[Chapter 152] Pireta, the young Duke

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Gregory found the Duke of Pireta at the villa in the capital without much difficulty.

He didn't bother to mention the nonsense about his brothers' souls being swapped.

He simply looked around the sofa, which showed clear signs of having been constantly reading newspapers. He frowned at the traces of cigars left in the ashtray, which he had quit after his health deteriorated. His father used to pick up a cigar whenever he was anxious or excited.

"Gregory, you've come. They say all the cigars in the capital have run out, so go get some. What a bunch of stupid easterners, not being able to get a single cigar."

The servants guarding the front door blushed. Gregory looked at the newspaper the duke was reading without answering. It was an article arguing that the Second Prince Roardnes should become the Crown Prince.

"Where's Bliere?"

"Aren't you looking for Adria? Aren't you worried?"

"Your wife will take good care of her, as always. You can just take her to the East and find her a new husband. What about Bliere? How is she with the Second Prince?"

"Father, are you doing this because... you're worried that Bliere will become your successor and take my place?"

The lips that had been chewing on an unlit short cigar stopped abruptly.

The Duke's sharp gaze cut across Gregory's face. After carefully examining his beautiful son's face, the Duke narrowed his eyes.

"What?"

"Do you think I wouldn't know? I have eyes and ears. Why should I, the heir of Pireta, learn a half-baked history? How could I not know that the successors with magical powers have been inherited through the maternal line since ancient times?"

"It's just a relic of the past!"

"So you wanted to kill Bliere? To cut off the maternal succession? For me? No matter what method you used, you felt the magic in her, didn't you?"

The Duke quickly dismissed the servants and lit a short cigar.

His trembling hands, weakened by his illness, looked precarious.

Gregory stared at the ring that shone brightly and unnaturally on the old man's hand.

The ring of the family head that his mother had given to his father when she entrusted him with the management of the family.

The ring, which had clearly shone brightly as soon as Bliere was born and recognized as having a new magic. It was true that he had heard from the great sorcerer Rossi that most of Pireta's successors had magic.

"In ancient times, successors with magical powers were needed. Because it wasn't a time when magic was forbidden. But Ronta, which became an empire, has forbidden magic until now. Do you have any idea what that means? Even though the successors of Pireta hid their magic and stayed in the East, how could they be called nobles? I hated your grandmother who didn't want to come out and stay in a rural area even though she had a vast estate."

"You don't mean to say you wanted to leave the estate to me and escape to the capital because you didn't like being called Pireta's son-in-law?"

The Duke's eyebrows wrinkled quickly.

"Your mother was weak, but she wasn't so sick that she couldn't take care of the estate. You know how much pregnancy and childbirth can ruin a woman's body..."

"I loved your mother. But I also loved Pireta. We have to break away from the old customs! You are my successor! I have led Pireta well without magic, and you can do it too! You have to lead Pireta!"

That was the end of the conversation. The Duke impatiently threw the last remaining cigar out of the window and adjusted his clothes.

"You must have come to see me to meet Bliere, right? She made me a promise. She said she would make me the father-in-law of the Crown Prince."

"..."

Gregory clenched his fists tightly.

The Duke quickly approached his son. And he grabbed his strong son's shoulder with his wrinkled hand.

"It is a shame for a man to be born and not hold power in his hands. Son, I am trying to teach you that."

****

The living room was bustling with unexpected guests.

I stepped back with Epero, who had just visited, and watched the situation, and Bliere, my father, and Gregory were sitting around a round table.

Epero, who only knew that we were twins, smiled awkwardly and closed his mouth when I greeted him as familiarly as before.

It was only natural, as he was not acquainted with the deceased Grand Duchess Adria.

Those sitting across the round table were having a surprisingly quiet conversation.

I was a little surprised because I had expected Bliere to throw something at her father as soon as he arrived, given her personality.

Bliere smiled quietly as she listened to her father's words, such as "I missed you," "I didn't really mean to kill you," and "I knew all along that the nanny would take care of you."

Instead, she sat with her arms crossed on the armrests in a somewhat casual posture, just nodding whenever her father spoke.

"I heard that the Second Prince is at the Grand Duke's mansion. Where is he? I'm most curious whether you can become the Crown Princess."

Bliere's smiling face twisted her eyebrows. Her father flinched slightly, glancing at Bliere, and changed his words.

"So, I mean, I'm most curious about what you want to do. If I'm going to be a father late in the game..."

"It's over with the Second Prince. He says he likes Adria."

Bliere replied, digging her pinky finger into her ear, and her father stiffened.

Her father's gaze turned to me and then back.

"That can't be, as long as you're here. You have to be with the Second Prince!"

Her father began to insist. Now I too slowly narrowed my eyes. I was about to step in if he said anything strange.

At that moment, Gregory, who had been listening quietly, turned red and spoke up when his father began to criticize Bliere.

"Father, please stop."

"Be quiet, Gregory!"

"I will give up my position as a minor duke."

The living room was suddenly silent.

Her father tilted his head as if he had heard wrong. And then, grabbing Gregory who was about to leave without saying anything else, he revealed his true colors.

"You're such a useless fellow! Don't you know that you could lose your position if Adria becomes the Crown Princess and Bliere comes to the East? Although Helene entrusted me with this position because she was in poor health, she would have wanted to pass it on to Bliere, not you, who has been trained as a successor, once she knew that her daughter had magic, you fool!"

