“The beast is so infatuated with her that he refuses to even speak to the Princess.”
The Empress gazed intently into her son’s bloodshot eyes. She could see the impure interest in his eyes.
The boy, whose childhood had been characterized by an unusually easy dislike of women, played with them like toys and then threw them away.
The Empress usually took care of him, so he was rarely caught red-handed, but many female nobles and maids were hurt. The Crown Prince knew best what the women he had touched had to say.
If even Astel were to become one, she would be committing an unpardonable sin against the benefactor who had healed her. The Empress clasped her hands together.
“I speak as a mother, so do not take an impure interest in her. And the Duke of Anais is dangerous.”
“I doubt it, and it would be better for a commoner to come in as my concubine.”
The Crown Prince whispered to himself, so the Empress wouldn’t hear.
“Besides, the woman of the beast is quite tempting.”
Speaking so meekly, the Empress didn’t recognize the words of her son clearly. But the twisted inferiority complex that had grown in him was clear enough to see. As she watched him giggle, the Empress’s distress deepened.
She straightened her back firmly, as if to assert the dignity of an Empress once more.
“Do not touch that child, and, I repeat, stay away from the Duke of Cornwall. He is a man who will bring evil upon you.”
“Aye, well. Let’s see… for now, just to be sure.”
Unfortunately, the Crown Prince didn’t seem to be listening.
Leaving the Empress’s palace, the Crown Prince made his way to Cornwall Manor, where he gazed longingly at the decaying, crumbling mansion that reflected the Duke of Cornwall’s unstable state of mind.
The Duke of Cornwall, I thought he was a good joker in poker, but he’s not even worthy of being spades. Besides, I’ve already heard reports that he’s likely connected to my mother’s curse.
Standing opposite him in the Duke of Cornwall’s garden, one corner of his mouth lifted in a sneer.
“I don’t keep dogs that bite, and you know it.”
The Crown Prince, now just twenty-two years old, clutched the fifty-plus-year-old man’s forearms and hissed insolently. But the Duke of Cornwall was no pushover, either, and with great force, he seized the Crown Prince’s hand in his own, bloodied one, and roughly tore it away.
“A biting dog, isn’t that rather rude?”
Glaring at the Duke of Cornwall, who gave him a questioning look, the Crown Prince raised his chin.
“You depend on me to fulfill your wishes, and yet you stab me in the back like this?”
“I did not backstab you.”
“You placed a curse on the Imperial Empress, how dare you.”
“What?”
Duke Cornwall questioned, and the Crown Prince spoke a warning.
“Don’t you think I don’t know that one of the few voodoo practitioners in the Empire is under your control?”
“That is—”
“Shut up.”
Duke Cornwall scowled in frustration.
There was no reason for him to use voodoo on the Empress, yet all the circumstantial evidence pointed to him.
The Empress’s illness turns out to be the result of a voodoo-based curse. A wild rumor spreads through the commercial streets that he’s a voodoo practitioner, and pieces of the mummy he once discarded from his mansion are uncovered next to the Empress’s palace.…
‘Sounds a lot like the situation I found myself in when I framed Count Vietry.’
It made me feel sickened. The injustice was driving me mad.
It was so… horrible to be in this position, unable to move, knowing that no matter what I said, I would be accused of cursing the Empress.
“I’ll let you prove yourself.”
Cornwall gritted his teeth. It wasn’t hard to guess who was making this accusation.
‘Astel, that woman.’
His instincts pointed to Astel.
Astel, the stupid girl who stuck by the Empress’s side.
No matter how he looked at it, he couldn’t help but suspect that the girl with the fraudulent artifact of his creation, the one with the connection to Count Vietry, was manipulating the situation.
‘She’s a nuisance.’
The Crown Prince declared over him, “I’ll give you three days’ leeway. If you’re being falsely accused, find out who’s framing you.”
“I already know.”
“…Who is it?”
“Astel. That woman.”
A sinister glint flickered in his dark eyes.
A coldness that would have made even the Crown Prince, who had looked down on the Duke of Cornwall as if he were a domesticated dog, shudder.
“I suspect the wench knows of my involvement in the House of Vietry affair, and she’s trying to frame me.”
The Crown Prince’s eyes flashed with wonder, which quickly turned to a sneer.
“So she’s a survivor of House Vietry, does that make sense?”
A sour mockery struck Cornwall’s ears.
“You’re in such dire circumstances that you’re willing to entrap a woman of only twenty?”
Meeting the Crown Prince’s furious scowl, Duke Cornwall’s expression hardened. He wanted to kill the man in front of him, but he could not. He needed this Prince to fulfill his final goal, the destruction of all magic and half-breeds.
Long ago, his wife and daughter had died cold deaths at the hands of wizards and beasts.
He eyed the smirking Crown Prince suspiciously and thought of his wife, who had died because of a foolish diagnosis by wizards who had mistaken her pregnancy poisoning for something else.
— ‘You must live happily ever after, even without me…’
— ‘You’ll see, I will surely kill those who made you this way!’
Although it was a long time ago, it was like yesterday, and each time it was as horrible as the last.
