“I want to know why.”

Rena said in a voice as quiet as night.

“Mr. Lynn can’t have a companion.”

Lynn hesitated. However, before he could continue, Rena, who had read the sign of his refusal, added first.

“If it is too difficult to say, I won’t force you. But if possible, I want to hear it. I want to resolve any doubts before we stand on one side.”

Rena’s words were euphemistic and clear.

“I will keep whatever I hear a secret.”

It meant sincerity.

Last night, when talking about companions, Lynn smiled with a look she had never seen before. As if he was hurt.

So Rena didn’t ask any more questions and thought she would never ask about it in the future, because she thought it would be rude to ask about the pain of others.

Even today, just a few hours ago, that thought was still firmly established.

However, this time, Lynn had shoved himself into Rena’s heart, which was locked.

When the Emperor ordered them to fight, even if Lynn seriously attacked, Rena would have understood. It was a situation where they had no choice but to do so, that was why Rena had also fought sincerely.

But Lynn didn’t even bother. No matter how many times he was attacked, he didn’t waver. He was still kind even when being under the tyrant’s order.

That’s why Rena couldn’t ignore it any longer. She wanted to hold his hand. And she wanted to know him more.

Rena looked up at Lynn without hiding.

As if feeling Rena’s change of heart, Lynn was also quietly looking down at Rena. After a while, he mumbled softly.

“..Did you hear about that?”

“About what?”

“My story, from the Southern Duke.”

“Well, he gave me a rough idea..”

Rena nodded her head, and Lynn sighed as he looked into the distance.

He knew exactly what the Southern Duke was talking about.

Judging from the reaction, it seemed that the words of the Southern Duke were not a complete hoax.

“I’m not on good terms with the Southern Duke.”

Lynn said, touching the back of his neck with an awkward face.

“So we started fighting as soon as we saw each other.”

He was talking about the ruckus with the Southern Duke in front of the conference hall today.

Rena thought that was all he wanted to say. However, an unexpected apology followed.

“I’m sorry for what I said at the conference.”

“Huh?”

“My thoughts were short. I apologize if I offended you.”

“..If you apologize just because of that, what should I do when I’m the one who sliced you with a blade?”

Rena muttered in astonishment at the words Lynn carefully brought out.

He still seemed to have the incident in front of the conference hall in mind.

So, Rena, who had completely forgotten about it, smiled at his sincerity and gentleness.

“I heard that Mr. Lynn likes to hurt women.”

But even then, she couldn’t believe the rumors surrounding him.

“It’s strange. The Mr. Lynn that I know isn’t like that.”

So Rena asked honestly.

“Why did such rumors arise? Does it have anything to do with your inability to marry?”

At Rena’s gentle question, Lynn closed his eyes. He had a look of contemplation as to whether or not to open his mouth.

“It’s not an unfounded rumor.”

After a while, he finally answered.

“Actually, a lot of people got hurt because of me.”

“Did you do that on purpose?”

“..No.”

Lynn shook his head with an anguished expression.

“I’ve never done that on purpose.”

It was something he had never told anyone. It was a story that should not be taken lightly.

So he thought about it again and again, but the answer was already decided.

“What I’m going to say from now on is a secret.”

They both had the same thought. As much as Rena wanted to know Lynn, Lynn didn’t want to be misunderstood by Rena.

“Promise me you will never tell anyone.”

“Alright.”

So, he finally decided to divulge his secret in front of Rena’s clear gaze.

However, his mouth did not loosen easily. It was his first time telling others of his story, so he was worried about where to begin.

After thinking for a while, Lynn began to speak.

“The people of the Empire consider the Emperor’s power to be sacred.”

“It’s said to be a power given by God.”

The Emperor said so in her autobiography. She said that she had received a revelation to save the world from the dead, and that she was empowered by God to do so.

“But do you think that is really the power received from God?”

“What?”

“It is too bizarre to say that.”

At Lynn’s self-assured remarks, Rena remembered what happened at the banquet hall earlier.

