Leonhardt couldn’t bring himself to answer affirmatively. He was so flustered that he left immediately. He couldn’t even remember how he had exited the information guild.

When he came to his senses, he found himself at the gentlemen’s club. This was where he used to hang out with his mediocre friends every day.

Leonhardt examined the place with fresh eyes. Clothes made from imported fabrics, pipes crafted by artisans who supposedly made only a few pieces, and talk about what items would appear at the next auction in the black market.

They only ever discussed such trivial matters.

They boasted about how expensive their clothes were, but never discussed who imported what fabric from which country and how much profit they made.

The same went for the pipe-making artisans. Every time rumors spread that only a few pieces were made, the prices skyrocketed uncontrollably.

“Those rumors were always spread by the seller.”

Leonhardt muttered, looking at the bartender of the gentlemen’s club. Only now did he realize that the bartender and the artisan had joined hands to pull off this trick every time.

“Then, was it the same with the auctions held in the black market?”

There were always rumors about exciting items coming in, and when word spread about the estimated prices, the riffraff of the gentlemen’s club would bring bags of gold coins.

It didn’t matter whether the items were good or bad. The true thrill of the auction was in how fiercely people competed to win the bid.

Leonhardt found it so absurd that he couldn’t help but snicker.

Did Gustav not know that his son was playing at the gentlemen’s club, becoming tasty prey for those lowlifes?

Leonhardt recalled what the guild master had said.

“I’m talking about the practical education you should have received as an heir. Haven’t you learned it?”

Once he realized one thing, others became apparent. The club was full of second and third sons from noble families.

They never even dreamed of becoming the head of their households. Their minds were filled with calculations about how much they would receive when their older brother became the head, or what territory would be entrusted to them.

The actual heir candidates quietly slipped away and rarely came.

‘Are they receiving practical education?’

He could no longer ignore the truth.

Gustav truly had no intention of passing the title to his son.

That day, Leonhardt ordered alcohol in his anger. He felt so desperate that he wanted to drink heavily and forget everything.

‘It might be easier to just drink myself to death.’

Not only had he been bewitched by the magic stone and made all sorts of foolish mistakes, losing Daphne in the process, but he had also been abandoned by his father.

‘No, my father abandoned me long ago.’

Why?

Because he already knew what an inadequate person his son was……

Leonhardt glared at the glass of alcohol in front of him.

He had lost everything. If he just downed this and never came to his senses again……

Daphne would regret it.

‘Would she collapse on my grave and weep?’

Someone like her would probably regret it and suffer for the rest of her life. She might even enter a temple and live a life of atonement due to her extreme grief…… Just imagining it made him feel a bit better.

But that feeling was fleeting, and he felt miserable for comforting himself with such fantasies.

‘Everything was mine. Sweet Daphne, the title…… Everything was mine!’

Leonhardt gritted his teeth as he stared at the alcohol. Instead of drinking it and dying, a stubborn determination to see this through to the end surged within him.

He cooled his head with ice water instead of alcohol and calculated the conditions that would help him overcome his despair.

Even if Gustav didn’t care, Barbara remained steadfastly on his side. He remembered the enormous dowry she had brought when she married.

Moreover, hadn’t the master of the continent’s largest guild personally met with him and treated him with respect? It meant that the man, who would never deal with someone he didn’t approve of, even if they were a high-ranking noble, had acknowledged him.

With Barbara’s financial power and the guild master, wouldn’t he be able to get his hands on the magic stone that had bewitched him?

His vague hope became more concrete.

‘I will definitely become the duke!’

Leonhardt rose from his seat and headed back to the information guild.

⁕⁕⁕

Since realizing his situation, Leonhardt had been busier than anyone else.

Thanks to this, he was able to bring Anaïs to her knees when she mentioned the dress price. Moreover, he had reaped an unexpected harvest.

Helmut Bering.

