The Grand Duke’s Fox Princess

Episode 28: Truth Hunting (I)

Inside, Marquis Decayden could be seen, with his limbs tied in a wretched way.

As soon as he saw Heinricion, his eyes lit up.

“It’s been a long time, Heinricion. It’s an honor to see you grow up like this.”

It was like seeing his nephew whom he had not seen in a long time.

“No need for unnecessary conversation.”

Heinricion had no intention of chatting idly with Marquis Decayden.

“You are still a prideful child.”

The marquis raised the corners of his lips sullenly and spoke without losing his composure even when he was being held captive. It was an attitude that did not suit the figure of a person who was driven to be on the defensive.

“I hope that pride will not be undermined. I am very worried.”

He still spoke as if he was dealing with Heinricion as a child.

“Can you really survive without the princess?”

A crack appeared in Heinricion’s face. But soon a picturesque smile surfaced.

“You are telling a very interesting story.”

He couldn’t figure out the purpose for suddenly making references to Eristella. But he had no intention of being swayed by the words of the Marquis Decayden.

Say it one more time? Heinricion warned.

“I’m really envious of you.”

“…….”

“Born as the heir to the Grand Duchy of Adelasia, there’s not a single flaw in your nobility. It seems completely flawless.”

Marquis Decayden changed his tone and became sarcastic.

“Your Excellency. Are you pretending not to know? Or are you really a naive young man who doesn’t know anything?”

“…….”

Abruptly, Marquis Decaden asked politely. His eyes were clearly focused for the first time.

Every word he uttered was disgusting as if it was drenched in filth.

But oddly enough, Heinricion was bothered by what he said. Unpleasant goosebumps rose and subsided.

“Don’t even think about playing around anymore. There will not be any more opportunities.”

Heinricion gave a cold warning.

Marquis Decayden seemed to have decided to deliberately provoke Heinricion.

“Why? Are you scared?”

“…Another load of bullshit.”

“You hope it’s bullshit. But you’re afraid it might not be nonsense. That’s why you don’t want to hear it.”

Hur hur hur.

Marquis Decayden, who had been speaking in a polite tone until now, suddenly started laughing strangely and manically as if he had gone insane.

His laughter stimulated Heinricion’s nerves. It was the moment when Heinricion was about to express that he couldn’t stand it any longer.

The red, bloodshot eyes of Marquis Decayden looked straight at Heinricion.

“The previous Grand Duke Adelasia and his wife were very nice people. So, does the Grand Duke want to respect his parents now?”

Marquis Decayden’s provocation continued. Heinricion raised his eyebrows.

“If you want to respect them, don’t bother to dig. Just blame and resent the person you can blame. You…”

But Marquis Decaden could no longer speak.

Heinricion gave a signal while he continued to taunt. Almost immediately, a sharp sword was aimed precisely at Marquis Decayden’s neck.

Heinricion stared at him indifferently, who was now just a corpse, and muttered softly.

“It’s already been answered enough.”

Marquis Decayden told Heinricion to not look into it further, but he spoke the truth.

That there was something disgraceful about the deaths of the previous Grand Duke and Grand Duchess of Adelasia.

So he needed to know more. Even if the truth behind it was dishonorable, it indeed happened in the house of the Grand Duchy of Adelasia.

It was the responsibility of Heinricion, the current owner of the Grand Duchy of Adelasia, to bear all of that.

“Rowen.”

“Yes. I will look into it again.”

Rowen immediately understood what Heinricion was thinking.

Instead of uncovering the truth, it might have been better to hide and bury it.

Nevertheless, it would not stop here. That was how much he wanted to end this long hell.

*******

‘As expected, you were investigating the Azurdi County.’

While wandering around, Eristella noticed Rowen returning with someone.

From then on, she watched from afar until he came out of the basement with Heinricion.

‘If possible, I hope he won’t know until the end.’

‘Though, he probably won’t give up.’

It was clear that Heinricion was approaching the truth of that day, little by little.

Eristella had also somewhat guessed Count Azurdi and Marquis Decayden were involved.

At that time, the reason why Eristella noticed the ideals of Grand Duke Adelasia was because she was watching Marquis Decayden first.

‘It started with that incident in the Abbs area.’

*******

Heinricion asked Rowen as soon as he entered the office.

“Do you have the results of what I asked last time?”

Heinricion had something he wanted to check after that meeting with Marquis Decayden.

Until now, he had been looking into the day of Eristella’s disappearance and the deaths of the former grand duke and grand duchess, but nothing useful came out.

So this time, he thought of looking from another angle and instructed Rowen to search for something else.

As if Rowen had a similar idea, he brought the data right away.

“As Your Excellency ordered, we have investigated the actions of the princess before her disappearance.”

About the small battles and commotions that Eristella caused from before the death of his predecessors, until the day when she disappeared.

And the research paid off.

“It has been a few years already, and it was difficult to grasp the exact details of the events. However, when I listened again to the testimonies of those who witnessed the disturbance caused by the princess, suspicious circumstances appeared.”

Rowen dug into just a few of the many commotions Eristella had been engaged in.

“The oldest of these is the case of running away from home when Her Highness the Princess was 16.”

“If it’s the runaway commotion… Is it in the Abbs area?”

To be precise, she just went out, but she didn’t come back for over a week, so it was misunderstood as running away.

“Yes. During that time, she burned down a plaza in the Abbs area. That was the issue.”

Back then, those who came across the incident could not contain their shock. Their jaws fell, mouths hanging wide open.

Heinricion also remembered that he was doing well with Eristella until then.

“So the imperial family was discussing compensation.”

“At that time, the commotion about the princess running away from home was such a big deal that other minor issues were buried.”

“Was there another problem other than that?”

Come to think of it, at that time, all the attention was focused on Eristella. Thus there was no proper investigation into why she went there nor, in fact, why the square was set on fire.

So what exactly happened then?

“When I looked into it in detail, a year before the square burned down, unusual flowers began to bloom, and they were very beautiful and popular.”

It was the first time he heard such information. In fact, even if it wasn’t for Eristella’s commotion, such a small detail would not normally be delivered.

“And, perhaps coincidentally, strange things happened in the plaza at that time.”

“It cannot be a coincidence.”

Heinricion was convinced without even the slightest hesitation.

“I think so too, but at the time, I thought it was just because a lot of people came to the plaza often and were excited. Besides, the incident was a bit special.”

“What kind of incident was it?”

“People started laughing a lot, unusually, and then suddenly there were bizarre things, such as vicious expressions of affection or increased violence.”

After listening and guessing, Heinricion immediately knew why Rowen said it was ‘special’. It was done by the black wizards.

People would not have thought that there was a problem in the square just from a mix of trivial events such as excessive affection.

“Nothing happened after the plaza was gone, right?”

“Yes. The plaza was built again, but after which, there have been no such happenings.”

“…Also,”

Flowers made using black magic existed in the Abbs area…

Then…

It was when Heinricion’s thoughts were deepening. As Rowen still had more to say, he opened her mouth cautiously.

“Your Excellency. At that time, the Abbs area was the territory of Marquis Decayden.”

“Yes. It was.”

Heinricion had already noticed that fact. Everything fits.

Eristella knew the existence of black magic for a long time, and had been chasing and dealing with it alone.

And each time, she disguised it as an accident she had caused while wandering out of the Imperial Palace to play.

‘You were hiding the existence of black wizards.’

‘Does this mean the death of my parents you’re hiding has something to do with black magic?’

Heinricion’s thoughts stopped there. Then he stood up. There was a place he had to check, at least to dispel the strong doubts in his head.

“Rowen. There’s a place I have to go with you.”