He's My Real Brother, Duke

Cassian was caught off guard by a squeak and bit him.

Soon after, blood flowed from his mouth.

Cassian raised an eyebrow, grabbed him by the scruff of his neck, and lifted him.

The rat’s eyes were closed, and its tongue was out.

The human warmth of his hand was replaced by that of a cold corpse.

The man chose death too easily.

Cassian stared at the rat with sagging in my arms. 

“What is this?”

Cassian laughed hollowly, “I haven’t done anything yet, why die? I guess this is completely suspicious?”

He tossed the dying rat aside and checked the awl in his hand.

When I looked closely at the awl, there was a small triangle drawn, and the ancient word ‘Fear’ scrawled across it.

I stiffened as my eyes scanned it without thinking.

At that moment, the words of Anne, a maid of Count Vietry, passed through his head.

— ‘They had strange things. It’s like an artifact with some kind of power… The most eloquent of them, Jack, was a voodoo practitioner. He won’t die, but come back to life in another body over and over again.’

Cassian reached out and grabbed the dead suspect by the throat.

“Well, that was a neat way to die.”

He immediately took out a secret letter from the dead rat’s arms.

It was written in code, but it was not difficult to decipher because the rules were familiar.

[Talents. Two people are dead. The Duke of Anais. Requests assistance from the capital.]

It was a secret letter asking for support from someone.

The exact recipient was unspecified, but it was clear that it was addressed to the capital.

And that, for reasons unknown, the Duke of Anais had killed his comrades.

‘There’s something in this secret letter and in the awl.’

He slid the scribe and awl, examining the skinned corpse.

Voodoo was a crude thing, but it was something that needed to be investigated immediately.

But a new question arose. 

‘Duke Anais, who the hell is he, then?’

He doesn’t seem to be in cahoots with these guys, so why did he kill them?

And why was he acting so suspiciously toward me? 

Cassian grimaced and calmly trampled the rat in front of him.

The thought of the Duke of Anais made him stamped on his toes even more.

Still, the question was not easily answered.

At first, Cassian thought the Duke of Anais might have been a key force in the destruction of Count Vietry.

I wondered if that was why he had taken Astel, hostage, to cast doubt on himself. 

Of course, a northern Duke would have no way of knowing that Astel and I were siblings and related to the Vietry Family.

But now it seemed that was not the case.

Then why the hell was that bastard sneaking around beside Astel?

Don’t tell me he likes Astel…

Cassian frowned at the creepy thought.

It could never happen, and it shouldn’t.

Astel, his sunshine sister, deserved to live happily ever after with someone warm-hearted.

Not with a cold-blooded bastard like the Duke.

With a scowl, he looked down at the soulless, skinned leather.

“I don’t know for sure who you are, but make sure you come back alive. Let’s meet again.”

With those words out of his mouth, he was about to turn to leave when a ragged hem of clothing caught at Cassian’s feet. 

“This, um…”

Cassian frowned.

The man was dressed in cloth similar to linen. It was not a material typically found in the cold north.

Cassian crouched on the ground and turned the fabric over.

“It’s a hebram fabric.”

Hebram was a common fabric in the South. He set the rat’s body down roughly and cut off the cloth.

‘We’ll have to see if this is a trap, or if it’s real.’

I’m worried about Astel, but I need to find out something for sure for the time being.

He turned around without hesitation after looking at the wall where someone’s neck was dangling.

‘Just wait, Astel.’

I’ll be the first to pick you up when I’m finished with my revenge.

The next morning.

A highly encouraged artifact appraiser, Warret went straight into the Delphinium Room.

He addressed Astel with dignity and offered her the Medal Artifact with solemnity.

“It’s quite strange.”

“Why?”

“Because last night, the artifact suddenly glowed with light, and then it went out.”

“What does that mean?”

“Either the associated artifact has been destroyed, or the person involved has died. I think it’s one of the two.”

Three artifacts.

Fraud, transformation, fear, all three artifacts were destroyed?

“It seems certain that the owner of the Artifact has fled from the Castle of Duke Anais.”

“… This is troubling.”

I nodded, running my hand through my throbbing head.

“Oh. And… There was a painting on this medal, too.”

I quietly received the medal.

‘This emblem…’

It was a picture of a snake that I had seen somewhere in the capital.

The only difference was that the snake was flicking out the tip of its red tongue.

‘…was it the top of Lowick?’

