65.

The white rook captured a black pawn.

“I truly apologize for keeping you waiting. As you know, today is Duke Garten’s only daughter’s Coming-of-Age, so I couldn’t keep holding him here.”

“It’s all right, Your Majesty.”

The black bishop captured the white rook that was lying diagonally.

“Oh dear.”

The man with a crooked red eyebrow moved the knight one square and then diagonally ahead. “I can’t give you my knight.”

“You should have protected the queen.” At that moment, the white queen was brutally knocked down by the black bishop.

After the brief ‘clack’ sound, the man’s eyes looking down at the fallen queen curved slightly. As a result, his long red eyelashes drew a smooth arc.

“That’s a fair argument, Duke.”

The man pondered what to say this time. The tip of the man’s fingernails knocked on the chessboard at regular intervals.

Tak. Tak.

“Is it okay to increase the number of troops? The lords aren’t protesting anymore, but I’m a little worried.”

Tak. Tak. Tak.

“You haven’t recruited enough to worry about a backlash.”

“Is that important? What’s important is losing what you had. Isn’t it more painful to lose what you originally had? Rebellion is inevitable.”

Tak.

The white knight moved.

“I don’t understand what the point of this conversation is unless you’re going to bring it up again.”

“Oh right, Duke Bernhardt hated ineffective conversations. I forgot that for a moment.”

Harsen pulled the queen back.

“Hmm, I think it would have been better to move the king there. Then you’d be able to catch the knight with the bishop in the next step. If you did that…”

The man moved his white knight to the opposing camp.

“Checkmate.”

King of Grania, Kenyonce Caesar Kazarainell, raised his lips smoothly.

“This wouldn’t have happened.”

The black King was cornered/surrounded by a white horse without a way out.

“I lost.”

Watching Harsen plainly admit defeat, Kenyonce said, “You never thought of winning in the first place.”

“I’m not very good at chess.”

“It’s clear why you lost.”

“Not having fun also contributes to it.”

“The Duke is boring as ever. Am I right, Grand Chamberlain?” The king looked back and reached out his hand to the Grand Chamberlain.

Giving a ready cigar, the Grand Chamberlain said, “He never changes.”

“That sounds like a compliment. Who are you siding with?” Smoking the cigar, Kenyonce wrinkled his nose in annoyance.

“How can I pick sides on such a matter?”

“I want you to resign from today onwards. I’ll post Count Gladiam in your stead.”

“Haha, even if I resign, there are enough hale and hearty men that Count Gladiem won’t even stand a chance.”

“Aren’t those hale and hearty people old men in their forties and fifties? How old was the Count again..?”

“Twenty-nine, I believe.”

“No problem, then. There’s a precedent.”

As Kenyonce sucked the cigar, the Grand Chamberlain let out a heavy sigh. He looked as if he had lost. “I apologize, Your Majesty. Are you okay now?”

“Apology accepted. I’m not so petty.”

“Oh dear.”

Watching the two squabbling, Harsen lowered his eyes. For a second, he wanted to escape from the childish quibbles happening before him.

Kenyonce slouched deep into the chair. “So, marriage with Garten eh?”

He narrowed his eyes and gazed at the man in front of him.

“That’s right.”

“But, instead of attending the Lady’s Coming-of-Age party, you’re playing a boring game of chess with me? Had you told me before, I wouldn’t have called you.”

“My wife attended.”

“Ah, is the Duchess faring well?”

“Yes.”

His one-word reply made the Grand Chamberlain feel all awkward. No matter how hard I look at it, these two clearly don’t get along.

“Did the Duchess give her consent? She probably wouldn’t look at her favorably since the Lady is a Garten.”

“Ercella is a Bernhardt.”

He understood the meaning after that. He’s saying the Duchess is a Bernhardt, so there’s no need to begrudge Garten, whom the Visarides detest. This added to Kenyonce’s fun.

“While we are on the topic, I have an offer for the Duchess.”

The black-haired, black-eyed man raised his lowered eyes at Kenyonce.

“As you know, my one-year-old son is very popular these days.” Kenyonce’s voice was very cheerful as if he was spouting daily gossip. “I appointed a maid who works in the palace as his nanny, but it made everyone go berserk. He’s my son, yet they’re all so meddlesome. Anyway, since I agree that a precious royal descendant cannot be entrusted to a mere commoner, I want to look for a new nanny. After careful selection, I believe the Duke’s wife seemed rather suitable for the role. I’m sure she’ll take good care of her dear sister’s child. So why not have the Duchess take care of the prince?”

