Burning the Crest
The Grand Duke moved. Lumican roughly draped the gown that had fallen to the floor over his shoulders and strode out of the bedroom. Bang! He violently flung open the nursery door. “Sena. My patience ends here.......” Lumican’s voice echoed into the darkness. But there was no reply. “......?” The nursery was deathly cold. The fireplace had long since gone out, and the space that once carried Sena’s scent now held only the smell of empty dust.
Lumican’s eyes trembled. He rushed to the cradle in the center of the room. “Lucian......?” He tore away the blanket. Only a rumpled quilt remained. The sole heir of the Grand Duchy, the infant Lucian, had vanished without a trace. Sena’s belongings and the child’s toys were gone as well.
“Gone......?” Lumican stared blankly at the empty cradle before raking his fingers through his hair in disbelief. “Gone?! Sena? My child?!” The Grand Duke’s scream shook the entire estate at dawn. “How dare she—how dare she run from me?! Abandon me?!”
Crash—!! Lumican’s fist shattered the cradle’s railing. Splinters flew in every direction. Eyes blazing with fury, he stormed out of the nursery, gown billowing behind him. “Assemble the Stein Knights at once!! Seal the gates—let not even a rat escape!!!”
The entire estate erupted into chaos. Alarm bells rang as soldiers and servants, roused from sleep, poured into the corridors in panic. The air in the central hall on the first floor froze. Dozens of the Grand Duke’s personal knights stood in formation.
“Kneel.” At the Grand Duke’s command, four knights were dragged forward and forced to their knees on the cold stone. They were the ones who had been ordered to escort Lady Carla’s carriage the previous evening, only to slip away from the formation midway. Enraged by Sena and Lucian’s disappearance, Lumican unleashed his fury on them.
“You dared abandon my wife, the Grand Duchess Carla, and flee?” The knights’ faces turned ashen at Lumican’s shameless accusation.
“Y-Your Grace! What are you saying?!”
“W-We only followed Your Grace’s orders and withdrew......!” one knight protested desperately. It was only natural—they had merely carried out the vile, secret command Lumican himself had given: to abandon the legitimate wife in a forest crawling with bandits. They had done nothing but obey their lord’s filthy order to the letter.
“My order?” Lumican snorted. “When did I ever give such an order?”
“Y-Your Grace......! Clearly last night, you said that once the carriage entered Edel Forest, we were to slip away quietly......!”
“Silence.”
“Your Grace...!”
“You dare slander and insult me. Why would I ever order my precious wife to be left in mortal danger?”
Lumican cared nothing for Carla’s life or death. He simply needed a scapegoat to vent the stress and rage of losing Sena and his heir. He also needed to ensure no trace of his plot to assassinate Carla could be traced back to him. Both silencing witnesses and covering his tracks were accomplished at once.
“Disobeying orders and unilaterally withdrawing the Grand Duchess’s escort is clear treason against the Grand Duchy.” Lumican slowly drew the longsword at his waist. The blade gleamed in the hall. “By northern law, I execute you on the spot.”
“Y-Your Grace!! No!! We only offered our loyalty!!”
“Spare us, Your Grace!! It’s a misunderstanding!!”
Thud! Thud! The unjustly dragged knights slammed their heads against the floor, begging for mercy. But there was not a shred of compassion in Lumican’s eyes.
Slash—! Thud!
“Guh......”
“Sir Sebas!”
The head of the knight who had protested first, Sebas, flew through the air and rolled heavily across the floor. Blood gushed from the stump. “Ugh......!” The other knights and servants lined up swallowed their screams in terror. Lumican swung his sword expressionlessly, butchering the remaining three knights where they knelt.
Slash—! Slash—! Slash—!
Though their heads had already been severed to silence them, their limbs were hacked apart before the blood could fully drain. “Remove the bodies.” Lumican wiped his bloodied sword on one of the corpses’ clothes. “From this moment, interrogate every servant in the estate. If you fail to discover what happened in the nursery last night and how Sena escaped...... your necks will be next.”
In the underground interrogation chamber of the estate, now swept by a bloody wind, Lumican dispatched the remaining knights and soldiers in every direction to search for Sena and Lucian while personally pressuring the servants. Among them, he personally interrogated Mary, the assistant wet nurse who had worked shifts with Sena in the nursery and been closest to her.