He had appeared suddenly in the Kingdom of Lucia, captured the king’s heart, and made him even more dissolute. All while gradually seizing real power in the country.

It was vexing that this man had targeted him using a magic stone, but in any case, what he truly desired was the Empire.

‘It would be better for him to establish a direct relationship with me rather than going through Anaïs.’

Leonhardt’s mind began to fill with thoughts about how to draw him in.

After sending Anaïs away in a carriage, he headed to the annex where Barbara was confined.

A guard was standing at the main entrance.

“Open it.”

“I’m sorry, Young Duke. Please come back after getting permission from His Grace.”

Though the guard firmly refused, Leonhardt patted his shoulder encouragingly.

“Good, I really like that attitude. Your name is Hans, right?”

When Leonhardt showed that he knew his name, the guard’s shoulders stiffened slightly.

The master knowing one’s name—in most cases, servants would be moved by this. But Hans seemed somewhat wary.

Noticing his situation, Leonhardt spoke in an even more subtle voice.

“But could you shift your loyalty slightly? I’ll soon be ‘His Grace,’ so it’s not a bad idea to do it in advance.”

He then held out a pouch full of gold coins.

Honestly, he shouldn’t do this, but conventionally, passing through the annex door would cost about one gold coin. But faced with such an excessive amount, Hans looked at Leonhardt with suspicious eyes.

He was trying to gauge whether he could exploit this naive young master, or if this excessive amount was a test.

Leonhardt seemed pleased with his calculating gaze and grinned.

To Leonhardt, the servants of the ducal household were merely tools. They were nothing more than people who obeyed when told, nothing more, nothing less.

But if handled well, they could become useful cards. Everyone has weaknesses. With those, he could manipulate the servants as he pleased.

The guard currently watching the annex, Hans, was no exception. Many of the ducal knights and servants were addicted to gambling, and this man was the one who continued to tempt and lead them.

He was said to be well-connected, skilled, and meticulous. So when the ducal servants needed something, they sought him out.

If Fred, who was loyal to Gustav, was the official head of the servants, then this guard was essentially the behind-the-scenes leader who pulled many strings.

Therefore, it was more efficient to recruit Hans than to approach each servant individually.

Leonhardt, who had deliberately waited for the day Hans was on guard duty, put his arm around his shoulder and said:

“Of course, there are many ways to pass through this door. As you said, I could go to my father now and present various conditions to get permission. But what I want is you and your colleagues.”

Hans hesitated for a moment before nodding. He wasn’t foolish enough to ask for a few days to think it over.

If Leonhardt became the duke, he might secure a position handling dirty work behind the scenes. He wasn’t stupid enough to miss this opportunity.

Leonhardt watched Hans’s Adam’s apple bob nervously as he swallowed and said:

“Share this with those who are useful. Tell them to think carefully about how advantageous it would be to get in line early.”

Hans straightened his posture and placed his hand on his chest, a gesture of loyalty.

“Good. First, bribe those who come and go from the annex.”

“Do you wish for the Duchess to be served with more care?”

“I like that you understand without needing detailed explanations. I’ll leave it to you then.”

Hans looked around once more before quietly opening the main door.

“She is in the middle bedroom on the second floor. It’s dark, so I should escort you, but there might be watching eyes, so it would be better for me to keep watch outside. Please be careful.”

Leonhardt nodded to Hans before entering.

He immediately frowned. They truly provided only the minimum conveniences—only the entrance had a lamp lit, and the central hall leading from this path was pitch dark.

Leonhardt took the lamp illuminating the entrance and went inside. With each step he took, the musty smell of dust followed, making him shudder.

Despite everything, she was the wife who had given birth to the heir. Though it was said that they usually looked at each other like enemies, to treat her so coldly was truly heartless.

Leonhardt couldn’t help but doubt whether Gustav was really his biological father.

“If I had just waited, I might have ended up confined like this too.”

He moistened his parched lips with his tongue as he climbed to the second floor.