Grand Duke of the Heibern House

＜Episode 21＞

Dane was shaking.

A Dane who has taken everything in his family as pride and glory.

However, the reality that was finally revealed was so disgusting and ugly that it was impossible to face it.

The 10th rank of the knights of the Heibern family, an unrealistic sight of such fragments of the zodiac pouring down like rain.

Knight Brize cuts off his left arm without hesitation at his father’s order.

The aunt, who was so orphaned and caring, dared to threaten to destroy the entire family in front of the family head.

The uncle, who behaved like an incarnation of chivalry, curses his nephew who survived the curse and returned alive.

The vassals who swore allegiance, facing the eyes shining with the desire of such knights.

It was the shattering of the world he had lived in and the cruel denial of the values he believed in.

The world of adults seen for the first time.

The shocking reality is so unrealistic that even the father who exudes huge speculation doesn’t feel foreign.

I looked at my brother.

How did you know in advance

all these miserable things.

I feel as if I will be suffocated by the heavy emotions that numb my heart and see my brother’s transparent eyes.

Even just enduring this hellish reality made my heart tighten like this.

Rather, the older brother was throwing himself into that filthy mud, even demanding permission from his father.

Like someone who has been waiting for this moment for a long time.

Contrary to his older brother’s boasts, he is not convinced that he can become such a cool-headed grand duke.

Then, Kazen’s heavy voice came out again.

“I refuse the Grand Duke’s request.”

His fierce anger slowly subsided.

“I’ll just listen to the Grand Duke’s opinion.”

At that moment, the eyes of all the knights, including Dane, opened wide.

Even though he was a grand duke, he directly challenged the authority of the family head.

The lion king, the rider of the kingdom, was not the kind of person who would tolerate such a thing.

But what about listening?

Only then did the knights realize.

That their master already had complete trust in the archduke.

Then, Ruin’s burning voice came out.

“If you’ve hurt a fellow, you can deal with it with a whip. If you have been blinded by desire for a while and have misappropriated wealth, you can confiscate more to make you regret it. If that’s enough, you can punish it with human logic. I admit it.”

Ruin’s burning eyes turned to Soene.

“However, that woman did not fall simply because she could not overcome her desires. The one who secretly destroyed the knights’ consciousness for a long time. He is the one who destroyed the faith of the family in all kinds of wicked and low ways.”

Soene’s eyebrows begin to twitch.

“An entity that can corrupt the mind and consciousness of a great swordsman named Hibern. I can’t even fathom how wicked and twisted a heart must be to be able to do that.”

Soene’s whole body trembled at the disgrace she suffered in front of everyone.

“So that woman is a demon that cannot be evaluated by human standards. Moreover, the fact that such a man is a blood relative of the family is truly fatal to the name Berne.”

“Ah, hahahahaha!”

Even the knights who have been with her for a long time are dazed at the sight of her shaking her shoulders and smiling grotesquely.

A miserable smile formed on Soene’s lips.

“He’s the guy I never cared about… … amazing. look exactly like I think I now understand why my older brother, who is the incarnation of that principle, is trusting me so much. The people called grand dukes are so great that I’m sick of them. I will get very sick of it.”

In the end, she accepted Ruin from the bottom of her heart.

Ruin was not a person to be evaluated for the lofty lineage of a famous swordsman.

The same kind as that terrifying older brother.

Monster-like people who cannot be explained with the simple rhetoric of genius, who should not exist in this world.

An omnipotent one like a god born with all talents and fortunes.

Someone like a huge castle that won’t collapse no matter what kind of interference or trickery.

The archduke feels the same remoteness he had felt from his older brother all his life.

“Do you think it will end if I get rid of one? you’re welcome! As long as this old-fashioned kingdom doesn’t change the king’s law! As long as this f*cking family’s gayul doesn’t change! This curse-like chain, this ungodly fight, will continue to the end!”

Soene, who laughed while facing Ruin’s cold eyes, stared at Nizen and her younger brother.

“Nizen also had a dream. It was too eager to give up. Of course, the more he craved it, the more miserable he became.”

Soene looked at Ruin again.

“… … What was I like? Still, Nizen was not left out of every family decision. But I couldn’t do anything my way just because I was a woman. A female in a cage who will simply be associated with a good family. I have been forced to take care of my body and have the manners and dignity of a nobleman.”

Soene looked through the articles.

“Other clans are no different. Everyone had their dreams and ambitions forcibly castrated. A wild dog of Bern, bred to be loyal to only one human. It’s the same as they were in us. They are weak and pathetic males.”

Some of the knights on the purist side could not stand it and jumped to their feet.

However, at Kazen’s light gesture, they had no choice but to contain their anger desperately.

“Archduke! Damn kick jockey! A person born with all the arrangements, consideration, support, and glory of the family! All the dazzling things that you, Luin, that brother have enjoyed and will enjoy in the future! For everyone else, that’s despair! A cruel castration!”

Soene looks at the chandelier shining brightly in the distance.

Her clenched mouth and her voice, as if spewing out screams, came out desperately again.

