He Who Tied the Knot Must Untie It (2)
He Who Tied the Knot Must Untie It (2)
The commotion that had taken place in my room overnight was quietly buried.
Only four people knew about it: the Duke, the chief butler, my mother, and me.
Even my mother didn't know all the details. She only knew that the Duke had saved me from an assassin.
I didn't know what had happened after the Duke left my room that night, but I learned the outcome from what happened at the estate the following day.
The second Duchess, Duchess Maria, was suddenly sent back to her maiden home, the Viscount Estate.
Although the announcement said she was going there to rest due to health issues, the sudden decision caused quite a stir among the people.
But no one in the estate—no, in the entire territory—could defy the Duke's orders.
Moreover, seeing the Duchess's dark, sickly appearance, as if she had fallen gravely ill, the people buried their doubts deep in their hearts.
Standing in front of his office window, the Duke stared down at the carriage waiting in the front courtyard.
People had gathered around the carriage to see off the Duchess, whose departure had been so sudden.
Since the Duchess had been widely loved by everyone in the estate, it seemed as though the entire household had come out to see her off.
Not only the servants, but also the first wife and her sons were present. Even the concubine, Amanda, stood at a distance with her son to see her off.
Lastly, her daughter, Elena, stood before her, weeping continuously.
Yet perhaps because Maria was truly in poor health, she couldn't even properly bid farewell to her daughter, let alone anyone else.
Though people tilted their heads in confusion at her changed demeanor, they still bid her a sincere farewell.
She glanced up at the office window one last time, swept her gaze over the crowd, and then hurriedly climbed into the carriage as if startled by something.
A moment later, amid the crowd's farewells, the carriage departed.
Although the journey had been arranged in haste, it had been properly prepared, as befitted a Duchess's travels.
Guards escorted the luxurious carriage at the front and rear, and a knight led the procession.
The carriage passed along the path between the flower gardens and exited through the estate's main gates. The gates closed, and the carriage grew more and more distant.
The Duke spoke as he watched the carriage recede.
"I have already written this in the letter, but warn the Viscount once more. Make sure he clearly understands that Maria is never to set foot outside the Viscount Estate again, nor is she to meet Elena."
"Understood."
The chief butler answered from behind the Duke.
"But what do you plan to do with Lady Elena, Your Grace...?"
Before the Duke could answer, a young girl's voice rang out from outside.
"Father! Your Grace! I'm here! Please let me in!"
The Duke turned his head.
"Let her in."
"Yes, Your Grace."
The chief butler opened the door, and Elena, her face drenched in tears, came rushing inside.
"Why is Mother leaving? She wasn't sick yesterday. What on earth is going on? Why is no one telling me anything?"
The Duke looked down at his daughter.
His daughter's face was strikingly similar to Maria's, who had just left the estate.
The image of Maria before he had snapped out of her influence, and the face of Maria he had seen yesterday overlapped with his daughter's face.
She had smiled so brightly when she saw the Duke come to her bedroom.
"You came! I thought you wouldn't!"
Her face had radiated genuine, heartfelt joy.
Seeing her bright expression, the Duke's own expression had only grown darker.
For she still truly loved the Duke.
Though the atmosphere was different, her smile hadn't changed in the slightest since they had first met.
"Come this way. Oh dear, I haven't even prepared properly."
She was just as she had been back then, but the Duke had changed.
The Duke frowned as he looked at her, because the emotion he had felt when he first shattered her ability with his mana came rushing back to him.
On that day, he had realized that his love for her was false, and that her love for him was nothing more than a desire steeped in possessiveness.
The moment he realized that, the Duke had felt suffocated and could no longer bear to stay by her side.
Since that day, the Duke had never visited her room. Even when they met during the day, he kept their relationship strictly formal and distanced himself from her as much as possible.
He had closed off his heart, wearing a mask as he went on with his life as the Duke.
Yet the Duke had not punished her.
Though her sin of deceiving him was great, the Duke considered no longer seeking her out to be forgiveness for her crime, because she had borne his daughter and he had already taken her as his wife—or perhaps because he believed he had once truly loved her.
Yet that weak decision had brought about the events of today.
"I was in Alex's room until just moments ago."
"What?"
At the Duke's words, Maria's smile shattered.
Only then did she notice the sword in the Duke's hand.
Blood spattered both the hand gripping the sword and the scabbard where it was sheathed.
Her face turned deathly pale.
"When Alex suffered an attempted poisoning a few years ago, sweeping it under the rug was my final act of mercy."
Hearing the Duke's words, Maria stared at him blankly.
"Yet you dared to bring an assassin into this estate to kill my child? Did you think so little of me—or of this Gracia Dukedom?"
The moment the Duke finished speaking, Maria suddenly shrieked.
"Because you won't look at me! I love you so much, so why do you keep me at a distance?! I endured and endured just to be loved by you. I held back my anger, and I even smiled at people I hated. Everyone else loves me, so why are you the only one who pushes me away?!"
