Chapter 220: Side Story 12

Early in the morning.

Dwayne was about to start his day’s work after completing all preparations.

That’s when he heard this conversation:

“The Grand Prince was smiling.”

“From drinking?”

“No, sober.”

“Then, was he killing someone?”

“No, nobody was killed.”

“He fed someone to the wolves?”

“Surprisingly, no.”

It was hard to believe.

He stopped and listened intently to the maids’ conversation.

“He was just smiling, just smiling.”

With a faint smile lingering at the corner of his mouth, as if letting out a deflated laugh.

This meant that the Grand Prince Valentine was ‘giggling.’

“It must be something good.”

It was strange.

Tristan usually had a sarcastic sneer when he smiled.

And the situations in which he sneered were mostly predictable.

When personally executing a spy, when threatening someone’s life, or when drunk and babbling nonsense…

‘So, even the Grand Prince can have moments of genuine joy.’

After all, despite his monstrous physique, he was human.

Naturally, he had emotions.

‘I’ve never seen such an expression before.’

Dwayne thought this as he hurried to the office.

He was too curious to see Tristan’s pleasant smile.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

And then…

“You’re early.”

Dwayne was met with Tristan, who looked more foul-tempered than ever.

‘They said he was giggling! Giggling!’

He wanted to sue the maids for fraud.

How was that a smiling face?

‘It looks like a face ready to crush anything that gets in its way!’

Trembling, Dwayne dutifully recited the day’s schedule.

Continuously glancing at Tristan as he worked.

‘Goodness, it’s true.’

For a moment, Tristan, deep in thought, faintly smiled.

But soon after, his face twisted angrily again.

His mood was unpredictable.

‘He may have many flaws, but he wasn’t fickle.’

His moods were straightforward.

Kill if someone did wrong, spare them if not.

Wasn’t Tristan a tyrant who only operated in extremes and black-and-white thinking?

“Do you have something to say? Your disloyal gaze is piercing.”

Feeling Tristan’s gaze, Dwayne quickly lowered his head, realizing he had been staring as if Tristan was mad.

“It’s a misunderstanding. Your loyal servant Dwayne was merely concerned about the Grand Prince.”

He was genuinely worried.

Worried that Tristan might go mad and end the Valentine lineage.

Worried that it might lead to the end of the world.

“You speak well for yourself.”

“No, who else could care for the Grand Prince as deeply as I do?”

Tristan stared at him, uttering sarcastic flattery, then said,

“Prove it.”

“Pardon?”

“Bring me a detailed list of knights who have served the Valois family from 18 years ago to now.”

Eighteen years? Such a specific, oddly disturbing number.

But soon Dwayne had an epiphany.

‘Right, the future Grand Princess is eighteen this year.’

He quickly understood why Tristan issued such an order.

“Should I focus on knights who had contact with the future Grand Princess?”

“No, there won’t be any obvious connections.”

“How can you be sure?”

“A lady oppressed by her family and a knight sworn to loyalty wouldn’t have shown their relationship openly.”

“…Pardon?”

Not showing their relationship openly?

‘Ah, so he means…’

Was he asking to investigate the past lovers of the future Grand Princess?

Dwayne finally caught on.

That explained Tristan’s wildly fluctuating mood.

‘He smiles thinking of the future Grand Princess, then rages remembering an unknown past lover?’

Such a human reaction! Has he truly come to like her in just a few days? I never thought I’d see something so astonishing.

“But why would you… if you like her…”

Dwayne trailed off.

Who would lock up someone they like in a mountain range teeming with monsters, where a misstep could mean death? Only our Grand Prince would.

‘If he were my brother, I’d knock some sense into him…’

But that would mean a one-way ticket to the afterlife.

He couldn’t hide his conflicted feelings and cleared his throat to speak.

“Frankly, I don’t see why you’re concerned about that knight. It’s a relationship that has already ended. Now that she’s here in Valentine, she will soon marry you…”

Honestly, it seemed pathetic.

Now seeking out someone unrelated.

But Dwayne wasn’t foolish enough to voice these thoughts.

“Usually, people don’t plan a love’s escape from a relationship that’s ended.”

He gasped.

He hadn’t anticipated such a deep connection.

“The Lady of Valois failed to escape, so she’s here. The knight escaped long ago, boarding a trade ship in Naphta.”

Tristan recalled the worn and tattered note.

