Chapter 86. With Hypocrisy Comes Hypocrisy

“Then?”

“First, Isabelle Brilly, who deceived you and pretended to be the mistress of the family, should be exiled.”

“Exiling her is easy. I have half a mind to deal with her in my own way!”

Normally, he could have branded Isabelle a witch and had her executed. However, public opinion was turning against them. People saw it as villains fighting villains and didn’t care.

If it weren’t for the continuous misfortunes of Blanche, he wouldn’t have had to exert any effort on that matter.

Aster carefully observed the Duke of Blanche and continued.

“So, just an excommunication won’t satisfy you?”

“Exactly! After the humiliation I suffered, you expect me to just divorce her quietly? Absolutely not!”

It seemed that imprisoning her in the underground dungeon and cutting off her sight and hearing was all because of this. Aster’s eyes narrowed at the Duke’s intense reaction.

“Are you planning to sway public opinion?”

“Yes. It was troublesome since Isabelle kept her mouth shut, but now that we have this, it’s perfect.”

The Duke of Blanche said, clutching the pregnancy test kit. He had tried numerous times to coerce a confession from Isabelle.

But she was a woman who always found a way to save herself. She acted as if she knew the public opinion, exercising her right to remain silent while pretending to be a victim, which is making things difficult.

“With Lady Brilly providing evidence, there’s nothing we can’t do. This should garner sympathy.”

Aster inwardly scoffed. He had seen through the Duke’s intentions from the beginning. There was no way he would have told him to visit Alyssa without a reason.

He figured the Duke wanted something, and the Duke didn’t realize he was being used in return. Aster spoke up.

“There’s no need to sway public opinion.”

“No need?”

The Duke of Blanche looked at him with a face asking what he was up to. Aster calmly replied.

“Hold a public divorce trial.”

“Are you telling me to expose my disgrace to the world? That’s impossible!”

As the Duke fumed, Aster held him back and explained.

“To change public opinion, a formal punishment must be issued. People only believe in the judgment of the law, no matter how guilty the person is.”

“How troublesome.”

“It’s a trial in our favor. We have evidence, and Lady Brilly is willing to testify as an apology to you.”

The Duke’s eyes widened at the mention of Alyssa Brilly testifying.

“Hah! After humiliating me like that, now she’s afraid of retaliation and hiding in Letia Castle, mocking me.”

The Duke couldn’t hide his anger and slammed the armrest. Aster spoke.

“Lady Brilly didn’t expect things to go this far either. She originally intended to hand over the evidence to you quietly and leave, but Paris messed it up.”

As Aster subtly shifted the blame to Paris, the Duke growled with fierce eyes. No one was easier to manipulate than an enraged person. The Duke began to direct his anger towards Paris as Aster intended.

“Yes. That brat Paris caused all this trouble…!”

The Duke, his blood pressure rising, couldn’t continue and grabbed his neck.

“Ugh.”

Aster stepped in as the Duke grimaced in pain.

“It seems you’ve been under a lot of stress from recent events.”

“How could I not be? What am I supposed to do with these wretches!”

The Duke of Blanche was clearly furious at being betrayed by the mother and son he had ignored. He looked ready to tear them apart. Aster seized the moment.

“Please don’t worry about this matter anymore. I’m concerned for your health.”

“Haa.”

“Leave it to me, and I’ll resolve it swiftly.”

The Duke spoke gratefully at Aster’s reassuring words.

“Yes. It’s really fortunate to have you. …I have many regrets concerning your mother.”

Though Aster felt a burning rage inside at the mention of his mother, he managed his expression. The Duke’s cruelty in casually mentioning the woman he had ruined made Aster’s blood boil.

The Duke continued with his hypocritical pretense.

“She wasn’t someone who should have left like that. She should have been the Duchess. She was the only one who bore me a son.”

“……”

“I was deceived by that witch and ruined everything.”

It seemed the Duke had decided to cast out Isabelle, considering how he spoke highly of Aster’s mother. Though his false sorrow was disgusting, Aster endured it, thinking of Camilla.

“…That’s not true.”

Aster barely managed to respond, siding with the Duke. Given that he had overlooked Isabelle’s numerous misdeeds, he was complicit in his mother’s death.

Though he wanted to confront him, earning the Duke’s trust was crucial now. To do so, he needed to uproot the Black Shadow, the Duke’s confidant. Aster broached the main topic.

“I heard the Almand Merchant Group was raided.”

“The more businesses you have, the harder they are to manage. Who would have thought a merchant group operating under Blanche’s name would distribute illegal drugs?”

As expected, the Duke feigned ignorance. It was just after the Shepherd Gate incident. If it were revealed that he had also led the distribution of illegal drugs, it would be like reigniting an extinguished fire, so he had to be cautious.

Aster ignored his shamelessness and defended him.

“I also believed it had nothing to do with you, Father. It might even be a setup.”

“Yes. A setup. Absolutely.”

“But the public will think it’s Blanche’s doing.”

“With these disgraceful events happening consecutively, I’m worried. The Imperial family must be suspicious of me.”

“To avoid suspicion, we need to find the fugitive mastermind first. He might use you as an excuse to escape.”

“We seem to be thinking alike today. I was also planning to track down the owner of that merchant group.”

“Leave it to me.”

“Good. If you find any trace of him, bring him to me immediately. The Imperial family will use him against us if they capture him first. They’re always looking to undermine Blanche.”

The Imperial family leading the imperial faction was ultimately the Ahivith Imperial family. If it weren’t for their bloodline, which nullified supernatural abilities, the Duke of Blanche might have rebelled long ago.

He had always resented that someone less intelligent than him had ascended the throne. Yet they were quick-witted enough to thwart him at every turn.

The way they forced Francis, one of the imperial faction who were trying to deeply intervene, to integrate with his family was especially infuriating. It was fortunate that Camilla was deeply infatuated with Aster. Otherwise, it would have been like having a spy in the house.

Then Aster spoke.

“Wouldn’t it be better to use the Black Shadow to find him faster than the Imperial Knights?”

“The Black Shadow can’t. They’re all away on personal business.”

“Personal business…”

When Aster showed interest, the Duke of Blanche spoke with a sinister look.

“Yes, since you’re part of Blanche, I can’t leave you out.”

It had been over twenty years since he secretly created the Maved Stone to oppose the Imperial family and strengthen Blanche.

Just when they were seeing results, an unfortunate incident with the Duchess of Francis almost ruined everything. Thankfully, Isabelle’s foolish actions allowed them to continue the experiments.

Once they had it, they could achieve immortality and freely use supernatural abilities in front of the Imperial family. But with Marco being wanted, it was a big problem during the final stages of the experiment.

Of course, the experiments didn’t stop just because he was absent. The Black Shadow was still producing it. But Marco was indispensable to the project. They had to find him before the Imperial family did.

“If this matter is resolved well, I’ll let you in on it.”

The Duke’s words weren’t out of genuine trust in his son. For the Duke of Blanche, nothing was more important than the family. He only took care of Aster because he was necessary to maintain the family. He didn’t particularly cherish him.

He was merely using him. The Duke knew Aster had been craving his approval since childhood.

The fact that he had grown so much without receiving love from his mother was pleasing to the Duke.

Once the project was completed, he wouldn’t need an heir. He would live forever. Aster was just someone to acknowledge and use.

The Duke hid these thoughts and firmly grasped Aster’s shoulder.

“Now, it’s just you and me in Blanche. We need to unite more than ever.”