Duke of the Beast and the Vicarious Bride - Chapter 103

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※ This work contains depictions of coercive relationships, explicit language, and other graphic content. Reader discretion is advised.

And the fact that the beast was changing connected directly to a certain possibility.

Rubbing his temples, which had begun to throb from the moment Fiona appeared, Jayden fell into momentary contemplation.

Hesitating like one unwilling to admit defeat, Jayden finally had no choice but to concede.

This was entirely his own misstep.

* * *

It was only a few days ago that the Emperor had revealed to Jayden the truth about the beast’s identity.

Upon receiving reports from the ministers who had returned to the capital that Fiona had safely completed her first night with the beast, the Emperor was greatly pleased.

Perhaps it was because he was mindful that she belonged to the House of Troyes, even if she was a bastard child. Or perhaps he considered Jayden and House Troyes now too deeply implicated to withdraw.

In any case, the Emperor suddenly confided in Jayden confidential information about the beast known only to a few of his closest associates.

[I surmise the beast’s identity to be that of a dragon, and have endeavored to awaken the power of that being, whose abilities have been sealed for some reason.]

The contents of the letter were strangely lacking in realism.

A dragon? That beast?

Having been born and raised on the continent of Muyll, Jayden was not unfamiliar with legends of dragons.

Dragons were beings confirmed only in records, noble and mysterious creatures that had vanished leaving only their traces behind.

Those omniscient and omnipotent beings—masters of magic and guardians of the world—had forever disappeared from the continent long ago for reasons unknown.

According to records, once upon a time numerous mages existed on the continent of Muyll, with dragons at their center.

Among them, the Vieren Empire in particular was the center of magical civilization, housing the Mage Tower and Grand Mages.

Yet that lineage was suddenly severed, as if someone had cut it away with a knife. From that point onward, mentions of dragons could no longer be found in the records.

Subsequent scholars concluded that the moment the master of mana disappeared, the age of magic also came to an end. The Mage Tower fell to ruin, and mages became beings of legend alongside dragons.

What Jayden knew was that some of the powers that did not perish seeped into this land as the force of spoken words, and the remaining mana was managed by the Vienescha Imperial Family, who had maintained a close relationship with dragons since ancient times.

And yet that contemptible beast was supposed to be that great being? Even after receiving the letter stamped with the Imperial seal, he could not bring himself to accept it.

Considering the beast’s ability to dispatch demons and his body that exceeded human limits, it was not entirely incomprehensible.

But the problem was the creature’s state. From the beginning until now, not a single characteristic of dragons as recorded in transmitted texts had manifested in the beast.

The beast could wield no magic, had never transformed into the form of a great dragon. Unlike descriptions of the most advanced intelligent beings on earth, his intelligence was on par with a wild dog.

The abilities the beast possessed concerned only slaughter. Hide that would not tear even under a wyvern’s claws, stamina that did not deplete whether he ate or slept. He had taken all these elements as evidence that the beast was an unidentified humanoid monster.

[However, I have yet to discover the dragon’s true name, and I suspect his recovery will require a long span of years. Thus wishing first to see an heir of his blood, I cannot but be truly pleased at the news that your sister has succeeded in gaining his affection.]

Upon learning the possibility that the beast might be a dragon, Jayden finally understood the experiments that had been conducted upon it all this time.

[As this matter is truly of great importance to the prosperity of the Empire, the Commander-in-Chief shall report to the Imperial Family without delay any change, however slight, in the circumstances of the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess.]