Chapter 60
Chapter 60. The Price of Desire
The drunken dream that lasted all night was sweet enough to make her tongue ache, but the emptiness that followed upon waking choked Eurene as if to remind her of reality.
Before she could even feel the throbbing pain below, Duchess Castallo’s screams rained down on her.
“How… how could you! How dare you!”
Yet no one tried to stop her. How could anyone restrain the anger directed at a daughter who had crossed a line that shouldn’t have been crossed, even for a moment of deviation?
The Duke, who usually took Eurene’s side, and the young master, who usually calmed the Duchess, stood in Eurene’s room as if nailed to the floor.
The Duchess fell to her knees beside the bed where Eurene, who had just regained consciousness, was lying.
“How could you do this to me? After all I’ve done to raise you, to go to a brothel! A house of ill repute! Eurene Castallo…!”
A brothel? A house of ill repute? Confusion spread across Eurene’s green eyes.
The Duchess buried her face in Eurene’s bedding and sobbed.
Her son, Taleum, who couldn’t bring himself to meet Eurene’s eyes, helped the Duchess to her feet.
“Mother, the servants will hear. I understand how you feel, but you must lower your voice.”
“I’ve already killed two maids and a manservant who tried to cover this up! Those who have loyally served our household for half their lives!”
The Duchess’s body trembled pitifully in her son’s arms.
The Duke turned away with a distorted face, sighing, while Taleum stood looking at the source of all this trouble with reproachful eyes.
Eurene sat on the bed, watching the entire scene with a blank face.
How wonderful it would be if that dreamlike moment could remain a dream forever. But the painful reality gradually cleared the fog clouding Eurene’s mind, revealing the bitter truth.
The Duke spoke with a devastated expression.
“…Leave the capital, Eurene. You can no longer stay in the ducal household.”
“Father…?”
“We’ve already investigated. That you walked into the brothel of your own accord, that you mixed bodies with someone working there while intoxicated, without any coercion… This father can no longer bear it.”
Eurene rose from the bed in confusion. She grabbed Taleum’s arm with both hands.
“B-Brother, it was a mistake. It was just a mistake!”
Taleum couldn’t bring himself to look directly at his changed sister and turned away. It was none other than the Duchess who pushed away Eurene’s hands that were holding onto him.
Slap—
Eurene’s white hand turned red.
“M-Mother…”
“You wicked thing…!”
Eurene staggered from the shock and collapsed. None of her beloved family members moved to help her up.
The price for indulging in desire was devastating. Her family had completely turned their backs on her. The Duke pronounced his sentence to Eurene.
“We’ll depart immediately. Be ready.”
* * *
Although Vinea had told him not to move, Gartan had his underlings track Vante’s traces all night. There were limits to the information he could gather here, not being in Veshnu, but from the various circumstances discovered so far, it didn’t seem that his nephew had lied to him.
‘Perhaps the uneasiness was just needless worry.’
The information Gartan had investigated didn’t differ greatly from what Vinea had shared. Even if there were gaps here and there, they weren’t significant issues.
He must have become sensitive because things weren’t going as he wished. The image of Vinea crying and relying on him was no different from the times he remembered.
“Where on earth have you hidden, Vante? I must take your life myself, to use it for the glory I will reclaim.”
The most promising lead was the noble lady ‘Eurene Castallo’ that Vinea had mentioned. Enough time had passed since he sent people out; reports should start coming in soon.
Gartan’s fingers, which had been tapping the handle of his cane, stopped.
“I have a report for you, Your Majesty.”
“Speak.”
He reported to Gartan the information he had gathered so far. While they couldn’t figure out exactly how Eurene Castallo and Vante were connected, tracing her recent activities wasn’t too difficult.
There were traces of attempts to cut off the tail midway, but they hadn’t brought people so incompetent that they couldn’t avoid such interference.
Gartan’s expression turned indifferent after hearing the full report.
“Useless information.”
It wasn’t uncommon for naive noble ladies to make mistakes in a moment of lust.
For a duke’s daughter, it seemed she had lived quietly without much trouble until now, but somehow made a mistake in one night. It was irritating that this coincided with the time Vante disappeared, but according to their investigation, no platinum-haired man had been seen entering or leaving the establishment.
Though it didn’t seem like particularly important information, Gartan ordered it to be delivered to Vinea by letter for the sake of thoroughness before turning away.
“There’s not much time left before we return to Veshnu. I must conclude the deal with Emperor Emeritus Maxiul.”
The deaths of Vante and Vinea, or a tragedy equivalent to that, were necessary devices for his plan.
The current Empress of Veshnu is too weak to produce more heirs. To solidify his son Nexior’s position as successor and to further suppress his weak younger brother, Vante’s breath must not remain intact.
Vinea’s death was also a necessary device to break his younger brother’s spirit and ignite the spark of war.
Once back in Veshnu, opportunities to reach out to Vinea would decrease, so he needed to pressure her through the Emperor Emeritus’s hands. It would be ideal if she took her own life when cornered, but Gartan had a feeling it wouldn’t be that easy.
“Bring the woman.”
The subordinate who bowed his head left the room. Not long after, a person wearing a white cloak that covered even their head was led into the room by Gartan’s subordinate.
