As soon as he heard those words, Owen’s expression was coloured with astonishment. Owen said to the Emperor, swallowing the feeling that a scream was about to leak out.
“…… Brea-, breaking my curse. Father.”
“Fortunately, the monster seed that came out of my sister’s body truly loves the bride he met this time. After using that girl to unleash the power of that monster, and the moment you stab a sword safely into her heart, your real long-cherished desire will come true.”
“………”
“Gee, I’m so grateful to the Alberton family for saying this. For us, the head of their family and the eldest daughter chase after you to lift your curse, not just to find out the secret hidden in Duke Felix’s ugly pair of eyes. And their youngest daughter will become a sacrifice to release the curse related to you. Since we have received so much favour from them, we should recognize even good deeds when purging them in the future.”
The emperor’s face, which looked as if he was fun just to imagine, was filled with ecstasy and cruelty.
Seeing this, Owen felt his heart drop.
He was overlooking it because he was only insisting on breaking up with that terrible woman, Marianne. That it must be accompanied by the sacrifice of the “Duke Felix’s most beloved” to escape this curse that turned him into a monster.
The moment he remembered it, Owen’s head trembled, feeling Grace’s face overlapping the faces of Duchess Felix and his other fiancees, who had died miserably in front of his eyes so far.
At that moment, Owen shouted, clasping the hand of his father that was resting on his face.
“Oh, father! I have something to tell you!”
“Hmm? What is it? The story of the breakup with the young Marianne didn’t end with you being a little more patient.”
“No. That’s not what I’m talking about. ……I.”
“Okay. Tell me.”
When the Emperor allowed his urge to speak quickly, Owen carefully opened his mouth.
“……Can you just drive out the current Duchess Felix and make another sacrifice for him?”
“What?”
The Emperor’s face then was distorted by absurdity after hearing Owen’s words. Suddenly, he looked like he had no idea what his son was talking about.
However, Empress Maria had kept her eyes fixed on her son all the time and had been keenly examining his face. She immediately recognized the meaning of Owen’s words and hardened her expression the moment she heard that.
Empress Maria shouted, hurriedly clutching her son’s shoulder, with a face that had turned blue in an instant.
“You can’t do that, dear.”
“…….Mother.”
“No, you can’t.”
Empress Maria looked up at Owen with a face full of anxiety.
A little while ago, referring to the current Duchess Felix, Grace Felix, Owen’s deep feelings that came to his mind, and his mother, if no one else knows, could tell.
Before that feeling could grow any bigger, she had to cut the buds from the beginning. Empress Maria turned her head and eagerly looked at the emperor next to her.
After that, the Emperor also spoke to Owen in a solemn voice.
“It can’t be, Crown Prince. It’s too late now. Didn’t you see that? The eyes of the monster when he looks at his wife. And I heard that the sacrifice also seemed to have attached affection to the monster.”
“…..So I want to set them apart. Father. If a woman who will be sincere toward such a monster who has never properly shown his face before her, she’ll also sincerely cherish a monster like me.”
However, Owen immediately refuted the Emperor’s words.
The Emperor suddenly shouted wildly as he stared into Owen’s eyes, burning with passion, in love with Duchess Grace Felix.
“Don’t be foolish, Prince! Why are you a monster? You’re not a monster! You are the most precious in this Empire, and the only successor of this Empire!”
“……No, Father. I……….”
“Don’t say anything weak! Owen, why do you keep saying weak things?”
The Emperor grabbed Owen’s shoulders, which was about a span taller than him, with both hands and urged him.
Now, everything will be fine in two months at the latest, but it was frustrating to see Owen keep saying weak things and ruining the prepared plan.
In order to change his son’s heart, the Emperor decided to tell him a fact that he never told him before, and so he opened his mouth.
“I know how you feel. If she is the kind of woman who genuinely cares for a man like Duke Felix, it’s not unreasonable to think that she’s someone who will care for you even though she knows all your secrets. But, it’s already too late.”
“…Father, what do you mean?”
“I’m sure you know that. That we need the blood of Duchess Felix and the ‘curse’ placed on Duke Felix to break the curse that has been passed on to you in our imperial family.”
“Yes, I know.”