“There is no way the dazzling ones know the hearts of people who live in darkness! How many Soenes have been erased from the family history books? How many more will appear in the future?”

At her words that followed, Kazen’s face hardened in shock.

“Soene will appear again. She, too, would give herself a virgin to a drunken tramp. A noble princess of Bern? give it to the dog A body that can’t even dream is better the more dirty it is in mud. You can forget even the slightest trace of your conscience.”

“Soene!”

Soene slowly rose from her chair.

Before she knew it, she was covered in tears and looked at her brother with a miserable smile.

“Don’t make me more miserable, just kill me. no more lingering I want to finish it too, now.”

Sir Pavan and some of his blood relatives responded to her boiling, plaintive voice.

“I too would rather die by the family sword. I don’t have the confidence to live in this horseman’s family any longer, Head of House.”

“Please grant me atonement.”

“me too… … .”

Ruin, who was watching the whole scene, was in a very complicated state of mind.

He has always lived with the desire to condemn the immoral people in his family.

But why didn’t I know?

That Soene is my father’s ‘Deahshu’.

Uncle Nizen, trembling with a distorted face, is also his father’s ‘Dane’.

That terrifying mantle of speculation was just his father’s mask.

With an unbearably sad heart and a feeling of regret more than anyone else, my father stood still like that.

Maybe you want to run up and give him a hug.

You’ll want to shout to blame yourself more.

If it weren’t for the hierarchy of being the standard bearer of the kingdom and the head of the great Hibern family, his father would have done so right away.

Looking back at that harsh time and looking at my father’s empty face like this, I felt like I understood a little bit now.

Even this old soul, who had lived as a great mage beyond human life span, was unable to fully understand her family and her father’s heart.

Then, Ruin suddenly remembered what he had said to Soene.

＜Human actions must have a justification. So I’m really curious. Why the hell do you live like that?＞

Her desire was not without reason.

It’s just that he didn’t look at it, or he didn’t even care.

The foolishness of taking all the hierarchy and order of the family for granted.

From the beginning, the Heibern family was not a family that would have a great future again simply by teaching their brothers correctly.

At that time, Kazen’s mouth, which seemed to be silent forever, opened again.

“This Berna… … Can you trust me again?”

With a transparent face, Soene slowly shook her head.

The place her empty eyes were heading was Ruin.

“Look at that grand duke. Already, he thoroughly controlled his younger siblings. Like my older brother in the past, he has already started to shine alone. The direct and collateral descendants who live in the same age as that Ruin will surely not be able to breathe properly like us.”

“My archduke is different, Soene.”

For a moment, Soene’s eyes, as if struck by evil, turned to Kazen.

“shut up!”

Her gloomy gaze scans Ruin’s brothers.

“How will that young Dane live now? The kingdom’s swordsmanship genius, his brilliant glory would soon be dismissed as a childhood nickname. The more you dream, the farther away your aspirations become. A wild dog of the Bern family whose loyalty is forced and whose ambition is castrated. That’s the rest of his life! Nothing changes… … .”

Her sad gaze stops at Deasch.

“… … I’m sorry Deash.”

More tears pouring down.

Her feelings for Deash weren’t all lies.

It was because he was sincere, at least not wanting to let her live like himself.

As his sympathy grew, so did his hatred for the archduke.

The young archduke’s eyes really gave me goosebumps.

A system of consciousness that is not appropriate for your age.

A meticulous mind system that cannot be fathomed.

genius talent? innate qualities?

That’s what Dane was born with.

What I could feel from that grand duke wasn’t those human aspects.

Such a remoteness that makes you doubt that you are human.

I can’t even imagine what it would look like if I grew up here.

At that time, Dane took a step forward and stood in front of her aunt.

“aunt. I am not your wild dog.”

“what… … ?”

Dane looks at Ruin calmly.

“If I can sacrifice and concede something to my older brother, it would be a great feeling. It is to pay off the debt I owe you.”

“debt?”

“But I probably won’t be able to pay it back for the rest of my life. To begin with, hyung isn’t the kind of person who would ask for anything from me.”

An unbearable question appeared on Soene’s face.

“How much debt do you owe? You mean you borrowed all of the grand duke’s inheritance?”

The sound of Dane’s laughter bursting out.

“Ha ha ha ha ha!”

Dane couldn’t help laughing at his aunt’s poor imagination.

It’s just money!

Do you really think that Dane, the swordsman prodigy of this kingdom, owes such a trifling debt?

“aunt.”

Soene’s heart grew cold.

It was because Dane’s sunken eyes resembled a grand duke.

“I received the soul of a true knight from my brother. I learned the values that people should cherish for the rest of their lives. I learned the pride and fear to be wary of. also.”

Dane hugs Deash and Wipon’s shoulders.

“… … learned to love And my brother.”

＜What do you mean by calling him brother?＞

“Maybe more than himself.”

＜Don’t forget, Dane. I am your brother.＞

Dane spoke calmly, wiping the tears from her reddened eyes.

“I think they love us more.”