“Zilehan, you must have been dying to know if I made a deal with the king.”

Edgar knew exactly what Zilehan was worried about, and his worries were coming true. Edgar was going to disband the band of adventurers and sign deals with countries and guilds that were close to the territories of monsters and dragons to test the weapons he was developing.

Of course, the king welcomed the idea. It was going to let him gain the upper hand when signing deals and treaties with other kingdoms. However, the king was hiding and pretending that it wasn’t good to have him do this and that for Edgar.

‘This wouldn’t have happened if that sly old man had taken care of it quickly.’

Anger and rage had started to pile in his heart as he was forced to stay longer in the king’s castle. The feeling had vanished the moment Rubica fell asleep in his heart, but now it was revived at seeing Zilehan.

“You shouldn’t have acted so foolishly.”

As soon as he said that, the guard, who had been holding Zilehan, punched his belly. Zilehan mouthed a silent scream when feeling the immense pain. However, Edgar stared at him coldly. He wanted to hit the man himself to let out his anger, but his well-trained knights were much better at that. They could beat Zilehan right before he died, but Edgar could overdo it and kill him, and he didn’t want to hesitate lest he truly died.

Let the experts do the violence. That was what he had always believed in.

“Your, Your Grace, how could you…”

Edgar ignored Zilehan’s protest and looked at his own fingernails. The tip of two fingernails were broken and they now looked hideous. Rubica would worry if she saw that.

“Stephen, do you have any medicine for the wounds?”

“Right here, Your Grace.”

Edgar applied the ointment to his fingertips as Zilehan kept screaming. Well, Zilehan was responsible for that after all. Edgar had scratched his desk and chair every time Zilehan insulted Rubica. That was how he had managed to restrain himself. Without the pain of his fingernails being broken, he would have yelled.

He wanted to slam the door open, get out, and push Zilehan to the floor. He wanted to thrash him with a whip until he bled, but that had been impossible.

His two legs refused to sit up as long as the sun was up in the sky. He had been forced to be quiet and listen until Rubica kicked Zilehan out. He never felt so incompetent in his life. But today, he had been so useless.

That was why he had come to Zilehan’s home as soon as the sun went down. His mana stone carriage was much faster than ordinary carriages and it let him arrive a lot earlier than Zilehan did.

The knight stopped when Edgar finished applying the ointment on his fingertips. Zilehan’s face was now completely swollen, but Edgar didn’t pity him. He had always been cold. He had been taught about the necessary evil ever since he was a little boy and was the exact opposite of the kind and merciful Rubica. He had been taught he shouldn’t hesitate to sacrifice one life if he could save hundreds by doing so.

“Do you think it is unfair?”

Zilehan shook his head. Naturally, he thought it was unfair, but he knew he couldn’t say that.

“Yes, of course, it is not unfair. I only punished you for your sin, contempt.”

Edgar had become the duke at a young age and knew he had to use his authority when it was needed. Punish Zilehan lightly, and he would surely try again. Moreover, this cunning relative wouldn’t even dare to mess up with Edgar. He would go after Rubica, so he had to make sure it never happened again.

“I’ve decided to send the weapons to a kingdom in the south and receive the rights to develop the new land it is about to get in return. It would have gotten you many times more money than what you got by mediating with the adventurers. Mana quartz is a good that loses its light in time, but the right to develop new land is different.”

Zilehan shuddered at thinking about the massive amount of money Claymore was about to get through trade. If he had stayed still, the business would have been assigned to him. However, there was no going back on it now.

“Your Grace, if words get out on how you fired a relative who has worked for Claymore for years just because he was wrong to the duchess…”

“That’s what I’m hoping for.”

A corner of Edgar’s lips curled up at Zilehan’s useless try. Even his evil smile was so seducing.

“Please, tell everyone I am overprotective of my wife so that no bugs would ever try to mess up with her.”

Zilehan had to try hard to not swear out loud. When he met Edgar’s eyes, he felt like he was a mouse standing in front of a serpent. It was going to be impossible to press on the duke by using rumors. He thought he knew how to control the duke, but he had been wrong. Edgar had been tolerating his schemes, and it turned out he rather enjoyed his evil fame.

Edgar was done. He was about to leave the room but then he spotted Mrs. Zilehan shuddering in a corner. She was on quite good terms with Rubica. What if she pleaded to Rubica? When he thought of that, his mouth moved on its own.

“I will let you maintain your living so that Rubica wouldn’t pity you. But if you ever plead to her, you will be left with nothing!”

It happened so quickly that Zilehan didn’t realize what was going on for a second.

“Thank you, Your Grace!”

By the time he came to his senses, Edgar had already left the house. Zilehan had once held great power within the family, but now he was nothing. He had controlled the people’s opinions with his excellent way of talking, but now he had plummeted to the ground for trusting his tongue too much.

***

Edgar was feeling quite good on his way back home. During the day, he had been able to do nothing but listen to Rubica’s voice in his office. His heart had ached so much that he had trouble breathing, and he felt extremely miserable.

After it got quiet, the rage overtook him. He couldn’t even remember how he had worked in the afternoon. He ran to Zilehan’s house to get revenge as soon as the sun went down. After that, he was feeling much better, he even felt like he could whistle.

‘I guess I’ve been too soft on my relatives…’

The cold serpent who had neither blood nor tears. The man who took rules way too seriously.

Edgar denied the accusations he got in less than a second. He had been way too soft. If he had gained control of his relatives sooner, they wouldn’t have dared to be so rude to Rubica. He decided to fix their manners himself. He was no longer going to tolerate them just because it was bothering.

-Lord Zilehan, the duke is busy. Remember the food in this kingdom depends on what he invents.

When his anger subsided, he recalled what Rubica had said to Zilehan. She had sounded quite firm. He was tall but, unlike him, Rubica was small and thin. Unlike the guards who protected him, she had soft hands and waist. He thought he was supposed to protect her, and he never even imagined it could be the other way around. However, she did protect him today. She had spoken confidently to Zilehan who even Edgar found troublesome sometimes. Moreover, the way she called the guards to kick him out, that had been the climax.

Great woman.

Edgar had thought the word great was only for men. But now, he felt like no word could be better to describe what he felt about her, and he strangely felt good. She tried to protect him. Not anybody else, but him. He could feel he was smiling widely.

-Even I cannot send a message to him when he is working in his office. He was busy yesterday, is busy today, and will be busy tomorrow as well.

He thought again and again on what she said. That was what he had said to convince her. He sometimes kicked his duvet at thinking about how coldly he had been to her.

What did she think when he said that? She must have thought he was an arrogant and rude man. Edgar cursed every word he had said and every action he had done at the time.

However, when Rubica said exactly what he had said, those miserable times got a totally different meaning. He was so excited that now he felt a little dizzy.

Was this love?

A sensation he had never felt before now took over him. He couldn’t control his own feelings, but he felt good. Even when he felt sad and his heart ached because of her, he didn’t want to go back to his past without her at all.

He was learning his feelings could sway like that for the first time.