Uriel Wayne Daina Alfred ─ The Old Monster of the Alfred Family
Coleone Wayne Barreta Alfred. The patriarch who ruled the underworld of the Ernes Empire. Confirming that Uriel had entered, he quietly gazed out the window before drawing the curtains and sitting in his chair. Without a word, he poured wine from the morning into an exquisite silver goblet and brought it to his lips.
“……”
In the room shrouded in faint darkness, where only silence reigned, Uriel felt as if the blood in her entire body was drying up like a wilting flower.
When the goblet was finally emptied after a leisurely passage of time, Coleone took a cigar from his pocket and nodded toward Uriel.
She wasn't foolish enough to misread the meaning of that gesture, so Uriel lit a small flame at the tip of the cigar.
Exhale...
Smoke billowed thickly through the room.
“Uriel.”
“Yes……”
“It's been so long since we've seen each other that you've forgotten your place.”
Gripping the silver goblet he had set down and caressing it carefully, Coleone hurled it at Uriel's head with an impassive expression.
Thud—!
Daring to block it was out of the question, so the best Uriel could do was lower her head.
Drip.
Red blood trickled from above her forehead, slowly covering her right eye.
“I gave you plenty of time to wait while I emptied the goblet. Do you think you're in any position to stand straight and face me right now?”
“I-I'm sorry……”
Not even thinking to wipe the blood, Uriel closed her right eye and knelt gracefully on the floor.
“With the First Prince's means to interfere in the Robelium Kingdom gone, even our best efforts would only end in a tie.”
Of course, the Second Prince might fail to place the First Prince of Robelium on the throne.
But to honor his words, Brutein would lend the castle of Ruerg to support the Second Prince.
With the financial power of a family handling 60% of the empire's major circulating minerals, failure would be the real joke.
“Uriel.”
“Yes……”
“Isn't it ridiculous? This could have been avoided if you hadn't left your post. If you hadn't given them even that sliver of opening for their little play, it would have ended in a lukewarm, anticlimactic farce. But you couldn't manage even that simple task and ended up causing this mess.”
It wasn't wrong.
But there was room for rebuttal.
Even if it hadn't been Uriel, Prince Inas could have stepped away under the pretext of using the restroom and run into Ferzen.
“I'm sorry……”
But Uriel couldn't defend herself that way.
Because at that banquet, she had volunteered to attend in place of her ailing family head—her brother.
There were no choices in this world free of consequences.
Especially for Uriel, born and raised in the Alfred family, she felt that truth down to her bones.
“Do you feel wronged?”
“I……”
“Everyone fights the given situation with the weapons they have. Are you planning to whine that the enemy's weapon was stronger?”
“……”
“If this were war instead of politics, only your severed head would have returned.”
“Please… give me a chance to make amends……”
“A chance to make amends, you say……”
Coleone sneered bitterly as he rose from his seat.
Leaning on his cane, he approached the kneeling Uriel step by step and looked down at her.
“Even if I give you a chance, how do you plan to make amends? Unless you turn Robelium's First Prince into the Second Prince's pawn, it means nothing.”
“……”
“Do you think you have the stature for that?”
Thud!
Thump—!
Uriel's bloodstained forehead was slammed into the floor by the cane crashing down.
Pain brought tears to her eyes, but she gritted her teeth and swallowed any cry of agony.
“Uriel.”
“Yes……”
“The imperial family intends to take the daughter of Count Aslan, the current head of the north, as the next empress. And his son, who will soon turn twenty, remains unmarried.”
This hadn't been the original plan.
Coleone had been confident in making the First Prince the crown prince.
But with that derailed, insurance was necessary.
“Marry his son. I'll arrange it.”
“Ah……”
“Isn't this the chance to make amends you wanted? And……”
Squeeze!
The pressure from the cane intensified.
“Have you forgotten that you were raised from the start for exactly this purpose? You were just briefly relegated to defective goods after that day eleven years ago.”
Uriel Wayne Daina Alfred.
Yes, from the moment she was born with mana, Coleone had cherished her somewhat as the perfect vessel to mix with Brutein's bloodline.
He had even fed her hyanggwa from childhood.
Hyanggwa—a peculiar fruit in this world.
There were various kinds, and consuming it steadily for five years or more changed the eater's body scent to match the fruit's aroma.
That scent subtly aroused the desires of anyone who smelled it, so courtesans who commanded fortunes for a single night sometimes accepted hyanggwa in lieu of payment.
Uriel had always masked her own scent with perfume because she hated it, so most people never noticed.
“No answer, Uriel.”
Exhale...
Exhaling smoke, Coleone extended his foot and subtly lifted the bowing Uriel's chin.
