In The Basement Of Duke Ivanstein's Mansion - Chapter 10

“My lord, do you remember the situation before you fell asleep?”

“What?”

At Bane’s question, a crack appeared between Genoa’s fine brows. Before I fell asleep? Are you saying I actually slept?

Genoa blinked his eyes slowly for a moment, then suddenly sat up. He was lying in bed right now. He only realized this fact now. But that couldn’t be. Genoa Ivanstein, he was a severe insomniac.

“Before I fell asleep, are you saying I actually slept?”

“Yes.”

As Bane nodded, Genoa got up from the bed completely.

Duke Ivanstein’s severe insomnia was well-known. Even the most renowned doctors and priests shook their heads and threw up their hands in the face of his insomnia. The only sleep time he took was closing his eyes for 10 or 20 minutes at his desk once every half day. Even this sleep was merely squeezed out as if fainting in an extremely pushed situation.

The only time such a Genoa could get a long, sound sleep was in the middle of a battlefield. Only when his whole body was soaked in the blood of the enemy could Genoa sleep deeply.

The current situation was not normal. Bane brought the doctor and priest, who had been made to kneel since earlier, before Genoa. They were trembling with their heads bowed to the floor, their faces full of fear.

“Did I,”

As Genoa’s lips parted, they shuddered as if cut by a knife. Unable to breathe due to unbearable fear, the backs of their necks were turning white.

“really sleep?”

“……Huh, heuh.”

Unable to even answer the question, they gasped for breath, and Bane kicked each of them once.

“Yes, yes, it’s true. It’s really true, please believe us. We swear in the name of God!”

“There were no other abnormalities in any of the body’s reactions! Please spare our lives……”

With a choked sound, as if vomiting something that had been blocked, they hurriedly answered. Their voices, trembling so much that even their pronunciation was slurred, were not trustworthy.

But their desperate will to live was palpable. They probably hadn’t lied.

“For now, it might be best to meet with the court physician and the archbishop at the ducal residence once.”

Bane recommended meeting the two people, unable to erase his concern, but Genoa silently shook his head. Then he indifferently passed by the doctor and priest who were still bowing their heads to the floor in front of him. Naturally, Bane followed behind.

“Where is the princess now?”

“She’s locked in the warehouse.”

“Has she been interrogated?”

“Not yet.”

While answering Genoa’s questions, Bane turned back and nodded to the remaining Ivanstein knights. As the knights nodded slightly and drew their swords with a swish, Bane closed the bedroom door.

“This is Harttenberun, I suppose?”

“Yes.”

Harttenberun. It was a small free trade city located at the midpoint between the Kingdom of Reibritton and the Raon Empire.

The current mayor of Harttenberun, Vereon, was the illegitimate child of the previous Baron of Harttenberun, and had been promised the baronial title and inheritance by Genoa’s hand. Prepared for any contingency, Harttenberun was no different from another Ivanstein duchy.

Here, Duke Ivanstein was the emperor and his word was law. Even if the princess were to die suddenly from illness here, the emperor would not be able to say anything. There was nothing the old emperor could find out in Harttenberun.

“So I was asleep for about a day.”

“That’s correct.”

Calculating the time from Reibritton’s royal palace to Harttenberun, it seemed he had fallen asleep not long after being left alone with the princess in the carriage. However, no matter how many days Genoa Ivanstein had gone without sleep due to his severe insomnia, he was not the type to fall asleep defenseless in front of the princess of a kingdom he had destroyed with his own hands.

Genoa’s steps, which had been walking down the familiar corridor, came to a halt.

“You must have searched the princess yourself. Did you really not find anything suspicious?”

“……Yes.”

Bane bowed his head without any particular excuse. Genoa’s cold gaze slowly wandered over Bane’s head. Then, thud, Genoa placed his large hand on top of Bane’s head. As the surprised Bane tried to lift his head, Genoa prevented it by applying pressure with his hand and said,

“The princess and that child did look quite alike.”

Genoa moved on without adding any other words.

“……”

Bane watched his back for a moment, then bit his lip and followed.

* * *

In the old warehouse, only the regular dripping sound of water leaking could be heard. She could no longer feel the presence of the knights who had roughly thrown her in here. Mel had been locked up for a full day without even drinking water. All this without knowing why it had come to this.

“The princess has done something to our lord. Tie her up and drag her away immediately!”

