Chapter 3 (Part 10)

Yuliana stood up, opened the curtains, and looked outside. She saw her private training ground and, in one corner, wizards busily installing the teleportation space.

“Is it normal for teleportation installation to be done so quickly?”

Yuliana tilted her head in curiosity and stretched.

With a knock, Luda entered the room.

“You’re awake?”

“Yes. I slept late since I can’t train my mana today.”

“You need to wash up. I’ll prepare the water.”

“No, I’ll summon Undine to wash me.”

“Here are the letters for you, Lady.”

Luda placed the letters on Yuliana’s desk.

“How many are there? It’s much more than usual.”

“It seems everyone is curious about the rumor of you dating Duke Rockbellion and is inviting you to tea parties. There are also some crazy young lords sending love letters, so just read and burn them.”

Luda handed Yuliana a letter opener and asked.

“What should I do with the gifts that came with the love letters?”

“Return them to the sender.”

“Understood, Lady.”

With another knock, Louis entered the room.

“My pretty Lia. Busy from the morning.”

“Brother Louis, welcome. What brings you here so early?”

“I have something to ask.”

“Go ahead.”

“I heard something from some young lords yesterday. Although one shouldn’t believe rumors, it’s best to ask the person involved. The rumor about you and Duke Rockbellion being lovers.”

Yuliana blinked for a moment before understanding what Louis was asking.

“We are not lovers yet.”

“Not yet? So, there’s a possibility of you becoming lovers with Duke Rockbellion? Lia, you must be joking.”

Louis frowned deeply at the thought that his beloved sister might become lovers with Duke Rockbellion.

“Lia, do you know what kind of person Duke Rockbellion is?”

“He is kind and considerate.”

“That’s only in front of you! It’s a pretense.”

After taking a deep breath, Louis calmly shared his experiences and what he had heard from close young lords with Yuliana.

“He torments people intelligently. Young Lord Gracian also suffered from his torment. And he earned the nickname ‘cold-blooded war-crazed devil’ because he kills people without blinking an eye. Not only that, he’s known for his harsh remarks to young ladies and often contradicts His Majesty the Emperor! What I’m telling you is just a small part of it.”

Yuliana quietly listened to Louis’s rapid-fire speech.

“And Duke Rockbellion is strict with his servants too…”

Louis’s voice trailed off as he noticed Yuliana’s expression was not good. He saw her eyebrows slightly knit together.

“Brother, have you finished badmouthing the Duke?”

“It’s not badmouthing; it’s the truth.”

“May I tell you about my experiences with the Duke?”

“Uh…”

“The knights who went on the investigation team with us deeply respect and follow the Duke. And harsh remarks to young ladies? He is endlessly kind to me. You don’t know how politely he treated Selenia, who was with me.”

Louis felt his neck stiffen with tension. He felt suffocated and his vision darkened. His sister seemed to be thoroughly enchanted by the Duke.

“Has the Duke ever been mean to you, Brother?”

“No, but people around me don’t view him positively. The rumors aren’t good.”

“As the future head of the Loengrin family, you shouldn’t be swayed by what others say.”

“The Duke has a lot of dark intentions towards you! That’s why he’s acting kind and gentle. His true nature is that of a demon. Don’t be fooled, Lia.”

Louis started to badmouth Anthus more seriously, hoping Yuliana would lose some affection for him. Luda, watching this, sighed deeply.

“You don’t know, but Duke Rockbellion pretended to be drunk when he came to the Earl’s residence last time!”

Louis explained in detail to his sister how cold and harsh Anthus was, how he poorly acted drunk when he visited the mansion, and how bad his personality was.

Louis stopped talking when Yuliana’s expression turned icy.

“Lia…?”

“Brother, Duke Anthus is truly a good person. You deeply misunderstand him. Despite how difficult it must be to drink with Father, he kindly became his drinking companion.”

“That’s all an act to seduce you! He drank to stay overnight at the mansion and see you in the morning with dark intentions. And it was the Duke who suggested drinking to Father first!”

Yuliana’s voice, defending Anthus, began to quiver with emotion.

“It would be better if you just said you dislike the Duke, Brother. Instead of badmouthing him behind his back!”

“No, it was clearly an act! Lia, you should have been there. He was so sly…”

Tears quickly filled Yuliana’s large golden eyes.

“Um… Lia…”

A tear rolled down Yuliana’s cheek from her big golden eyes. Louis stopped talking and was flustered by his sister’s crying face.

“Brother, I’m disappointed that you would badmouth someone like this. Please leave my room immediately.”

For the first time, Louis was ordered to leave by Yuliana. Feeling despondent, he sat down on the sofa in a daze.

“Lia… I mean…”

“I said leave, Brother Louis Loengrin!”

Seeing Yuliana genuinely angry, Louis fled the room like a foal with its tail on fire. He slumped down in front of the closed door.

“Lia got mad at me…”

Louis’s eyes burned with anger. He blamed Anthus for being the cause of his expulsion and clenched his fists tightly.

“Young Master.”

“Leijin.”

“What are you doing in front of the Lady’s room, clenching your fists?”

“Nothing. Nothing at all! Haha.”

If Butler Leijin noticed that he had fought with Yuliana, it would quickly reach Matthias’s ears. And Matthias would undoubtedly scold him for fighting with his sister.

