Chapter 96. Be Thoroughly Cold to Evil

“I’m glad I can be of help, Father-in-law.”

Aster replied seriously, as if he would accomplish it immediately. He had been eager to burn away the parasite residing in Camilla’s body.

Being able to set it on fire with determination was the best news. Duke Francis and Aster looked at Camilla.

She was deep in thought over Marco’s words. Marco was both a victim and a perpetrator. Letting him go after hearing about his heinous crimes was unthinkable.

Initially, he was a test subject, but later he became a leader in the experiments.

Camilla recalled the conversation she had with Aster.

‘After rescuing Marco, let’s create a fake Maved Stone to lure the Duke.’

Originally, she intended to save Marco. But after hearing about his atrocious acts, she had no intention of letting him live.

An evil person must die at the hands of another evil person for it to be clean. Camilla smiled gracefully and spoke.

“First, let’s extract the stone from Marco’s body. We can’t let the Duke have it.”

Marco’s face brightened at the mention of extracting the Maved Stone. But the following words turned his face pale again.

“Instead, let’s implant the fake stone from the Black Shadow’s emblem in its place. So the Duke unknowingly implants it into his own body.”

“!!”

Marco widened his eyes at Camilla’s ruthless words. Moments later, he resisted strongly.

“Are you betraying me now?”

“I only said I’d release you, but I never specified how or when.”

“What?”

“The Duke will likely try to crudely carve out your heart. At that moment, your restraints will be released.”

“This is different from what we discussed…! Aren’t you supposed to be Francis of justice? Why are you doing this?!”

Marco was furious at Francis’s betrayal. But it was only because he misunderstood Francis.

Camilla, with her arms crossed and head tilted, calmly replied.

“Well, Francis’s justice is to be thoroughly cold to evil. Considering your pitiful situation, I’ll extract the Maved Stone. It’s better to live with a fake than a ticking time bomb.”

“This is absurd…! Do you think I’ll just sit back and take this? I’ll tell the Duke right away…!”

“Ah, Aster, after the extraction, cut out his tongue. So he can’t say anything foolish to the Duke.”

“Understood.”

“Y-you demon…!”

Marco’s curses followed. But Camilla let them go in one ear and out the other.

The words of a worm were just noise. As Camilla left, Aster and Duke Francis stood before Marco.

“How dare you call my lovely daughter a demon.”

“I’ll cut out his tongue right away.”

“Make sure he doesn’t die. We don’t want to dirty our hands unnecessarily.”

“Burning him will also sterilize the area.”

“Ugh, ugh!”

Marco trembled at the chilling conversation happening before him. Moments later, his dry screams echoed in the prison.

* * *

“Isabelle disappeared?”

The next day, Duke Blanche, who had returned to the castle, asked with a bored expression. He didn’t seem to expect an answer. Aster nodded lightly, and the Duke spoke.

“She must have been buying time. Paris was released?”

“Yes. Lady Brilly seems to have changed her mind.”

“She doesn’t seem as tough as her sister. Well, it must have been hard to keep watching her nephew in prison.”

Duke Blanche no longer referred to Paris as his son. Instead, he subtly severed Paris’s connection to Blanche by referring to him as Alyssa Brilly’s nephew.

Aster clearly understood the implication. Now, it was just him and the Duke in Blanche.

If the Duke disappeared soon, Blanche would be his alone.

“You cut out Marco’s tongue.”

“He insulted Camilla in front of me. As if he had any sense, he dared to target the mistress of Blanche. He’s a man destined to die anyway, I cut out his tongue as an example.”

Aster spat out the excuse he prepared. It wasn’t entirely false. Marco had indeed called Camilla a demon.

Duke Blanche burst into laughter at Aster’s response.

“Hahaha! Well done. Those who covet Blanche’s possessions deserve to be punished. Now I see, you are truly a Blanche.”

“Thank you for the compliment.”

“Yes. The fate of those who can’t control their lower halves is always the same, isn’t it? Just like those who ran away.”

Duke Blanche’s eyes gleamed maliciously. The people he referred to were surely Paris and Isabelle.

