Chapter 31: Chapter 31

“wait, luna! didn’t you say let’s reconcile? it was a letter saying you’d reconcile! did you deceive me? is this how you betray me!?”

luna furiously pushed away his accusing hand. he must have grabbed it very hard because even when she shoved it away, she felt pain.

as luna pushed fersen away, baron and royer quickly stepped in front of him.

“young lord! what on earth are you doing?”

“guards! guards!”

startled by the sudden commotion, the guards surrounded fersen. polkan rushed over, shouting at the guards in anger.

“how dare you treat the young duke like this! can’t you let go of him?!”

it was complete chaos. meanwhile, fersen demanded the truth from luna, who, holding her painful wrist, opened her mouth in disbelief.

“betrayal? i simply submitted the facts you told me as evidence. what betrayal are you talking about? did i manipulate the letter? and when did i mention reconciliation?”

“i distinctly remember your letter talking about reconciliation!”

fersen couldn’t contain his anger at luna’s response, which sounded as if she was hearing about it for the first time.

“what are you talking about? i mentioned i might think positively about our relationship if the misunderstanding is cleared up, but i never said anything about reconciliation.”

“…what?”

“that’s just like you, isn’t it? saying things your way, interpreting them your way. and as per the letter, i did think positively, but i realized it just can’t be. that’s why i didn’t drop the charges.”

how does it feel now? getting a taste of your own medicine? luna smirked.

thankfully, it seemed fersen finally understood, his face turning pale.

the combination of the charge, the letter, and luna’s blunt words made him stagger as if he would collapse.

“how… how could you do this to me? was it antes? was he behind this!?”

just when it seemed he understood, fersen proved himself wrong once more. he blamed everything negative in his life on antes.

luna, who probably knew he wouldn’t understand no matter how many times it was explained, decided this was the end of their relationship. without any lingering regrets, she gave him one final blow.

“i’ve told you time and time again, whether it’s antes or anyone else, i just genuinely dislike you. even if only the two of us were left in this world, i’d rather die than be friends with you.”

“…”

“on second thought, i value my life too much, so i’d probably kill you first. why should i die because of you? so please disappear before the next trial unless you want to attend in spirit.”

having said her piece, luna took the arms of royer and baron and coldly left the courtroom.

although she threatened with a lawsuit, the real shock to fersen was luna’s statement about wanting to kill him. he was frozen in place, not even blinking.

“i thought lady peils was fond of young lord rorian? i heard she even tried to interfere with his relationship with young lady granada.”

“what exactly is going on here?”

“i think she tried something, and when it didn’t work out, she’s retaliating.”

“this seems a bit extreme… this time, it’s clearly young lord rorian’s fault.”

the spectators who hadn’t left the courtroom were murmuring amongst themselves. the situation was beyond embarrassing. staying any longer would just make them a spectacle.

polkan, seeing fersen in shock, quickly escorted him out of the court.

* * *

luna had betrayed him. luna, who was enchanted by antes, chose him over fersen.

after receiving luna’s letter, he had hoped their relationship might recover. but in the end, it was all a ploy, a lie. inside the carriage heading back to his mansion, fersen buried his face in his hands.

‘how could luna do this to me?’

he thought her constant rejections were just playful teasing, given luna’s straightforward personality.

and he had believed she was only seeking his attention, especially after he started dating seira, even to the point of breaking ties.

no, it must have been the case. he was sure. his senses had told him. he was certain of it.

but now, to hear otherwise was unbelievable. the realization that luna despised him was hard to digest.

and he resented her. luna, who had deceived and deluded him all this time. and antes, who proudly stole what was his.

upon reflection, antes was always the issue. he always tried to steal what fersen had.

even though fersen had been vigilantly guarding everything, now antes had stolen luna from him. that’s not to say he forgave luna for going along with it.

“…i won’t let this slide.”

fersen, wiping his tear-streaked face with the back of his hand, harbored a rage.

he wouldn’t forgive the two people who had dared to send him a deceitful letter, causing him to fall into the abyss.

returning to his mansion, fersen immediately ran to his room to find luna’s letter. it was the first letter he had ever received from her, and he had kept it safe in a place where no one could find it.

unable to contain his anger, he tore the letter to shreds and began throwing objects around.

meanwhile, hearing that fersen had returned, the duke, accompanied by his butler, came looking for him.

“my, my lord…!”

the servant outside his room, not knowing what to do, hurriedly bowed.

it was clear that fersen was in a frenzy, and a lightning strike of wrath was imminent. the servant closed his eyes tightly.

but contrary to expectations, the duke merely gazed at the ranting fersen, who was pouring out resentment.

he neither got angry nor rebuked him. the duke’s eyes were calm. he watched fersen, who was resenting luna and antes, until polkan appeared late.

“you lost the trial?”

“lord fersen wrote a confession letter, tricked by that peils girl. he didn’t even mention it… he even handed it to her openly in court. there was no stopping it…!”

polkan, expecting a burst of anger, replied tensely. the butler was also apprehensive.

but unexpectedly, the duke didn’t get angry. without even glancing at polkan, he spoke.

“submit a report. as detailed as possible. do not leave out a single detail.”

“…?”

“right now.”

caught off guard by the unexpected order, polkan hurriedly bowed and left the room. once he was gone, the duke spoke again.

“i said i’d kill her if we lost the trial, but it seems like she’s out of his sight, and i don’t particularly feel like it now.”

he even brought evidence. while it was ridiculous to lose the trial, parting ways with the annoying girl felt liberating.

his anger was clear, which would make it easier to mold a suitable successor. the lost honor could be redeemed, making it almost like gaining something greater.

“make sure he doesn’t fall for that girl again. use seira granada or someone else to ensure he doesn’t revert to his old ways. mold him into a worthy successor of the ducal house.”

“yes, i understand.”

of course, that didn’t mean he’d stand idly by.

“eliminate the one who caused the mess. quietly. they must pay the price.”

since getting rid of fersen was out of the question, a scapegoat was needed to bear the brunt of the duke’s anger.

“…yes.”

“and don’t forget to suppress the rumors. make sure i never hear of today’s incident again. once things quiet down, deal with that damned family as well.”

“yes.”

those were his final words. the duke gestured to the butler, signaling him to handle the tasks.

the butler hurriedly contemplated the tasks. with a mountain of responsibilities, he prioritized the most important ones.

first, find the trial spectators and silence them.

while those with loose lips might have already spread rumors, they couldn’t have gone far.

while it might be different if it spread across the continent, if only one or two people knew, there was room for damage control. besides, with the involvement of the ducal family, no one would openly blab.

second, assign someone strong-willed to fersen’s side to help him regain his composure.

this required some sacrifice and effort. therefore, seira granada, his lover, was the most suitable.

‘come to think of it, i haven’t been paying attention due to being busy, but seira hasn’t been visiting lately. did they perhaps have a fight?’

although fersen had been confined for a while, it was unlike seira not to contact him at all. she always proactively sought him out, always by his side.

‘lately, young master fersen has been distracted by another woman. maybe young lady seira felt hurt.’

first, he needed to contact her. no one could calm fersen’s heart like she could.

with tasks determined, the butler’s steps quickened. he had to ensure no further harm came to the ducal family’s reputation.

returning to his office, the butler searched for paper and a pen. the recipient was seira granada.