IPTD 25

Chapter 25

Perhaps it was because Betty’s metaphor had been too strong.
My plan to greet the maid cheerfully ended in utter failure.
I just stood there, sulking, staring blankly at the woman who had walked in.
She was dazzlingly dressed as always, her complexion flushed in shades of red and blue.
She truly looked like a peacock—stunningly beautiful.
“She’s beautiful again today… but why is she so angry?”

Just as I was trying to guess the reason, the maid strode up and suddenly shouted right in front of me:
“Do you think I wouldn’t notice your secret affair? I am the one who suits the Grand Duchess! You vulgar woman!”

Suddenly, a rough hand lunged at me.
“Eek? Me?!”
What the…? She’s angry because of me?!
I didn’t do anything!

But in that instant, the Grand Duke’s earlier words flashed through my mind:

“Do not underestimate the security of the Grand Ducal Palace. I have already received a report that he was seen with you.”

“Someone reported to me that this is your secret lover…”

Could it be that my spy was my maid?
She hadn’t even come to the cabin…?!

Anyway, right now, worrying about that was a luxury I couldn’t afford.
Just as the maid reached for me, seemingly to “teach me a lesson,” the classic K-drama cliché—“hair-grabbing”—was about to unfold.

“Stop.”

Suddenly, instead of the enraged woman’s face, a solid back filled my view.
It was the Grand Duke.

Thanks to the warm, massive human barrier blocking the front, I couldn’t see his face clearly, but I could hear the maid’s quivering voice perfectly.
“Why does Genos always side with that woman?!”
“Is there a problem with me siding with my wife?”
“Hah! ‘Your wife’?”
“Yes.”

Hidden behind the Grand Duke, I was trying not to gag at hearing those words.
Ugh… ‘my wife’…
This guy—he’s more conscious of other people’s eyes than he seems.
Just like during the festival… he’s really trying hard to look like a happy couple!

But… despite my mocking thoughts, strangely, my face and ears kept heating up.
“Do not behave arrogantly, you lowly maid.”

Suddenly, my heart pounded.
Why would he say something like that to make someone misunderstand?
No wonder the peacock maid got angry!

I subtly shifted the blame onto the Grand Duke and quietly observed the situation.
Meanwhile, their argument grew louder and more intense.

“Our Hugo family has always served only the Celeste Dukes for generations! How can you protect the daughter of the Blanche family, that cursed illegitimate child, so blatantly?!”
“That judgment is mine alone, Katarina Hugo. You, too, cannot claim to have entered the Grand Duchess’ service purely for honorable reasons.”
“Th-That’s…!”

It was a clash of titans—the idiom ‘dragon vs. tiger’ fit perfectly.
Both were fiercely intense, as if they had forgotten I was even there.

I slowly stepped backward, then quickly slipped through the slightly open door.
Some maids widened their eyes in surprise at seeing me, but thankfully, that was all.
No one was able to stop the situation—certainly not me!

“Ugh, whatever, I’ll just take this chance and run.”
I did not want to get tangled up with any of them!
In times like this, the classic ‘thirty-six strategies: flee’ was the best.

“Really, that’s too much!”
Sniffling and scattering tiny tears, the defeated Katarina turned and ran out of the library.

However, the man who technically “won,” Genos, felt no joy at all.
It was natural—this had been a pointless quarrel, with no gain whatsoever.

“Haa…”
With an exhausted look, Genos sighed deeply.
Then he turned to the small woman who had been hiding behind him with wide, startled eyes.

“Rene Blanche, are you—okay…?”

?

Rene, who had been trembling with drooping eyes, was nowhere to be seen.
As Genos’ eyes darted around in panic, a maid, equally flustered, confessed:

“Y-Your Grace… the Grand Duchess has already left a while ago…”
“Already left?”
“Yes… Your Grace, by the time she was arguing with Lady Katarina…”
“…Haa. My goodness.”

So she had abandoned the fight she caused and ran off?
What a woman…

I thought Rene was extraordinary and amusing, but seeing her up close, she had clearly crossed the bounds of reason.
Genos couldn’t hide his disbelief and could only sigh repeatedly.

Because of Katarina’s sudden appearance, he hadn’t even been able to bring up the real matter he had come for.

“A dragon, really…?”

Genos looked down at the scabbard of his sword.
It bore the finely embossed crest of the Celeste Dukes.
The family crest, passed down through generations, depicted massive fortress walls and a dragon.

The reason was…

“So there was a reason why she was reading that unexpected book.”

Genos picked up the book he had snatched from Rene: The Pact of Celeste and the Dragon.
To place Albert Rembrandt on the throne, the first Duke Lucas Celeste had made a secret pact with a dragon.
With that immense power, the first Duke fully supported Emperor Rembrandt, eventually winning the grueling struggle for supremacy.
The pact’s details were passed down only to the head of the family, but over time, the glory of the pact had faded, and Genos had no knowledge of it.
It was fair to say that the original pact had been broken.

Exhausted by madness and having given up on everything, Genos thought it was perhaps for the best that the pact’s glory had ended…

“But what if dragons really exist?”

Then he couldn’t ignore the recent report of monsters appearing.
Magic, dragons, monsters—concepts thought long gone suddenly appearing—would this benefit the Celestes? Or harm them?

At the same time, a woman with red eyes flashed through Genos’ mind.
The illegitimate child with red eyes who was said to bring ruin to the family.
And the dragon had appeared right in front of her.

“Could there be some secret in the ancestral pact that I don’t know?”

Thinking this made him sigh again.
There was only one person he could ask about the family’s affairs.
Several months ago, when the marriage to the Blanche family had been confirmed:

“What? The granddaughter-in-law of the Blanche family? I’d rather die than see that!”

Grandmother, furious, had vanished without a trace.

“Haa…”
It didn’t feel reassuring—he had an uneasy premonition that things could get even bigger.

But what could he do?
Heading quickly to his office, Genos pressed down on his throbbing head and picked up a pen.
He needed to write a letter.

Some time later…
In Pielle, a southern maritime region far from the northern Celeste lands,
cawing seagulls and the splash of waves filled the peaceful afternoon like another world.

“Hmm hmm hmm~”
On a villa atop a hill with a stunning view of the sea,
an elderly lady enjoyed a leisurely tea time, humming a tune in the lavish marble garden.
Her name was Diana Celeste.

“The new tea is truly exquisite.”

Unlike the chaos in Genos’ mind, Diana, the sole elder of the Celeste family, enjoyed a serene moment.

“Lady Diana.”

At that moment, a neatly dressed butler approached slowly, carrying a silver tray with letters and a paper knife.
Diana squinted as she sipped her tea.

“A letter has arrived.”
“Just stash it somewhere. Old ones can be burned if you like.”

She didn’t even glance at the letter and spoke in a calm voice that was, in reality, quite firm.
Her wrinkled hands busily stirred the sugar into her teacup.

“But… Lady Diana,” the butler began.
“It’s probably from Lord Karl or whining Katarina, right?”
“There are letters from both Lady Katarina and Lord Karl, yes…”
“See! I’m officially on leave, right? So no one is to contact me. It interferes with my mental health.”

As she spoke, she stirred her tea spoon with a dissatisfied hand.
Then the butler added something that made her stiffen instantly:

“Th-this time… it was sent directly by Your Grace, Genos.”