The laws of the Crania Empire were very complex.

Therefore, not all dukes were the same, and not all counts had to lower their eyes before a duke, and the succession laws were applied differently for each title. Anyway, it was complicated, so the value of each title varied.

For example, in imperial law, the position of the Duke of Ostein was equal to that of the Grand Duke of Lyssenford, even if he wasn’t a ‘grand duke’.

The former emperor, who stayed in Ostein every summer, gave his beloved son everything, including the Langfalar Palace, property, and status. He legally guaranteed the position of the Duke of Ostein.

On the other hand, the current emperor pretended to treat the empress’s illegitimate child like the emperor’s son, while sending him on dangerous missions as a pauper. Even for positions of the same rank, there were such diverse cases.

The Duke of Monde was elevated to duke status when the only war hero produced by chance from the Lavalle family three hundred years ago achieved great merit.

Since then, mediocre successors had repeated not-so-smart marriages, failing to increase their wealth and instead diligently accumulating debt.

So at first glance, even though they were both daughters of dukes, Beatrice Lavalle didn’t receive the title of Your Highness the Princess, while Kaella de Chasser did.

This was because the former emperor bestowed a title equivalent to the grand duke status that the emperor’s children received on Adeo, his beloved illegitimate child.

“You know what we always say. The Duke of Monde is, yes, that’s right, unable to go out due to illness. Say that.”

The Duchess of Monde, having barely finished washing, sat in front of her dressing table and said,

“If they’re making a fuss about repaying debts, go to Lyssenford and get some money.”

“They’re at war.”

Beatrice frowned as she read the notice that had arrived for the seventh time.

“Oh my. The evil dragon?”

“No, foreign tribes.”

“What a barbaric place.”

The Duchess of Monde mumbled.

“We shouldn’t mention Dad.”

“What does it matter? You’re old enough now, just succeed him. Your father is known to be bedridden all the time anyway, so it wouldn’t be strange to slowly announce that he’s dead.”

“Are you crazy?”

Beatrice looked at her mother with great disdain.

“Are you really in your right mind? What have we been holding out for all this time?”

“Do you think you can avoid succession forever? How old are you? Do you think you’ll still be popular in society when you’re forty or fifty?”

The Duchess of Monde, who looked no older than her early twenties, scolded her daughter who was already twenty-eight.

“You need to settle down soon. You’ll be thirty the day after tomorrow. No matter how hard a woman without wealth tries, there’s a limit.”

“That’s why we’ve been working to create that wealth until now. We need to hold out longer. If I become the duchess, you know we can’t live like this anymore, Mom.”

There was quite a difference between the Duke of Monde and the Duke of Monde’s daughter. The duke’s daughter was still free from succession and such matters, but not the Duke of Monde.

It means becoming a lord responsible for the family and the territory. Above all, Beatrice had been holding out desperately until now to not end up as just the Duke of Monde.

“Is it the same for me to rake in money from society and to rake in money as a duchess?”

“What I’m saying is that you need to figure out how to live even as you get older. You can’t live as the prettiest and most charming woman forever, not knowing when you’ll get married to someone.”

“Why can’t I? I can do it.”

She can keep men yearning, throwing just enough tantalizing attention even when she’s thirty or forty. If she can’t, she’ll make it happen.

No, everything will be concluded before that anyway. The empress’s collapse was very good news for Beatrice. Many gaps had opened up for her to exploit.

But the problem was that the emperor, unlike before, was at a loss about what to do with the collapsed empress. It was unclear how long it would last, but it was very annoying to Beatrice.

“As if. Go get all dolled up and try to butter up a new creditor.”

The Duchess of Monde muttered gloomily while looking in the mirror.

“Mom, I can do it.”

Beatrice lowered her head and sharply raised her eyes.

“How do you think we’ve come this far, Mom and I? We even dealt with Dad together. I can do it. Just watch.”

The Duchess of Monde didn’t say anything because it looked like a child throwing a tantrum.

‘Right. She’s still young. How beautifully I gave birth to her. She’s different from ordinary kids.’

Thinking like that, the Duchess of Monde began to contemplate what wine to open for dinner later. No, before that, it might be good to drink champagne while having a snack.