“It’s impossible.”

Not a request to reconsider, but a straight up refusal! The Grand Chamberlain was quite astonished that Duke had dispelled a golden opportunity without much consideration.

The king’s apparently generous proposal made it seem like nothing, but it was the prince’s nanny’s position. Such an intuitive answer would have been possible had he calculated the offer. Kenyonce looked bemusedly at the seemingly apathetic attitude of Duke Bernhardt.

“Why, even Lady Dartner is hell-bent on getting the position. Does the Duke not feel tempted?”

“House Bernhardt doesn’t care who takes the position other than my wife.”

“Don’t you care even a little bit? Word has it that the Duchess is enjoying her role as a parent these days. Give me a hand. You aren’t a stranger to the prince, aren’t you? In a way, he’s the next closest relative of yours.”

“I told you it’s impossible, Your Majesty.”

It was a polite, yet a precise and firm rejection.

“If it’s necessary, I myself will select a suitable person to be the nanny.”

“Duke—”

“I’m informing you again since Your Majesty seems to have forgotten. She is still recovering.”

Recovering? Kenyonce’s mouth twitched. It’s been ages since she went to Villene due to ill health.

However, at his reminder, Kenyonce only laughed in vain. To him, it was a pretty generous proposal given half-jokingly and half-sincerely, but the Duke rejected it as if it were not even worth the effort.

“Right, the Duchess must be busy taking care of the Young Duke, so it’s not worth adding more slog.”

“Your Majesty need not concern himself with such trivialities.”

Even at my snide and sarcastic remarks, he only gives formal answers. Kenyonce’s eyes were glued to Harsen. Although slightly lowered, his proud black eyes showed no signs of submission.

The king faced those with such eyes many times a day. Bernhardt, Visaride, Lapaine, Dartner… all those who helped him seize the throne. With his elbow resting on the arm of his chair, the king sucked in his cigar, savoring it.

“All right, the Duke may take his leave now. Well done.” Kenyonce lazily sent him off.

“Then I shall retire.”

Duke Bernhardt left after an insipid greeting. The door opened and closed noiselessly. There was only the sound of the two people breathing in the palatial space.

“Erm, I’m worried.”

“Grand Chamberlain.” Unlike before there was no trace of mischief on the king’s face.

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“When Bernhardt was killing off my brother’s forces, there must’ve been many things kept hidden¹, right?”

“That seems to be the case. We have evidence of his involvement in the annihilation of House of Robert’s vassal families, Viscount Torben and Baron Casa. Furthermore, Luders, who supported the Archduke Calyx, and Lorton, which was run by Chestein, had their trade blocked at the upper territory of Kirn. As a result, after a series of losses the trade has declined due to insufficient funds.”

“Ah, that was amazing. I didn’t know we could bring the barbaric Idurs to Grania without hiring mercenaries. Who would’ve thought they were associated with the Duke? If I hadn’t kept my eyes peeled the entire time, there wouldn’t be any evidence left.”

Kenyonce muttered with a smile, “The Duke has done a lot of work for me.”

“…”

“Like getting rid of the pesky Damonshires.”

The Grand Chamberlain glanced down solemnly. Even if they were my lord’s political enemies, the tragedy that befell Damonshire is indeed a heavy subject to talk about.

“The poisonous plant circulating Vaden, Damonshire’s former territory, was smuggled by Baron Keshorn Chason, who works under Duke Bernhardt.”

Tapping his finger on the armrest, the king recalled the incident.

A terrifying incident in which a whole territory shriveled up and died due to the secret mass distribution of an unknown poisonous plant in Vaden, the territory and residence of House Damonshire. It happened after Bethel Damonshire, the sister of Rondemann Damonshire, died and the Damonshire family was driven out of the capital.

As Rondemann Damonshire drowned himself in alcohol and drugs out of despair and grief, Vaden’s nobles, knights and farmers slowly became addicted to the mass-released poisonous plant. It was a common sight for people who had gradually fallen to the poison to not do their jobs and just wander on the streets aimlessly.

As a result, Vaden’s social system rapidly collapsed. The poisonous plant that was commonly found everywhere at first, dwindled over time, and those who couldn’t find it suffered from the severe symptoms of the addiction.