"I never thought that position was rightfully mine. In fact, even when my mother was pregnant with twins, she never once told me to step down from the position of minor duke. You said you wanted to break the old customs of Pireta, but in fact, your mother wanted to pass it on to the successor who loved Pireta the most, regardless of such traditions."

"Gregory!"

"So you have no right."

The Duke clutched the back of his neck as if he had been greatly shocked. Then, as if he had suddenly remembered something, he turned to Bliere.

"Bliere! Persuade your brother. If you want to become the Crown Princess, you need the strong support of your family! What can you do if you come to the East, where you haven't learned anything or can do anything? With the Second Prince's love and your brother's support, you can go to the capital... Do you understand what I mean? Tell me what you want to do. I'll give you the decision."

As if he expected her to naturally say she wanted to become a Crown Princess, the Duke spoke with a somewhat triumphant air.

Bliere looked at her father for a long time without answering. And as she slowly stood up and faced her father, a smile spread across his face.

"I want to become the Duke of Pireta."

"...What?"

The Duke's face twisted like a child who had been robbed of his belongings.

"What do you mean?"

"I only heard Olivia's warning not to return to Pireta, but listening to what you're saying now, it seems like it was mine?"

"You..."

"What I want?"

Bliere smiled coldly and closed the wide-open window with magic, as if to show off.

As the small windows that let in the sunlight closed one by one with a thud, the Duke's eyes filled with fear.

"I don't like the sight of an unqualified son-in-law occupying my mother's land. Step aside, Your Grace, the unqualified Duke."

"This... this..."

"Step back, Duke."

Suddenly, all eyes in the living room turned to the half-open door.

As Roardnes, who had grown up, entered the living room with a blue cloak fluttering, the Duke stopped breathing, unable to even pretend.

Vincenzo, with a solemn expression, was holding a pile of files bound with a folder beside Roardnes.

"You have violated the natural order. And I have found evidence that you have transferred the property of the Pireta family to your personal name, what are we going to do?"

"Your Highness!"

The Duke exclaimed like a scream.

"You'd better choose one: step aside quietly or stand side by side with the Castagna clan in the West and face trial."

"Ah, Adria. Adria..."

The Duke called out to Adria in desperation. Adria did not answer.

The Duke felt a chill run down his spine. The presence of the Second Prince, whom he had always thought of as a playboy, was more overwhelming than he had imagined, and he could not even breathe under that intimidation.

"Bliere, Bliere, didn't you promise?"

He had said that if he wanted to become the father-in-law of the Crown Prince, he should support the Second Prince.

Adria winked at Bliere. Bliere, too, knew about the promise from Adria.

"You said you would make him the father-in-law of the Crown Prince, but you didn't say it was me."

The Duke collapsed at the harsh words. Gregory ended up supporting the falling Duke.

"I apologize for interfering in your family matters, Your Highness."

Gregory bowed his head to Roardnes with a troubled face.

"If that's what Bliere thinks, I'll take responsibility for removing my father from his position and giving it to you. My newly returned sister is more important to me than the position of a minor duke."

Gregory carried the Duke out of the living room. Bliere stood there, pondering the kind and firm words Gregory had left behind.

And she smiled wryly at Adria approaching her.

"Good. Now that Count Acacia has returned, I'm no longer Countess Acacia. I'm tired of being an old man's wife. I can't live a commoner's life, wearing nice clothes and eating delicious food."

Bliere relaxed her tense body and finally showed a playful expression.

Adria advised that she couldn't become a duke right away.

She added that it would be better to go to the East and learn from Gregory about being a successor, as she didn't know much about the estate and needed to be trained as a successor.

"...Does it matter if I become a duke?"

"You are also qualified to be a successor, Bliere Pireta."

Bliere was momentarily stunned by Adria's answer and then smiled.

"If I become the Duke of Pireta, can I have a couple of men?"

Adria's eyebrows furrowed slightly, but Epero, who was standing far away, laughed at the words.

When Bliere's gaze turned towards him, Epero quickly cleared his throat. But he couldn't hide his face as he tried to suppress his laughter.

Bliere looked at him meaningfully and whispered to Adria.

"By the way, who is that guy? Why haven't you introduced him yet? He's quite handsome, maybe I'll seduce him."

Adria looked at Epero, listening to Bliere's whispering voice.

Epero's eyes were somehow red, unlike the surprised face he had when he heard that Roardnes wanted Adria, not Bliere.

The next day.

Another piece of news that shook Ronta, like the eve of a storm, was delivered through the Imperial Gazette.

It was news that Bliere Pireta would become the new minor duke of the East, following the tradition of maternal succession in the eastern Pireta.

It was also stated that her brother, Gregory Pireta, would temporarily act as the duke's representative to guide the minor duke.

Confused by the new news, the newspaper added further.

It said that Grand Duchess Adria and Countess Bliere Acacia were twin sisters and the first sisters to receive the title of "saint" in the empire.

[Miracle! The first saint sisters ever joined by the Lord! High Priest Teln's tearful testimony 'It snowed that day too.']

Around that time, along with such a headline, news came out that the marriage between Crown Prince Bardenaldo and Doris Castagna, who was about to face trial, was invalid.

Followed by the news that the real Crown Princess that Crown Prince Bardenaldo had chosen was Adria.

And that shocking news that shook the capital was also conveyed to Doris, who was waiting for trial in the underground prison.

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