At Clavis’ touch, the strong man quickly withered. His cheeks swelled up, and the shape of the skull was revealed on the thinned skin, and his thick limbs drooped like rotten vines.

It was the power of ‘frailty’ of the Western Duke.

It was a force that robs living things of life, albeit quite bizarre. So Rena nodded her head and agreed.

However, what Lynn wanted to say from now on wasn’t just a story at that level.

“Have you ever heard of compulsory execution?”

“The mental illness that is inherited by the Northern dukes.. right?”

[T/N: I have no better term for it.]

All of the past Northern dukes suffered from a strange neurosis. It was already a very public fact that could not be called a secret.

So Rena also added, remembering what she had vaguely heard.

“I know it as a disease that makes one anxious for the fear that they might get beheaded.”

***

At that time, in the northernmost empty room of the palace by the lakeside, the execution compulsion that Rena and Lynn were talking about was actually taking place.

“Release me!”

A shout echoed in the dark bedroom.

“Take this off!”

It was Rubid’s voice, full of anger and at the same time terrified.

Rubid was tied to the bed and was struggling. He screamed, twisting his silk-bound hands and feet, with long blonde hair strewn across his pillow.

“He’s coming..! Eura is going to cut my throat..”

The arrogant prince exclaimed in a hoarse voice. No one knew whether it was cold sweat or tears that wetted his cheeks.

After waking up from a long sleep, Rubid went into a riot as soon as he opened his eyes.

And the servants serving the prince watched him from a distance, as if they were already familiar with it.

“The medicine has run out.”

“In any case, I have sent someone to Sir Ruber, so let us wait. The medicine should be here soon..”

The servants whispered secretly and tightened their hearts.

It had been quiet recently, but the prince’s madness has risen again. Perhaps the cause was the unsuccessful expedition.

The prince, who was usually strong, had his temper changed abruptly when he was discouraged, and sold off his beloved older brother. He was terrified that his older brother, Eura, was going to cut his throat.

It was the same this time.

Although he failed miserably in his first expedition, Eura did not criticize his younger brother. He did not hold accountability or discuss punishment.

Nevertheless, Rubid was afraid and made a fuss. He probably would have run out and hide somewhere if his hands and feet weren’t tied up.

But this wasn’t just Rubid’s problem.

From time immemorial, the dukes of the North suffered from mental illness.

They believed without any basis that family members, friends, or servants would behead them.

It was bizarre. There were numerous methods of killing including poisoning and strangulation, but they were only afraid of being decapitated.

So, people coined the term ‘compulsory execution’ to refer to the common and obsessive anxiety of the Northern dukes.

That deep night, Rubid was suffering from the compulsory execution.

His usual arrogant appearance was no longer found in him. There were only beasts in the trap, struggling and trembling.

***

A mental illness inherited from the Northern dukes, making them anxious about getting their head cut off.

Rena’s response to the compulsory execution was exemplary. As it was known to the public, it was also very common sense.

But it wasn’t the answer Lynn wanted.

“Compulsory execution is not a mental illness.”

“What do you mean?”

“It is the price of the power the Emperor gave.”

“How are you sure about that?”

“Because I have the same problem.”

Lynn’s voice was dull. But the meaning of the words was not like that at all.

Rena looked at him with astonished eyes. With pain in his eyes, Lynn quietly continued to talk.

.

.

.

The youngest, most ambitious, and most outrageous duke of all time, Lignan Aetherner, the Eastern Duke, was only thirteen when he became duke.

7 years ago, the Eastern Duke Naja Aetherner Garcia passed away, so the Emperor passed the Eastern region to her only son.

[T/N: Naja is Lynn’s mother, despite the duke title]

But Naja’s son was an illegitimate, even a hybrid of colonial slaves.

So Naja’s son, Lignan Aetherner, was not given the ‘Garcia’ name.

As a result, even the nobles of the Empire did not recognize him. They only pretended to agree on the surface because of the Emperor’s decree, but no one thought that he would do his job as a duke.