“So, what did you come to tell Lia?”

“Yes. Duke Rockbellion has arrived, so I came to inform her.”

“Really? You’ve seated him in the reception room?”

“Yes, he’s in the Four-Leaf Clover reception room.”

“Since Lia will take time to get ready, I suppose I have time to have tea with the Duke.”

“Yes, I’ll bring the tea.”

Suppressing his rising irritation, Louis headed to the reception room.

Since childhood, Yuliana had spent a lot of time in war, far from the life of a noble young lady. Watching her suffer pained their family, but his kind sister always said she was fine with a smile.

She even endured a forced engagement, saying Young Lord Beonar was a good person. However, Beonar used the money Yuliana earned from her expeditions to woo other women and cheated on her.

Father and Louis secretly demanded an annulment from Marquis Fedeurus, but he firmly refused, saying having a mistress was common among nobles and not grounds for annulment. It was possible for a marquis family to demand an annulment from an earl family, but it was difficult for an earl family to demand it from a marquis family without a special reason.

They had no choice but to keep Beonar’s infidelity from Yuliana. Louis couldn’t bring himself to tell her that her fiancé was trash when she was trying to see the good in him and smile. Louis  knew better than anyone that she was sincerely praising and smiling at them.

Louis never had a peaceful night’s sleep. Every day was filled with anxious, heart-wrenching worry.

Then one day, the Fedeurus family demanded an annulment. For the first time, Louis prayed with gratitude to the God he had resented for taking their mother.

Louis wanted Yuliana, who had only sacrificed herself, to live without getting hurt anymore and to be showered with love. But Duke Rockbellion is a rude man who insults women. He may be acting courteously now because he likes Yuliana, but his true nature could emerge at any time, so he had to be cautious.

“Young Lord Louis, it’s been a while.”

“…Yes.”

Anthus greeted Louis warmly as he opened the door and entered.

“My sister needs some time to get ready, so why don’t we have some tea while we wait? I asked Leijin to bring some light refreshments and tea.”

“Sounds good, Young Lord Louis.”

Louis crunched the ice in his lemonade brought by Leijin.

“Why do you always look at me so intently, Duke?”

“It’s because your face… resembles Yuli’s a bit, so I tend to look at you.”

“So you approached me every time just to see my sister’s traces in me.”

“I heard you are soon to be married to Lady Selenia.”

Anthus smiled as he changed the topic.

“Yes.”

“Where will the wedding be held?”

“It hasn’t been decided yet.”

“Have you proposed?”

“You seem very interested in my marriage, Duke.”

“Of course. I am also planning to get married soon.”

At those words, Louis’s face crumpled like a piece of paper.

A brief silence fell in the reception room. Like a predator and a deer in a staring contest, their eyes locked in a persistent gaze. Louis, recalling being expelled from Yuliana’s room earlier, looked at Anthus with increasingly fierce eyes.

“Duke, I understand you don’t have a fiancée yet… When did you meet the woman you intend to marry?”

“Are you asking me who the only woman I care about is, even though you already know?”

Placing his teacup down, Anthus crossed his legs, intertwined his fingers on his knee, and smiled at Louis.

Louis raised an eyebrow at Anthus’s blatant question, glaring at him timidly. If he could shoot fire from his eyes, he would have done so at Anthus right then.

“Are you against Lady Yuliana Loengrin and me, Young Lord Louis?”

“I see no reason not to oppose it.”

Louis couldn’t let his sister go to such a sly man like Anthus.

“As long as she looks only at me, I ask for nothing else.”

Anthus’s tone and voice were soft and sweet, like chocolate that could melt the listener’s ears.

“As someone who loves Lady Selenia, I believe you can understand my feelings. I am sincere.”

Louis swallowed dryly at Anthus’s words. He hadn’t imagined that the cold Anthus could speak with such poignant sincerity.

“I will not hurt her.”

Louis sighed involuntarily at Anthus’s words, which conveyed a firm determination to achieve love no matter the fate.

“If not for Emperor Rezeph, Yuli and I would have been engaged 9 years ago and married right after her coming-of-age ceremony. Now, after 9 years, I am returning to my rightful place, Young Lord Louis.”

Louis sensed something unusual in Anthus’s words.

“You wouldn’t know how hard I’ve tried for 9 years and how much I wished for her to break off her engagement.”

For 9 years, Anthus had begged for a breakup, but Hoden had coldly refused, saying it was impossible.

“It was really difficult to break off the engagement in those 9 years.”

“From what you say, it sounds like you had a hand in breaking Lia’s engagement.”

“Of course. If I hadn’t intervened, she might have been preparing to marry the philanderer Young Lord Beonar. Is that what you wanted, Young Lord Louis?”

“I didn’t want that. I was happy when my sister’s engagement was broken.”

“Yuli is the daughter of a Saint and has an affinity with spirits. Do you know what that means?”

“I don’t.”

“It means many people covet her. One of them was Emperor Rezeph. You may not know why Emperor Rezeph forced her engagement to Young Lord Beonar, but I know very well. Many more scoundrels will come after her. I sincerely love Lady Yuliana Loengrin and intend to protect her with the name of Rockbellion.”

Louis thought again. Anthus was an opponent he could never defeat with words.