“They don’t realize that no matter how far they run, they are still within the palm of Samuel Blanche.”

The Duke seemed ready to tear Isabelle apart the moment he saw her. After all, she had betrayed him and subjected him to the humiliation of being detained. The Duke asked,

“Have you not found her yet?”

“It seems there is someone backing her.”

They had already identified Isabelle’s location. They just hadn’t reported it before the Duke asked.

The Duke frowned at the mention of a backer.

“Indeed. It would be more foolish if she hadn’t formed any alliances while acting as the mistress of Blanche. Who do you think it is?”

The Duke asked without much interest, assuming it wouldn’t be anyone significant. However, his expression changed dramatically at Aster’s response.

“It is suspected to be the Marquis of Alive.”

“What? Alive? Ha! That yellow-faced toad.”

Duke Blanche was astonished at the mention of Alive. The Marquis of Alive was practically Blanche’s right-hand man.

Yet that family was protecting Isabelle Brilly, knowing what she had done to Blanche.

This was a challenge to Blanche.

The Duke, feeling a sharp sting at the back of his head, muttered with a fierce look in his eyes.

“I need to show them what a huge mistake it is to hide that woman.”

Aster inwardly rejoiced at the fire in the Duke’s eyes.

He had initially planned for Isabelle and Duke Blanche to tear each other apart. Isabelle seeking help from the Marquis of Alive was an unexpected boon.

‘She must have traded Blanche’s weaknesses with Alive.’

The Alive family had suffered the most financial and reputational damage during the Shepherd Gate incident. They must have harbored a grudge against Blanche.

Even if that weren’t the case, the Marquis of Alive was a greedy man. He wouldn’t pass up the chance to rise from being the right hand to the head.

Isabelle was skilled at understanding and manipulating others’ desires.

She must have touched on the Marquis of Alive’s ambition to rise to the top.

The Duke gave a brief order.

“Immediately revoke all business rights related to Alive, and tell anyone dealing with them to cut off all transactions!”

“Yes.”

“No, I should go to Alive right now!”

The Duke began to move with furious steps, ready to kill Isabelle. Aster blocked his path and tried to dissuade him.

“Calm down. We have more important matters to focus on right now, don’t we?”

It was problematic to end Isabelle now. She was already a woman who couldn’t avoid being excommunicated.

Moreover, Alyssa was preparing a lawsuit against Isabelle. If they won and revealed Isabelle’s patricide, she would be socially destroyed.

Thus, ending Isabelle was Alyssa’s responsibility. She couldn’t be handed over to the Duke.

The Duke, with bloodshot eyes, stared at Aster but then exhaled deeply.

“Indeed. Now is not the time to be distracted by such small fry.”

The Black Shadow would arrive soon. They needed to focus all their efforts on that, not waste time on such trivial matters. As the Duke regained his composure, Aster spoke.

“Yes. Revenge can wait until everything is settled.”

“Right. Whether I kill her now or later, the result is the same.”

The Duke smiled wickedly. He couldn’t stand the sight of Isabelle living and breathing, but that was only temporary. Soon, he would have the power and authority to wipe out both Alive and Isabelle if he wished.

For now, the most important thing was to successfully implant the fragment brought by Black Shadow and Marco’s fragment into his body. Once that was done, he would sweep away all those who had humiliated him.

The Duke asked, estimating the time.

“So, the Black Shadow arrives tomorrow?”

“Yes. We have also prepared a place for your recovery. The location is kept strictly confidential, so you need not worry.”

“Alright. I’ll trust you and go. My son, my Blanche.”

Duke Blanche patted Aster’s shoulder with satisfaction.

“Then I should prepare to safely extract the Maved Stone.”

Duke Blanche thought of Marco in the underground cell. It didn’t matter whether Marco died today or tomorrow. Extracting and cleaning the Maved Stone was more important.

“I will accompany you.”

“Alright, let’s go.”

Duke Blanche descended to the underground with light steps, like a child anticipating a gift. Little did he know that his treasure had already been taken far away.