“”The Duke is on his honeymoon?”

In the Emperor’s office, Pascal, who was looking at documents, suddenly lifted his head at the report from Isaac, the chief butler.

“Where did he go?”

The Duke, who never shared personal matters with him unless it was official, had always left Pascal thirsting for news about him, much like a child.

From his childhood, the person Pascal admired the most wasn’t the Emperor, but his own brother, Caeron.

Caeron, from an early age, had shown the qualities of an emperor, inheriting the most of the bloodline from the Euphiter Imperial family.

Cold, stern, proud, and noble, Caeron was the epitome of Euphiter’s royal blood.

Pascal had always followed his brother, wanting to be like him. That desire was still the same, even now as he sat on the Emperor’s throne.

‘Although…… now……’

Even though he was the one sitting on the throne, he knew better than anyone else that the person most suited to be there was Caeron.

That’s why, even before official business, the first thing he always checked was news about his brother, the Duke, Caeron.

“He’s gone to the Duchy of Elyos.”

“To the Duchy? Isn’t it quite vast? What’s the destination?”

“It’s an island on the east coast of Maris.”

The moment Pascal heard it was an island near Maris, his eyes widened in surprise.

“That island couldn’t be….”

“Yes, it’s the ‘Meriel’ island.”

“……Ah……!”

Pascal let out a short sigh.

No one would have dared to recommend that island to the Duke, so it was clear that Caeron had chosen it himself.

‘Really, my brother…….’

Pascal furrowed his brows, trying to fathom the Duke’s intentions for taking the Duchess to that island.

While he was shocked by the behavior Caeron had shown towards the Duchess at the previous banquet, Pascal had not hastily accepted his change.

‘Should I…… accept it now?’

The deep blue eyes of Pascal, who resembled Caeron, darkened with deep contemplation. He was uncertain whether to welcome this change or not.

Pascal tapped his desk with the pen he was holding.

‘A woman who grew up enduring the oppression of her family…….’

In fact, Pascal had already thoroughly investigated her before inviting the Duchess to the banquet.

He sent a servant to the Fleur Count’s house to thoroughly understand what kind of person the Duchess was and how she grew up.

The key figures who oppressed the Duchess were her stepmother, the Countess of Fleur, and her halfsister, Roselin.

So he deliberately invited Roselin to the banquet without telling anyone. It was a sort of test.

‘If she’s a woman who can be easily broken, she doesn’t belong at my brother’s side.’

Remembering his own mother, Pascal wanted to judge whether Idel was suitable for the position.

On the stage of the drama he created, the invited actress, Roselin, performed her role very well.

From the moment she appeared, cracks began to appear in the Duchess’s stoic expression.

He didn’t miss a single moment of the Duchess’s crumbling façade, which was falling apart with each sharp word thrown by Roselin.

Although she held out quite well, as expected, the secret of the Fleur family was her weakness.

The illegitimate existence of a lineage born without a fragrance. The moment that fact was publicly revealed, Pascal didn’t miss the sight of the Duchess falling into a dark abyss.

It was the Duke who stepped in to support the Duchess just when she was about to crumble in silence.

With a look he had never seen before.

Even for Pascal, who had been watching Caeron all his life and chasing after everything about him, it was a shock to see him like this.

His brother, who had been indifferent to everything and numb to any event, showed his teeth elegantly to protect his woman.

His facial expressions and eyes were as if he were a different person. He was not the brother he knew.

Perhaps he had always wished him to be as perfect as he thought he had been, up until now.
Despite consciously refusing to acknowledge the transformation of his brother due to the Duchess, the moment he learned his brother had headed toward the Duchess and her island, he had to admit it.

Additionally, he was paying close attention to the insightful image the Duchess had shown recently by taking over the administration of the Elyos Duchy.

Thus, he had to switch gears now. Pascal’s expression firmed up as he found his wavering heart’s direction.

He had to preemptively eliminate any elements that could become variables to both the Duke and the Duchess. And, as it happened, that variable was continually flitting in front of him lately.

“Has she come again today?”

“Yes. She’s spending time in the imperial palace’s salon today as well. She asked me to deliver this letter too.”

“Seems like a tenacious woman.”

Of course, it was not a compliment.

In the letter from Roselin that Isaac delivered, there were impressions stating that the artwork on display, supported by the young artist in the imperial salon, was very impressive.