In the Alfred family, all children except the heir lived as tools for the family.
Thus, aside from acquiescence……
“Yes…… I… will obey……”
Uriel had no other choice.
“You forgot your place earlier, and now you're showing resistance to an answer that shouldn't even require hesitation. Have I left you unattended too long? You've developed a useless sense of self. Your head's grown too big for your station, becoming a nuisance.”
Tsk.
Clicking his tongue with an expressionless face, Coleone reversed his grip on the cane, hooked the loop around Uriel's neck, and yanked her up roughly.
“Kghk!”
“It'll take time to arrange. In the meantime, I think it's best to thoroughly drain out all the useless water that's seeped into you. That way, you won't be a burden to Count Aslan.”
Thud.
“Cough……!”
Releasing the cane from her neck, Coleone turned back to his chair and continued.
“From this moment, everything is revoked. Feel with your own body how much benefit the name Alfred brought you, which you took for granted. In your 23 years of life, you've built nothing yourself, Uriel.”
“……”
“Even your professorship at the Academy—do you think you would have been chosen without the Alfred name?”
Coleone sneered.
“Now, get out. And remember: until I call for you again…… you are merely Uriel, without the Alfred name.”
At Coleone's dismissal, Uriel staggered to her feet.
She bowed politely and left the room.
Until he called again, she would exist only as Uriel, with everything revoked—so she couldn't even stay in this mansion.
With a dazed expression, forgetting the wound still bleeding on her head, Uriel descended to the first floor and opened the mansion's door.
No, she couldn't.
A maid blocked her path.
Without a word, the maid held out a bundle of clothes from her bosom.
“Ah…… right……”
With a hollow chuckle, Uriel looked down at her body.
……Of course, her massive breasts blocked the view, so she could only see a portion.
“Wait.”
The Azelia outfit she wore had been bought with Alfred family money, so it wasn't hers anymore.
Thus, Uriel entered a nearby empty reception room and quietly began undressing.
Once fully naked, she gathered the clothes the maid had given her.
“Not quite beggar rags……”
She didn't know when he'd call again, but during that time, she still had to go to the Academy and teach, so it was the bare minimum to maintain appearances.
After changing completely and exiting the reception room, the maid avoided eye contact, entered, took Uriel's clothes, and left.
“Ha……”
At least she'd wiped off most of the blood; that was fortunate.
Creek.
Opening the door and stepping out of the mansion, Uriel headed to the Academy.
There were no lectures today.
But with nowhere to sleep, she'd have to pull an all-nighter in her office.
Moreover, at the Academy, she could get her head wound treated for free by the physician.
Her current funds: 0 vern.
She earned a salary as a professor, but it was paid annually.
Those in her position weren't destitute enough to need monthly pay.
Only the assistants and administrative staff below received monthly wages.
I don't know……
Various problems flooded her mind, but Uriel didn't even want to dwell on them, so she walked on silently.
Walking instead of taking a carriage tired her body more.
With full summer approaching, the pouring sunlight was scorching.
Sweat beaded in her cleavage.
Yes, because of these damn oversized breasts……
Uriel's shoulders ached terribly with every step.
Clack.
Finally arriving at the Academy's main gate, the clock read 1 PM…… Students from Building A, where lectures had just ended, were streaming out for lunch.
Lizzy……
No.
She couldn't ask that child for help……
Uriel had her pride, after all.
After visiting the physician to treat the slightly torn scalp wound, Uriel climbed to the fourth floor of the main building.
Right now, she didn't want to think about anything—just close her eyes.
She hadn't slept properly last night anyway.
Clack……
Room 403—Uriel Wayne Daina Alfred.
In front of her office with her nameplate, Uriel reached for the doorknob but paused, turning her head to the side.
Room 404—Ferzen von Schweig Brutein.
“……”
Why was she looking at this?
Gritting her teeth, Uriel ignored it and tried to open her door.
But……
Click.
As the doorknob turned, Ferzen and Euphemia emerged happily from 404.
His left hand was gently and courteously wrapped around her waist, his gaze brimming with affection.
……
This man had no lectures today either.
“On your way back from lecturing, Professor Uriel?”
“……”
“Good work.”
With a curt, professional tone, Ferzen offered a brief greeting and left.
Uriel stood frozen for a long while, then finally opened her office door, entered, and lay on the sofa.
“……Bastard.”
He must have seen the wound on her head.
He could have asked how she got hurt.
He surely knew she was in trouble because of what happened at the banquet.
“……”
Yes, it was foolish to expect anything.
Alfred and Brutein had always been like this……
This was the natural order.
But even so……
“……Fucking asshole.”
Cursing Ferzen inwardly, Uriel closed her eyes.