If it was always with her, it would have worn out even faster…

“…It’s probably been 2 to 3 years. Someone named Garnet in Naphta might know his whereabouts. Find him.”

As you command.

Dwayne nodded, but a sinister premonition made him look up.

“And what will you do… when you find him?”

It couldn’t be just to check his whereabouts.

Surely, he was going to secretly find and kill the knight!

Dwayne looked at Tristan as if he was the scum of the earth.

“You need to hide your gaze better.”

“Was I that transparent?”

Tristan scoffed and flicked his finger.

He spoke to his advisor, who approached tremblingly and then, after getting flicked, sprawled out on the floor.

“I’m not looking for him just because he’s the Lady’s past lover.”

“Really?”

Dwayne asked skeptically.

It seemed like he’d seize and kill the man on sight.

“He’s the pillar that held her spirit together, the driving force that kept her alive.”

“Are you saying that person meant so much?”

If that’s the case, you’ll never win her over.

What use is it? Even if you kill him, he’ll live on in her heart. Dwayne cautiously asked.

“Have you considered that acting on this thought might make the Grand Princess hate you?”

“Hate? What’s that.”

“What? ‘What’s that’? Don’t you want to win her heart?”

Tristan looked at him as if he was talking nonsense.

“I’ll shatter her heart.”

“Pardon?”

“If I destroy and erase the person who ignited her will to live right before her eyes, she’ll break, right?”

“…”

“And then she’ll fall into my hands.”

Good heavens…

Dwayne silently brushed his hand over his face.

What’s the point of crushing the spirit of someone you like and forcing them into possession?

‘Like plucking a flower to adorn?’

All that would remain would be to watch her wither away day by day.

‘Don’t you want a happy family, Grand Prince?’

He wanted to ask.

Even though it meant an early end to life.

‘At least for the time left…’

Wouldn’t it be better to have more days filled with senseless laughter, like today?

Dwayne wondered if Tristan wouldn’t want to hold a child born not for the grand purpose of saving humanity, but as the fruit of love.

Wouldn’t he want to teach his child about love?

But he never voiced these thoughts.

Sharp-witted Dwayne knew.

Such words would never reach Tristan.

“Stop talking nonsense and get it done.”

“…Yes.”

He hoped Tristan would realize the situation before it became irreversible.

Dwayne left, hiding his troubled feelings.

***

Sabina had made a bet with the devil.

A bet with her life at stake.

Since her life was on the line, she had no choice but to win.

Unfortunately, the wedding preparations proceeded steadily as planned.

‘Damn it.’

Sabina swallowed a curse, ripping off the diamond necklace that was choking her.

‘At this rate, I’m really going to end up married.’

People came and went in the morning.

A woman who ran the finest tailor shop in the capital had come rushing over.

Unwittingly, Sabina ended up fitting a wedding dress worth a mansion.

It wasn’t her choice.

“The Grand Prince insisted on the highest quality. The fabric is the same as those presented to the royal family.”

Sabina wondered why she had to participate in this charade.

But the bet’s term was ‘while the two prepare for the wedding.’

That meant she had to cooperate with the preparations.

“Oh, don’t you like that necklace?”

The gentle voice of her attendant, Dana, startled her.

Sabina turned to see Dana, seemingly worried about upsetting her future mistress.

“Your skin is as white as snow, and diamonds suit you best…”

Dana trailed off, offering another necklace, “Or how about this ruby, like your eyes? It’s delicately crafted, according to the latest trend.”

“That…”

No, she had to be firm here. Raise her voice, make a scene.

The spacious room, lavish decor, furniture, expensive dresses, and jewels.

All of these were the price of her life.

If she accepted everything quietly, she’d just smoothly become a sacrifice.

But…

“No, it’s pretty. It’s just heavy, that’s all.”

Hurting kind and gentle people was harder than facing death.

Sabina ended up quietly putting the diamond back on.

‘Harassing innocent people is something my father or brother, scoundrels, would do.’

There was someone else she needed to confront.

The Grand Prince Valentine, who promised an opulent and peaceful death if she submitted and bowed to him.

A scoundrel who saw his bride only as a tool or toy.

“But… is it normal to give such a large room?”

She was staying at the top floor of the main palace.

Valentine Castle was enormously larger than the Valois family’s, but her room was even more massive.

When Sabina asked, perplexed, Dana sighed shortly and answered.

“It was the room of the late lady, the Grand Duke’s wife, who passed away a year ago.”

◊