Chapter 33
Duke Kalidus had a fondness for excellence.
As the master of House Lucianos, he regretted deeply that the daughter in his household had not been born with magic.
Magic, by nature, was hereditary — yet even if the parents lacked it, sometimes a child could still be born with magical ability.
Unfortunately, Lena Lucianos was not one of those lucky cases.
She carried a deep inferiority complex over her lack of magical power.
When she lived alone with her mother, she hadn’t thought much about it. But everything changed after entering the ducal household.
Her mother, once a dancer in a traveling troupe, had realized her only daughter had no talent for magic and thus focused all her efforts on cultivating Lena’s beauty, grace, and manners.
Just like her mother once did, Lena used those charms to lure the men she desired. But none ever met her lofty standards.
“They’re all lacking.”
Among them were even some noblemen who possessed magic — but still, they didn’t satisfy her.
To win the Duke’s recognition — and to utterly crush the legitimate daughter, Piana — she needed a flawless, perfect man.
And now Piana possessed magic?
That was something Lena could never accept.
“I thought it was just childish nonsense back then…”
In House Lucianos, being labeled incompetent was equivalent to being abandoned by Duke Kalidus himself.
“Piana’s only talent is her delusions!”
Lena screamed, her voice shrill with rage. She was already at her limit.
The paralysis poison coursing through her body stripped away what little sanity she had left. The only emotions she could feel now were humiliation and disgrace.
Exposing Piana’s secret meant nothing to her anymore.
“She said she could hear the voices of trees in the forest — who would ever believe something like that?!”
“The voices of trees?” Russell repeated.
Magic that allowed one to hear trees? He had never heard of such a thing.
Russell was well-versed in every known form of magic within the Empire, but never once had he encountered a magic that could communicate with beings without voices.
If a person with such an ability existed, neither the Imperial family nor the Mages’ Tower of the Casus Kingdom would remain silent about it.
In this world, the line between the living and the inanimate was drawn by whether one possessed a communicative mind.
Trees, though alive, were not thought to have a conscious mind capable of communication. Humans, on the other hand, had imagination — and it was imagination that formed the foundation of magic.
Human imagination was magical talent.
But if one could communicate with trees — beings that had lived for countless ages — imagination would become meaningless.
Through the voice of the trees, one’s imagination would spread endlessly, like roots beneath the earth.
Divinity was similar in this sense.
Even the priests of the Goddess of Winter’s order would claim that hearing the voices of the voiceless belonged to the realm of the divine, not something within the reach of man.
“She didn’t go into the forest just to chat idly with trees…”
It was far more reasonable to believe she went there to learn something from them — perhaps information they alone possessed.
That would explain how she knew the location of a certain grave and the lay of the land so precisely.
“But why did Piana hide this?”
They were not close enough to share every secret, but they were bound to spend much time together from now on.
Had she revealed this earlier, he might have reconsidered her role entirely.
Russell stroked his chin, lost in thought. Then Lena spoke in a trembling voice:
“Don’t tell me… you’re taking this seriously?”
“I’ve always been serious when it comes to Piana,” he said flatly.
“Why… why!”
Russell looked down at her with emotionless eyes as she trembled with fury.
Unlike the capital, the North revolved entirely around Piana. That fact alone made Lena seethe with unbearable resentment.
“Why won’t you choose me?” she shouted. “I’m more capable than her! I can move freely! Anyone can see I’m superior!”
To boast about mere physical freedom as proof of superiority over Piana—
Russell exhaled a tired sigh, finding her words unworthy of an answer.
“Why—why does everyone in the North only care about Piana? Why not me?!”
When Piana had gone north, Lena had mocked her, convinced it was as good as a death sentence.
But Piana hadn’t died. Instead, she’d sent word back home that she’d become the Grand Duchess.
And Duke Kalidus, as if he had foreseen it all, raised no objections whatsoever.
Lena couldn’t stand it.
The idea of Piana Lucianos surpassing her in status was unbearable.
“Piana is my choice,” Russell said coldly.
Piana was the woman chosen by Russell Glacies, the lord of the North. Even if she were merely a figurehead Grand Duchess, she was still his chosen one.
In a typical noble family, they would have replaced the disabled Piana with Lena as the betrothed. But Russell never once considered such a thing.
Piana’s quick wit, intelligence, and determination had already proven she was worthy of being Grand Duchess.
Lena, on the other hand, seemed the complete opposite.
A Grand Duchess must be someone who could endure the brutal cold of the North — someone capable of embracing it with both strength and grace.
Even if she were only a ceremonial duchess, that much was required. And Piana had that quality in abundance.
“I have no intention of retracting that decision,” Russell declared.
“You called her defective!” Lena shrieked.
“The one truly blind here is you, Lady Lena.”
“What…?”
His sharp tone cut through her delusion like ice. Lena flinched involuntarily.
“Since coming to the North, Piana has never once sought power for herself. She’s done everything she can to help the North.”
“That’s impossible! You’re lying!”
“Then you’re saying I’m lying?”
“I—I…”
Lena’s mouth went dry. She could no longer speak.
Russell looked down at her, his expression unreadable.
“What did you even come here for, Lady Lena?”
“I… I…”
Whether it was the poison or the crushing humiliation, her whole body trembled uncontrollably.
In House Lucianos, Piana had always been a shadow — hidden away, constantly tormented by Duchess Charlotte and Lena herself.
Lena had always felt a cruel sense of superiority over that timid girl.
But now, the tables had turned completely.
Russell had invited her north only to extract information about Piana. She had walked right into the trap.
Once, Piana had been nothing but a decorative doll in the ducal house.
Now, it was Lena’s turn to become that doll.
“Ugh!”
Lena gagged and covered her mouth, choking on her shame.
Russell watched impassively, then knelt down so that their eyes met.
“Since you seem slow to understand,” he said in a tone as cold as the northern wind, “I’ll make it clear.”
It was the same man who once handed her flowers — but his voice now was icy, merciless.
“Do not approach Piana again.”
“You can’t tell me what to do!”
“I’m her husband,” Russell said simply. “That gives me every right to speak for her.”
He didn’t bother adding that if she caused another scene like she had at the Lucianos estate, it would be troublesome to clean up — or that Duke Kalidus would surely handle her once she was sent back.
There was no need. Lena’s tear- and snot-streaked face already said enough.
“I’ll say it one more time,” he murmured, a faint smile curling his lips.
It was something he had wanted to say from the moment he first saw her.
“Get lost.”
It was a rare smile for Russell — clear, cutting, and refreshingly cold.
