the Grand Duke
"Pride comes before the fall, and arrogance before the ruin."
Asifalo Castle stood in Valdina's southeast territory—roughly two weeks' ride on horseback from the capital.
Any traveler journeying to the royal palace was compelled to pass through this fortified checkpoint.
"Form a line!"
"Hey, you there! No cutting!"
A lengthy queue stretched before the gates.
This particular day saw an unusual number of merchants, their carts loaded with goods destined for market.
"Show me your travel pass."
At the gatekeeper's command, a peddler wearing an inside-out robe withdrew a document from his breast pocket.
The gatekeeper examined it, then immediately frowned in suspicion.
"Wait... this seal is forged!"
Other guards converged at the commotion.
"Look at this! Do we appear that foolish? The lord's seal stamped two months ago is clearly—"
Before he could finish, blades flashed in the sunlight.
Simultaneously, the"merchants" cast aside their disguises, revealing weapons and armor.
"Cut them all down!"
They charged toward the guards who scrambled for their weapons.
"Rebellion! We're under attack! Alert the garrison commander!"
The gatekeeper frantically beat the warning drum, his shouts echoing across the battlements.
At Valdina Palace, a sharp and solemn atmosphere pervaded the silent throne hall.
"What—what is the meaning of all this? Pure speculation!"
The Queen Dowager, Medea, high-ranking officials, and Katzen's full delegation had assembled.
At the center of the gathering, surrounded on all sides, stood Jason.
He appeared bewildered and shaken, having lost every trace of the composure he'd previously displayed.
"This is absurd! How could your investigation be so flawed as to accuse an innocent man?!"
Not long ago, the royal knights investigating the hunting ground incident had identified the culprit as—incredibly—Jason Castullo, Grand Duke of Katzen.
Sessair observed Jason's back with glacial indifference.
Then, at his subtle signal, a royal knight escorted a witness into the hall.
A middle-aged man dressed in Katzen imperial livery knelt and prostrated himself.
"Please, spare my life! My only crime was obeying His Highness the Grand Duke's instructions!"
"What are you babbling about?! I've never seen you before in my life!"
The man with a distinctive streak of white hair lifted his head, staring at Jason with an expression of wounded disbelief.
"What do you mean?! You gave me explicit orders! I went through tremendous trouble smuggling those mercenaries from the Axel Peninsula into Valdina on Your Highness's direct command—and now you stand here pretending not to know me?!"
"Lies! That's complete nonsense—I never—!"
Jason turned desperately toward the Fourth Princess.
"Jason, what were you thinking when you committed such a heinous act?"
Angelique questioned him with an expression of perfectly crafted innocence, as though genuinely interrogating a criminal.
"Did you want the Princess of Valdina dead, hoping to drive our kingdoms into conflict? Or were you attempting to undermine me as delegation leader?"
Jason's face drained of color. He glared at the witness with murderous intensity.
"You! You know perfectly well I'm not the real culprit! Do you not fear divine judgment?!"
Then the court sage intervened calmly:
"Your Highness, you seem to know who the true culprit is. If so, please reveal their identity here and now. The knights stand ready to apprehend them."
"That is..."
At that moment, the Fourth Princess stepped forward and placed her hand over his mouth.
"The evidence is overwhelming. What purpose does denial serve? The more you protest, the more you tarnish Katzen's reputation."
She had long since marked Jason as her enemy.
"Look—examine what you've done to the Princess of Valdina."
She presented dozens of pages filled with fabricated evidence.
Jason, you dared manipulate me? Whatever you desire will never come to pass.
Only then did Jason comprehend what had transpired.
Every piece of"evidence" she displayed was material he'd hidden away to exploit the Fourth Princess's vulnerabilities.
Jason had no inkling that Medea had intervened, redirecting Angelique's arrows toward him instead.
Damn it all! I thought that evidence had vanished! How did they uncover it? How did Angelique discover the truth?
Without counter-evidence, revealing the Fourth Princess as the actual culprit proved far too perilous.
The Fourth Princess—volatile and vicious—is no easy opponent.
He'd originally watched from the shadows precisely because confronting her directly offered no chance of victory.
Jason, caught unprepared in her trap, stood no chance against the Fourth Princess.