“The beast is so infatuated with her that he refuses to even speak to the Princess.”
The Empress gazed intently into her son’s bloodshot eyes. She could see the impure interest in his eyes.
The boy, whose childhood had been characterized by an unusually easy dislike of women, played with them like toys and then threw them away.
The Empress usually took care of him, so he was rarely caught red-handed, but many female nobles and maids were hurt. The Crown Prince knew best what the women he had touched had to say.
If even Astel were to become one, she would be committing an unpardonable sin against the benefactor who had healed her. The Empress clasped her hands together.
“I speak as a mother, so do not take an impure interest in her. And the Duke of Anais is dangerous.”
“I doubt it, and it would be better for a commoner to come in as my concubine.”
The Crown Prince whispered to himself, so the Empress wouldn’t hear.
“Besides, the woman of the beast is quite tempting.”
Speaking so meekly, the Empress didn’t recognize the words of her son clearly. But the twisted inferiority complex that had grown in him was clear enough to see. As she watched him giggle, the Empress’s distress deepened.
She straightened her back firmly, as if to assert the dignity of an Empress once more.
“Do not touch that child, and, I repeat, stay away from the Duke of Cornwall. He is a man who will bring evil upon you.”
“Aye, well. Let’s see… for now, just to be sure.”
Unfortunately, the Crown Prince didn’t seem to be listening.
Leaving the Empress’s palace, the Crown Prince made his way to Cornwall Manor, where he gazed longingly at the decaying, crumbling mansion that reflected the Duke of Cornwall’s unstable state of mind.
The Duke of Cornwall, I thought he was a good joker in poker, but he’s not even worthy of being spades. Besides, I’ve already heard reports that he’s likely connected to my mother’s curse.
Standing opposite him in the Duke of Cornwall’s garden, one corner of his mouth lifted in a sneer.
“I don’t keep dogs that bite, and you know it.”
The Crown Prince, now just twenty-two years old, clutched the fifty-plus-year-old man’s forearms and hissed insolently. But the Duke of Cornwall was no pushover, either, and with great force, he seized the Crown Prince’s hand in his own, bloodied one, and roughly tore it away.
“A biting dog, isn’t that rather rude?”
Glaring at the Duke of Cornwall, who gave him a questioning look, the Crown Prince raised his chin.
“You depend on me to fulfill your wishes, and yet you stab me in the back like this?”
“I did not backstab you.”
“You placed a curse on the Imperial Empress, how dare you.”
“What?”
Duke Cornwall questioned, and the Crown Prince spoke a warning.
“Don’t you think I don’t know that one of the few voodoo practitioners in the Empire is under your control?”
“That is—”
“Shut up.”
Duke Cornwall scowled in frustration.
There was no reason for him to use voodoo on the Empress, yet all the circumstantial evidence pointed to him.
The Empress’s illness turns out to be the result of a voodoo-based curse. A wild rumor spreads through the commercial streets that he’s a voodoo practitioner, and pieces of the mummy he once discarded from his mansion are uncovered next to the Empress’s palace.…
‘Sounds a lot like the situation I found myself in when I framed Count Vietry.’
It made me feel sickened. The injustice was driving me mad.
It was so… horrible to be in this position, unable to move, knowing that no matter what I said, I would be accused of cursing the Empress.
“I’ll let you prove yourself.”
Cornwall gritted his teeth. It wasn’t hard to guess who was making this accusation.
‘Astel, that woman.’
His instincts pointed to Astel.
Astel, the stupid girl who stuck by the Empress’s side.
No matter how he looked at it, he couldn’t help but suspect that the girl with the fraudulent artifact of his creation, the one with the connection to Count Vietry, was manipulating the situation.
‘She’s a nuisance.’
The Crown Prince declared over him, “I’ll give you three days’ leeway. If you’re being falsely accused, find out who’s framing you.”
“I already know.”
“…Who is it?”
“Astel. That woman.”
A sinister glint flickered in his dark eyes.
A coldness that would have made even the Crown Prince, who had looked down on the Duke of Cornwall as if he were a domesticated dog, shudder.
“I suspect the wench knows of my involvement in the House of Vietry affair, and she’s trying to frame me.”
The Crown Prince’s eyes flashed with wonder, which quickly turned to a sneer.
“So she’s a survivor of House Vietry, does that make sense?”
A sour mockery struck Cornwall’s ears.
“You’re in such dire circumstances that you’re willing to entrap a woman of only twenty?”
Meeting the Crown Prince’s furious scowl, Duke Cornwall’s expression hardened. He wanted to kill the man in front of him, but he could not. He needed this Prince to fulfill his final goal, the destruction of all magic and half-breeds.
Long ago, his wife and daughter had died cold deaths at the hands of wizards and beasts.
He eyed the smirking Crown Prince suspiciously and thought of his wife, who had died because of a foolish diagnosis by wizards who had mistaken her pregnancy poisoning for something else.
— ‘You must live happily ever after, even without me…’
— ‘You’ll see, I will surely kill those who made you this way!’
Although it was a long time ago, it was like yesterday, and each time it was as horrible as the last.
