Henan hesitated again but soon led Reibella to another place and carefully asked as if confessing.

“……How much do you know?”

“I heard that the Duchess died because of the Duke, and that he didn’t attend the funeral. According to Royan, he abandoned him.”

“What do you think about that matter, Miss?”

“Well……”

When she heard Royan’s words, there were some aspects that seemed strange.

“First, Royan seems to think that the Duke and Duchess had a bad relationship. But that doesn’t seem right.”

Royan had said:

‘That person caused my mother’s death, yet he didn’t even come to her funeral.’

‘And he abandoned me.’

That the Duke of Vicheravali had neglected his mother and himself, abandoning them without regret.

But Reibella thought differently. She had heard that the Duchess’s funeral was held more splendidly than any other.

There was no way such a funeral would be held for a neglected Duchess.

Moreover, if the relationship between the Duchess and the Duke had been bad, it would have been difficult for Royan to stay at the Marquis’s house. Her father, the Marquis, would not have left the Duke of Vicheravali alone, and the Duke would not have entrusted his only heir.

The fact that Royan grew up at his maternal family’s home was evidence that the relationship between the Duke and the Marquis wasn’t bad. If they had had a bad relationship, rumors would have spread.

“What I find strange is why the Duke didn’t attend the funeral that day.”

But if their relationship wasn’t bad, why didn’t he attend his wife’s funeral?

“What happened? Why does Royan think his mother died because of the Duke?”

What happened that kept him so busy he couldn’t correct Royan’s misunderstanding?

To Reibella’s questions, Henan answered with a small sigh.

“Do you know why the war with Postarimo broke out?”

“……Wasn’t it because Postarimo suffered from food shortages due to its harsh environment, and invaded the Rastel Empire which had abundant food?”

“That’s also correct, but precisely, it was because of the ‘Princess of Postarimo.'”

Why the Princess of Postarimo?

‘Wait. Wasn’t the princess’s mother from Postarimo?’

She was a woman the Emperor had met at the border. It was a one-night relationship, but when she heard that he had ascended to the throne, she came just before giving birth, claiming that the child in her womb was the Emperor’s.

But because the Emperor doubted and ignored her, she gave birth to the child alone in the cold palace and died.

The eyes of the child born that way had the exact same color as the Emperor’s.

‘I heard the war started around when I was born. Since the princess and I are the same age, the war broke out after the princess was born.’

The year the princess was born and the year the Emperor ascended to the throne were the same, and the war with Postarimo also occurred right after the Emperor’s ascension.

Then, was that war caused by the death of the princess’s mother?

‘He passed a war that happened because of him to the Duke of Vicheravali.’

The Duke of Vicheravali had to fight that war for 7 years…

“But what does that have to do with anything?”

It was a surprising story, but it seemed unrelated to the death of the Duchess of Vicheravali.

Then Henan continued.

“The Duke couldn’t attend the late His Highness Eric’s coronation. The reason was that someone he loved dearly was ill.”

“Was that loved one the Duchess?”

“Yes. She collapsed after being poisoned while having a meal with the young master. It was a very lethal poison.”

His Highness Eric referred to Eric Curtis Rastel. Now Calyx’s father, who had become Eric Benya Trishein.

He had passed away without wearing the imperial crown due to his younger brother’s treason during the coronation ceremony. The one who committed treason was, of course, Liam Curtis Rastel. The current Emperor.

Liam killed Eric on the spot and declared himself Emperor while placing the blood-stained crown on his own head.

But why that story…… No way.

Reibella looked at Henan with wide eyes. Henan nodded.

As if saying the Emperor was behind the assassination of the Duchess.

* * *

Even while returning after giving Henan information about useful accountants, Reibella was busy combining the shocking facts she heard today with what she already knew.

‘To think the Emperor was the culprit.’

Come to think of it, the only person who would do such a thing against Vicheravali was that madman.

‘The Duchess’s death was 7 years ago, and the Emperor’s treason to become Emperor was also 7 years ago.’

