Marked as the Tyrant's Daughter-in-Law - Chapter 28

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“I feel truly wronged, Father.”

“You foolish child!”

Despite expressing her grievances to her father, Duke Matzert, Lariel was met with a stern reprimand unlike any she had ever heard before.

Lariel, facing her father’s harsh scolding for the first time in her life, looked at him with resentful eyes, her face pale.

Duke Matzert placed his hand on his throbbing forehead and unleashed a fiery anger at Lariel.

“If His Majesty the Emperor had stripped me of my title for failing to educate you properly, I would have had no excuse. Do you know how severe the crime of insulting the imperial family is!”

Lariel’s eyes shook greatly at the mention that their title could have been revoked.

Since her birth, her father had been one of the wealthiest and noblest Dukes in the empire.

The idea that this position could have been jeopardized was inconceivable.

“B-but… I didn’t know he was His Majesty. I thought he was a servant…”

“When you first started frequenting the imperial palace, I warned you to be cautious even of mice and birds that might overhear.”

“…”

“See the result of taking my words lightly. Do you know how dishonorable it is for a Duke’s daughter to be barred from entering the imperial palace!”

Lariel’s small fists trembled.

Her father had indeed educated her thus.

But believing she would become the Crown Princess, Lariel hadn’t been careful around the palace servants or maids.

After all, they would eventually be her subordinates, so why bother?

She had intended to teach that arrogant servant a lesson, but it turned out to be His Majesty the Emperor… It felt like falling into a well-laid trap.

“I… I didn’t know it would turn out like this.”

Unable to bear the sight of her daughter’s pale face any longer, the Duchess raised her eyebrows and intervened, embracing Lariel.

“That’s enough, dear. Why blame our Lariel for this? It’s because of that presumptuous daughter of Marquis Mylar.”

Duke Matzert’s eyebrow twitched slightly at the mention of Marquis Mylar.

The Duchess, still holding Lariel, gritted her teeth.

“What’s so pretty about that uncouth girl? Lady Alens favors her, and His Majesty the Emperor even arranges an engagement… They’ve all gone mad. Anyone can see that our Lariel is far more qualified…”

“My dear!”

“Am I wrong? During the previous Emperor’s reign, our Matzert family was the most prestigious among the four minister families. But now, His Majesty treats Matzert as insignificant as a cow’s tail… It’s all because of Mylar!”

Duke Matzert looked at the Duchess with stern eyes.

“If only Arinel Mylar hadn’t made that cursed sherbet!”

But he couldn’t refute her words. He felt it was all true.

Over a decade ago, the Elementalist Marquis Mylar had been particularly close to the current Emperor Parmes Aslet, who was then one of the princes.

“I only follow the path led by the spirits. I do not participate in wrongdoings, Your Grace.”

He was a stubborn and irritating man who stuck to his principles even in the face of threats from the Second Prince or Matzert.

Anyway, during the days when rumors spread that Parmes had secluded himself in the countryside for recuperation, news of Marquis Mylar’s death was announced to the world.

The funeral was held modestly by the elementalists, but neither his wife nor anyone close to him attended.

Then rumors circulated that one of the three princes was involved in Marquis Mylar’s death.

It was said that the Fourth Prince Parmes Aslet would investigate the truth upon returning from his recuperation, but Parmes remained silent for over a decade.

Just as Marquis Mylar’s name seemed to be forgotten forever, suddenly Parmes Aslet, having amassed tremendous power, ascended to the throne, suppressing the three princes.

Officials who supported Parmes’ brothers were purged or fled to the countryside, while Matzert, with its solid foundation, maintained its ducal title in exchange for pledging loyalty to Parmes.

Despite the purge that lasted over a year, Parmes’ blade had never been directed at Matzert.

Today, Duke Matzert felt a true threat and had to bow before Parmes.

It felt like surrendering to the ghost of Marquis Mylar who had appeared alongside Arinel Mylar.

‘The three ministers are no different from the Emperor. They all support Mylar. I can’t understand their trust in such a weak man who couldn’t even protect his own life.’

Matzert’s brow furrowed as he recalled the three ministers eagerly signing for the recognition of Marquis Mylar’s merits and the granting of a first-class pension to his surviving daughter, Arinel.

“Sigh, how should I conduct myself?”

With a complex state of mind, the Duke turned and left with a frightening expression and stiff eyebrows.

Lariel trembled her small clenched fists at her father’s cold demeanor, so unlike his usual self who always granted her every wish.

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A crow was perched on the small window of the bas*ment prison.

Outside, the sunset was fading, and the lighting in the prison was growing darker than it had been during the day.

“Caw! Caw!”

From the torture chamber of the underground prison, the acrid smell of burning flesh and the screams of men could be heard.

It was a scene beyond terrible, it was horrific.

In front of the men being tortured, there was a large chair.

Originally, it was a chair meant for Duke Guermont, the Minister of Military Affairs, but this time, someone else was sitting in it.

His silver hair fluttered in the breeze coming through the open window.

The scene of the torture chamber was reflected in his red eyes, calm to the point of being chilling.

Gone was the man who had winked and smiled at Arinel, and in his place was a tyrant looking at the prisoners with a fierce and cruel gaze.

“Stop.”

As Parmes’ lips moved and a low voice flowed out, the soldiers stopped the torture.

The men, already in a mess from Duke Guermont’s iron whip, were now almost corpse-like.

“Cough, cough.”

One man spat out a blood-filled cough.

And he glared at Parmes with fiery eyes.

He was a subordinate of the purged Second Prince, who had been caught hiding at the ball, intending to finish off Parmes.

“You filthy traitor…! Monster! You devil!”

But Parmes’ eyebrows didn’t move even slightly.

“I should have killed you that day on that road! If it weren’t for that damned Mylar!”

The man’s neck was bulging with veins.

Even after his roar ended, silence didn’t fall.

This was because the Second Prince’s minions were groaning here and there.

The sight of them trembling in fear from mere torture didn’t quite satisfy Parmes.

Thinking of the child they had almost hurt, killing them hundreds of times wouldn’t be enough.

“…”

Parmes stood up from his seat and walked, step by step, towards the prisoner.

And he stood in front of the man who had roared and cursed at Parmes.

The man’s face was a mess, and even in his pain, he was furrowing his brows and glaring at Parmes to curse him, but he couldn’t hide his trembling hands.

Even his toes were visibly shaking from instinctive fear as Parmes approached.

Parmes looked at him with indifferent eyes and then stepped on his toes with his shoe.

“Ugh!”

The man groaned in pain with agonized eyes.

Parmes’ chilling voice flowed into his ears.

“I thought you looked familiar.”

And he grabbed the man’s throat, forcibly lifting it towards himself.

With his feet stepped on by Parmes and his neck grabbed, he started choking, but a cruel smile was on Parmes’ lips.

“I remember seeing you at the place where I lost my friend.”

At Parmes’ overwhelming aura, even the crows watching from the window fluttered away.

“Today’s interrogation won’t be boring.”

Even the soldiers watching Parmes involuntarily shuddered at that overwhelming aura.

“Cough, cough.”

The man, his neck grabbed by Parmes’ outstretched hand, was choking as if his last breath was coming, but Parmes’ expression remained calm and relaxed.

As if he were just holding a fly’s wing.

“Today, you…”

When Parmes released his hand, the man breathed roughly.

The man, meeting Parmes’ eyes, felt a fear that choked him again even though his neck was released.

“You will beg for the gift of death.”

The most ominous of Aslet’s four princes. And Parmes, who eventually usurped the throne. His burning eyes were filled with vivid madness and killing intent.