🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 52
Patrick’s eyes glinted with contempt as he looked at the shabby flowers.
But as was usual, Patrick put on a mask of kindness and took out a couple of bills from his wallet.
“They’re just like their owner—quite a pretty flower. Could I have just one?”
He roughly handed over the stiff bills and was about to send the child away, but the child, deceived by Patrick’s gentle face, held out the whole basket of flowers.
“J-Just go…!”
“How can you just give this away? You should take the money.”
“I can just pick more from the field!”
“Oh… really?”
Was he supposed to take flowers that had just been picked from the field with no pedigree? And they even smelled a bit like fertilizer?
“Ah. How dirty.”
Trying to be kind forcibly, his cheek muscles twitched painfully.
“Well then, I’ll accept it with thanks.”
“…! Y-Yes! H-Hang in there! Lady Apeltz will recover soon too!”
“Oh, yes. Haha.”
Patrick gave a nod to his attendant to have someone else take care of the flowers, then sadly lowered his eyelashes.
A sigh escaped from the people nearby.
The poor young nobleman who had just been suddenly broken off from his engagement, and now Lady Apeltz, with whom new engagement talks were underway, had even fallen ill with the plague.
Yet despite all this, he did not turn his back on the Loraz family, showing loyalty and kindness as the illegitimate son of Duke Godwin.
Whether due to this story or not, since the epidemic began, more and more people had been supporting Patrick.
“They don’t even realize I’m the one who ruined the Loraz family, and here they are comforting me. How foolish.”
Though the urge to mock their foolishness almost spilled out, Patrick forced himself to accept the flowers.
After all, thanks to these fools’ idiotic support, his position in the duke’s family was growing stronger.
Now was the time to go along with their foolishness just enough.
“Throw this away immediately.”
As soon as he passed through the mansion’s gate, Patrick tossed the flower basket to a servant.
“Ugh! It already smells like it’s soaked into your body! Get a bath ready right now…”
Patrick, who had been barking orders at the servants unlike on the street, suddenly spotted Nero and narrowed his eyes.
Naturally, Peter stood in front of Nero.
“Brother?”
“Long time no see, Patrick. But what’s with those flowers?”
“They’re just something I got on the street… No, I heard you went to the Estar estate? How did you get back so quickly?”
“Huh? Ah, Estar Young Master kept urging me to go home quickly. But you seem to know everything about me. How did you already know I went to the Estar estate?”
“Ah!”
Patrick hurriedly covered his mouth. He realized too late that he had essentially admitted to monitoring Peter.
Peter gently patted his younger brother’s shoulder and whispered in his ear.
“Take it easy. You can never beat me, little brother.”
“Brother!”
“Ugh. You really need a bath. You reek. The stench of inferiority and malice.”
Peter grabbed his nose and waved his hand as if to chase away the foul smell.
Patrick’s body trembled, his face red with shame.
Ignoring this, Peter nonchalantly took the flower basket Patrick had thrown away.
“You throwing this away? Perfect timing. Flowers are necessary when visiting the sick. I’ll use these instead.”
“…Brother. You shouldn’t disrespect me like that! You heard that I became a secretary at the Imperial Palace, right? That’s not all. Father even entrusted me with work!”
It was amusing to see Patrick bragging about things that would become meaningless once the truth came out.
Peter passed by Patrick, who was panting with frustration, without a word.
As expected, even though he had returned after a long time, he still didn’t like this household.
“I’ll just show my face and leave quickly.”
“How long have you been here that you want to leave already, Young Master? Since the Duke fell ill, the family has been in turmoil. You should stay.”
The butler who followed the skeptical Peter tried to soothe him, sweating profusely, but Peter just snorted.
For a moment, a blue smoke seemed to flow out of Peter’s body and into the flower basket.
However, since the butler, who was struggling to catch up on his short legs, showed no reaction, it seemed the smoke was invisible to others.
“Huff. Huff. Young Master, why do you walk so fast?”
The butler finally caught up, panting and leaning on his knees, then knocked on the Duke’s door.
