but the war that will follow sending the expedition legion to those lands, and our duchy doesn’t have the strength to bear the blame for the consequences. So that expedition wasn’t the problem from the start; we already have an legion ready, even if it lacks a true commander, because I was torn over which of you to send... given that you are merely inexperienced children."
In the end, he’s scared. Well, I’m joking. Even for an outcast like me, I still understand a thing or two about politics and I understand exactly what he’s saying. But then again, if he’s still complaining about us, why didn’t he choose one of his brothers who has the experience he’s looking for? Or why didn’t he choose himself to lead the legion?
"So you’ve decided to exploit this situation to pin all the blame on the Emperor?"
"Your mission is to reach the capital of the fallen kingdom and seize the royal family’s inheritance of the fallen kingdom... It doesn’t matter if you fail at this, but what really matters is that you reach what remains of the Calamity Crown and gather as many shards as you can, and, most importantly, that you obtain the legendary-class swords, the Lament of the Fallen and the Wail of the Cursed, and then return home... And if you think you’re incapable of completing the mission, withdraw early and don’t waste my duchy’s forces in vain because of your incompetence."
Let’s ignore that last insult as if we hadn’t heard it, and... well, it seems Uncle Amyas kept his promise in the end, didn’t he?... Why do I feel like I’ve been tricked?
The Duke gestured to a black jewellery box sitting on the table in front of us. ƒreewebηoveℓ.com
"What’s that?"
"A few essentials. If you go there without them, you’re literally walking to your death..." "
he said, taking another sip of tea, though I doubted there was any tea left in his cup; it seemed he was just trying to maintain his dignity and the appearance of a cool, indifferent man
Let’s just ignore him.
I took the jewellery box and opened it. Inside, I found a signet ring bearing the Duchy’s coat of arms; this ring grants me the authority to give orders to the Duchy’s knights and soldiers. Alongside it was a purple gem set in a piece of silver, though the silver felt completely cold to the touch
I recognised this thing... at least the gem, because ten years ago, when I tried to kill myself and woke up, I found a necklace around my neck with a purple shard hanging from it. No matter how hard I tried to get rid of it, I couldn’t, and Caio told me that the Duke had put it around my neck to stop me from trying to kill myself again
And since he’s shown it to me in its entirety now, I think I deserve to finally know what this damn thing is.
"What is this?"
"Part of what’s called the Calamity Crown. Although it’s called a crown, it’s actually a massive edifice in the north; you can even see it from here. It’s what we call the North Star."
"Wait, is the North Star on Earth???"
He took another sip of his tea, then replied thoughtfully
"Not exactly. What we see in the sky is the reflection of light from the edifice. As for the ground directly beneath the star, during the day there appears what people call the North Star mirage. We don’t know much about it because it was something your mother’s family took an interest in, and after their downfall, it was destroyed for some reason. A fragment of the Crown fell into our empire, so I took possession of it."
He could have just told me straight out. Why is he trying to beat about the bush... this man...
"Are there fragments of this thing scattered across the continent now, or did just one piece fall into our empire and happen to land in your hands?"
"What do you think?" frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓
he said, sipping his tea.
Well, logically... it seems that this thing called the Calamity Crown has indeed had pieces of it fall across the continent.
" This fragment will grant you entry to the royal capital of the fallen kingdom. Now, take these items, as well as the files on the left-hand side of the desk; they concern the deployment of this year’s graduating trainee knights across the ten armies. Complete them and send them off this evening."
This man...
By the time I return to my room from here, it will already be evening! ! Does he want me to rot in misery in his office to finish his work for him, or is he just messing with me?!
I glared at him angrily. I’d forgotten about it, but if he was trying to take advantage of me like this, I reminded him coldly as I picked up the jewellery box and stood up
"I’m sorry, Your Grace, but I have a fever, and even my servant has been punished for no reason, so he can’t help me carry all these things to my room, given that he’s already limping. Please don’t only remember that I’m your son when you want to take advantage of me."
Then I left without looking at him again.
What a strange, stupid man. If you have so much paperwork, call that bookworm over...
But before I could tell the guards to open the door for me, the guard called out from outside.
"The First Young Miss requests permission to enter."
"Come in."
A voice came from behind me as the door opened and Seraphine entered. She looked at me coldly for a moment before turning towards the Duke and bowing to him.
Speak of the devil, and he shall appear.
Although I would have loved to provoke her a little, now with the threat of the curse of office work in official affairs, it’s best to get out of here now.
So, respectfully, I left the Duke’s office without a word so as not to disturb him... Well, I didn’t want to draw attention to myself.
Because two against one is an unfair fight.