“Sob, Your Grace...... Please spare me. I truly know nothing......!” Mary wailed, knees pressed to the icy stone floor. “Last night, Sena said she would handle the young master’s feeding herself...... so I simply returned to my quarters and went to sleep early! That’s the truth, Your Grace!”
Lumican sat with legs crossed, looking down at Mary sprawled on the floor. “Lies.” He slowly approached, stepped on the hem of her skirt with his foot, and crouched. Then he roughly grabbed her chin with his large hand and lifted it. “Ack......!”
“You claim you weren’t in league with Sena? She took Lucian and escaped the estate—how could you not know?” As Lumican leaned in to pressure Mary, his gaze suddenly darkened. From her terrified eyes, down her tear-streaked cheeks, his stare traveled to the front of her dress, slightly loosened for nursing. Lumican’s nose brushed near Mary’s neck. “......You smell of her.” He sniffed like a beast. “Sena’s scent clings to you quite strongly.”
“......What?”
The smell of milk and the unique body scent that lingered from caring for Lucian together in the nursery. “You...... have milk too, don’t you?” Lumican grinned disgustingly while gripping Mary’s chin. “Lucian won’t be drinking it, but I wonder how it tastes to me.”
“M-My late husband......! Y-Your Grace......!” Mary tried to back away, but Lumican’s grip on her jaw was unbreakable. The pent-up sexual frustration from waiting naked in bed since yesterday, combined with the betrayal of being struck from behind overnight, drove Lumican toward a filthy impulse—to vent his twisted desires on this woman who carried a scent similar to Sena’s. His hand shot roughly toward the front of her dress—then stopped.
‘......No.’ Lumican clenched his fist and halted. He could rape the woman before him to relieve stress, but it would only be a temporary release. The body of this vulgar wench could never replace the beloved Sena who had abandoned him and fled. The more he took this fake, the more his thirst and obsession for the real one would grow madly.
“Get out.” Lumican barely held onto his reason and roughly threw Mary to the floor. “Kyaa!” “Disappear from my sight before I kill you.” Mary scrambled out of the interrogation chamber on all fours, tears and snot streaming, without looking back.
Bang! Alone in the empty chamber, Lumican, unable to contain his suppressed desire and rage, punched the wall and shattered it. “Aaaagh!! Where the hell are you hiding, Sena!!” Cursing his swollen fist like an idiot, Lumican climbed back to the surface alone. No trace of Sena had been found inside the estate, and the soldiers were only watching nervously when one of the night guards stepped forward, trembling.
“Um...... Y-Your Grace.” Lumican glared at the soldier. “What? If it’s nonsense, I’ll rip out your tongue.”
“W-Well......” The soldier swallowed hard and spoke haltingly. “L-Last night at dawn...... while I was on watch at the outpost, I saw a shadow of a cat as big as a deer running across the estate roof.”
“......What? A cat?”
“Yes! It moved so fast and beast-like, leaping from roof to roof without a sound. I thought I’d imagined it and kept quiet to tease my comrades later...... but now that I think about it, there was silver fur fluttering, and it almost looked like a person......”
Silver fur. Beast-like movements. The leaping power to clear the estate walls in a single bound. “You stupid bastard!!” Lumican’s eyes flashed as he grabbed the soldier by the collar and lifted him into the air. “Why are you only saying this now!! Which way did that cat bitch go?!”
The soldier, choking, pointed a trembling finger with a rattling cough. “S-South! She ran toward the southern forest, Your Grace!” South. Lumican’s eyes wavered. The south led toward the capital, Midsolar. “......No way.” It was the same road Carla had taken by carriage just yesterday. “This insolent bitch......!” A smile spread across Lumican’s lips. “You think you can escape my grasp?”
Rage and pathological obsession boiled over. He wanted to lead the knights himself right now, crush the southern forest, and chase after her. He wanted to drag Sena back by her hair and break her thoroughly on his bed as punishment for daring to flee. “Bring my sword. I’ll go personally......” But the moment Lumican tried to step forward, his body swayed violently. “Your Grace!” The knights rushed to support the Grand Duke.
The fatigue of staying up all night. The aftermath of expending energy while in heat, naked in bed. The stress of learning Sena and Lucian had vanished since morning. And the political shackles of having to hold the morning council as Grand Duke and clean up the execution of the four missing knights—they clung stubbornly to his ankles. If he left the estate empty, its discipline would collapse. Lumican gritted his teeth and stomped the floor. “Damn it......!!” He roughly shoved the supporting knights aside and summoned his two most trusted adjutants.