Her screaming figure looked wretched and pitiful, even with her ability inactive.
Yet the Duke's expression remained unchanged.
"It's all because of Amanda. If only that brat died, I could have kicked that bitch Amanda out of the estate..."
"Is that what you thought?"
At the Duke's question, Maria nodded. Tears poured from her eyes as she bowed her head.
But over her flowing tears, the Duke's cold voice drifted down.
"I made a mistake. Your mind is far more broken than I thought."
He placed his hand on Maria's head. Maria looked up in surprise, but the Duke's eyes were cold.
"No, perhaps both of us have been broken."
The Duke channeled mana into his hand.
Hum.
Maria shook her head in shock at the power seeping into her mind.
But the Duke held her head firmly and didn't let go.
"I will not kill you. But you shall no longer remain in this house."
"Th-this... How..."
The mana surging into her mind began to tear violently through her brain.
Her inherited ability—a mental-type ability that garnered goodwill from people—resided deep within her mind.
The Duke's mana severed and dismantled the ability hidden in those depths.
She could feel it. Her ability was gradually vanishing.
She couldn't believe it. She had never once imagined such a thing was possible.
Moreover, the Duke's—no, the Duke family's ability was supposed to be just one of the mana cultivation techniques. There was no way he should possess an ability capable of destroying another person's power.
"Ah... No!"
She screamed and grabbed the Duke's hand, but there was no way she could wrench free from the hand of the Duke, whose strength far exceeded that of a knight.
A moment later, the Duke lifted his hand from her head.
Maria collapsed to the floor.
"Now you will no longer be able to toy with others using that ability. Return to your maiden home tomorrow. You are to live there quietly until the day you die."
At his words, Maria's shoulders flinched.
"If I hear even a whisper of anything else from tomorrow until the day you die, not only you but the entire Viscount Estate will face great ruin. Elena will not go with you. If you remain quiet, Elena will remain a Lady until the very end, but if not..."
Maria slowly raised her head. Her face was twisted with pain and resignation.
She slowly opened her mouth.
"You are not the man I loved in the past. Right now, you are a truly terrifying person."
He turned around.
Maria burst into tears, and the Duke muttered softly as he stepped out the door.
"I changed on that day. Because of whom."
"Sob, sob, sob. If Mother did something wrong, please forgive her. I will beg for forgiveness too."
Maria's weeping gave way to his daughter's crying.
The Duke returned to reality.
While he was reminiscing, his daughter was begging him for forgiveness.
The Duke stared down at his daughter.
Though her face was similar to her mother's, Elena was different from Maria.
Her face was not false or filled with hypocrisy. Elena was still a young girl, untainted by the stains of the world.
"If Mother absolutely must go, I will follow her too. I will use my ability to treat her by her side."
He couldn't allow that. He had discarded Maria, but Elena was still a daughter of the Duke's family.
"I see. It would indeed be difficult for you to stay in this estate alone. It is a bit early, but you should prepare to go to the Academy as well."
"Pardon?"
Ignoring the startled Elena, the Duke gave instructions to the chief butler.
"Since her inherited ability is geared toward mental recovery, it would be best for her to attend an Academy affiliated with the sisterhood. Send word."
"Understood, Your Grace."
The chief butler led his weeping daughter out of the office, and the Duke looked out the window once more.
In the distance, he saw the child walking with his concubine.
He was a child who had caused storms ever since he was a baby.
A child who performed wondrous feats. A child highly renowned as a genius, yet somehow different from a mere genius. A child who struck deals with him in a manner completely unlike a child.
And he was a child who possessed a special inherited ability.
"Now, since you have made me go through such trouble, prove your worth on your own."
The Duke stared at the child with a cold expression, while the child scratched inside his ear with a finger, perhaps because it was itchy.
After the second Duchess left the estate, several things happened.
First, Lady Elena left the estate to receive her education.
Although she was still too young to attend the Academy, she couldn't defy the Duke's orders.
Elena left the estate with a gloomy expression, and my mother and I comforted her as she departed.
To be honest, I did feel a bit sorry for Elena, but it wasn't as if I could quietly die for her sake, so I had no choice but to bury that guilt deep in my heart.
Second, despite being an illegitimate son, I began receiving proper knight training at a young age.
Although the training was conducted secretly at the ducal family's training ground behind the estate, rumors were bound to spread quickly among the people.
People whispered, and more and more eyes watched me, but I was too busy keeping up with the training to care about anything else.
Still, the fortunate thing was that no one came to kill me after that.
Thus, time continued to pass, and four winters went by.
And in the spring of the year I turned ten, a guest visited the estate.
She was a beautiful girl, the daughter of the Marquis and the fiancée of my eldest brother, Simon.
The moment she saw me, she raised her sword.
"So you're the Hidden Blade of the Duchy? Let's have a duel. I'll teach you a lesson."
At the words spoken by the beautiful girl, elegantly dressed in a gown, I could only gape in sheer dumbfoundedness.