Chapter 12
“I only want the truth.”
Lincia wanted to give Harvich the words he longed to hear, but fear held her back.
If others overheard, she could lose the child.
Even if this child was a troublesome accident for Harvich, Lincia did not want to lose it.
It was, after all, the child of the man she loved.
But as Tereo had said, she had neither the power nor the strength to protect it.
Lincia leaned her head against the wall.
As her empty gaze drifted, the bandage wrapped around her wrist caught her eye.
That morning, Oberoc had come to her chambers.
“So early…”
Her pale face betrayed her distaste, but Oberoc ignored it, entering with a medical box in hand.
“The Grand Duke ordered it.”
He took her hand, rolling up her sleeve.
The wrist Tereo had gripped was swollen and bruised a deep red.
She hadn’t even realised it hurt.
Oberoc clicked his tongue.
“You must take care of your body. You’re no longer alone, after all.”
He began treating the injury, the sharp scent of medicine rising.
“I cannot use strong remedies on a pregnant woman. So treat yourself with caution.”
He wrapped her wrist in bandages and left as quickly as he had come.
Lincia’s eyes trembled.
If it were only about treating a wound, he could have sent any physician of the ducal house.
It unsettled her that Harvich had chosen Oberoc in particular, despite knowing Oberoc despised her.
***
Not long after preparations for the banquet began, additional supplies arrived from the palace.
Among them was a large amount of food—far more than seemed fitting for the emperor’s envoys.
“What does this mean?”
“His Majesty has permitted these supplies for the northern banquet. He wishes you to share the joyful news with everyone and enjoy the feast.”
The messenger then listed several conditions for using the provisions.
The banquet’s purpose must be declared as the announcement of the Grand Duke’s heir.
The banquet must be held on a grand scale for at least a week.
All nobles travelling to the ducal seat for the celebration must be welcomed and entertained.
For so much food, the conditions were hardly burdensome.
Even if they held a feast for two weeks, there would still be plenty left.
“His Majesty also decrees that the travel ban on Cassius’ lands will be lifted during the banquet.”
If Lincia bore the Grand Duke a child with imperial blood, would such support arrive for every birthday banquet?
If so, was independence even necessary?
The retainers, who had wished for the food problem to be solved in any way, began to think so.
For independence, rebellion was required.
And rebellion meant war.
Few were eager to start one.
But the emperor’s message was not finished.
“When the northern heir is born, His Majesty wishes the child to be raised in the palace until coming of age.”
The retainers’ faces stiffened.
If the child were sent to the palace, there would be no reason for the empire to continue sending support to the duchy.
“…You mean to send the heir of House Cassius to the palace alone?”
“Of course not. A child needs parents. Her Grace the Grand Duchess will, naturally, accompany the child.”
The atmosphere sank, as though doused in cold water.
Many wished the Grand Duchess would vanish from the duchy, but not like this.
This was simply giving the empire another leash.
They were legally husband and wife, after all.
“And… since it would look improper for a married woman to live apart from her husband for long, His Majesty wishes the Grand Duke to stay at the palace from time to time as well.”
“What nonsense is this!”
To keep even the master of Cassius bound to the palace?
“His Majesty must take a great interest in these lands. Better than the late emperor, who neglected them after the war.”
Harvich’s voice dripped with mockery, and the imperial envoy frowned.
“Sending food north each time, His Majesty naturally takes an interest.”
The man’s words carried the tone of a favour, yet the aid was no longer needed.
In the beginning, when they first carved out a life in barren soil, the palace’s help had been essential.
But once the mines were opened and the duchy grew self-sufficient, it became poison.
No matter how much gold they had, without imperial permission, no grain could be bought.
Trade for other goods was possible, but grain alone remained monopolised by the palace.
To use “support” as a chain around the duchy’s neck, and then speak so loftily—nothing could be more infuriating.
“Ah, and His Majesty wishes Sir Tereo to guard the Grand Duchess until the child is born.”
The night of the banquet, Harvich had planned to visit Lincia’s chambers.
He wanted to ask why she had gone a year without a personal maid, without ever calling on him.
And if in that time she had lain with a man of the palace…
The thought made him restless, unbearably uneasy.
The woman who had sworn not to trouble him had betrayed him so openly.
But Harvich never reached her chambers.
In the ducal hall, he found Tereo and Lincia together.
And they looked far too familiar.
“His Majesty must truly treasure his sister. Yet no knights are as capable as those of Cassius. You may rest easy.”
Harvich struck at the empire’s disdain for the duchy without restraint.
“Is that not why His Majesty ‘supports’ us, knowing this truth?”
The envoy’s brow furrowed in anger at Harvich’s open scorn.
“Still, surely a familiar face is better for Her Grace. It is said pregnancy makes women prone to melancholy, more sensitive.”
“The duchy already has guards for the Grand Duchess. I will consider the matter further.”
He knew he should buy time by conceding to the emperor’s wishes.
But this, at least, he could not accept.
“…Very well. I will deliver your words to His Majesty.”
The envoy bowed and departed.
Those who had listened felt a chill run through them.
The emperor wished to swallow Cassius through the Grand Duchess’s child, blind to what Durand had already done to this land.
No one seethed more than Hyuga.
He raked his hands through his hair, eyes burning with words he barely held back.
“What will you do now?”
Harvich shut his eyes.
A familiar, pounding headache surged.
“…First, we find the imperial spies among our retainers. Everything else comes after.”