"Count Kensington, surely you know the truth! I didn't do this!"
Jason looked around frantically, then fixed his desperate gaze on Count Kensington standing nearby.
Kensington simply stared back in expressionless silence.
Regardless of the Fourth Princess's deplorable conduct, the Grand Duke's downfall here serves Katzen better. His ambitions would only sow chaos.
An unofficial imperial summons to return home had already been issued. The fact that the Grand Duke remained in Valdina meant he sought something here.
Meanwhile, Kensington couldn't suppress his admiration and shock. His eyes flickered toward Medea.
Could the Princess of Valdina truly have orchestrated the downfall of all three targets simultaneously?
Jason felt his sanity fracturing as Count Kensington—whom he'd trusted—turned away.
Escape from this enormous trap proved impossible, and not a single member of Katzen's delegation stepped forward to defend him.
"Grand Duke Castullo, your shamelessness knows no bounds! How dare you show your face before Her Highness?!"
Count Montega's outraged shout made Jason instinctively turn toward Medea.
Does the Princess believe this too? That I tried to harm her? Is that why she's rejected me so cruelly?
"No, Princess—it's all lies!"
Desperation to prove his innocence consumed him.
He'd genuinely wanted to protect her.
He'd been prepared to risk his life rescuing the Princess from the Fourth Princess. He'd searched for her desperately afterward.
Jason hoped that even if he'd started poorly, she would recognize his efforts.
"Princess, surely you don't believe this? You cannot think I intended to harm you..."
Jason gazed at Medea with pleading eyes.
Just trust my words, Princess. Then there's still room for redemption.
But Medea merely looked down at him as though crushing his hopes beneath her heel.
No emotion registered in those eyes. Jason felt utterly lost.
"Grand Duke Castullo, you are remarkably poor at deception."
The eerily calm voice might have conveyed disappointment—or anger. He couldn't determine which.
All Jason understood was that an even thicker wall had risen between them.
Am I truly being cast aside like this, without ever touching her heart?
Medea—the Princess's very existence—seemed to slip through his fingers like sand.
Meanwhile, the Queen Dowager made no effort to disguise her displeasure.
It wasn't the Fourth Princess but the Grand Duke behind this treachery. I misjudged him catastrophically.
The Grand Duke had defended Medea during both the duel and the hunting grounds incident.
Save for being Katzen, I believed his nature just and upright. For a moment, I even considered him a suitable match for Medea.
I never realized a greater monster stood directly before me.
As the Queen Dowager's heart sank, fury rose proportionally.
How can every last one of these Katzen nobles prove so treacherous?
The other Valdinians' expressions mirrored the Queen Dowager's sentiments.
"They say you cannot know a person's heart until you cut them open! You masquerade as righteous, feign good intentions, speak honeyed words—yet all the while you stalked our Princess!"
"Castullo! That sinister cruelty clearly flows from your father's blood! You are Valdina's enemy!"
Jason's true face had been exposed at last.
His heart grew frantic as he sensed the atmosphere's abrupt shift.
"I—I can explain everything! This is a conspiracy by those who wish to frame me! Wise Queen Dowager of Valdina—"
"Grand Duke Castullo."
A heavy voice rang out—one struggling to contain volcanic rage.
"This old woman possesses both eyes and ears. Your explanations are unnecessary."
The Queen Dowager spoke with arctic coldness and turned her back.
"I shall not waste further words. From this day forward, I hope never to lay eyes upon the Grand Duke again."
She had no intention of enduring more excuses as slick as the oil on Jason's polished facade.
If circumstances permitted, I would have him flogged this instant. But my opponent is Katzen's Grand Duke.
Even as Queen Dowager, she could not risk greater catastrophe by indulging her fury.
"Depart Valdina. This palace is far too narrow to shelter the wolf that stalks my granddaughter."
"Your Majesty the Queen Dowager!"
Jason—who had been frantically protesting—froze as though struck by lightning.
How dare she exile me like some common street mongrel?!
"I shall lodge a formal complaint with the Katzen Empire, Grand Duke Castullo. Regardless of Her Majesty's command, you will answer for this incident."
Sessair addressed Jason in a voice devoid of emotion.
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