Chapter 14
“I asked the Duke of Kainan, and he said the lady would be arriving separately.”
“She said she would come separately, huh.”
The grand clock at the center of the hall was already pointing to 11:50. The ceremony was set to begin at noon, and Dorian was thoroughly flustered.
“What is the meaning of this, Duke Kainan?”
Now noticeably sharper, Dorian turned again to the Duke of Kainan. The duke flinched under the interrogating gaze from behind Dorian’s clear glasses.
“Where is Trisha?”
“Uh, um, well, you see…”
In truth, Duke Kainan had been nervously waiting for his daughter for a while now. After nearly drowning yesterday, Trisha had come back to life, but her condition had deteriorated badly.
— Where is Trisha? Did you come alone?
— She said she won’t be coming.
— What? You should’ve dragged her here if you had to. You useless fool! Where are the knights I assigned to her?
— The lady—no, the Archduchess—asked me to deliver this message.
— Archduchess?
It was unbelievable. Trisha, who normally would’ve been dragged along and obediently followed orders, had said that?
Staggered by the absurdity of it, the duke’s ears caught the shrill voice of the butler.
— I remember everything you’ve done to me, every single cruel thing.
— You lunatic. Are you insane now?
— No, not yet. I’m not done!
The butler suddenly shouted. How dare a mere butler raise his voice? To me, Salvador Kainan? The duke’s jaw dropped at this unprecedented situation. The butler, trembling like seaweed in the tide, still managed to enunciate each word clearly.
— She said if you want to maintain even the thinnest thread of your relationship as father and daughter, you’d better act wisely.
— What?
— Otherwise, once she becomes empress, you might not even keep your life.
— You worthless fool! What did you say? Say that again!
— After she becomes empress, at least your life—ACK!
— You imbecile. Do you really think I meant say it again literally? Go get her immediately!
Unable to control his rage, Duke Kainan beat the butler himself. Still, the butler refused to go back to Trisha. Even the other servants and maids, sensing something was off, held their ground despite the duke’s violent kicks.
— Useless lot.
In the end, Duke Kainan gave up trying to bring Trisha. He could have dragged her by the hair if necessary, but he didn’t. Of course, not out of good intentions.
‘The wedding is tomorrow—if she has visible bruises, that’d be a problem.’
Trisha, who had acted arrogantly since yesterday, continued in the same vein this morning. She didn’t even show up at breakfast.
She merely sent the butler with a message.
— She said she’s not feeling well and that you should go ahead.
— Huh?
— She’ll follow later. She has more preparations to make.
— …Fine. Tell her not to be late.
Though fury simmered within him, the duke held back. He feared that if he upset her in the morning, she might run into the sea again like yesterday. So he boarded the carriage and arrived at the venue alone.
And now, he had been drowning his nerves with wine ever since.
“Ungrateful girl. I raised her so well. Does she really think getting married will change her status overnight?”
He muttered every insult he could think of inside the carriage. A thankless wretch who didn’t even respect the father who raised her. She thinks she’s marrying a grand duke because of her own merits? Nonsense. It was all his doing.
— Isn’t 100 million Rlangs too much, Grand Duke?
— Not at all.
— I’ve never heard of such a large dowry being exchanged before.
— Considering the disgrace of the Kainan family, 100 million Rlangs isn’t much.
— Even so…!
— It’s not a dowry. You’re buying the right to be part of the imperial family. Think carefully, Duke.
— !
That statement finally swayed him. He scraped together more than half his assets to match Dorian’s demand.
Even though the Kainan family was wealthy, 100 million Rlangs was nearly all their liquid assets.
He barely managed it with an additional loan from the Icarude Bank.
— Duke, we’ve arrived at the venue.
Though burning with rage inside, the sight of the grand venue melted away those feelings like snow.
The moment he imagined the silver crest of Twollern flying over the imperial palace, he was overjoyed. Duke Kainan was, after all, a transparent materialist.
Of course, it stung a bit that the extravagant venue was funded entirely by the Kainan family’s fortune, but so what? Once he became royalty, he would enjoy far more wealth and prestige!
“It’s an investment. A big one. I’ll see a return of not just a few times—but a few hundred times.”
Once dismissed as a vulgar nouveau riche from a mining fortune, that ended today.