They all died usually similarly, either by revolting against the lord or having the poison spreading throughout their body. Damonshire’s head, who woke up belatedly, tried to find out who was behind the incident, but he was a step too late.

Eighty percent of the young population was addicted to the plant, and the situation had gotten out of hand. Eventually, Vaden collapsed. Rondemann Damonshire, having lost Vaden, Damonshire’s primary territory, jumped off the castle wall and committed suicide. He was followed by Casaro Damonshire, who inherited the Count’s title— also found dead in his castle as he watched Damonshire collapse before his eyes. These were the tragic accounts of a once central family, now remaining only in history.

“I didn’t even know it was a poisonous plant. Hājri, was it? They say it’s a plant that only grows in Ludelsia.”

“Yes. Since Ludelsia is blessed by a god, various rare plants often grow there…”

Kenyonce laughed at Grand Chamberlain. He scratched the back of his neck as Kenyonce laughed at him. A rare poisonous plant grew because of a god’s blessing? There was no such absurdity!

“How on earth did the Duke learn of it? I suppose even he knows a lot of fun stuff.”

“They say it’s a pretty special flower in Ludelsia.”

“Keshorn Chason must be dead.”

“There’s no way the Duke would let him live. However, there is only a conjecture at the moment since there isn’t any physical evidence regarding it. Nevertheless, there’s plenty of evidence about other things, so there’s no need to worry.”

He had heard of the list of crimes committed by the Duke from the Grand Chamberlain before. And his report was not false.

“It’s strange.”

Still, Kenyonce couldn’t shake this suspicious feeling.

“He left too many traces behind.” The king continued to utter his doubts, “What do you think?”

The Grand Chamberlain, who had been reserving his opinion on the rising suspicions, spoke up, “…It’s unlike Duke Bernhardt.”

“How so?”

“After he ousted both Damonshire and Robert, the processing was so neat that there was nothing left to investigate. Same for Bethel, His Late Majesty’s royal consort. Your Majesty, at the time Damonshire couldn’t find the maid involved or even a single hair of hers. Nobody knows if she’s hidden or dead even now. With all due respect, he worked so elaborately to expel only one royal consort. Such a meticulous mastermind suddenly left a trace while removing one of Luders’s mere vassals. After that, as you know, the trivials things were hurriedly covered up either by influence or money. The Duke might have made the arrangements, but…I don’t think these mistakes were intentional.”

“Did you find out anything more about what happened during the Duke’s absence at that time?”

“Before starting work, the Duke sorted out all his relatives, so I have nothing much about it.”

“…”

“However…” The Grand Chamberlain chose his next words carefully. “The timing…coincides with the time when Duchess Bernhardt fell ill.”

“When you say she was ill, do you mean the Duchess’s depression?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“It’s embarrassing to even call it an illness,” Kenyonce said apathetically. After stabbing Bernhardt’s family doctor’s ribs, he found out that the Duchess had been suffering from an unexplained case of depression.

But then he let it slip from one ear to another. It was not a fatal disease, he did not think he could use something so trifling to ruin the Duke.

“That’s unexpected. I’ve heard rumors that the Duke truly loves the Duchess.”

“…”

“Then again, even I thought it was just a way to avoid the king’s wrath for rejecting my half-sister.”

Hermia Rizanelle Kazarainell.

Unlike him and Calyx, who were born to a royal consort, Hermia was the only direct royal descendant of the previous queen and the current king’s half-sister. She was of the noblest blood in the royal family.

Due to her great lineage, Kenyonce had no doubt that Hermia would become the Duchess. Not just him, but the majority population thought so too.

However, contrary to everyone’s expectations, the woman chosen by Young Duke Bernhardt was merely a second daughter of a marquis. He wondered how great a lady he was marrying to reject the princess’s marriage proposal, and he was ashamed.

Ercella Visaride.

As she was Eshahilde’s sister, he had met her several times upon his visits to Visaride. His impression of the girl was quite simple. Compared to her sister, she did not stand out except for her beauty. She timidly cringed every time she saw Kenyonce… maybe because she stepped on his foot during her debutante.

The first impression he remembered of her was that she was cute enough. Nothing special. However, when he heard that a girl who barely left an impression on him was going to marry the successor of the Bernhardt family, he burst into laughter.

‘Was it because of her face?’

At first, such suspicions arose, but even those were soon abandoned. Hermia, who was known for her beauty, didn’t even stand a chance before her.