The reason the current Emperor, Liam Curtis Rastel, succeeded in his treason was that the army protecting the Crown Prince collapsed without a chance to act in the face of his and his knights’ overwhelming force.

Felicity also said that the then-duke, her grandfather, died at that place, and her father succeeded him as duke.

Thinking about it, it was strange.

The day the current Emperor, Liam Curtis Rastel, committed treason was 7 years ago, the day Calyx’s father, who was the Crown Prince at the time, was to ascend to the throne.

The capital was naturally crowded with nobles who had come to see the coronation, and envoys from other countries had also been sent, creating a massive crowd.

Of course, the security at the imperial palace would have been tight, with elite knights standing in their positions.

Especially during the coronation, the knights of the Empire’s two ducal families, Felicity and Vicheravali, would also have been guarding the Crown Prince at the imperial palace.

‘The Duke couldn’t attend the late His Highness Eric’s coronation. The reason was that someone he loved dearly was ill.’

‘It collapsed easily because the Duke of Vicheravali wasn’t there.’

The Duke of Vicheravali’s nickname was the ‘Undefeated Knight.’

If he had easily collapsed against the Emperor who staged a rebellion during the coronation, he wouldn’t have earned that nickname.

According to Henan, he wasn’t there that day. The reason was that the Duchess was fighting for her life, and the reason the Duchess was fighting for her life was…

‘The Emperor killed the Duchess to succeed in his treason.’

If someone you love is fighting for their life, you wouldn’t have the mind to focus on anything else.

From the Emperor’s perspective, killing one vulnerable person would have been simpler than plotting various other schemes.

Wow, what a piece of garbage.

Not content with killing Calyx’s parents, he had also taken Royan’s mother’s life.

‘Then what about Royan marrying the Princess in the novel?’

No, more than that.

‘So Royan killed his father because of the daughter of his enemy?’

My goodness. This is insane. Truly insane.

After understanding the whole story, she found the Emperor freshly abhorrent. He was just trash. He was such trash that calling him trash would be an insult to trash.

Surely in the novel, the Emperor knew all the facts and watched not only Royan killing his father but also marrying his daughter.

How could someone do this?

‘Even for a novel that focuses on the protagonist, this is too much.’

Is this something a human being should do?

At this point, even the role of ‘male protagonist’ began to feel like merely a tool to show the princess’s mercy and her ability to save everyone.

Royan, the male lead, was just another victim of this novel.

‘I understand the Duke’s feelings now.’

After knowing the whole situation, she could understand why the Duke of Vicheravali couldn’t say anything to his son.

Right after the incident, Royan was too young. He couldn’t have told him anything.

Now the child had grown enough to be told, but sadly, Royan regarded the enemy’s child as the salt and light of his life.

He must have been in a situation where he couldn’t say anything. If he told the truth, the child would be hurt again.

‘The reason for the Duke’s treason that appeared in the novel was also a lie.’

It was written that he started a rebellion out of boredom, but it was a rebellion to avenge his wife.

But by that point, Royan was already just one of the princess’s fanatical followers.

‘I can’t just stand by and watch.’

This needed to be corrected by all means. Not because of the magic stone mine, not because she needed money, but because it was a tragedy that shouldn’t exist from a human perspective.

In Reibella’s eyes, the Duke of Vicheravali was just a very clumsy father, and Royan was just an adolescent son who didn’t know his father’s true heart.

For these two people to point swords at each other without knowing each other’s hearts properly. If she ignored this and left it alone, she wouldn’t be able to sleep for the rest of her life.

‘But how do I make the two of them talk?’

Based on her observations over the past week, the only time Royan and the Duke of Vicheravali met was during Royan’s sword training.

And that was just once a week. Even then, perhaps because they were clashing blades, both exuded an ominous atmosphere.

Could she change them?

‘For now, yes. Let’s try to stop the fight at least.’

To have a conversation, the two would need to be in a state where they could accept each other.

Conveniently, tomorrow there was a duel between the Duke of Vicheravali and Royan.

Reibella clenched her fists and resolved.

To save a family on the brink of collapse from the Emperor’s grasp.