“I was afraid that person might say he was my real father and try to take me away… I was scared we might have to part.”

Askal, who had been leaning against the door, strode in and knelt down. The two looked into each other’s eyes at the same level.

“I don’t know why you thought that, but even if that man asked for you, I’d say no.”

Tears welled up in the child’s eyes as he stared at the man answering seriously.

“I’m so happy now… I’m scared this happiness might end.”

Finally, the tears spilled over. Askal felt like his heart was being torn to shreds.

“You won’t send me away, right? I can keep calling you father… right?”

Askal took a deep breath in and out. Though he was usually stingy with affection, now was not the time to hesitate.

“Rublion, listen carefully.”

He gently wiped the child’s eyes with his thumb as thick tears fell, and continued speaking.

“You are my son before being the heir to the duchy.”

Askal decided to reveal the sincere feelings he had never expressed before.

“It’s what I decided when I first held you, smaller than my forearm.”

“…”

“The reason I didn’t assign you a nanny is because I was always by your side. I was there when you rolled over and took your first steps. Of course, I’ve been a bit busy the past few years…”

Askal’s large hand stroked Rublion’s head.

“You don’t know how many servants I troubled trying to find your first lost tooth.”

Rublion’s lips parted slowly in surprise.

“That’s why I hoped you would call me father. But you kept calling me uncle.”

Rublion chuckled through his tears.

“I have absolutely no intention of sending you to someone else. If anyone asks for you, I’ll knock all their teeth out.”

He was saying something ridiculous with a serious face. A mysterious man with teeth falling out appeared and disappeared with a pop in Rublion’s small mind.

“…Father, I think you really would do that.”

“I would.”

“That’s reassuring coming from someone who has the power to do so.”

Rublion quietly got up from the bed. Then he wiped his tears with the back of his hand.

“Father.”

“What?”

The child smiled at Askal’s usual blank expression and whispered.

“I love you. Truly.”

I stared intently at the back of the man leaving the reception room with rough steps. We agreed to give him a small maintenance fee on the condition he doesn’t attend the wedding.

‘He probably has no idea that’s originally his own money.’

While Askal was out on a subjugation, I received part of the ledger from the butler and Baron Tirel, who were managing the duchy’s internal affairs in his stead. Though the scale was much larger, I’ve been managing money before, so there weren’t many difficult parts.

Thanks to that, I also saw the assets set aside for the eldest son by the former former duke, that is, Askal’s father.

Excluding the family fortune, the share given to the second son was really a speck of dust, and it was impressive how Askal had turned that speck into a mountain.

‘This is generous for someone who only seeks his own benefit without fulfilling his duties.’

I beckoned to the butler who was hesitating to enter the reception room, looking around nervously. He hurried in as if he had been waiting and asked worriedly if I was alright.

“This level of trouble is fine. It’s fortunate enough that no bloodshed occurred.”

“…I don’t even want to imagine that, my lady.”

Butler Gaben shook his head and took out a handkerchief from his pocket to dab his forehead.

“Gaben, there’s something I need you to do.”

“Yes, please tell me.”

I got up from my seat and approached the window. The man’s steps crossing the garden looked quite excited.

‘He must be happy to have found a sponsor.’

If he needed living expenses, the assets in his name would be more than enough to last a lifetime. But since it’s not money to be spent that way, he came here with excuses like maintenance fees.

“Discreetly assign someone to follow him. And find out the real reason he came to the mansion.”

“Is there anything else you’d like me to do?”

“Also record how he spends the money I just gave him.”

“Understood.”

The butler bowed with a satisfied face and left the reception room. By then, the man had passed through the main gate and left the mansion.

Since the Crown Prince was given the authority to take down the duchy, Rumps was being taken down at a rapid pace.

It was so fast that within half a day of the Royal Guard and the Crown Prince’s private soldiers raiding the Rumps ducal residence, rumors about the duke spread throughout the Rumps territory.

There were also minor rumors circulating that the Artenbach duchy had attacked Rumps with the Crown Prince’s backing, blinded by power, but among the territory’s people who had suffered many unfair treatments from Rumps, such trivial stories were just momentary topics.

“They say a corpse was found in the Rumps duke’s mansion.”

Women waiting for bread to bake in the village’s central public oven spoke of the circulating rumors.

“I heard that too. It was a maid’s corpse, wasn’t it?”

“They say she committed suicide in a large birdcage and wasn’t even cleaned up.”