The knight who opened the carriage door saying it was mealtime dropped the tray in his hand and mercilessly dragged her out of the carriage. A hood was thrown over her head, and the ropes binding her hands and feet were replaced with chains. Mel could now realize that her treatment until then had been quite good.

Even the attitude of the Ivanstein ducal family’s people, who had been relatively polite until now, changed sharply. They seemed ready to end her life immediately if anything happened to the Duke.

But what Mel was worried about was neither the knight who came in every hour to spread killing intent, nor her body gradually weakening from not even being able to drink water.

‘What on earth is going on?’

Even when she asked the ducal family’s people what was happening, they gagged her mouth and didn’t give her any information.

Although Mel was a fake wearing the shell of the princess, on the surface, she was the princess that the empire’s emperor wanted. For the princess to be locked up like this meant that something must have happened to Duke Ivanstein’s well-being.

Genoa had been sleeping with his eyes closed in an uncomfortable position, but could it be that he wasn’t sleeping but was sick at that time? Or did he have an unknown illness, or perhaps was he injured when attacking Reibritton?

All sorts of imaginations rose and fell in her mind.

“……is here……”

At that moment, she heard the sound of footsteps and the presence of people from far away. Mel raised her head abruptly, even though her eyes were covered and she couldn’t see anything. It was faint, but she could clearly understand. It was Genoa’s voice.

With a clank-clank, the sound of unlocking the lock was heard several times, and then with a creak, the door opened wide. Mel could feel the sunlight pouring down on her.

“……What an unsightly appearance, Princess.”

With her eyes covered and a gag in her mouth, it certainly wasn’t a pleasant sight. But Mel didn’t feel ashamed at all for showing such an appearance. She was just relieved that Genoa’s voice sounded healthy, that it wasn’t the voice of an injured person.

“Remove the blindfold and gag.”

At Genoa’s command, the things that had been tormenting Mel all day were immediately removed. Although the blindfold and gag were taken off, Mel couldn’t bring herself to raise her head. If she showed her face covered in saliva and tears, it might upset Genoa. He had quite a gentle side, after all. She thought that even if she was the princess of an enemy country, seeing her in this state would not make him feel good.

But……

“Now you look a bit more presentable.”

Genoa, who lifted Mel’s chin with his toe as if handling something dirty……

“As expected, this expression suits that face.”

She had momentarily forgotten that he was no longer the boy she knew. He was Duke Ivanstein.

“……”

Mel bit her lip hard and let all the remaining tears that had pooled in her eyes flow out. She found it ridiculous that she had unknowingly expected the old Genoa. How could she, a slave who had betrayed him, hope for any kindness?

Moreover, she was now a fake princess wearing the shell of Amelia Reibritton. She was in no position to expect anything from Duke Ivanstein.

“……”

As Mel let go of her vain expectations, her wavering gaze settled calmly. At this, a strange light flickered in Genoa’s eyes.

“I’ll hear the princess’s thoughts first.”

Genoa bent his knee to sit down and met Mel’s gaze. His unbound long silver hair fell smoothly, almost touching the ground. Mel’s fingers twitched. The floor was dirty with the saliva and tears she had shed. She was worried that his beautiful silver hair might touch the filth.

“Do you know why you’ve been locked up here?”

Mel’s lips moved as if to say something, but then she firmly closed them. Genoa disliked hearing her voice. When she silently shook her head, a sweet smile formed on Genoa’s lips. It was the smile of Duke Ivanstein that could take one’s life if they lost focus, but even so, Mel couldn’t help but be captivated.

“I didn’t expect the princess to be so obedient. Or have you perhaps studied His Majesty’s preferences in advance?”

Despite the blatant insult, Mel didn’t actually feel any shame. What did the honor of a fake princess matter? Her life had been abandoned anyway, so it didn’t matter how it was used. So there was no need to be afraid.

Being hardened by her life as a slave meant becoming indifferent in the face of any ordeal. Slaves didn’t imagine a bright and hopeful future. They accepted a future of wallowing in misery as their fate.

“How boring.”

Genoa seemed to have noticed something in Mel’s reaction. A terrible boredom flashed across his eyes.

“Tell me, how did I look when you last saw me?”

Mel took a deep breath and steeled herself. Depending on how she answered here, Genoa’s large hand might or might not strangle her neck.