Grand Duke of the Heibern House

＜Chapter 42＞

What was projected onto Soene’s hazy retina was a small picture frame on the table.

While organizing her luggage one by one, Soene couldn’t bear to remove the picture frame.

Soene bowed her head again at the sadness that came from her and her own sins that she could not turn away from.

A faded photograph of a mana laceration.

Himself standing affectionately with the children of the Heibern family.

‘Deash… … .’

How big is that child’s wound by now?

When he realized that all the love he had received from his aunt was fake.

When I heard that it was my aunt who killed my mother.

The child’s little world would have been shattered.

How much more will the wounds, like shards of glass, become more sore and painful in the future.

I wanted to stroke the child’s head by my side.

I screamed sorry and wanted to hug him.

But I couldn’t.

Because I know very well that just looking at each other is painful for that child.

My brother said it was okay to stay in Lion Castle, but he didn’t have the courage to do so.

If he, who was the center of the rebels, remained in Lion Castle, conflict would continue in some form.

And more than anything else, he feared and hated himself the most to make his desire bloom again.

The fire of desire.

Even though he knew how hot it was, his life was a reckless moth to the fire.

The life she has proven how cruel the human heart, engulfed in that dark flame, can be.

Now, I really wanted to end such an obstinate life.

Ki-Ik-

Soene stares at the door at the sudden strange noise.

“… … Archduke?”

Soene never thought that the Archduke would come this late at night.

Soon she hurriedly wiped her eyes and straightened her clothes.

“What are you doing this night?”

Saying so, Soene’s eyes wavered.

Shabby robes and short cropped hair.

An old suitcase on his back and a wooden cane.

A typical traveler’s behavior.

All the splendid clothing and accessories that might have suggested the archduke’s identity had disappeared from him.

“You are really trying to leave this family.”

Ruin silently looked around Soene’s room slowly.

inside an empty room.

Gradually stacked loads.

All that was left was a small table, a picture frame on it, and Soene looking at it.

“That goes for you too.”

Soon, Soene smiled with a sorrowful face.

Ruin, who had been laughing together, took off his old bag and sat down on top of the luggage.

“Have you not found it yet?”

“… … Are you looking for it?”

Soene, who thought for a moment, gave a bitter look as if she realized it soon.

＜If you really want to atone for your sins, find your value from now on.＞

The Grand Duke’s request came to mind clearly.

However, I couldn’t think of anything to answer the question he left.

Come now, ‘value’.

Even with those things left, dreaming about the future was a luxury for herself.

“You are too greedy.”

“huh?”

“Healing a wounded heart is literally a process. It takes years.”

As Soene bit her lip in silence, Ruin’s calm eyes turned to the picture frame on the table.

“Even the desire to run right away and wipe those children’s tears is just a desire to relieve your pain quickly.”

“No, that’s not it!”

However, Ruin calmly shook his head.

“You have to admit it.”

Ruin put the hood on his hat and stood up.

“Human self-consciousness has an inertia that can never be stopped. That is why people do not change easily.”

“The Archduke!”

“Acknowledge yourself like that. The desire to receive forgiveness as soon as possible, rather than thinking about repaying it with time. Accept yourself for all you have to do is put up with that wriggling heart. Otherwise I can’t move on.”

“It’s not really like that!”

Luin nodded.

“that’s right. I hope it’s not me But if it’s a human nature that you can’t stop craving, then I don’t think there’s any need to stop.”

Soene stared blankly at Ruin.

Everything he had achieved through his own desire drove the family to disaster.

Soene couldn’t understand why the archduke, who knew that fact better than anyone else, would say such a thing.

“I just hope that your desire goes outside, not to our family, the Heibern family.”

“Out… … ?”

Ruin’s gaze turned to the garden outside the window that was illuminated by the waning moonlight.

“There are countless enemies that harm the interests of the family. The merchants of Paneom Mine must be rolling their eyes about what would be more profitable right now.”

Soene frowned.

“joy. Merchants without dignity.”

Ruin laughed at the sight of Soene, who had returned to being the daughter of an aristocratic noble family before she knew it.

“hahahaha, don’t you think it will be fun?”

“It’s not that kind of problem. To fight for profit with mere merchants. That would be disgraceful as a noble.”

food.

“You are no different from my innocent father. Should I say this is fortunate?”

Ruin is smiling with a shy face.

When a question appeared in Soene’s eyes, his eyes suddenly turned ferocious.

“Listen. They are not the ones who fought for a huge inheritance or power like us. They have risked their lives for a piece of bread, a piece of land, and a coin.”

“… … .”

“The poorer they have, the more desperate and vicious they are. They know how to exquisitely use the face, cause, and lofty pride of the aristocratic family.”

“They are also territories that belong to our principality, but you dare!”

“Your eyes will be down and your body will lie down. Even with their mouths, they will recite the ducal family’s epic poems with full of respect and adoration.”

“You mean it’s all lies?”

“Even a noble Bernese woman hid her true feelings for ten years to overthrow her family?”

“you… … .”

Luin laughed again.

“How much more can they give up everything when they have lived a more desperate and desperate life than you? If they lived so frailly, how could that great merchant association last for hundreds of years?”

Around the time Soene’s expression grew curious, Ruin’s voice, which had faded coldly, resounded calmly again.

“Listen, you. You will experience a sense of defeat that cannot be compared to the time you faced the naive knights of your family. I’m sure you’ll be thoroughly fooled.”

