I Didn’t Tame The Beastly Duke!

He said to Leonis, stuttering up from the sofa. Leonis frowned at him as he stood up.

“What happened to the princess?”

When the Duke of Carta said the princess, his face distorted.

He couldn’t think of anything else to say. Only one of the three princes he saw had the qualifications to be emperor, Michael, but he now knew what Michael thought of his family.

He had no idea how far Michael had gotten. He could tell, though, that he had no intention of leaving his daughter alive.

Even if making her an empress was impossible, he would have had children before they were married if she had intended to use her as an empress.

To gain control of the duchy of Carta, he poisons the princess rather than having her child.

He could see how Prince Michael was looking at the Duke of Carta at this point.

A toy horse that will be discarded.

It is neither more nor less than that.

Whether Michael became Emperor or not, the Duke of Carta knew his daughter would die. He wanted to fight back but couldn’t because his daughter was being held captive.

There was a chance that someone else would become Emperor, but Phil was an idiot who would cause more trouble, and Giel seemed to be no different.

Vivian seemed to die regardless of who took the throne.

Phil would simply say that he would save Vivian and try to use the Duke of Carta, while Giel’s incompetence and carelessness appeared to be the cause of Vivian’s death.

He considered clinging to the emperor, but the emperor would ultimately side with his son.

The Duke of Carta regretted letting Vivian to marry Prince Michael. If he had only told the Emperor about Vivian’s pregnancy and childbirth, he could have prevented the marriage from taking place.

But he couldn’t do that. If that happened, Vivian’s life as a noblewoman would be ruined.

‘Somebody…..Somebody else!’

He thought that the possibility was not completely out of the question. There is a family with the right to succeed to the throne and the most power.

The Duke of Cardian.

All nobles despised them, but they were also feared.

It seemed possible to save Vivian if it was the Duke of Cardian. No, he will!

“……You must know that my daughter was poisoned.”

What Duke Carta admitted was similar to what Leonis knew. It was because the Cardians had told Giel and encouraged the spread of the story.

Without clear evidence, it could be dismissed as a rumor, but the story of combining a rare poisonous plant with the poison of a monster matched Vivian’s symptoms far too closely.

Furthermore, his conviction was strengthened by the fact that the poison used was related to the first empress’s family.

“What kind of help do you think I can give you?”

Leonis asked, looking down at the Duke of Carta. The Duke of Carta was also a knight, so he had a good physique but was not strong enough to outmatch Leonis.

The Duke of Carta recalled the day he married his daughter to Michael, whom he despised. Although it was not the marriage he had hoped for, it was the best match among the future crown prince. In addition, he thought Vivian had a critical flaw.

Even if Michael did not become Emperor, he believed he would protect Vivian.

The Duke of Carta had faith in his family.

Michael, who had a mother from a marquess family, would never dare to do such a thing to a princess of the Duke of Carta.

The Duke of Carta knew he wouldn’t stop there.

Michael planned to use Vivian to obtain all of the help he needed from the Duke of Carta before viciously destroying their family.

He dared to present the prince with a woman who had given birth to someone else’s child, so he took it for granted.

The death of Vivian following Prince Michael’s accession to the throne should have been the starting point.

However, it was too late to support another prince. The other princes would never forget that Vivian was already Michael’s wife.

New force. A new force needed a force that surpassed Michael and the other two princes.

His throat was burning with pain. The Duke of Carta had no idea Leonis Cardian’s intentions, but he knew he was dangerous.

The power of the Duke of Cardian has already grown excessively. The next crown prince would not sit idly by.

“As Duke of Cardian, you must have guessed. His Majesty and the Prince and His Highnesses… … They will not leave this Cardian duchy alone in the end.”

The Duke of Carta took off the hood from his head and said. Leonis fixed him with a cold stare.

“Did you come here all this way just to say that?”

“Only a few people know I’m here! Of course, I kept it a secret from His Highness Michael……”

Leonis examined the Duke of Carta’s face intently. While Vivian was being held hostage, he could have come to listen to Michael’s orders and discover what was inside him.

“I’m not asking for much. Please keep my daughter and son safe…… I just hope my family is not destroyed! I’m ready to do anything for this!”