However, no one cared for such a thing in the first place. Kenyonce resigned to the thought that the Young Duke chose the second daughter of Visaride because of something, but then he remembered his father, who was in turmoil because he did not know what it was. Moreover, his father’s mother was a Visaride, and Ercella Visaride’s mother was a princess of Ludelsia, an ally.

It was truly spectacular that the late king could only swallow his anger since he could not simply punish them. All he could do for his beloved daughter was to send a man who had just married into the battlefield.

In that aspect, he was wise to choose her. Her lineage was incomparable to Hermia’s, but she seemed to be quite a decent girl.

But of course, Kenyonce did not believe the rumors that the two married out of love.

There was an unwritten rule that royal marriage proposals could not be rejected unless the royal family was to retract it. Yet, it was said that the Young Duke Bernhardt wanted to marry the Visarides’ daughter so badly that he refused to marry the princess.

It sounded very sweet to hear. Many even ate up the gossip. Hearing rumors that sounded almost confirmed to be true, Kenyonce made an appreciative comment that the Bernhardt knew how to use their brain.

Because it was all wrapped up by undefeated young love, and because the other party was a woman from Visaride, who was close to the royal family…

For rejecting Hermia, his actions were excused under the guise of contempt for the royal family.

‘Poor Sister.’

Kenyonce closed his eyes and scoffed. It was more of a pitying sneer toward Hermia, who could not marry the man she wanted and had to leave for a faraway country due to Marquis Visaride’s machinations.

“Your Majesty?”

Kenyonce rubbed his face slowly at the call of the Grand Chamberlain.

“Oh, I was just thinking about something.”

“Were you thinking of Her Highness?”

“How is she doing there?”

“She has had three children with the prince, so it seems they have a good relationship.”

“It’s been a while since she was sent as a princess consort, but the old king doesn’t seem to be kicking the bucket just yet.”

“Haha.”

Hearing the Grand Chamberlain’s casual laughter, Kenyonce also chuckled.

“I feel sorry for my sister in many ways. I didn’t know the Marquis would come out so cunning.”

“Pardon my rudeness, but if Her Highness—”

“Oh, yes, I know. There would be some fuss about my succession if there were another heir to the throne. Grania has had many matriarchs before. I appreciate what she did, Grand Chamberlain. And surely, she did it thinking of her younger sibling, not for me. But it’s still a little uncomfortable because she’s a princess.”

“…”

“So, what do you think? About those two, I mean.” His pleasant voice suddenly changed.

It was an unclear question, but Grand Chamberlain spoke as if he understood it, “Nothing remarkable about Visaride.”

“Is he hiding behind Bernhardt?”

“The Marquis is a cunning man. He’d never dip his foot into that mud. It’s going to be hard to kick him off. Although Bernhardt is a family that has defended borders for centuries, there’s much evidence of them violating national laws. The Duke may be in the capital, but his knights still guard the north firmly. We need to find a family that can replace Bernhardt but they’re—”

“Let’s bring the Roberts back.”

“…Yes, Your Majesty.”

Hearing the king mention Robert, the Grand Chamberlain’s eyes deepened.

“Even so, overthrowing Bernhardt in order to cut off Visaride’s tail… If I may dare say, you won’t get what you want that way.”

“I know. That’s why I’m still thinking about it.”

“May I ask what you actually want to do?”

Kenyonce did not answer. His low, diminished eyes swept along the chessboard. In them, he saw the chess piece he just played moving vividly.

Pawn, bishop, knight, rook, king, everything came to life, but a single white queen was still lying on the chessboard. He smirked and closed his eyes.

‘Your Majesty.’

A soft voice struck his ear. He opened his eyes. Moonlight blonde hair and meadowed green eyes appeared before him. Even though he knew it was a vision, the composure he had maintained all along began to show signs of cracking.

‘Was Cecilia Robert’s death my fault?’

Her slender waist was straight as ever and her proud eyes could not be extinguished. She was beneath him yet she lived a more virtuous life than him.

‘Do you hate my family?’

The woman’s lips drew a graceful curve. She smiled coldly at Kenyonce, as if he were foolish.

‘Even if that is why you were able to take that seat?’

Kenyonce merely smiled at the silhouette of the woman from the vision.

Dear me, my wife is brazen even in death.

* * *

This was one of my favorite chapters. The revelations of what happened to the families Harsen destroyed gave me shudders.

Also, jerk-face Kenyonce is pronounced as ken-yons.

Footnotes