Raphael's Plea
“This son is pleading with all his heart, yet you still refuse to listen? Mother… please speak plainly. Is the authority of the Duchess of Orleans truly more precious than my very existence? Enough that you would sever our bond and leave this house?”
The Duchess’s eyes wavered, startled by the unexpected words.
Could she truly ignore them and walk away? It was the first time she had heard anything like it…
She had once been nothing more than the youngest daughter of the minor Count Geniot family. Their territory was small, their influence insignificant, and as the least favored among her siblings, a dowry had been nothing but a distant dream.
In short, she had been the laughingstock of high society—a girl who barely clung to the title of count’s daughter.
The man who rescued her from that dreary existence was none other than the current Duke of Orleans, her husband.
His passionate love had embraced her despite her lack of a single coin in dowry, freeing her from the poverty that had plagued her and severing her ties with her coldhearted family.
The moment she became the esteemed Duchess of Orleans, her former relatives had raised their voices in unison.
“So you’re going to pretend we never existed, now that you’ve risen so high?”
“You’re still a Geniot! If your duke husband ever casts you aside, this is the only place you’ll have to return to!”
“Think carefully, sister. Can you truly live without our help? Even if you tried to enter a monastery, you’d still need our family’s verification.”
“Now that you’re someone important, you’re casting us aside? How cruel!”
At that moment, the Duke of Orleans had looked upon them with open contempt as they squawked in protest.
“Your painful days end today and for all eternity. Come, my wife. A beautiful Duchess of Orleans must never remain in a place like this, not even for a moment.”
From that day onward, the Duke had sworn to be her father, mother, brother, and sister all at once—and he had kept that promise to this very day.
He had never once reproached her for the endless donations she poured into the temple, donations that served no purpose…
Perhaps that was also why he had clashed with the Marquis of Hwiante over the gold vein that rightfully belonged to the imperial family. After all, she had been the one recklessly spending the family’s precious funds.
The Duchess, who had been preparing to leave, collapsed weakly into her chair.
There was a reason the Duke of Orleans still treated the Geniot family with such utter disregard.
Her relatives had always assumed she would eventually be abandoned. Even with the wedding mere days away, they had forced their youngest daughter upon the Duke in hopes of securing her as his mistress. That was the depth of contempt she had endured throughout her life.
‘Because of everything that happened, I kept believing I was an inadequate person. That’s why I tried to restore my relationship with Capia, and my husband approved without a single word of complaint.’
The Saintess’s meager holy power had never shown any dramatic increase. The Duchess of Orleans’s gamble had ultimately failed.
Yet the Duke had never made her feel uncomfortable. He had always treated her with love.
‘To cover up my mistakes, he endured the awkwardness and even suggested visiting the temple in front of the Duke and Duchess of Klein. Was that advice also a mistake?’
When the Duke of Orleans returned from his outing, she would run to him—now more handsome than ever, as if his youth had been restored—and ask.
He would smile and reply, “You have done nothing wrong, my dear.”
That was the man she loved.
The man who had always loved her more than himself.
The Duchess of Orleans’s eyes grew misty as she wandered through memories of the distant past.
“…Mother.”
Still lost in the past, she gave a weak smile.
“I only hoped that you would cherish me as much as His Grace does. But… hearing your reproach, I realize it was all my fault.”
How ridiculous and hollow it felt that it had taken her this long to admit it.
“……”
The Duchess removed the pin holding her hair in place. Her once-lush locks, as full as they had been in her youth, cascaded down.
When she showed through her actions that she had no intention of going out and would instead rest, Raphael’s sorrowful gaze wavered slightly.
“Raphael, I still remember the day you were born… Even though it was painful and difficult, I was truly happy. The world that had once consisted only of His Grace suddenly grew wider. My body was too weak afterward to have the second child I had longed for, but…”
“I am sorry.”
Raphael had heard it from his father many times. His mother had desperately wanted a daughter, and even if it was not his fault that he had been born a son, he should at least remember that.
“Sorry? No, my dear. You are my child, my precious son. That was more than enough… One day, you brought me an armful of wildflowers as a gift. It was only that one time, but it remains an unforgettable memory.”
That day, Raphael had been severely scolded.
The young heir had thought it harmless to pick nameless wildflowers, only to later learn that the real problem was the flowers he had offered were infested with aphids.
What could a child have known?
The Duchess had said it was fine, but after that day, Raphael had never touched any flowers except those already cut and arranged by the butler or servants in the garden.
“I…”
“Thinking back now… I suppose I was so happy to see how much His Grace cherished me that I ended up raising you too strictly. I should have stopped myself back then. You had every right to grow up as a proper boy.”
But in truth, there had been no need for such worry.
Raphael of Orleans had grown up under strict education, yet once he became a young man and then a knight, he had turned into someone whose words and actions grew light, as if he might be swept away by the wind.
Enough to break off an olive branch just to tease the commander of an opposing knight order.
“Mother…!”
A single tear rolled down the Duchess of Orleans’s cheek.
“Oh, Raphael… Can I truly undo my grave mistake?”
Raphael, who did not understand the full meaning, nodded.
