Chapter 83
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I possessed the body of a villainess locked away in a desolate tower.
Chapter 83
"Y-yes, I understand."
Even amid his busy schedule, the consideration he showed me was genuinely appreciated.
I suppressed the flutter of emotion rising in my chest and quickly moved to the main point.
"The first thing I must tell you is information I obtained from the tea party hosted by Embrose Marquise."
It was highly likely that Stefan Marquis's Wife was the one who introduced Elegance Young Lady to the Empress.
If that were true, then our suspicion that the Stefan Marquis House was involved in all of this would be confirmed.
That was precisely the crux of what I wanted to convey.
"Perhaps Stefan Marquis's Wife gained favor in the Empress's eyes precisely because she introduced such a trustworthy person."
"That's not it."
From his lips, which had been listening to me in silence, came a denial tinged with certainty.
"Pardon?"
"Stefan Marquis's Wife was originally a close friend of my late mother."
"Y-your mother?"
If she was the Grand Duke's mother, then she must have been the Imperial Concubine—a favored consort of the Emperor?
And the Imperial Concubine was a figure briefly mentioned in the book as one of the obstacles the Empress had eliminated.
'Then it couldn't have been a pleasant memory for the Grand Duke.'
Whether my intuition was correct or not, the face of the Grand Duke I met when I looked up was different from usual.
He maintained his characteristically rigid, expressionless demeanor, but today it carried an unusually dark quality.
"...Stefan Marquis's Wife became the Empress's confidante in exchange for betraying my mother. That's the precise sequence of events."
Ah, so that was how it happened.
Then the Grand Duke and the Stefan Marquis House were already bound by a bitter, twisted karma long before this affair began.
* * *
Approximately thirty years prior.
The previous Blaire Grand Duke, unable to refuse his daughter Mesena's earnest plea to forget her first love, ultimately presented her as a concubine to the Emperor.
However, Mesena possessed an inherently fragile and sensitive disposition by nature.
Though she entered the Imperial Palace for love, she was fundamentally not the sort of person equipped to endure the cruel machinations of power struggles.
What allowed Mesena to barely persevere was her desire to protect her son, Kaian Blaire, whom she conceived and bore not long after entering the palace.
Kaian Blaire—a prince born of the Imperial Concubine, arriving only a few months apart from Lyden, the legitimate Crown Prince.
The mere fact that their ages differed so little was sufficient for Lyden's faction to regard him as a genuine threat.
Then, as if that were not enough, the Tower Master who came to celebrate Kaian's birth discovered that he was a natural "Mana User"—one who possessed an innate ability to manipulate mana.
Perhaps it was due to the blood of the Blaire Grand Duke House flowing through his maternal line.
And so it came to pass.
Empress Oriana, who had believed that Lyden would naturally become the next Crown Prince, suddenly perceived Mesena and her son as an unforeseen obstacle to the succession.
And the Empress possessed a ruthless nature—she eliminated any element that threatened the line of succession before it could take root.
This meant that even a concubine beloved by the Emperor could not escape her cruel machinations.
The Empress, who dominated High Society, chose a most convenient tool to bring down the Imperial Concubine.
That tool was none other than Stefan Marquis's Wife, in whom the concubine placed her trust.
And under the Empress's direction, Audrey Stefan—who had been subtly ostracized alongside the concubine in aristocratic circles—seized the golden opportunity now placed before her.
Even if it meant betraying a friend.
"Concubine, I hear the Second Prince still cannot speak properly. Is that true?"
"Your Majesty, Empress. I'm not sure what you mean...."
"Concubine, for the honor of the Imperial Family, I ask you to speak truthfully. Is it true that the Second Prince still cannot speak properly and doesn't even know how to call his own mother 'mother'?"
Stefan Marquis's Wife, who had willingly sided with the Empress, exposed the truth that Mesena had desperately concealed.
And at the Emperor's birthday celebration, she publicly tore into her alongside the Empress.
