If I Disobey the Duke

Sowed (4)

Vlad provided funds to the estates located on the key distribution routes. Things had been manipulated from behind to purchase raw stones that had not been processed in advance.

The raw stones couldn’t even go to the processing stage and got things stuck. Not only the nobles, but also the craftsmen who had been working for decades would be filled with dissatisfaction.

“This is really… I knew what was going to happen, but there was no way I could face it.” Lily lost her words for a moment. She murmured with a puzzled heart, “After all, it was possible because it was you. Vlad.”

The financial power to purchase raw stones, the mobility to quickly cut off the distribution, and the position and power to simultaneously press the territory near the mine.

As she said, because of Vladislav de Winter. It was only possible because it was him.

“…This was possible because of the distribution information you obtained in exchange for saving that old friend named Tristan. Lily.”

“Thank you. However…”

Without it, he would have succeeded in revenge on his own in the end. She knew that too.

Since no damage was done to the stones, it was possible to recover the damage as long as the credit could be restored.

It was a tight trap without a loophole. It was as if there was a cobweb over all of her feet.

“You must have been doing it for a very long time. When did you start?”

Vlad’s eyes widened even more. “…Ever since I heard what Shylock Isles did to you.”

Finally, a stinging sadness rolled in her ribs.

He shouldn’t say it’s because of me. I have to hide these petty feelings…

She bit her lips for a long time, then asked again. “Why did you hide all this from me?” She didn’t want to bear it any longer.

Vlad’s eyes fluttered impatiently. He sighed. “The potential danger is clear. I’m sure they’ll try to influence you someday, but I just couldn’t let it happen.”

“Then the day I asked my father to leave me alone. Why didn’t you tell me even then?”

Lily was afraid to even consider the answer. “N-no. You don’t have to say that. …I think I know.”

It would put her in a difficult situation. It was then evident that he would have asked her to stop all the pressure on the Isles if it were her.

Then, as he said, her father must have plotted another conspiracy. Hence, she would never get a chance to confront her father head-to-head regarding such things.

That moment when Lily was deep in thought.

Vlad waited anxiously for her words with a feeling of standing on the edge of a cliff. His mouth was dry. It was difficult for him to know what the hell she was thinking. She didn’t even look like she was holding on to some grudge. She was just calm.

“Vlad. Then I’m now…” Her green eyes looked straight at him. “I’ll take a few more days off and think about how to operate the Isles. You gave me management rights, so I can’t leave it like this.”

The reaction that contained neither pessimism nor anger, nor even any emotion, made him fall for a moment.

She had no choice but to know. What was the strategy that Vlad decisively made to change her father’s mind?

I traded your brother’s life for you.

Aren’t the days she’d be living in the future much longer than the days she’d been living now?

There was much to do in the future.

Her pathetic self who hesitated was no longer needed. Then she had to die with her father, along with her past.

She grabbed his cheeks. Because of his hard work for a few days, he lost weight and his facial features became sharper.

She smiled faintly. “You are my family. So, let’s talk about this tomorrow and stop for today.”

“…”

“This is enough. Now…” she mumbled to herself, not knowing who she was talking to.

* * *

At dawn when the moon was asleep.

Vlad couldn’t. His heart ached at the sight of his wife lying there with her eyes closed, and he could hardly close his eyes.

The more he looked at her, the more she looked like a full moon.

As the healers gave her pills, Vlad stuck in place like a stuffed bird of prey.

His face, like a piece of plaster walking around, was as if he was waiting for his own death. It seemed even more so because of his broken eyes.

Shylock Isles’ accusations he had heard while running down the hallway echoed in his ears.

[As long as you have no children, no matter how much you are loved, you’re a reed in front of the wind.]

The sensation he felt was uncomfortable. It was so this time as well.

Yes. She was a woman who wandered the sea, riding on the anxiety of a shipwreck all her life. Along with her younger brother.

He had to put a real solution in her hands for all her problems.

Vlad, having reached the conclusion alone, closed his eyes tightly as if he had made a painful decision.

It was such a dark night.