I Have A Terminally Ill Duke As My Husband (1 Chapters Left to Complete) - Chapter 69

“Hasn’t your eyes, Father, always seen only Harmon and never me? No matter what I did, you were never satisfied, were you? Did you really think I wouldn’t find out that, for several years now, you’ve secretly arranged for Harmon to receive the Crown Prince’s education? From the very beginning, you never intended to pass the throne to me. So what choice did I have? Wasn’t I forced to find my own place myself?”

Find my own place?

“Damon, are you really blaming me alone for everything, without reflecting on your own actions at all? Empress—was this truly what you desired?”

Viseluke turned to Antwarte, who stood outside the conference room. Antwarte entered, casting a resentful glance toward Viseluke.

“Your Majesty, it was merely a single mistake. He isn’t just anyone—he’s the Crown Prince! I repeatedly begged you to show mercy, yet you ignored my pleas and banished that poor Crown Prince to such a distant place! So please, don’t be too harsh on Damon.”

“Empress! Do you really not understand what Damon has done? That boy murdered innocent women merely to satisfy his lust! And if that weren’t enough, consumed by jealousy, he even framed his own younger brother—do you truly believe that carries no fault?”

At Viseluke’s words, Antwarte shouted back.

“So what if he did? They were merely a few orphans—not nobles, but wretches destined to sell their bodies to someone else anyway. Are you really going to make such a fuss over just a few worthless lives?”

“Hah. ‘Just a few orphans’? Are their lives not lives at all? Empress, they too are citizens of this Empire. Surely even you must know that a human life cannot be valued by status or wealth. Now I see—I shouldn’t blame Damon at all. The one truly deserving blame is you, Empress, for raising him into this monster.”

Hearing Viseluke’s words, Damon approached Antwarte.

“Mother, wasn’t I right all along? Father never had any intention of forgiving me. To him, he’s had only one son—Harmon. Look at poor Thingklay—banished from the capital, he’s now merely a prince in name while rotting in prison! So please, Mother, abandon any lingering attachment you still hold toward Father.”

Caimen, who had been listening to Viseluke, Antwarte, and Damon while keeping watch outside, spoke up.

“Your Majesty, now is not the time to debate the Crown Prince’s faults. We must find the Imperial Seal before the Duke returns to the palace. Otherwise, everything will end in failure.”

“Your Majesty, please tell us where the Imperial Seal is hidden. And if you issue an imperial decree naming Damon as the next Emperor, we won’t harm you.”

Pressed urgently by Antwarte, who grew impatient at Caimen’s words, Viseluke burst into laughter.

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