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Chapter 15
A refreshing peal of laughter rang loudly through the room.
Dwayne was pretending to look away, but his shoulders were trembling uncontrollably.
It was obvious he was desperately trying to hold in his laughter.
‘What part of this is supposed to be funny?’
Aria looked over the report again but couldn’t find anything particularly strange.
After all, the viscount’s retainers really had risked their lives because of the parasite.
“So the parasites got thoroughly wrecked by… parasites.”
The Grand Duke rubbed at the curve of his red lips with his fingertips as he spoke.
He looked almost bewildered, as if even he hadn’t expected himself to laugh out loud like that.
“If that’s true, then I can roughly guess what happened. Good grief—how ridiculous.”
Valentine was famous for its abundance of resources—enough that it could self-sustain without outside help.
If you had to pick the most famous among them, everyone would point to the Daimont Mines.
‘Because Daimont is the only mineral that can produce mana stones.’
Mines could be found all across the world, but none produced crystals as hard and pure as Valentine’s Daimont.
The price was sky-high—people could name whatever price they wanted.
Viscount Cavendy approached Valentine in hopes of getting a trade permit for Daimont, and when rejected, he chose petty revenge—hoping at least to extort some money.
‘The problem is that Valentine’s land is overflowing with life.’
In Valentine, living beings were strong.
Animals, humans…
‘…even parasites.’
The viscount’s retainers caught a snake they happened to find.
The snake’s shimmering scales glowed like a rainbow, and they assumed it was some sacred creature—then grilled and ate it on the spot. Ridiculously.
The result was, of course, disastrous.
Some became paralyzed, their bodies stiffening; some even lost their eyesight. Several died soon after.
All of these were things the future viscount foolishly bragged about at Count Cortez’s salon.
‘Ah, now I understand why he laughed.’
They trespassed onto someone else’s land, hunted wild animals without permission, nearly died from it—and then tried to demand compensation.
It was so absurd that laughter was the only possible reaction.
“Come to think of it, foreigners who aren’t born in the duchy reportedly get stomachaches if they drink water from the forest without boiling it. Every living thing here is considered a monster.”
The Grand Duke explained this with obvious amusement, his gaze fixed on Aria.
“But how do you know that?”
[Danah said I’m weak because I’m from outside the border.
Betty told me eating raw things would infect me.]
“Don’t tell me—you heard that she made a fire in the forest and deduced all of that?”
The Grand Duke asked in awe.
‘Not exactly…’
Feeling slightly guilty, Aria hugged the wolf tightly as if distracting herself.
The wolf panted happily and licked her cheek with a long swipe.
“Dwayne.”
“Yes.”
“Tell the viscount this: the parasites he smuggled inside his men’s stomachs can only be treated with dewormer manufactured in the duchy. If they want it, they must pay an equivalent price.”
“Understood.”
“And since they poached in the Ingo Mountain Range without my permission, they must pay for that as well. The amount should be…”
He tapped the desk lightly, seemingly contemplating how much to demand.
Aria stretched out a hand and pointed directly to the very end of the document—to the compensation amount the viscount had demanded.
“One billion charr.”
The Grand Duke followed the direction of her finger, then slowly looked back at her.
He must be thinking: As you sow, so shall you reap.
“Wise.”
A smile bloomed at the Grand Duke’s lips. It was so devilish that Aria felt a chill run down her spine.
It was the smile of someone ready to make Cavendy pay dearly for daring to underestimate Valentine.
He was probably picturing the viscount rolling in the mud, clinging to his boots, begging for death.
‘Scary… I would’ve thought so before.’
But Aria’s thoughts were a little different now.
Now, she felt revulsion.
At those who would violate and trample others’ rights just to satisfy their greed.
‘Only when they suffer it themselves will they finally understand—just how painful it was for those they sacrificed.’
Aria stared at the Grand Duke with genuine admiration.
The Grand Duke’s method—returning tenfold what he suffered—was worth learning.
Dwayne, watching from the side, cleared his throat loudly.
