Chapter 102
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“Don’t change the subject. If you keep on like this, I will truly raise an objection to the Imperial Family as the Grand Duchess. Why? Are you offended? Even if you are, you won’t be able to remove me as you please. Not only would it be difficult to find the next Grand Duchess, but…”
Fiona produced the secret weapon she had been contemplating and smiled confidently.
“Perhaps in this belly lies Caligo’s bloodline, which His Majesty so desires.”
Of course, it was utter nonsense, but Fiona shamelessly asserted it. And this was indeed the main reason Jayden could not do anything to Fiona.
“Yes, the Grand Duchess has performed ‘that duty’ with excessive diligence, so I shall wait and see on that matter. But raising an objection? You, who cannot even sign your name? There can be no one in this castle to write letters on your behalf.”
To vent his frustration, Jayden deliberately picked at something Fiona was known to be embarrassed about. But he discovered that she, unlike before, was not humiliated by his words—rather, she smiled as if relieved.
“No one to write letters on my behalf? Is that really so? And Jayden, what makes you so certain I still cannot read and write? I can send a letter of complaint to His Majesty even now. Having come here, I have witnessed that the one called Commander-in-Chief personally persecutes the Grand Duke whom His Majesty himself appointed. He treats a perfectly sound person as a beast and abuses him, making it impossible to even discuss succession, let alone maintain a normal marital relationship. I doubt whether the Commander-in-Chief truly has any intention of securing the North as Imperial territory—his loyalty is suspect.”
Though he knew this was an impractical threat, what shook him was the blazing, unwavering determination burning in Fiona’s eyes.
She’s come thoroughly prepared.
He could not know what had made her so blindly determined. But with that look in her eyes, he was certain that if she acted, she would act thoroughly.
“…So, what is it you want?”
“Recognize Caligo as the Grand Duke and treat him accordingly. That is all I want.”
Listening with one ear to Fiona’s demand—which just yesterday he would have laughed off—Jayden now turned his gaze to the beast.
In truth, the outrage Fiona had committed this morning was, under normal circumstances, absolutely unforgivable.
Breaking into the military camp without permission, refusing the Commander-in-Chief’s orders, and fleeing with military assets—depending on the interpretation, these were offenses that could warrant immediate execution for insubordination.
Yet the title of “Grand Duchess” she had put forward was, unexpectedly, quite persuasive. And there was another reason Jayden had turned a blind eye to Fiona’s outrageous behavior.
If he had wished to punish her, he could have done so this very morning—but the reason he had not was because he was paying attention to the beast’s condition.
He had thought the creature had simply followed Fiona without any thought, but at some point, the beast was observing the exchange between the two with cold eyes, reading the atmosphere.
It was an expression he would likely never have used before. A beast that “reads” the atmosphere.
“See for yourself with your own eyes. Does he look like someone who should be treated as a beast? At first, yes, I admit his condition was poor. But since then, he has clearly been improving. Whether it was memory loss or a curse, there may have been a good reason for it. In any case, his current treatment is excessively unjust.”
Fiona poured out her complaints like a rapid-fire cannon, and behind her, the beast watched the situation like a predator in the brush. Poised as if ready to bare its claws at Jayden the moment anything happened.
Though Jayden had never once feared the beast before, this time was different. Neither chains nor restraints could bind it any longer.
The shell-like existence that had possessed no soul had vanished, and now something with “will” had taken its place.
From some point onward, the beast had completely changed. If he were to guess, the first catalyst for this change was his first night with Fiona, and the next was…
Immediately after Fiona’s rampage this morning.
Jayden’s keen senses whispered this to him.
Fiona’s claim that the beast’s condition was steadily improving was clearly grounded.
Because Jayden himself could feel the change vividly.
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