“Oh my, oh my, goodness… How could they put a person in a birdcage?”

The women were stirred by the shocking rumors.

“Did you hear that story too? They say an enormous number of remains were found in the mansion’s pond.”

“I know. I heard that too. Old Lady Rukie living behind our house went to the mansion because her husband’s remains were said to be there.”

“Didn’t Old Man Rukie work as a gardener at the Rumps mansion?”

The savory smell of baking bread was spreading around the women, but no one paid attention to it.

“They say he hadn’t come home or to the Rumps mansion for three months, so the old lady reported it to the security forces. But who would have known he’d be there.”

Sighs escaped from the lips of several women. It was the sound of anticipating Rumps’ downfall.

As Duke Artenbach had accused, evidence of treason was found in the Rumps mansion. The Crown Prince discovered a will in the process of retrieving Lady Arche’s body, and it contained content stating that Duke Rumps had tried to recruit Artenbach and Terabita to suppress the imperial family.

And Lady Arche, who could not bear to help with this, took her own life, with a heartbreaking final greeting expressing her wish for her father to survive and preserve the family.

Of course, this rumor spread as fast as light. When the territory’s people learned that Duke Rumps was being taken to the capital, they surrounded the mansion to see her.

The duke appeared with her silver hair messily tied and tangled. An old woman clinging to the iron bars at the mansion’s main gate screamed in rage.

“Bring my husband back to life! You devil of a woman!”

The weakly thrown stone didn’t reach where the duke was.

“Why did you kill my brother! Bring him back!”

A heavy man’s cry was heard from a bit further back. He was wailing with a half-crazed face, asking why she had thrown his brother into the pond.

Maybel, her arms held by imperial knights, walked with her usual upright posture. Then she muttered with an arrogant expression, chin lifted.

“…So noisy.”

Her nonchalant attitude further enraged the people.

“Devilish woman!”

“Kill her! Burn her to death!”

They threw stones from all directions. The imperial knights were wearing armor and cloaks, so they just had to dodge their heads well, but it was different for Maybel.

Hit on the shoulder by someone’s stone, she shouted angrily.

“Aagh! Who was that!”

At the same time, another stone flew in. Maybel staggered, hit on the forehead.

“Agh, what are you doing! Aren’t you supposed to protect me!”

She yelled at the imperial knights. Only then realizing the seriousness of the situation, one knight hurriedly took off his cloak to wrap around her, but as they got closer to the main gate, the things flying in became bigger and more numerous.

“Kill her!”

“Kill and get rid of her!”

A territory resident who had been waiting for this moment lifted a bucket placed at their feet high. The surprised knights let go of Maybel’s arms and hurriedly backed away.

Splash.

The sour smell of ammonia spread in all directions. Realizing that what had been poured on her body was animal urine, Maybel frowned deeply and trembled.

The massive main gate, unable to withstand the force of people, collapsed with a cracking sound. The people were angry enough to shatter the sturdy iron gate.

The imperial knights drew their swords to block the approach of the territory residents rushing in with raging momentum, but they couldn’t completely stop the cries of those who had their beloved family members killed by the culprit before their eyes.

“The anger of the Rumps territory residents is not small. So it will take time to come up to the capital.”

“I see. You’ve worked hard, Crown Prince.”

The Emperor looked quite satisfied. It was because he was relieved that evidence of treason had been found.

“Yes, this incident will serve as a good example for the central nobility, including Artenbach and Terabita.”

The Crown Prince coldly looked at the Emperor who just laughed it off. He couldn’t find any dignity of a monarch in him, who was relieved in this situation and ordered to prepare a feast.

“Ah, and about the Artenbach duke’s wedding.”

The Emperor spoke while stamping the imperial seal on the agenda that had come up.

“How about you attending?”

The Crown Prince’s eyebrows twitched.

“It’s meant to show the close relationship between Artenbach and the imperial family, and to show our strength so that Terabita doesn’t harbor other thoughts.”

It was a good opinion and opportunity, but there was a reason the Crown Prince hesitated to go to Artenbach. A secret known only to him and the Crown Princess, not the Emperor. The real story of the scandal that shouldn’t be revealed yet was the reason.

But there was no particular excuse to refuse. If so, he decided to go to Artenbach and confirm whether the Crown Princess was still useful as a card to hold the duchy’s weakness.

“I will obey Your Majesty’s command.”

The Crown Prince answered with a subtle smile. The Emperor nodded with satisfaction.