Then he leaned toward Grand Duke Tristan’s ear and whispered.
“Your Highness.”
“What.”
“Your killing intent… please rein it in a little. The young lady seems frightened.”
…? Why the misunderstanding?
Aria overheard Dwayne and quickly pulled out her card. She wrote what she’d been wanting to say for a while.
[You look cool, Father.]
“……”
In what way?!
Dwayne stared at the child, seriously wondering if something inside her senses had malfunctioned. Especially the fear response—she seemed to lack it entirely.
“She says you look cool.”
The Grand Duke deliberately read the card aloud, then reached out to naturally take it from her hands.
‘Again?’
Aria looked down at her now-empty hands in confusion.
“Perhaps I have talent for raising a child after all.”
Did Your Highness even think before speaking?
Dwayne had no choice but to harbor such blasphemous thoughts toward his master.
Whether his subordinate looked at him in disbelief or not, the Grand Duke paid it no mind and asked Aria:
“You’ve helped me. I should repay you. Is there anything you want?”
A reward.
Aria indeed had something she wanted.
Not to be kicked out.
‘Lloyd said that once he recovers, he’ll throw me out.’
But asking that now wouldn’t change anything. Simply surviving in the Grand Duchy wasn’t enough.
Unless she was accepted as part of the family, she would remain unable to intervene in anything until the Valentine Incident occurred.
She needed to get close to the Grand Duchess—quickly.
‘Better make him my ally.’
This was her chance.
After thinking for a moment, Aria’s eyes curved gently, and she beamed.
[I want to meet and play with Father every day, just like today.]
When she lifted her head, her rabbit ears twitched adorably.
It was irresistibly cute.
So cute it squeezed his heart—
But Dwayne, watching seriously, leaned in again to whisper.
“This confirms it, Your Highness. The young lady has never received proper care from an adult.”
“Oh? And?”
“And out of all the adults in the world, she chose to rely on you— AARGH!”
Even with a blade at his throat, Dwayne always said what he felt needed to be said. As usual, he was punished and rolled across the floor.
Aria blinked in surprise—he went down so fast she couldn’t even tell how the Grand Duke hit him.
He groaned in pain, and she pitied him, patting his back gently as if to say “Don’t hurt.”
Sobs… young lady, you angel…
But before he could even finish being moved, the Grand Duke grabbed Aria by the scruff of her neck and lifted her up.
“Don’t touch him. He’s dirty.”
Treating his lieutenant like a germ.
“If you want to see me, come find me yourself. If you ride my hunting dog like today, it will find me no matter where I am.”
The Grand Duke allowed it surprisingly readily.
While once again snatching the card from Aria’s hand.
* * *
The Grand Duke had said:
‘If you ride my hunting dog, it will find me no matter where I am.’
Aria climbed onto the wolf without thinking much—but soon panicked.
The wolf sprinted in the exact opposite direction.
‘This way… is toward the mountains.’
The Ingo Mountain Range—the place Aria had come from.
Aria considered stopping the wolf, but chose instead to see where it would lead.
She was curious why the Grand Duke was in the direction of the mountains.
‘He told me to visit anytime. He probably isn’t somewhere dangerous.’
The wolf ran for a long while before stopping.
A familiar mansion stood before them.
The mansion built in the forest marking the duchy’s border—the place where Aria had been purchased by the Grand Duke.
‘Right, this is the place that screens all outsiders first.’
Knights in pitch-black uniforms stood guard at the front.
They were the Black Hawk Knight Order—the Grand Duchy’s elite.
Their uniforms bore the crest of a black hawk.
‘In the imperial capital, crowds would literally part at the sight of that crest.’
The Black Hawk had become a symbol of evil and ill omen in the Empire—surely because of Valentine.
At that moment, one of the knights recognized Aria.
“Ah—my lady…”
Shh.
Aria raised a finger to her lips, signaling for him to be quiet.
Then she pressed her ear against the mansion door, listening for the sounds coming from inside.