“Duke, the Young Master has arrived.”
Since the Duke’s condition was so poor that he couldn’t even say “Come in,” the butler opened the door without permission.
“You may enter, Young Master.”
“Father’s condition must be very bad.”
“You’ll see once you look for yourself.”
The butler seemed to want to keep his words to a minimum as Peter strode into the room.
Immediately, a strong herbal smell and a musty odor hit his nose.
“Peter…”
Following a hoarse, small voice, Peter approached the bedside.
“You look very different from the last time I saw you, Father. Ah, this is a get-well gift.”
Peter smiled and placed the flowers by the head of the bed. The petals, swaying from the motion, were fresh and green as if newly bloomed. There was no sign of the blackened spots that had been present when the flowers were wilted. It was strange, as if some flower magic had been cast.
“I’ll put them in a vase. Hmm? Why do you look at me like that, Father?”
“You insolent Peter…! Cough!”
The Duke of Godwin, unable to hold his own body properly, opened his sunken eyes wide.
“You went to the north? Cough! Are you mad…!”
“Oh, what a hurtful thing to say. If a smart person like me went crazy, how sad would the world be?”
“Don’t dodge the question…! Why did you go north! Cough, why did you meet with the Grand Duke!”
The excited Duke repeatedly coughed, clutching his chest in pain.
“Water, water…!”
“Why are you so flustered and heated when you’re not feeling well?”
Peter poured the herbal water into a glass for the Duke, but tilted his hand so that the water spilled and splashed everywhere.
“Well, I guess it’s understandable to be upset. Considering what you did to Crown Prince Kendrick.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. What did I do?”
“Don’t pretend you don’t know. Are you ashamed now? You drove Crown Prince Kendrick to his death.”
“Watch your words! Don’t speak carelessly about that!”
“Ha. Looks like you’re afraid the truth will come out.”
Peter’s golden eyebrows curled into a frown.
The so-called accidental death of Crown Prince Kendrick, which was the reason Killian was sent away to the distant north, was in fact a meticulously planned accident — orchestrated by none other than his father, Duke Godwin.
At that time, as the leader of the Astara Queen faction, Duke Godwin took the lead in removing Kendrick, the first in line for succession.
As a result of countless efforts, on the day Kendrick and Killian went out, Godwin caused the carriage horses to run wild so Kendrick was trampled by a horse’s hoof. He had spiked the water trough at the nearby stable with a stimulant.
The drugged water trough was emptied after the incident, and the horse that harmed the Crown Prince was immediately put down by the guards, leaving no evidence.
What remained was the childish whim of Killian, who had begged to change the outing location to a village where the accident happened, instead of the originally planned place.
Right before the horses ran wild, Killian was seen feeding carrots from his snack to the horses with his small hands.
These acts by Killian became perfect fodder for the scheming nobles’ accusations.
The horse’s sudden strange behavior was conveniently blamed on something in the snack Killian gave it.
Although the reasoning was absurd, when many decided to believe it, it sounded plausible.
“How long will you whine about the past? Don’t you realize how our family prospered because of that?”
“I know. How could I not? Since then, Father monopolized the spice market and has been soaring.”
“Knowing that, huh. Tch. You’re such a coward. That’s why you’re still not recognized as a proper heir. Maybe you’ll only realize once Patrick steals your place.”
“Honestly, I don’t want to inherit this miserable family, but I also don’t want to see Patrick inherit the dukedom. Life’s so annoying.”
Peter took off his monocle and tucked it into his upper pocket.
His face, which looked gentle with the lens on, seemed different like this.
“Anyway, I didn’t come here to argue with Father. Let’s stop here for today. He must be bored lying in bed all day, so I’ll show him something fun.”
“…?”
Peter took out a brooch with a bright emerald and activated it.
Suddenly, the room filled embarrassingly with whispers of the immoral love between Patrick and the Loraz family.
“How do you like it, Father? I paid quite a bit for this. Hope you enjoy it.”