Lowick, the store whose symbol represents the snake’s pattern.

The top, which handles all special items, was officially owned by the Duke of Cornwall.

Add to that the hint of a one-man, one-woman show…

‘Was it the Duke of Cornwall behind them?’

I found myself hoping it was the Duke of Cornwall, but I shook my head, trying to calm my nerves.

‘Maybe it’s a trap.’

I felt even more compelled to go to the capital.

If so…

‘It takes more personal strength to have free contact with them directly. I may need to disguise myself as a young and capable Lord.’

I remembered the Head of the Silver Fox family who had reached out to me not long ago. 

Before leaving the room that day, he had said he would return the favor. 

‘There will come a time when I will need their help.’

I silently fiddled with the medal artifact, calming my heart.

As I did, Warret muttered to himself, “Fortunately, though, I don’t think this artifact has anything to do with His Excellency the Duke of Anais.”

“… What?”

He took out a piece of paper that had been stuck inside the medal artifact and showed me Bazel’s handwriting and said,

“He’s a complete lunatic, he doesn’t even know what you’re talking about, that’s why he did that!”

The note that came with the medal laid out the method of killing for each of the shape-shifter’s races, as well as their ultimate goal. 

The end goal for the three of them was to kill key members of the four families.

To shatter the links between each family and seize control of the duchy through clandestine acts of treachery.

“I’m not sure whether this is exactly his goal, but whatever.”

I stiffened when I saw that the note said, ‘Kill Bell, the heir to the Silver Fox family.’

‘Killing the successor, that’s their goal.’

As I knew from the book, what on earth are the benefits of killing the successors and taking over the Duke’s castle?

Once the vassal families’ heirs are dead, the Duke of Anais loses his next owner. 

The Duke of Anais has always been contested by the heirs of the four major vassal families, with the strongest inheriting the title. 

‘The final villain, was he trying to weaken the power of the Duke…?’

If the Duke was the Final Villain, he wouldn’t be trying to weaken the power of his own Duchy.

Then, I should be suspicious of those who would benefit from it.

‘… Is the final villain one of the opponents of the Duke of Anais?’

However, there were many opposition forces to the Duke of Anais.

Astel was completely lost in contemplation.

Meanwhile, Duke Anais was also deep in thought.

“Why does Cassian Gray keep hovering near this Castle?”

We’ve denied him visits time and time again, but he’s been persistent.

‘Like a leech.’

“Perhaps he is a leech.”

Even at that moment, the Duke had subscribed to a gossip that flowed from the capital.

The newest edition of the capital’s gossip rag revealed Cassian Gray’s latest misdeeds.

The Duke frowned at the crude headline, “Bombing women’s hearts!!”

However, the rumors provided by local newspapers were relatively insignificant.

Recently, the Duke’s Information Guild had brought news that was even more infuriating.

— ‘It turns out that a child named Lune is definitely Cassian Gray’s son. However, we need to find out more about who Lune’s mother is.’

Astel might not be the mother.

The unexpected possibility stirred my concern for Cassian.

But I remained rational because Astel still liked Cassian Gray.

Why Astel would take on Cassian Gray’s child.

In the end, it would be one or the other.

Either Astel was Lune’s mother.

Or she loves Cassian so much that she wants to take care of the child he had with another woman.

How could I kill Cassian under those circumstances?

It was impossible.

“That crazy bastard…”

Duke Anais cursed under his breath.

Cassian Gray seemed miserable, which made matters worse.

“Did they say you were tangled up with aristocrats all over the place to dig up information about me?”

I wondered if he was jealous of me being with Astel, but Cassian Gray had no reason to be jealous of himself.

Astel rejected my heart thoroughly, drawing a line.

He glared lovingly at the white magnolia, which had blossomed on the table, the symbol of rejection, which Astel had given him, to be precise.

Astel was raising Cassian Gray’s child as a sacrifice, she’s a breathing saint.

He gritted his teeth, recognizing that no amount of reminding would change that.

“How come you have more warmth with him than with me??”

“…”

“Is there anything I’m not better at than that rascal?”

The Duke had never compared himself to another before.

I’m not sure how long ago it was. I don’t think there’s anything I lack in terms of position, looks, or strength because I’ve worked so hard to achieve it…

“Huh?”

At the moment he was deep in thought, Lune, dressed in a colored tie, hopped up on the desk and sat down next to the White Magnolia.