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Chapter 18
What kind of paradise is this?
I forced myself to walk forward while trying very hard not to look around like some clueless bumpkin.
Have you ever walked across the surface of a gently rippling sea?
That was exactly what this enormous room felt like.
The pale sky-blue marble floor, patterned like flowing waves, was fitted together so precisely that the seams were almost invisible. Because of that, the entire space looked unreal—as if a beautiful bedroom had been built right on top of water.
It felt both tranquil and luxurious.
Crystal-hung drapes cascaded down the walls and pillars of the room, creating a strange contrast where serenity and extravagance existed at the same time.
Maybe that was why.
Despite its lavish decorations, the massive bedroom—its walls almost entirely covered by thick curtains—felt like a place that had been asleep for a very long time.
Perhaps that was why it gave the impression that it had no owner.
Not a single fragile trinket could be seen.
Instead, there were only heavy, imposing objects resting quietly like relics lost to time—a grand piano in deep, dignified colors, a large harp beautifully carved with a golden goddess statue, and a milky-white porcelain vase nearly as tall as I was.
It was a place utterly devoid of vitality.
Archduke Asis Frezier, whose stride was far longer than mine, walked ahead in large steps and pulled on a milky-colored tassel hanging from the wall.
With a crisp shraak, sunlight suddenly poured into the dim room.
“Wow.”
My eyes widened without me realizing.
Just like the office earlier, one entire wall here was made of glass.
In this world, glass with a uniform thickness was an extremely expensive luxury. The clearer it was—and the larger the piece—the more outrageously expensive it became.
Honestly, one pane in that enormous window might be worth more than the long, heavy gold-thread damask curtains hanging from the ceiling.
If I compared it to the modern world… maybe it would be the finest suite in a five-star hotel?
In this unfamiliar space that practically smelled of money, Archduke Asis Frezier stood with his hands behind his back and spoke.
“Tulia Frezier.”
His voice carried an unusual weight, so I quickly answered respectfully.
“Yes, Grandfather.”
At that moment, something felt strange.
Until now, I’d always been too busy bowing like a scheming court eunuch in front of Archduke Asis Frezier to notice anything else. But now, reflected faintly in the glass window, the look in his eyes seemed… odd.
It felt familiar somehow.
Like the expression of a stray cat that suddenly stops in front of you and starts acting cute—even though it doesn’t have a single snack to offer.
But unlike me, who really had nothing… Archduke Asis Frezier owns practically everything.
The sunlight shifted, and the faint reflection of his face in the glass disappeared.
…Probably just my imagination.
“You have never attended a Frezier family council before.”
His imposing voice rang in my ears.
“Yet somehow you knew that you could use a proxy vote. How did you know that?”
“I once read about the family laws in the main mansion’s library, Grandfather.”
Thankfully, I had prepared an excuse in advance, just in case.
Tulia was known to regularly visit the library in the main estate, so my alibi was perfect.
“The library? How curious.”
But as if mocking my expectations, Archduke Asis Frezier continued.
“I’ve been told by Lilius that the only books you read there are shallow ancient poetry for showing off in high society and knowledge thinner than paper.”
“……”
That lunatic even reported what books Tulia reads? What kind of uncle does that?
Well, Lilius—being the Archduke’s eldest son and the younger brother of Tulia’s father, the Marquis Frezier—was secretly very wary of him.
Still, Tulia had already been cast aside by her father, so why bother tormenting her this obsessively?
I silently swore that I would make Lilius pay for this someday.
“…Those books were the majority, yes. But I also became curious about the Frezier family, so I read about it occasionally.”
“Occasionally?”
Archduke Asis Frezier turned to face me.
“Do you know which generation of Archduke I am?”
“Huh? The 17th.”
“…When did the Frezier family—originally a ducal house—become an archducal one?”
“Huh? During the 5th generation. Starting with Lord Soleil Frezier.”
“…?”
The Archduke stared at me for a moment before asking another question.
“What achievement earned him the hereditary archduke title?”
“Publicly, he drove back the barbarians at the border. Privately, he deciphered ancient language texts and discovered an entire dragon skeleton in abandoned land.”
“…Where was that dragon skeleton discovered?”
“Below the lowest cliff in the western region.”
“……”
“…?”
Archduke Asis Frezier looked at me with a strange expression.
“That section of the records is written in ancient language. When did you learn to read it?”
Oh no.
I panicked internally.
Everything I’d just said came from knowledge I’d gained while playing <Geumilbbang>.
Since it was a game, answering quizzes correctly at certain points allowed players to choose benefits that led toward the best ending.
Because I’d replayed the game countless times, I had practically memorized the answers to most of the quizzes.
Half of them were written in bizarre, incomprehensible symbols—essentially alien languages—which the game called “ancient language.”
In the game’s lore, the language supposedly came from either a long-destroyed ancient kingdom or a fallen royal family that had migrated from a distant continent.
“A character I didn’t recognize appeared, so I looked it up in the library.”
Thankfully, the information I mentioned consisted of very short and simple ancient characters.
In other words… something I could plausibly claim to have deciphered through self-study.
At least, that’s what I thought.
“…You surprise me several times today.”
Archduke Asis Frezier stared at me with an unreadable, heavy gaze before his face quickly returned to its usual cold expression.
“Tulia Frezier. Today you overturned the results of a vote according to your own will.”
“……”
“Even though your uncles had already voted in favor.”
“……”
“Your father may be a marquis, but you are still ranked below your uncles. That is the law of the Frezier family. What you did today is no different from insubordination.”
“……”
“And you did it in a public setting.”
“……”
Leaders of powerful families never tolerate insubordination.
That was true for Archduke Asis Frezier as well.
And I knew that very well.
Especially since he disliked family disputes being exposed in official gatherings. Well, most people would.
That was exactly why I could speak confidently.
“I voted against it precisely because it would have been insubordination otherwise, Grandfather.”
“What?”
“Grandmother is older than my uncles, after all.”
When a fox has no power, it survives by riding on the back of a tiger.
“Does it make sense to sell land that Grandmother personally cherished and cultivated, just because my uncles want some trivial personal profit? That would be real insubordination.”
Since I’d already decided to ride the tiger’s back, I spoke as clearly and firmly as possible.
“We should honor Grandmother’s wishes. My uncles already possess more than enough.”
As I’ve said before, if my uncles were poor, selling the land to rebuild the family would have made sense.
But these men already enjoyed more wealth and status than they could ever need—yet they were ready to sell land their own mother had lovingly nurtured just for their personal advancement.
Seriously?
Especially when that business venture was going to fail miserably anyway.
If you looked at the long term, I had basically done the Frezier family a huge favor.
And Archduke Asis Frezier…
Snicker.
He laughed.
It was only a brief chuckle, but it was enough to make my eyes sparkle.
Normally, Archduke Asis Frezier was so cold and expressionless that people even called him the “Ice Archduke.”
“You are not wrong.”
And then, as if it were a lie—
A gauge suddenly appeared above Archduke Asis Frezier’s head.
That’s…