*

It seems her body, not fully recovered, had tensed up and then relaxed. Kaella knew she should tell Peon that she would walk on her own, but her mouth wouldn’t move. Her body was that limp.

Peon picked her up very lightly and quickly left the cave. When she had entered alone, she thought she had walked quite a distance, but when leaving, she realized she hadn’t gone in that far. Light was visible soon.

“Are you cold?”

Kaella shook her head, barely having the strength to speak. How dare the Grand Duchess express her will to His Highness the Grand Duke with just a nod, her guts must have come out of her belly.

To Kaella, it was an impudent and disrespectful act, but Peon didn’t seem to mind much. Anyway, he no longer matched Kaella’s formal speech.

The evil dragon’s minions that had been densely crowded outside the cave had all disappeared. Everything was peaceful and quiet.

There were no more thunders and lightning tearing the sky, nor the wailing cries of the evil dragon. As if nothing had happened, it had become perfectly calm.

“How did you get here, Kaella?”

The question was answered not by Kaella, but by a monster standing quite far away.

Squeak.

It was that small monster with black fur and purple eyes resembling a squirrel. As if checking Peon’s mood, it made a small sound and then quickly wagged its large, fluffy tail towards Kaella.

“Do you know this one?”

“No, what happened was…”

Peon listened quietly as Kaella calmly explained how she had come here.

When he heard that the creature had been squeaking at Kaella near the stable and then suddenly kidnapped her, he narrowed his eyes and looked at the monster. The palm-sized creature held its tail tightly and trembled.

“…Do you perhaps like things that look like that?”

“It’s a monster, isn’t it…? What does its appearance matter?”

“It matters. It seems they chose the cutest one to send.”

The cutest one? Kaella looked at the monster again. From Peon’s view, the monster that had been terrified and at a loss suddenly perked up its large ears when its eyes met Kaella’s.

“It is cute.”

The creature seemed to understand, its eyes widening, and it started wagging its tail more enthusiastically.

“But it’s a monster.”

Squeak…

As soon as Kaella finished speaking, it drooped its ears again. It was cute and pitiful, but a monster is still a monster. It’s dangerous and shouldn’t be approached.

“Do you dislike monsters?”

“They’re enemies. They’re dangerous.”

“What if they’re not enemies?”

Peon looked down at Kaella. She didn’t understand what Peon was saying, so she chose silence, the best response method.

The people of Lyssenford, who shudder at the mention of evil dragons, also really dislike Kaella, so she tried to empathize with their feelings but gave up.

So rather than finding monsters terribly dislikeable, she just recognized them as dangerous beings. Just because such dangerous beings aren’t enemies doesn’t mean they’re not dangerous, right?

Seeing that she didn’t want to answer, Peon changed the subject.

“…From what I hear, you came all this dangerous way because of me. I’m sorry. The journey must have been uncomfortable and scary.”

Kaella always listened carefully and thought before responding instead of reacting immediately. Even now, she was quietly thinking after hearing his words and looking up at him once. It was a good habit. It reduced mistakes and meant she was cautious.

But Her Highness the Princess didn’t need to be so extremely careful with her words. It was a habit developed in Lyssenford where every word was scrutinized. The weight he was carrying was too light, and even such burn-like scars remained.

He held the small Grand Duchess a little closer to prevent the cold wind from penetrating.

“‘Because of Your Highness’?”

“Yes.”

Although the reaction was slightly delayed after careful consideration, Peon answered naturally. His wife knows how to get to the point. That’s right.

Those monsters kidnapped Kaella and brought her here because of Peon. Kaella had also felt as if they were asking her to soothe Peon, to bring him back to his senses, and Peon readily admitted it. That’s right. Your intuition is correct.

So there was a reason why that squirrel-like creature was shedding tears profusely. It wasn’t crying anymore. It was eagerly wagging its tail while sneaking glances at Peon.

“Let’s go. I’ll take you back.”

Knowing that Kaella’s gaze lingered on that creature even a little longer, Peon swiftly moved. As he moved, the surroundings changed rapidly.

