He quickly scanned through the letter again. What caught his eye was written at the very end:

“I am sending the address of the woman I found and her real name.”

Hersis focused on the woman’s name.

“Ophelia Yurtes.”

He knew that name.

She was the young and beautiful governess of his grandfather, the extraordinary sister of his father.

And…

“Well done, Hers.”

The Duke, who had been silent until then, slowly raised the corner of his mouth.

“Thanks to your efforts in finding information about my mother, I also discovered the existence of my younger sibling.”

He said with a relaxed expression.

“But what does that even mean? Is there a reason my mother shouldn’t have given birth to and raised my half-sibling?”

“…….”
“My mother was literally a governess. Before my father passed away, her duty was to make him happy. Is that all? She even bore a son to support the family finances. If she sacrificed so much at a young age, shouldn’t she be allowed to live the rest of her life freely? What does it have to do with having a half-sibling, let alone ten?”

“No, it doesn’t.”

“…….”

“As long as the half-sibling is indeed true.”

Hersis smiled mischievously and then slowly walked along the aisle.

The swords of the Duke’s soldiers moved in sync with Hersis’s steps. The arrows of the terrace archers followed the soldiers’ backs, and the gazes of the attendants shifted back and forth between Hersis and the Duke.

Leading all these movements, Hersis spoke with a calm yet clear voice.

“Lady Ophelia lived an unknown life with a changed name after my grandfather’s death. What reason could she have not to? Materialistically, she was affluent, and she was still young. Living as the mother of a grown-up son rather than an unmarried woman was probably better for socializing.”

Hersis turned back at the end of the aisle. The Hersis in the mirror turned his body in the opposite direction, and everything else outside also began to move slowly in the opposite direction.

“But living like that, she eventually remembered the past. People tend to recall old memories from time to time, right? Lady Ophelia, for that reason, returned to the village where she used to live and the neighborhood where the theater was. And there, she met her old lover again.”

“…….”

“If it’s true that they were lovers, she met him again for a short while. However, after living a long time waiting for only one person in a simple way and a person who had lived a free and prosperous life, how long could their love last? Not much later, they parted ways again.”

Even with so many people present, the inside of the banquet hall was so quiet that not even a breath could be heard.

Even the soldiers of the Duke’s household seemed to be attentively listening to Hersis’s words, as their swords gradually lowered.

“The man died a while later.”

“…….”

“The theater owner personally buried that man. Originally, he had a difficult time overcoming the first heartbreak due to his hesitant nature, but it seems he couldn’t endure the second.”

Hersis, who had been strolling leisurely, suddenly stopped walking in front of the Duke.
“And from here on, it’s my speculation.”

He faced the Duke, clenched his fist in front of his chest, as if declaring that he wouldn’t miss any change in the Duke’s expression from now on.

“The lady separated from that man and soon discovered she was pregnant. Due to the missed timing, she had no choice but to give birth to the child.”

“…….”

“But the child looked too much like the first child. Even though it wasn’t exactly the same face as hers.”

“…….”

“As the child grew, the resemblance to the first child became even more apparent. As suspicions that had been dismissed gradually became clearer facts, the lady started to feel uneasy. So, she sent the child far away to an isolated place with a foster mother. To make sure no one could find out.”

Hersis smoothly added with a sly smile.

“That child happens to be the half-sibling of my first child.”

“…….”

No one spoke. As if expecting more to the story, everyone waited in hushed silence.

But the story ended there. And the silence was shattered in a very noisy way.

“Hahaha!”

The Duke laughed, shaking his head.

“What an amusing deduction. Are you going to write a novel or something?”

While the laughter still echoed in the hall, the Duke twisted his lips and spoke.

“So, what you want to say is, I’m not my father’s child but a child of that tender-hearted wretch…… is that it?”

Hersis shrugged, as if leaving the judgment to the Duke. The Duke laughed again, shaking the banquet hall with his laughter.

“Ask everyone here. How much do I resemble your grandfather? If you hear that I resemble the late emperor more than your foolish father, it will be a hundred to zero.”

The Duke cast a sharp glance at the attendants. They were taken aback but couldn’t deny it. Despite the rude words, it was true that they resembled each other.

“My wise empress said so.”

Hersis said with a deep sigh.

“In the world, facial types are predetermined, so you can find people resembling the faces you see on this side of the land on the opposite side as well. Even if they don’t share the same genes, there can be quite a resemblance.”

“…….”

“You and my grandfather were probably such counterparts.”

Then, he smiled mischievously and added.

“But not that boy and you.”

The Duke’s expression hardened sharply. He spoke as if spitting out the words.

“…Show me the evidence.”