“If you repent sincerely, then of course it is possible. So please give up on going out and wait until the imperial decision is made…”
“…That is not the issue, my dear.”
And so, through the weeping Duchess, Raphael came to learn the Klein ducal family’s fatal secret.
While he listened to something he could never have imagined, Pay was facing Lucius, who had returned to the Magic Tower.
“Lucius, just a moment.”
No matter how many times she peeled his arms away as they tried to wrap around her waist, they kept coming back. At this point, he was practically a sly serpent.
“I don’t want to. You can at least allow this much, can’t you?”
“Just let me read this first.”
“Then I’ll hold you from behind. Feel free to read.”
In the past, Holtdein inside the tower would have wept tears of blood hearing such words.
Pay found herself lifted by Lucius and seated on the sofa… or rather, on his lap. Even in that position, she tore open the envelope of the letter and checked its contents.
The Crown Prince’s palace regularly sent letters along with gold coins as a form of stipend.
This letter, however, was written on different paper, as if penned in haste.
“…Lycansloph?”
Lucius, who had been holding her tightly from behind, immediately recited the word like a dictionary.
“A werewolf, right? Why, did one appear somewhere?”
“It’s much larger than the average specimen, so they’re calling it a Lycansloph King. Good heavens, near the capital? I haven’t heard anything about that at all…!”
She glanced at the wand on the desk and tried to stand.
“You don’t need to go yourself.”
“If people get hurt, it’ll be a disaster. We need to deal with it quickly.”
There were scattered settlements and residences outside the capital, just like Grace Monastery. If any of them were attacked, it would be catastrophic.
But Lucius remained relaxed.
“Pay, no matter how powerful a mage you are, you can’t solve every problem in the empire alone. What are the knights for? They’ll handle it.”
“Can the knights even deal with it?”
“A country that can’t even manage something like this would be better off disappearing.”
Lucius spoke so casually that anyone in the imperial palace, including Sir Valiet, would have fainted upon hearing it.
“Hmm…”
“Coincidentally, Capia has declared her return to the capital. Let’s leave it to her. With the Saintess’s blessing, she should be able to handle it just fine, don’t you think?”
She suddenly turned around with a suspicious expression.
At a distance so close that their noses would touch if she leaned in just a little more, Lucius’s face was there, his gentle eyes gazing at her.
“You didn’t summon the Lycansloph yourself, did you, Lucius?”
“Why would I? Well, it’s not impossible to summon monsters from another realm to throw the world into chaos, but why would I bother doing it near the capital? Besides, Lycanslophs are native to this world.”
“Hmm…”
Lucius’s words made sense.
And if he said he hadn’t done it, then it was true. She didn’t know how he treated others, but he never lied to her.
Pay, unaware of the cunning Lucius had developed over his long life as a dragon, simply accepted it. Besides, even if she was mistaken, it didn’t really matter.
“If it wasn’t your doing, then why would one suddenly appear in a place like this?”
“Lycanslophs are living beings too, aren’t they? Since Capia has shown herself in the capital again, they’ve simply followed the stench willingly.”
“…That doesn’t sound like something a mage would say.”
Lucius smiled brightly and pulled Pay a little closer.
His lips brushed lightly against hers, and a wave of passionate energy flowed out as he spoke softly.
“The star we live on is alive, Pay. Humans can’t control everything. Right now… it’s simply the season when monsters grow stronger.”
“Is that why your seal was released too?”
Well, well.
If anyone else called a dragon a “monster,” Lucius would have been furious enough to breathe fire.
Of course, all he did was grin from ear to ear.
“It’s true that I contributed to the cause. It was also simply time for the seal to break after so many years.”
“I’m still not sure if it’s really okay not to go. If His Highness the Crown Prince orders Cassel to handle it, I’ll have no choice but to go anyway.”
Chuu.
Without warning, Lucius’s lips captured hers once more. If the last kiss had been a light touch, this one was openly demanding.
“Hng…!”
The intense caress was still too much for her to endure.
Holding Pay, who looked ready to melt in his arms, Lucius whispered.
“If they want to mobilize you, they’ll contact you again. Don’t rush in unnecessarily. Let’s just patrol the area once and send in a report.”
“That counts as earning my keep. Fine.”
Flying over the capital on a Drakan naturally required permission, but she had already received word that light flights near the capital were acceptable, especially with the proper insignia.
Even though the Magic Tower was inside the capital, it didn’t matter much since Lucius would take her to the outskirts anyway.
Pay staggered to her feet, called Momo over, and had him manifest his true form.
“Want a ride?”
Urk!
Those lips, casually uttering such words, were unbearable.
She tried her best to ignore his broad embrace as she climbed onto the Drakan’s back, but she couldn’t escape the warmth that followed right behind her.
Pay’s lower lip trembled with a spasm.
“You’re going to fall at this rate.”
“Hah…!”
When Lucius gently supported her waist with his arm, Pay let out a sound like air escaping and swayed.
「Guuuu…」
Along with the Drakan’s slightly displeased growl, sweet words poured into her ears.
“I’ll hold you tight. Want to sit on my lap like before?”