A Shadow Cast in Paradise (23 Chapters Left to Complete) - Chapter 4
“You’ve arrived, my lord.”
The Lester family’s villa, situated at the border of the ducal domain.
The duke’s servants stood in formation to welcome their master’s return.
“My lord, that is….”
The servants greeting Shade froze their gazes upon a woman stepping down from the carriage.
She walked with a limp, her leg wrapped in bandages, her hair disheveled and clothes filthy—as if plucked straight from a beggar on the street.
“Take her and make her presentable.”
Shade handed the reins to the coachman and spoke to the head butler, Werner.
The middle-aged head butler nodded politely, assenting to the order.
At that moment, a cheerful voice cut through the line of servants.
“Duke Shade Lester! Our hero!”
A young man emerged, striding lightly with a woman slung over one shoulder.
His wheat-colored brown hair and gentle features were matched by attire both strikingly flamboyant and refined.
When Shade stared at him silently, the young man burst into laughter.
“Haha! You’re wondering why I’m here? How could I not come? His Grace the Duke achieved such a magnificent feat—I simply had to offer my congratulations!”
The shamelessly cheerful speaker was Eklas Vittel, the younger viscount of the Vittel baronial house and the wealthiest man in the empire.
“I heard His Majesty has granted you new lands.”
Eklas grinned, his arm still wrapped around the woman’s waist.
Shade knew precisely why Eklas had come all the way to the ducal border.
‘It must be because of the new territory about to be incorporated into the duchy.’
After all, the man had an uncanny nose for the scent of money.
Still, he hadn’t expected him to arrive quite this quickly….
Truly, Eklas was as swift and elusive as a ghost.
“But who on earth is that woman?”
Eklas, who had been cheerfully greeting Shade, noticed Liana behind him and asked.
“A maid.”
Shade gave a terse reply and strode forward briskly.
Eklas followed close behind with an enigmatic smile.
“A maid is still a woman—and a pretty one at that.”
Glancing back over his shoulder, Eklas took in Liana’s appearance as he trailed after Shade.
Though disheveled, her delicate features clearly radiated beauty.
Others might not notice, but Eklas Vittel’s eyes were always accurate.
With a little grooming, she would surely become a stunning beauty.
“The great Duke Shade Lester himself bringing a woman home—truly, the heavens and earth must be turning upside down…”
“Eklas.”
“Oh dear. Was I being too loud again?”
Eklas laughed and dramatically pressed his lips shut.
The woman beside him giggled softly.
Liana stood silently, watching the nobles chatter among themselves and walk away.
Shade never once looked back at her. He headed toward the manor with those laughing merrily at his side.
Even after bringing her all this way, he now acted as though she no longer merited a glance.
The Lester villa was excessively vast, and Shade Lester soon vanished far into the distance.
Liana stood abandoned, like a toy whose novelty had worn off.
At that moment, Head Butler Werner approached her.
“Your name?”
“…Liana.”
“Liana. Very well. We’ll need to get you cleaned up properly. If you’re to befit the ducal household, that is.”
Werner studied her up and down as if appraising a newly acquired object, then turned and motioned for her to follow.
[This is the timeline separator]Eklas savored the bittersweet aroma of black tea as he observed Shade Lester seated across from him.
The hero who’d returned victorious from war now lounged half-slouched on the sofa, staring blankly at a candle flame as if it held no meaning for him.
As though this great triumph and the Emperor’s survival had absolutely nothing to do with him.
To Eklas, Shade resembled a beast.
Relaxed and languid on the surface, yet a predator ready at any moment to sink its fangs into its enemy’s throat—as if he might lunge at someone the instant the candlelight flickered out….
‘Could it be the blood of Lupus running through him…?’
Eklas pondered as he regarded Shade’s violet eyes—the hallmark of the Lupus lineage.
People considered that violet hue ominous, for myths described the eyes of the fallen angel as deep purple like grapes.
Indeed, that rare, shadowed color undeniably set him apart from ordinary folk.
‘But in the end, it’s just eye color.’
Eklas paid little heed to intangible myths.
What truly made the Lupus lineage formidable was not their peculiar eye color, but their extraordinary physical prowess—
strength surpassing normal humans, towering stature, and swift reflexes.
Eklas had seen countless Lupus over the years, yet among them, Shade Lester stood out.
His towering height drew attention anywhere; his muscles were tightly knit without a single gap, his frame solidly built.
Merely his presence was overwhelming.
According to knights, the charisma he displayed in daily life was laughably understated.
On the battlefield, they said, Shade Lester resembled a mythic monster—so fearsome that even allies dared not approach him.
“If he’d been our enemy,” many claimed, “we’d have sensed defeat the moment we laid eyes on him.”
‘Which is precisely why he’s climbed this high….’
A duke of Lupus blood.
Who could have imagined such a thing would ever appear in history?
The Lupus clan, marked by their stark otherness, had long formed the lowest rung of society.