When Peon took one step, they had already left the front of the cave, and when he took two steps, they were near the stables of Lyssenford Castle.

Kaella was too shocked to say anything as she looked at Peon standing among the bushes and trees, and the place where she had been kidnapped.

“It would be better to go to the bedroom.”

Peon muttered as he looked around assessing the situation, and took one more step. And they immediately arrived in the bedroom. There was no one in the Grand Duke’s bedroom.

“Now. Take it off.”

He naturally started removing her coat first. His hands moved unhesitatingly, as if it was only natural to attend to her.

“Lie down on the bed for a moment.”

“Where are you going, Your Highness?”

“To do the outside arrangements you were going to do.”

His fingers stroked through Kaella’s disheveled hair.

“I also need to visit the place called the evil dragon’s domain.”

Kaella’s eyes widened slightly. Peon chuckled.

“Why are you surprised? You’ve already guessed it.”

Indeed she had. With monsters and spirits all popping out, hearing the evil dragon’s wailing cry, and coming all this way, it wasn’t that she hadn’t expected it.

“…You must go there, Your Highness.”

“I have to go.”

He who had expressed that he had distanced himself from humans, didn’t bother to hide it.

“Father is waiting.”

This time, Kaella’s eyes truly widened.

Father?

“You should see Father’s face at least once, but if we did that now, I think you might faint, so I’m going alone.”

Peon sat her down in a chair, grinned, and then tapped her cheek.

“Your, Your Highness.”

The evil dragon is the father-in-law, right? Is that how I should understand this? Kaella called out to Peon to confirm. In fact, she could barely speak.

“Oppa will be back soon, so wait here.”

Somehow it sounded like he was correcting his title from ‘Your Highness’ to ‘Oppa’.

“I’ve had a bath drawn inside, so wash up. Wash and lie down.”

Kaella, exhausted from experiencing so many grueling events, looked up at Peon who had an infinitely affectionate face.

“Instead of washing and lying down, if what you say is true, I should go to Krain now, Your Highness.”

Going there to report about the suspicious relationship between the Grand Duke of Lyssenford and the evil dragon was the proper duty of a Cranian Empire citizen.

“The road to Krain is long and treacherous, it’s dangerous to go alone, Kaella.”

“Are you going to let me go?”

The clear face asking him back had no desperate expectation or hope. She’s just asking. It was like Kaella’s own form of rebellion, asking while knowing the answer. He smiled slightly, pulling the corners of his mouth, and pressed his forehead against hers.

“If I let you go, it would be divorce right away, do you think I would do such a foolish thing again, Kaella?”

Now she didn’t even fear him. She just stared at him without any expression.

Peon smiled. He had expected this. For Kaella, there were no feelings towards Peon. He was rummaging through an empty trash can abandoned even by its owner, trying to find even scraps inside.

“You said you would give me a divorce. We even wrote a prenuptial agreement. Don’t you remember?”

Did your memory deteriorate as you changed into a different person? Kaella spoke calmly to the madman claiming to be the son of an evil dragon.

She was effectively scratching the madman very calmly. It would be an impressive efficiency if it were intentional. The problem was that it wasn’t her intention.

“You don’t think I’m doing this because I don’t remember, do you?”

He answered with a sigh. It was like when Kaella was about seven years old.

It was the exact same tone as when the fourteen-year-old His Highness the Duke picked up the crying Princess who had fallen while running excitedly to see him when he briefly returned to Lyssenford, saying ‘Didn’t I tell you not to run?’

“Stop bringing up the divorce you’re not expecting either. I won’t give you a divorce for someone else’s benefit when you won’t live well after it.”

Peon deliberately didn’t say that he had seriously considered divorce. The woman in his arms would likely try to die before the ink on the divorce papers even dried. Now he would hold onto her and live on.

“Stay here. I’m sorry I can’t attend to your bath. I’ll send someone in.”

Peon, who had been saying shocking things continuously, looked at Kaella’s tiny face once more, planted a loud kiss on her cheek, and stood up.

“I’ll be back shortly, so don’t do anything bad.”

He left by normally opening the door instead of disappearing completely.

It meant don’t even dream of thinking about dying.