Romanoff Dukedom: Aftermath (3)

No matter how tough he acted, Ius knew that the Duke and Duchess could see through his facade.

Because of that, he let go of all his reservations and ceased acting servile. He took a deep breath and clicked his tongue. It was impertinent of him, to say the least. However, Ius couldn't care less since his wishes were also being disrespected.

Ius wanted nothing in his life other than to inherit the Romanoff Dukedom. He could care less about anything else, that included the Urduhel Bout, candidacy for Skarrighan's blood, and even the treasures that the Empire could give him.

He didn't need the wolf clan for his revenge. He only needed the Dukedom whose influence had reached the hearts of the neighboring nations.

"With all due respect, Duke Romanoff, I am your only heir. I highly doubt that you will let someone who's not your blood inherit the Dukedom." Ius hissed as he spoke, "I don't see the necessity in punishing me and the other members of the league for killing a traitor. The elders should've done the same to the rotting old man in the prison."

"Ius!" His mother shouted, hoping that her warning would stop Ius from tattling.

But no.

Ius couldn't be stopped by that point.

"Your actions confuse me, father. Sir Prev murdered my brother, your eldest son. I can't see the reason behind your lack of thirst to kill that man. And right now, another traitor has emerged. I figured that the elders wouldn't take revenge, so I killed Erwin Pelt with my own hands."

A period of silence descended within the room. Ius stared at the Duke, and the Duke stared back at his son.

The Duchess, on the other hand, kept her reticence. It was not her place to intervene in the conversation between the two. She started massaging her head as she walked towards the window.

Duchess Romanoff could still see the knights and the press members waiting by the gate. To her relief, the Romanoff Dukedom's knights were as capable as she had expected. As a matter of fact, they were better than one entire order employed by the Imperial Family.

'If we don't yield to the knights' request for information, we will be summoned by the Emperor tomorrow. The former is much, much better than the latter. But at this point in time, the knights might fabricate the story to pin fault on someone from my family.'

She turned around to see if there was progress between Ius and the Duke. Withal, they were still embracing an eerie silence. Hence, the Duchess went back to watching the scene outside.

'I'll prefer being summoned by the Emperor then. We'll personally pay him a visit. As for those people from the media, they won't be able to do anything since the Imperial knights also don't have information. If they dare to publish false news, I'll be confronting them myself.'

Once the Duchess was done forming her plans, she gave a glance at the two men inside her study. To her frustration, they were still silent. She heaved a sigh and began walking towards the door.

She thought that giving them privacy would allow them to talk more freely.

The very second that the Duchess had exited the room, Duke Vartos spoke up.

"Ius, there's little that we know about the new head of the Orschetta Clan. After more than a decade, we still have to reveal their true identity. As of now, the Orschetta Clan will most probably be our main enemy. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

Ius didn't move as to a blink. His father was getting on his nerves. For the sake of not disrespecting the Duke any further, he chose silence.

"Erwin Pelt carried a great deal of information regarding the Orschettas, Ius. We don't want to preserve his life just because we want to. If we cajoled him enough, he might have yielded his complete knowledge about our enemy in whole."

Duke Vartos then stood up and walked towards Ius. The man, who was in his late 40's but only looked like he was ten years older than his own son, stopped a short distance away from the young man.

He placed a shoulder on Ius' shoulder, tapping it twice as she uttered, "A war is brewing between the uppermost echelon of clans, Ius. I know you're aware of that. What we need now more than ever is information. You just wasted a one in a million chance for us to gain something against the Orschettas."

Hearing his father's reason, Ius wasn't the least bit satisfied. He was already aware of what the Duke had explained.

"If I may be presumptuous, My Lord," Ius said, spitting every word, "You've known Erwin's identity from the very beginning, haven't you? But why is that, even after tens of years, you still failed to extract information out of him?"

Duke Vartos sighed and tightened his grip on Ius' shoulder. He looked the young man straight in the eye, grinding his teeth hard before responding.

"Having confronted him, what did you discover, Ius?"

"Ivar Chroly was talking about Erwin Pelt being in possession of that ability. I haven't confirmed but that seems to be the case."

"Yes, that ability. Erwin Pelt was able to acquire that ability through his lineage. Now that he's dead, who do you think will be the next holder of that ability?"

At that moment, Ius' eyebrows furrowed. His mouth slowly went agape as he contemplated an answer.

"Do you mean to tell me that he really was in possession of that shadow ability?!"

"Yes," Duke Vartas replied, taking a step back to revel in his son's bewilderment, "Erwin Pelt has no successors. That ability isn't passed down by the will of its former holder. It goes to its deserving owner by itself."

Ius gulped, his breathing hastening as he said, "If that's true, then there's only a few beast I can think of. But the most worrying of all, that ability will manifest in the current head of the Orschetta Clan."