In fact, they were right.

At the age of thirteen, Lynn at that time could only speak the Imperial language, and was almost ignorant of the common sense of the Empire and the Imperial etiquette.

‘How did this happen?’

He had already arrived at the Imperial Palace, but Lynn only felt like he was dreaming.

So he ran his hands through his head. A faint scar was felt through his hair. It was a wound from a fall from the castle just a week or so ago.

The day before Naja Aetherner’s death, Lynn fell from the castle of the Eastern Duke. More precisely, he jumped.

He wanted to die.

The boy’s attempt was almost successful. He jumped onto the stone floor below from the fifth floor and was seriously injured beyond recovery. He struggled to breathe, everyone expected he could only survive for a day or two at most.

But the next day, the boy broke everyone’s expectations and got up. The wounds healed miraculously and the body healed.

And he unknowingly had become the new Eastern Duke. Without any preparation, without understanding or consent.

That was why he was brought pitifully to the Imperial Palace.

“Is that kid the new Eastern duke?”

“I expected him to be Naja’s son.”

“There are rumors that that kid killed the Eastern Duke.”

The Imperial Palace did not welcome him.

Countless glances and whispers pierced Lynn’s young back. But Lynn remembered the advice to never look shallow, so he endured it.

He was treated like a spectacle and entered the palace. But it was not a very special experience for him. He had already been through something similar when he was brought from his hometown three years ago.

So the boy supported himself alone, thinking that there was no difference between a prisoner and a duke.

But that was a complete illusion.

It was the first night Lynn entered the Imperial Palace. Lynn, who had been nervous all day, lay in bed, and he could barely breathe.

When the boy was almost asleep, the sound of a door opening was heard in the dark.

“Hello, little Duke.”

Then, a voice sweet as honey rang out.

Lynn, who had been awakened by the sound of the door, was startled and raised his upper body.

There was a woman in his room for the first time.

It was too dark to see the appearance clearly, but the twilight moonlight was enough to tell how enchanting was that woman’s slender body and gestures.

He was still a boy.. No, exactly because he was still a boy, Lynn was helplessly captivated by the sensual atmosphere.

“Who..”

“Well, who do you think?”

When Lynn asked, unable to take his eyes off her, the woman answered playfully and sat across the bed.

Lynn shuddered involuntarily and pushed her back. Then the woman came up with her knees more boldly on the bed.

Lynn froze at the sight of the woman crawling with her torso bowed.

“You are cute.”

She smiled sweetly as she looked at the stiff boy. She was going to cook it slowly, so she thought she didn’t have to use her hands.

The woman who bribed the knights and came to Lynn’s residence was a middle-class noblewoman. At the same time, she was ambitious and savvy as well.

Even if he came from a foreign country, he was the only one in the East who inherited the name of the owner of the East, Aetherner.

So she would be the hostess of the East if she occupied it, and the mother of the next Eastern Duke if she had his child.

Unlike when he was a prisoner, he became a very attractive prey.

“Were you alone and lonely? I’ll stay with you, Duke.”

The woman whispered as she stroked Lynn’s cheek. Her long, smooth nails brushed against his skin, making him cringe and getting goosebumps.

He was scared, but he couldn’t refuse.

The person in front of him was beautiful, and her hand was warm. And the embrace of her hugging his head was soft.

The boy, who longed for the warmth of people, eventually could not resist and left his digging hands unattended.

The woman tilted her head as if trying to kiss him. Lynn was frightened and closed his eyes.

Suddenly, soft flesh touched his lips. All thoughts were blown away by the touch, the temperature, and the permeating moisture.

Instead, an impulse he had never felt before filled the void in his head.

No, it wasn’t just an impulse, it was a command. The blood of the Eastern Duke, flowing through his veins, commanded the boy.

Right now, bite what’s in your grasp and kill it.

The author’s words:

Middle-class noblewoman. Violation of the Act on the Protection of Sex for Children and Adolescents..