Under the cloak, the briefly visible hands were tightly bound with rope, making it impossible to escape easily.
“We’re going to Emperor Emeritus Maxiul.”
“Yes, sir.”
He had already conveyed the promise to the noble faction that followed him. Whatever had captured their attention, the prepared gift should be more than enough to stimulate Emperor Emeritus Maxiul.
* * *
The eastern annex where the Emperor Emeritus resided was in an uproar at Gartan’s appearance. The servants, well aware of how much the master of the palace despised Veshnu, lowered their bodies in fear.
It wasn’t uncommon for delegations from various countries to meet in reception rooms prepared within the imperial palace for exchange purposes, but the meeting of the two axes of war who had reluctantly handed over the throne due to the changing times carried a different weight.
Gartan entered the reception room and sat in the prepared chair. A servant brought something to drink, but he wasn’t foolish enough to bring it to his lips.
Eventually, the closed door of the reception room opened, and the smell of blood tickled Gartan’s nose.
It was the scent of death he had encountered countless times in war during his younger days.
“It seems this is how Tessibania treats its guests. As if being late to the appointment wasn’t enough…”
Gartan looked up and down at Maxiul, who walked in wiping the blood thickly smeared on his hands with a damp cloth. Undisguised contempt showed on his face.
“What a filthy sight.”
“Watch your tongue, Grand Duke Aktavil. You should be grateful that the blood on my hands isn’t yours.”
The same was true for Maxiul. Fiery hatred flashed in his eyes as he looked at Gartan.
If there was someone he wanted to kill most in this land, aside from the Veshnuian knight he had just finished torturing underground, it would be the man before him.
Between these two men who had crossed swords countless times in their youth trying to kill each other, and left indelible scars on each other’s bodies, there wasn’t a single good feeling left. Now they were merely facing each other due to their mutual interests.
Maxiul sat opposite Gartan. Looking at Gartan’s untouched cup, Maxiul sneered.
“A wise choice. It would be more surprising if we shared tea without poison between us.”
“I’ll get straight to the point. The Crown Prince… no, he’s Emperor now, isn’t he? I heard Emperor Tatar has cut off all your limbs. Don’t you need a force that can move independently? I’ll help.”
“What’s your ulterior motive? I’ve made good use of your minions you sent me before, but you wouldn’t do this just for my sake. What trick are you up to?”
Their sharp dialogue contained only minimal courtesy, having discarded all pretense.
“We’re not on good enough terms to delve into each other’s details, so I’ll just say what’s necessary. I’ll transfer full authority of my subordinates mixed in with the delegation to you. I’ve also brought funds to use away from Emperor Tatar’s eyes. If you need additional items, I’ll do my best to support you at the meeting place arranged near the border.”
“What do you want from me?”
“Kill my nephew. If you can’t do that, at least clip those two wings that flutter without knowing how high the sky is.”
“Haha—”
Maxiul burst into laughter for the first time in a long while. He thought he was the only one who had lost his mind, but here was an even worse person blinded by desire.
It seems that even if you don’t like it, when you fight for decades putting everything on the line to bring down your opponent, you end up resembling that twisted form to some extent.
Maxiul picked up the teacup in front of him and gulped it down. The guilt of turning his back on his pitiful niece, Eurene, last night and choosing his personal revenge was swallowed down his throat mixed with the tea.
Clank.
Maxiul put down the empty teacup.
“I think you know better than anyone what that means. You’d reignite the war we’ve just barely ended?”
At Maxiul’s words, Gartan let out a sneer and struck his cane, which he had been supporting with one arm, with a bang.
“Be honest, Emperor Emeritus Maxiul. Don’t you know well that if it weren’t for the rebellion, we two would have continued the war until one of us died? We must conclude the unfinished ending. You and I, Tessibania and Veshnu. Who can possess Sefitiana.”
“I agree. However, don’t you think this is a losing deal for me compared to you? The one at odds with me is the only legitimate heir of the imperial family, my own child. Sooner or later, I’ll end up passing the throne to that child.”
“Children can always be made again.”
Maxiul’s face crumpled. Even though it had been a political marriage, he had loved only the deceased Empress. So much so that the desire for revenge that had bloomed due to her death was still just as strong after several years.
Just as harsh words were about to burst from his mouth in response to the insult, Gartan spoke first.
“—Come in.”
At his command, the closed door of the reception room opened, and someone covered in a white cloak entered.
Click.
The door closed. At Gartan’s signal, the unidentified person approached the table where he and Emperor Emeritus Maxiul were standing.
“What’s the meaning of this?”
“I’m not unaware of the Emperor Emeritus’s tiresome love, so I prepared a gift for him.”
“A gift?”
“Show your face.”
The cloaked figure raised their arms and pushed back the hood. Maxiul’s eyes, which had been fixed on the rope tightening the thin wrists, widened indescribably upon seeing the person’s face.
He jumped to his feet.
“Empress…?”
It was a face uncannily similar to his dead wife in his memories. While it wasn’t impossible to find differences if one looked for them, the unresolved and accumulated longing clouded Maxiul’s reason.
Gartan smiled wickedly, like a snake.
“I think this should be sufficient for producing an heir. Don’t you agree?”
