No Regression for the Victor - Chapter 26

At that, the Duke finally let a cynical smile curl at his lips.

“If you and I are indeed using the same Imperial common language, are we not?”

“…My goodness.”

As Marcel stood there, dazed as if he’d been bewitched, the Duke pressed his fingers to his brow as though weary and spoke.

“Starting tomorrow, tell him he no longer needs to help me with my work. Is there anything else you needed?”

With his mind blank, Marcel could only shake his head with difficulty and left the study with dragging steps.

‘So it was true that the Duke has gone mad.’

The naïve prince might not realize it, but Marcel had met the Duke face-to-face years ago. The impression Marcel got of the Duke at the time was simple:

‘Who acts this high and mighty?’

He’d never before seen someone so arrogant. A man who seemed to believe it only natural to lord over everyone else, his entire being wrapped in cynicism and ruthlessness. His haughty attitude was such that he seemed to think even the Emperor was beneath him, and everyone at the palace pointed fingers at him.

And yet now, that same man had apologized to someone who was so obviously of lower status than himself? Over borrowing a servant, no less? It was utterly absurd.

Back in his room, Marcel ignored the prince, who was bouncing around asking what he’d said to the Duke, and sank into thought.

The Duke he’d just spoken to overflowed with a grace he’d never seen before. His demeanor was so dignified and composed, it was no wonder the prince, whose only real experience had been with rough mercenaries and hunters, would be wide-eyed in astonishment.

Of course, there were plenty of refined people at the Imperial Palace. But whether they were friendly to the prince was a different matter. While Mikhail wasn’t a bastard, he was the child of the Empress’s rival and a prince who had grown up outside the palace. He never internalized imperial etiquette until now, too.

Moreover, with his elder brother, the Empress’s son, long established as the Imperial Crown Prince, no one really bothered to socialize with the wild-horse prince. The prince himself, disliking strict rules and etiquette, used monster subjugation orders as an excuse to stay away from the palace, so it was only natural there was distance.

Marcel fell into deep thought for a moment. Until now, he’d believed the Duke was using all kinds of sly tricks to entice and seduce the prince. But what was with the Duke’s attitude just now?

‘Oh, him? Yeah, whatever, he’s yours anyway, take him back, whatever.’ The attitude was so nonchalant it was almost too much, and Marcel was even more confused.

Could it be that the Duke was really just quietly convalescing, while the prince was the one clinging to someone like him out of admiration, having never encountered anyone like this before? It was hard to believe.

“Your Highness, I’ll need to confirm this with my own eyes. Please let me accompany you and hide nearby the next time you meet him.”

“Huh?”

“I have to see for myself whether that man is truly safe for you. Tomorrow, if possible!”

After persistently insisting, Marcel got the promise that if he confirmed with his own eyes that the Duke was not up to any tricks, he would stop objecting to the prince associating with him. But watching them only dragged Marcel further into a painful predicament.

“Your master seems worried about you. Is it all right for you to be out like this?”

“Oh, yes! I took care of that issue, so really, you don’t have to worry! But that’s not the important thing right now! Have you seen this flowerpot? The sprouts have already come up this much!”

“Yesterday they were only about as long as a fingernail, but they’ve already grown that much?”

“Of course! You adjusted the temperature and added fertilizer yourself, didn’t you, Duke?”

Even when they’d worked in the fields together, Marcel had been shocked, and when they moved to the study, he nearly coughed up his heart in surprise.

“Marchioness Madreille clutched her fan and drew a deep breath. The man’s chest muscles, which could not be hidden even by his uniform, were… wait, what is this…?”

“Ah, s-sorry! I just saw the word ‘garden’ in the title and thought it’d be a Marchioness’s gardening memoir or something like that!”

“…Have the caretaker dispose of this later.”

“Gasp—! I-I-I’m so sorry! I truly didn’t know it would be that kind of content when I asked you to read it…! I really mean it…!”

Marcel honestly wanted to just faint where he stood.