Once Trisha married Dorian, it would all begin. It was a certainty that Dorian would win the imperial succession and become emperor. Then he would be the emperor’s father-in-law.
And if Trisha bore a son, he could even make that child the next emperor.
“I see it now. The day Salvador Kainan stands at the pinnacle of the imperial family!”
“Duke Kainan. I’m asking you something.”
Pulled out of his fantasies, the duke returned to cold reality. Dorian’s voice, icy and demanding, reached him.
“Ah, yes!”
“What exactly happened?”
“Trisha, well, she’s been feeling unwell since yesterday.”
“What do you mean?”
“She had an accident. She tripped and fell into the sea.”
“What?!”
The unexpected news made the grand sage clutch his chest and ask with a trembling voice.
“My goodness. Falling into the sea in this weather… Can the wedding still go on today?”
“Of course. Do you think I’d keep you waiting, Grand Sage? Not someone of your stature.”
“No, I meant… Is Lady Trisha alright?”
At this moment, the grand sage was the only one truly concerned for Trisha’s well-being.
He stared at the duke with a solemn expression.
“This old man can always return another day. A human life is more important than a wedding.”
“You are truly wise and compassionate, Grand Sage!”
“……”
“I would be honored to host you at the Kainan estate after the ceremony. My daughter, Trishiaran, would be delighted.”
The sage frowned at the shameless flattery. There wasn’t a trace of genuine concern for his sick daughter. The stink of greed always leaked through, no matter how well hidden.
He shook his head inwardly.
“To think my precious disciple will be in the same family as this man…”
“And don’t worry. She was saved by, well, a kind soul nearby and received treatment yesterday. She’s been resting.”
“Someone saved her?”
Dorian’s voice took on a strange tone.
In truth, he had been hiding a bad mood for a while now. There had been no word from the person he’d been waiting to hear from, and instead, the brazen duke had the nerve to walk into the palace as if nothing had happened.
“The Duke of Kainan has arrived at the venue? What’s going on?”
Dorian had actually placed someone to monitor Trisha. It wasn’t long before he received word that she had secretly gone to the harbor and thrown herself into the sea.
— Are you sure of what you saw?
— Yes. I saw it clearly. She was with only one maid, so there was no one to help her. The harbor was completely deserted.
— I see. So it’s done.
Receiving that report, Dorian had smiled faintly. Everything had gone exactly as expected.
“If it happened at dawn, I figured we’d have heard about the funeral by now…”
It had been oddly quiet, which made him suspicious, but he figured the wedding would surely be canceled. Now, however, it was clear things weren’t going according to plan.
“I should’ve had them confirm her death. That was my mistake.”
His eyes, usually calm and graceful, now glinted coldly. The maids nearby flinched at the unusual atmosphere. Yet the people who mattered most didn’t notice. Duke Kainan was too preoccupied with anxiety about the wedding, and the grand sage was too focused on the pathetic man before him.
He didn’t realize that his beloved disciple was acting slightly out of character.
“Yes. Thankfully. She’s perfectly fine now. Just a little under the weather.”
“…Perfectly fine, you say.”
“Yes, quite well. Just a slight headache and sore throat, nothing major.”
“Still, if she’s not feeling well, wouldn’t it be wise to postpone the ceremony?”
“Oh no, Grand Sage, there’s no need.”
“You just said she had a cold.”
“My daughter is in excellent health. Just like her father. Haha.”
Tsk, tsk.
The grand sage remained silent but clicked his tongue hard.
“I heard he was low-brow, but this is worse than I imagined.”
As a father, there was not a shred of worry for his daughter. And he wasn’t even trying to hide that fact. No wonder the nobility shunned him.
The sage began to imagine what kind of person his daughter must be.
“It’s either one of two things—she’s as greedy as her father, or she’s being used by him and forced into this marriage. Poor disciple.”
Then—
“Stop right there!”
A commotion broke out at the entrance. Someone was trying to enter the hall, and the guards were blocking them. It didn’t sound like the usual check for invitations—this was different.
Even the nobles nearby turned to look, whispering among themselves.
“Wh-who did you say you were? Please, we need to verify—”
Though old, the sage’s ears were still sharp.
Sensing something unusual in the guard’s tone, he squinted toward the door.
“Lady Trishiaran Bay Kainan, the bride, has arrived!”
With that announcement, every gaze turned to the entrance.
