Chapter 277
The Antares Duchy was an illustrious family established in the capital, but like any other noble house, its true assets came from its estates.
However, when minor skirmishes began to break out even on Antares territory, they had to pay the price for having focused solely on the capital for so long.
The rebels used the assets seized from House Antares to bolster their forces.
Yet House Antares was preoccupied with hiding their humiliating blunders from everyone else.
The internal situation was so dire that they could not even proceed with the marriage of their precious daughter, Atria.
However, at the time, Izar had no energy to spare worrying about House Antares.
When he made a face as if he wanted to bite his own tongue while drinking, Charles asked anxiously,
“Milord, are you all right? Should I call for a physician?”
“…Mmm.”
He could taste blood in the drink he had just been sipping.
“No, it’s fine. I was just a little tired.”
Izar forcibly suppressed the turmoil on his face and finished his drink.
For the past several months, everything that went into his mouth was laced with the taste of blood.
Izar’s primary duty was to exterminate monsters, but from time to time, territorial disputes also required him to take human lives.
But as the number of deaths grew from hundreds to thousands, his senses began to be affected.
He had nightmares, suffered severe headaches, and there were times when he even lost vision in one eye.
The only time he felt remotely all right was when he looked at the woman.
Even if it was only from afar.
‘…What do I want to do about that woman?’
Now that his head was finally clearer, he was forced to admit it.
That woman was not in league with House Antares. She was merely someone who had been played by the schemes of others.
Still, he knew that the majority of the ducal domain despised her.
After the entire house had suffered such disgrace through that one marriage, no matter how hard the woman tried, no one ever opened their heart to her.
Even so, what baffled Izar most was that he could not let her go.
The excuse of her being a ‘life saved in place of Riegel’ had long since become meaningless.
But eventually, the day came when Izar was forced to put an end to his hesitation.
“You still have no child under your roof.”
“……”
“Isn’t it your duty to have children who possess the power to slay monsters?”
It was in the third year of their marriage.
On the day Izar and the woman reluctantly had an audience with the Emperor, the old man openly brought up the matter of children.
“I personally arranged the match with Lord Antares, and yet it seems your honeymoon ended quite some time ago?”
The woman was wearing a veil, but her frozen state could be felt even beside him.
Izar, unable to endure such a tactless provocation with not even the slightest courtesy, finally retorted.
“That’s a rather heartless thing to say. How could I have had the time, when I only just returned from suppressing the southern rebellion two weeks ago?”
“Heh. Are you hoping for praise for simply doing what is expected of you?”
“I’m asking whether it’s appropriate to treat the protector of the Empire as nothing more than a stud horse.”
“Oh, you didn’t know? You are indeed merely a stud horse.”
The Emperor’s eyes gleamed coldly.
“And you should be grateful for your blessed bloodline, stud that you are.”
“……”
“If not for that, I would have cut your throat and killed you long ago.”
Izar silently stared at the Emperor, enduring the blatant insult.
‘Those are the eyes of a monster.’
It was as if he could not stand being in hell alone, and had to drag everyone else down with him.
After hearing such things, should he just rebel, after all?
Even if he strangled the Emperor with his bare hands, there weren’t any remaining members of the imperial family who could punish him anyway.
“If you’re a stud horse, then your only concern should be siring heirs. All the more so if you’re a worthless wretch who couldn’t even protect the crown prince right before your eyes.”
But the reason he couldn’t do that was because he knew that Riegel’s gruesome death was his own fault.
“Is it possible that the match I arranged is not to your liking?”
“……”
Izar’s hands, without him realizing, had clenched into trembling fists.
What if it was because the woman was not to his liking?
Would the Emperor take her from him?
Would she then be tossed to another man, having never once been touched by Izar himself?
At that moment, he heard a ringing in his ears. The reason that had been stretched taut snapped all at once.
He grabbed the anxious woman’s hand as if snatching it.
“Y-Your Grace? Are you all right…?”
“Prepare for tonight.”
“Pardon?”
He turned his gaze from the flustered woman and boldly glared at the Emperor.
“I shall devote myself to producing an heir, just as Your Majesty wishes. I will fulfill my duty as your prized stud.”
“Hah…!”
“Therefore, I shall return to the duchy ahead of schedule.”
He all but declared that he would hole up on his estate with the woman until he had sired an heir, so the Emperor had best not bother him further.
For that moment, even the wretched old man was struck speechless.
However, while he had vented his rage at the Emperor, Izar found himself at a loss for words when faced with the woman, her whole body flushed red.
It was a sort of resignation.
Later, Izar would admit that, in truth, he’d been waiting for a moment where he would be forced to make a decision like this.
And so, their disastrous night of consummation began.
Discussion
0 CommentsNo comments yet.