“Then do you know the conditions for the ‘Curse of Duke Felix’ to be activated?”
“……No. Well, that’s…”
Owen shook his head with an expression of ignorance at the words of the emperor who suddenly asked about the curse of Duke Felix.
Then the Emperor made a meaningful look and said to Owen.
“That’s when Duke Felix truly ‘loves’ Duchess Felix.”
[T/N: So cruel…….(┬┬﹏┬┬)]
“…….What?”
“Do you know why even knowing that he is a threat to my power, yet I’ve constantly given him a wife and fiancee? It was just to trigger that curse. Why would I throw a grand wedding party with the imperial budget? It was to check how much he liked the person who would be his wife, and at the same time to make Duke Alberton place another curse on her body.”
“…Then, Duchess Felix and the other girls before Lady Grace, why did they…… “
At the Emperor’s words, Owen muttered, looking at the Emperor with a blank face.
If that was the case, why in the world did they? Owen quickly felt the terrible scenes that had happened countless times unfolding vividly in his mind in an instant. Those terrible moments that he doesn’t want to recall again.
‘As my father said if the curse failed for them, why did they like that……..’
Owen turned to the Emperor again and asked a question as he still did not understand.
“Then, father…”
“Don’t say anymore. Don’t ask any useless questions, and the only thing you need to keep in mind at this moment is that you’ve come too far to turn back. That’s all.”
“…….”
But, Owen was forced to keep his mouth shut at the Emperor’s words as if he didn’t want to speak anymore.
The Emperor then interpreted it as Owen’s understanding and swept away his tired face with both hands.
“The conversation was longer than expected. I need some rest now. Empress, would you like to go to the bedroom with me?”
“……Of course, Your Majesty.”
“Prince, you too, should go back to your palace and rest.”
After that, the Emperor had the Empress put her arm across his arm and went out of the Room of the Sun side by side.
Owen looked at them and the servants and maids who quietly followed them with a bewildered gaze then sighed deeply.
‘I thought it wasn’t too late yet, but it’s already too late.’
If so, should he make the thought of Lady Grace just like them?
Owen shuddered at the thought that Grace would be the main character of the horrific scenes in his head. No… He couldn’t do that. She is the only woman in this world who is kind enough to love a monster. It’s okay even if it’s just once, he hoped that her gaze looking at that monster would also turn to him.
Owen mumbled low, clenching his teeth.
“……There must be some way. If I look for it, definitely.”
After that, Owen turned straight and left the Room of the Sun. And instead of heading to his palace, he headed to the stairs leading to the basement of the main palace.
Tap, tap.
Owen’s eyes, as he ran down the stairs, rolling rough on the shoes, were filled with a false enthusiasm to find a way.
Flapp—
There was a bird’s wing sound cutting through the darkness that rose from the window illuminating the dark stairs.
───※ ·❆· ※───
The carriage carrying Duke Arthur Felix and Duchess Grace Felix arrived at Felix Castle just as the sun was slowly setting up in the mountains to the west.
In the meantime, the two had usual conversations or slept while leaning on each other’s shoulders for a while, like someone who had forgotten the ‘promise to honestly tell each other about the things they were hiding’ before getting on the carriage.
Unlike when she left Felix Castle alone, Grace was satisfied with the return trip, which was not boring at all. She thought that if she had to visit another castle next time, she would like to go with Arthur as much as possible if circumstances allow. And if she gets more greedy, she would like to leave with both Arthur and Leon together.
At the time when she was leaning on Arthur’s shoulder with unpleasant thoughts, the carriage, which had been noticeably slowing down for a while, came to a complete stop. Then, she heard the footsteps of the valet, who was sitting on the coach seat, getting off the carriage and approaching the door.
Knock, knock—
“Your Majesty, Madam. We’ve arrived at the castle.”
Arthur, who had closed his eyes while lending his shoulder to Grace, opened his eyes quietly. Then, he said while making affectionate eye contact with Grace, who quietly leaned on his shoulder and looked up at him.
“Then let’s get off, madam.”
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“Yes, alright.”
When Grace’s permission was granted, Arthur immediately got up, opened the carriage door and went outside.
After that, Arthur reached out for Grace, and she gladly held his hand and stepped out of the carriage.