"Mesena, you must confess at once. Continuing to play innocent is nothing short of contempt for the Imperial Family!"
"...What? Audrey, what are you—"
"Prince Kaian doesn't simply speak little—he cannot speak at all. We should ensure he receives proper treatment!"
The Concubine's worries, which she had confided only secretly to Stefan Marquis's Wife.
Her concerns about Kaian's delayed speech compared to his peers were exposed in such a public setting that day, spreading widely throughout High Society.
A natural mana user, a Second Prince being considered as a future Crown Prince candidate—could there be something wrong with his intellect?
Though barely three years old, in the cold world of High Society, this was a grave flaw and a source of ridicule.
After that day, the Emperor no longer sought out Mesena, who had become the object of everyone's mockery.
Instead, he confined mother and child deep within the Separate Palace of the Imperial Palace, blaming them for hiding the Prince's affliction.
And the Concubine, abandoned by the man she loved and cut off from all contact with others, occasionally unleashed verbal abuse and physical violence upon Kaian.
"This is all because of you, Kaian. If it weren't for you, I would never have suffered such humiliation. It's all your fault!"
While the Concubine descended into madness alone in the deep Separate Palace where no one visited, the faction centered around the Empress and Lyden grew ever stronger.
Stefan Marquis's Wife became the Empress's steadfast right hand, commanding High Society, and as if she had never been the Concubine's friend, she spread and mocked all her secrets.
The Concubine, already abandoned by the man she loved, became even more withdrawn, never setting foot outside the Separate Palace, only pressing Kaian harder.
"You must become Crown Prince, Kaian. So work tirelessly, day and night. And punish those who brought shame upon your mother!"
"Yes, Mother...."
About ten years passed with the Concubine confined to the Separate Palace.
Living each day with longing and resentment toward the man she loved, and hatred toward those who had publicly humiliated her, she passed away during a harsh winter—reminiscent of the Northern Region's brutal seasons—from a severe influenza.
When the Concubine died, the Emperor brought Kaian to the main palace, and from then on, a proper rivalry with Lyden seemed to begin in earnest.
But.
"The Blaire Grand Duke's heir died unfortunately while holding back a Monster Wave, Your Majesty. Thus, the current Blaire Grand Duke has no successor."
Kaian never even got the chance to properly fight Lyden.
"Prince Kaian is the closest blood relative to the Blaire Grand Duke. Considering your relationship with him, would it not be fitting to send him to the Blaire Grand Duke Territory?"
The Empress had already solidified Lyden's support faction over the past decade, and no one in the Imperial Capital dared oppose her.
The Emperor, too, had no desire to see either of his sons shed blood, so the agreement was reached swiftly.
Ostensibly at the Blaire Grand Duke's request, Kaian renounced his claim to the throne and departed for the Blaire Grand Duke Territory.
The people of the Northern Region he met upon arrival welcomed him warmly. His stern-seeming maternal grandfather embraced him with love, and the rough-looking people of Blaire proved to be honest and affectionate.
For one starved of love and affection, the Blaire Grand Duke Territory provided a sanctuary that offered exactly what he needed.
He had left all the tedious enmities behind in Cletan's Imperial Capital.
Having shed everything that had tormented him.
Kaian seemed to have cast off the shackles that bound his ankles and found the stability and freedom befitting him.
Yet.
"Kaian, you can rest while studying. There's no need to confine yourself to the Library and exhaust your body like this."
"Young Lord! Your hands are covered in wounds. To wield a sword until they're in such terrible condition... this is self-abuse!"
"You should at least have a meal. Attending to your sustenance is fundamental, is it not?"
"Young Master, you haven't slept again today? Aren't you exhausted? Even a brief rest would—"
Even with his eyes closed and ears shut, Kaian Blaire could not escape his mother's voice—that relentless refrain that every shortcoming was his fault, that he must strive harder. It haunted him still.
Even now.
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