Commonly called “beasts,”
for ages they’d been regarded as less than human, treated as slaves, excluded from social norms, and subjected to discrimination.
Lupus were forbidden from wearing leather shoes and could not walk down the center of the street.
They had to use Lupus-only restrooms, segregated from others.
They weren’t allowed to drink fruit wine.
Centuries of discrimination had taken deep root.
However, their treatment had gradually improved since the rights movement decreed by imperial edict ten years prior.
But in truth, that was merely ten years.
Though their status had improved astonishingly in that time, in many ways it had remained astonishingly unchanged.
In such an era, Shade Lester was a symbolic figure.
‘Duke Joseph Lester must have truly lost his mind—to adopt a Lupus as his heir….’
Eklas thought this, yet inwardly felt delighted.
He was a merchant, and such changes meant new opportunities. A new era’s wind was blowing.
Whether it would be a fair wind, a headwind, or a blood-soaked gale, he was ready—his sails prepared for any.
“It must be gratifying to return home after earning such great merit.”
Eklas took a delicate sip of tea to open the conversation.
Shade shifted his gaze toward Eklas, his chin resting in his hand.
“Thanks to Duke Lester, your family’s name grows ever more illustrious. With your newly granted territory added, no house in the empire now holds more land than the Lester ducal line, correct?”
Eklas subtly probed while masking his curiosity deep within.
At that, Shade Lester’s fingertips twitched irritably.
“Skip the preamble and get straight to the point.”
Cutting through ornamental formalities with blunt directness—so very typical of Shade Lester.
Shade’s straightforward style suited the pragmatic Eklas perfectly.
“I hear you’ve been granted the Ideana territory.”
Eklas leaped straight into the heart of the matter without ceremony.
During the recent war, Shade had saved the Emperor from certain death and led the battle to victory.
As reward, the Emperor bestowed upon him dominion over the neglected western lands of Ideana.
Once held by the former Margrave of Ideana,
the territory had lain abandoned like ruins ever since the baronial house fell and the land reverted to the imperial domain.
Though many reasons explained why this vast land remained unused, the most critical was the crime for which the Ideana barons had been exterminated.
Heretical sorcery—black magic.
Unlike holy magic, which used divine grace to heal, purify, and bless, black magic drew destructive power at the cost of life itself.
Murder, poisoning, mind control, curses….
The Ideana barons had researched this forbidden magic and were utterly annihilated for it.
The Ideana lands became tainted by black magic, and people refused to set foot on the cursed soil.
And now, after several years, Shade Lester had acquired dominion over that very land.
‘Everyone’s laughing it off as a burden, not a reward….’
Eklas recalled the reactions of the nobles when news of the grant had spread.
They sneered that it was a land perfectly suited for a Lupus.
Indeed, it was a horrifying gift to bestow upon the savior of the Emperor’s life.
Moreover, the Emperor had added an even more absurd condition.
Ten years of dominion. Merely a decade under Lester control.
‘To repay the man who saved his life with such creative cruelty—His Majesty truly is something.’
If Shade successfully restored the cursed land, the Emperor would swiftly reclaim it.
If left neglected, the Emperor would accuse him of abandoning imperial property—and blame Shade Lester for every problem arising from Ideana.
‘Seems His Majesty finds it deeply humiliating to owe his life to a Lupus….’
The current imperial House of Chefbolden was notably conservative toward Lupus, and had expressed much discontent when Shade, a Lupus, inherited the Lester ducal title.
‘Though he himself doesn’t seem to care much about such things….’
Eklas glanced once more at the man seated before him.
Regardless of the Emperor’s intentions, Shade Lester clearly had his own thoughts about the cursed land.
‘And understandably so.’
Eklas recalled Shade’s origins.
He was from Ideana.
More precisely, he’d once been a slave serving under the former Margrave of Ideana, who’d been executed for treason.
‘A slave’s triumphant return home….’
No wonder the former slave held uniquely profound feelings toward that accursed land.
When the male lead is punished by carrying the female lead’s child and having periods like a woman
“I’ve given birth to two children for you, yet you still think about him.
Was I nothing but his substitute to you from beginning to end?”
Synopsis:
Meng Huan, a scumbag who has dated countless girlfriends, transmigrates to a female-dominated country.
Day 1: Whether it’s female dominance or not doesn’t matter. The beauties here are passionate and amorous. Isn’t it easier to date them than in modern times?
Day 2: After a night, Meng Huan discovers the differences in the female-dominated world. Men here actually have chastity locks and menstrual cycles. This hinders his ability to perform, damn it!
Day 3: What’s wrong with sleeping around? I don’t want you to marry me. I’m meant to be a playboy. I don’t care about male virtues… What? You want to drown me in a pig cage? Marry, I’ll marry!
Day N: Meng Huan inexplicably vomits and receives the shocking news of his life… He’s pregnant.
_____
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