“You two, assemble the fastest cavalry and elite troops and pursue the southern road immediately! They couldn’t have gone far.” Lumican’s crimson eyes burned with killing intent. “Search every carriage and every inch of the forest. I don’t care what happens to that woman Carla. But...... capture Sena and Lucian without a single scratch and bring them before me.”
“We receive your command!!” The moment Lumican’s order fell, the estate armory opened and heavily armed cavalry mounted their horses. Clatter, clatter! The thunder of hooves charged south—toward Edel Forest.
* * *
By the time the morning sun had fully risen, the villagers of Edelweiss, who had been heading out to the fields, gathered instead, unable to begin their work. “W-What is that? Isn’t that the Grand Duke’s carriage?!” “A woman brought it here without permission?!” Amid the murmuring crowd, an elderly white-haired man leaning on a cane hurried out. It was Vais, the chief of Edelweiss Village. Recognizing the carriage’s crest, his face turned ashen as he approached. “W-What is the meaning of this! Who are you, taking the Grand Duke’s carriage......!”
Just then, the carriage door opened, and Carla, covered in dust and holding baby Lucian, stepped out. Though her dress was torn and her appearance disheveled, her platinum hair streaked with silver and noble bearing—familiar to every northerner from portraits—could not be hidden. “Gasp...... M-Milady! Isn’t that the Grand Duchess?!” Chief Vais dropped to his knees on the spot and bowed his head. The surrounding villagers prostrated themselves as well. “We greet the Grand Duchess!”
Overwhelmed by the flood of gazes, Carla shrank back behind me. It was my turn to step forward. I approached Chief Vais. “Chief. As you can see, the lady is exhausted. I’ll explain the circumstances later, so for now, please prepare the quietest and warmest room for her and the young master to rest.”
“A-Ah, yes! Of course! I’ll give up my own bedroom immediately! This way, please!” Chief Vais scrambled to his feet and led the way. I gently supported Carla’s shoulder and guided her to the chief’s house. It was a modest but clean bedroom with a warm fireplace lit. Carla sank onto the bed with Lucian in her arms. “Sena...... What do we do now? If Lumican comes after us......”
I smiled brightly at the anxious Carla. “Don’t worry and rest well, my lady. I have some things to take care of outside.”
“Take care of?”
“Yes. It won’t take long.” I reassured Carla and stepped out of the chief’s house. The village square was still crowded with residents gawking at the Grand Duke’s carriage I had dragged in bare-handed. “Hey, mister.” I stopped a burly villager who had been about to chop wood. “Yes, yes?”
“Lend me that axe you’re holding.”
“A-Ah, yes! Here it is!” I took the heavy woodcutter’s axe. Slung it over my shoulder and strode toward the carriage standing in the center of the square. This carriage with the Grand Duke’s crest plastered on it is far too conspicuous. Not only will pursuers spot it, but bandits will too from now on. The answer was simple. Smash it. I fixed my gaze on the golden-embroidered Stein family double-eagle crest on the carriage’s side. Then I swung my waist wide, gripped the axe with both hands, and brought it down mercilessly.
CRASH—!!!
“Gah!”
“Mother!”
With a single swing, the splendid double-eagle crest symbolizing the absolute power of the north shattered into pieces. Gold ornaments flew, and the sturdy carriage wall cracked. The watching villagers stumbled backward. But this was only the beginning. Without pausing to catch my breath, I began swinging the axe like a madwoman.
Crash! Crack!! Split!!
Every last trace of that Grand Duke bastard!
Crash!
I’ll destroy it all!
The horn ornaments decorating the roof. The golden vine patterns carved into the doors. Even the silver covers on the wheel axles. Every external decoration and crest marking the carriage as the Grand Duke’s property was torn away and smashed beneath my merciless axe. In just five minutes, the lavishly adorned Stein family carriage transformed into an ordinary, unremarkable large cargo wagon.
“Hoo.” I roughly wiped the sweat from my brow and kicked the scattered fragments into a pile. “Excuse me. Could you lend me a spark?” I held out my hand to the guard Mave, who stood with his mouth agape in shock. Mave, trembling, offered a torch. I tossed it onto the pile of double-eagle crest fragments and gold-ornamented wood scraps. Whoosh—! The dry wood caught fire, and flames surged upward. The crest symbolizing the ruler of the north belched acrid smoke as it burned to black ash.
Come after me if you can, you son of a bitch Lumican. I looked down at the roaring flames with indifferent eyes and smirked.