From nob le mt l. co m

For a moment, Soene’s eyes stood sharp.

“What are you looking at this Soene Franciana!”

“I praise the confidence. But you don’t know merchants too much. The opponent knows this side to the inside, but if you are at this level, the game is already over.”

Even the gigantic Hirencia did not take the kingdom’s Merchant Alliance lightly, but instead cooperated.

Merchants move the cause of the nobility and the royal family in the dark, and take advantage of them.

Those who would do anything for profit, that was the merchants.

What is so resentful about Soene’s eyes are already burning.

Ruin looked at her with satisfaction.

“The world is wide. There are already countless nobles who use even such cunning merchants as shields of power. A power struggle in this House of Hibern? Outside of this lion castle, that’s just like a child’s fight.”

“you… … .”

Ruin gave a meaningful smile to Soene, who was trembling until the corner of her mouth.

“Then why don’t you prove it?”

“what… … ?”

“The mire of true desire is outside this lion castle. If your desire can stand tall even there, if you can subdue all the noble families in the kingdom… … .”

Ruin’s smile stopped, and an unimaginable authority settled over his body.

“At that time, I will truly recognize you as ‘Bern’. Me, my father, and my brothers.”

“… … Archduke.”

Ruin turned away from Soene and walked into the dark corridor.

“Show Dad and Dane that even your desires can be dazzling. I think that would be the best and proof you can do right now.”

As Ruin’s footsteps resumed, Soene hesitated for a moment before reaching out her hand into the air.

“Wait, wait a moment, Archduke.”

stop.

In the deep darkness, Ruin’s eyes shone coldly.

“why? I have to go now.”

Soene bit her lip and struggled to open her mouth.

“… … Will release be possible?”

Ruin nodded with an expressionless face.

The question of the release of the traitors from the dungeon had already been discussed with his father.

“okay. Because you can’t face the enemy without your own people. If you’re dealing with knights in the dungeon, maybe you’re better suited than my father.”

“Then again with them… … .”

“The matter will be faster if it goes through Commander Nizen.”

It was only then that Soene’s face brightened as if she realized it.

The power of redemption bestowed by the head of the family, the grand duke, and Dane, as well as the knights of the family’s royal guard and the head of the family of the five vassals.

Nizen, who had all that honor and authority, was now an existence comparable to the Archduke.

“Thank you so much. really.”

Ruin turns around again.

“It’s still hard to see that face.”

The Archduke’s shoulders trembled slightly.

He said that it is difficult to see his happy expression.

Soene began to weep as the meaning of it penetrated her heart so desperately.

“Huh… … Sobbing… … .”

“Me and my brothers. I will probably never be able to forgive you for taking my mother. Just because your father loves you… … .”

Ruin’s frustrated voice flowed out as if suppressed.

“… … It just swallows it.”

“Sobbing… … !”

A voice that is getting farther and farther away.

“Me and my brothers and sisters. And my aunt too.”

“… … .”

“For now, let’s endure. Just in case, when the years pass, we might all be able to laugh together.”

Soene blankly looked at the spot where Ruin had disappeared.

‘Aunt me… … ?’

Now, the cold Hibernian grand duke called her aunt.

The moment Soene tried to shout something out of indescribable emotion.

“Ruin! I am! This aunt… … !”

– I’m satisfied with this much now. I’m going.

shake.

The swinging arm of Ruin, the grand duke of the Heibern family, is vaguely visible in the distance.

Soene also barely held back her tears and waved together.

“hi. Ruin… … .”

He had gone far away and the Archduke was no longer in sight.

However, Soene’s shaking hand did not subside for a long time.

* * *

Outside the gates of Lion’s Castle in the thick darkness.

“Take this.”

Dane tilted his head as he looked at the stack of papers his father was handing over.

It was neither a book nor a scroll, but literally a wad of paper.

However, the sight of them being carefully folded and tied with gold thread was somehow unusual.

“It is the ‘wisdom’ your older brother left in our family.”

“yes?”

Kazen’s voice continued to Dane, who was shocked and hurriedly looked through the stack of documents.

“I asked the servants, and they said that they had not done anything for fifteen days and only wrote this.”

“Oh so… … .”

The older brother who refused to visit Hansako himself.

It was Dane who had always been worried that something had happened to his brother.

“after… … .”

Kazen smiled dejectedly.

I just found out

The discussion battle that Ruin naturally led was actually just a process to leave this wisdom in the family.

“In that document, there are various kinds of knowledge that the family manager must have, the number of countless cases that will come to our family in the future, and various countermeasures in preparation for those times.”

“yes? My brother is not a fortuneteller.”

Dane’s absurd gaze as if asking if that was possible.

Kazen sighed.

“Huh, you’re a fortune teller. no it would be a fortune teller I don’t even know what to say now. You will understand when you read it, so take a look at it whenever you have time.”

“yes. father.”

Dane answered with a smile.

Well, my brother’s mysterious abilities must be one or two.

At that time, Ruin, the grand duke of the Heibern family, was slowly walking out from inside the castle gate.

Yukain, who was escorting Kazen at close range, was the first to recognize him and showed his manners.

chuck.

“The Archduke.”

Ruin’s face revealed in the soft moonlight.

His frowning eyes immediately turned to Kazen.

“Wow, it really gives me goosebumps. You prepared so secretly, but you come out to see me off like this?”

Kazen grins.

“Isn’t it still my lion castle?”