Leonis’ eyes narrowed at the words of the Duke of Carta. Nobody had brought up the subject of treason or the imperial throne.

The moment one of them says it, it becomes the justification for an accusation.

Similarly to how Leonis did not trust the Duke of Carta, the Duke of Carta gradually revealed his inner feelings as if walking on ice.

‘That’s true…… There are a lot of thought-provoking words there.’

If Michael holds Vivian’s lifeline and threatens him, the Duke of Carta can turn his back on the Duke of Cardian anytime.

Leonis nodded slowly.

“I understand what the duke means. I can help the princess whenever it’s time……  I’ll get back to you.”

The Duke of Carta gave Leonis a hopeful look because he called her a princess rather than a princess, but that expression was fleeting.

The Duke of Carta looked at his helpless expression. As he watched the Duke of Carta leave his office with his attendant, Zeppel approached.

“Your Excellency.”

“What are your thoughts?”

After confirming the Duke of Carta’s presence, Zeppel opened his mouth in response to Leonis’ words.

“He may not be trustworthy yet, but I think it is enough to know that the door to the Duke of Carta is open. When the occasion calls for it, we can hold hands.”

“Alright.”

They had already been informed about the situation in the capital. The knight who had been separated from them at the second of Imperial Palace also escaped safely. Zeppel returned to the Duchy of Cardian by capturing Princess Amelia’s nanny, Lucy.

“And this……”

Zeppel held out the divine beast’s heart, which he had received from Nicole. Celia’s two fragments are combined to form three pieces.

When Leonis held the piece of heart in his hand, it wriggled as it had come to life. The scene was grotesque, but Leonis looked at it indifferently.

Now for one more piece. He can lift the curse if he only gets what the emperor has. As long as he can avoid the curse, the emperor will not need to drag him around.

“It should only be obtained from the emperor and the second prince.”

“You only need to obtain it from the emperor.”

Leonis then told the story of Celia obtaining the fragment from the second prince, Phil. When Zeppel learned that she had knocked him out by hitting him over the head with a candlestick while he vomited, he was taken aback.

“And……”

The story that followed about the object thought to be the divine beast’s egg made Zeppel’s eyes pop out.

“Really? Calm down……!”

After marrying Leonis, he expected something special because of Celia’s bizarre behaviour, but it exceeded his expectations.

If he could only tell the nobles around him, they would all kneel at Leonis’ feet. The one who was despised as a murderer can show the dignity of an emperor.

Zeppel tried to unwind by clearing his throat, which was on the verge of raising his voice. Most nobles who supported the Cardian dukedom should have known this but now was not the time.

The avaricious emperor would go to any length to take the divine beast’s egg and the saintess Celia from the Cardian family.

‘It’s going much faster than I expected!’

After witnessing Celia’s actions, which got to the root of the curse much sooner than they had investigated over the years, Zeppel suspected she was not someone arranged by the god of the heaven.

The ability to press the curse and decipher the clues are required to solve the curse.

…. I could only explain that heaven helped us.

He used to think the emperor had set up an elaborate trap for the Cardian dukedom, but no longer. That was too dangerous to say about Celia’s ability.

Because Celia could suppress Duke Cardian’s madness, Duke Cardian, backed by that power, could have tried to attack the emperor.

Leonis, in fact, broke into the second emperor’s palace with the intention of doing so in the worst-case scenario.

“Madam, can she hatch that egg?”

“Well. She brought the eggs to the goddess’s request, but…… I don’t recall hearing anything about hatching.”

Even if the divine beast hatched right away, it couldn’t be shown to the rest of the world. They’ll have to keep everything hidden until they reach a certain point.

“This should not be known to the outside world. There……It would be better to strengthen the protection of the mistress than before.”

“I am of the same opinion. Something along these lines……”

Crunch.

Zeppel caught the sight of Leonis clutching the shattered corner of the desk. Pieces of wood fell to the floor as he spread his fingers.

“…… It should never happen again.”

“We’ll replace and strengthen them with new ones.”

Leonis nodded slowly in response to Zeppel’s words.