章 9: 1.9 A Duke's Fall

Nero could feel the tension in the air and he understood why. The Lanchasters had always taken pride in ruling the first dukedom because it meant they had overpowered the Monrells.

The bad blood between the two clans began when the empire was just beginning to rise and there was a struggle over who would wield such power. There was still a gruesome war going on between the southern empire at the time.

With the Lanchaster's talent for martial arts and strategy, they were naturally bestowed with the highest authority, second only to the imperial family. Monrell, having produced the current Queen Sylvia Monrell-Cruxious, felt betrayed by this decision.

According to Linda, the Monrells have always been greedy so it was no surprise when they stooped so low to spread false rumors about the Lanchasters and eventually blatant disrespect. They shamelessly took the rewards of the sacrifices of the Lanchaster knights that have brought victory home.

The divinities had completely taken interest in Empire Cruxire for winning what had seemed to be a perpetual war. Because of the Monrell's study of religious affinities and spiritual realities, the sacred runes were naturally bestowed to them.

Not long after that was the occurrence of the prophecy. With Monrells' connection to the higher beings, they were the ones enthusiastic about suggesting beheading a seven year old kid for the sake of the empire.

This is when Duchess Mirae had stepped in to save her youngest son. She pleaded to the imperial family to revoke the order. For the rose of the empire, King Henry accepted her desperate pleas with the condition of Nero unable to get out, only to be kept in the Lanchaster estate and for their dukedom to fall in rank.

Of course, Duchess Mirae didn't want such restrictions for her son and went to her husband to speak of this. However their dukedoms fall took a toll on Duke Veron's mentality.

As the late duke's only son, he bore a great deal of responsibility, and under the strain of upholding the dukedom's image, he cracked and went hysterical. Regretful words were said but apologies were never uttered. Especially when their people had lost faith in them and in fear of the fulfillment of the prophecy, around a third of their subjects left.

He blamed Nero for being born and blamed the Duchess for giving birth to a child like him. And now the relationship between the Duke and Duchess was strained.

"Your Highness." The Duchess had also stood up and gave a curt bow to greet the Duke. Nero caught Duke Veron clenching his jaw before proceeding to give a stiff nod. Everyone retracted their stance and tried to be at ease in the suffocating atmosphere.

"I see you still have yet to learn manners." Duke Veron scoffed towards Nero's direction when he had realized that the young lord did not bother to acknowledge his presence and instead continued to leisurely drink the beverage he had in hand.

Nero merely glanced at him and responded with, "And I see you still blame your wife for something that she shouldn't be held accountable with."

There was a pin drop silence as everyone was at a loss for words. Not only were they astounded by the lack of hesitation in Nero's tone, but also because he spoke of something that was a taboo in the estate. They trailed their gaze to the Duke's expression, flinching at the dark look on his face. Those who chose to stay recalled terrifying crashes and screams. They bit their bottom lips, bracing themselves for another traumatic event. Duchess Mirae quickly devised a distraction and took an untouched cup of iced tea.

"D-dear," she stuttered the endearment she hadn't uttered for a decade now. Duke Veron froze, anger died down at the soft voice and Nero was quite concerned for his neck to how fast he spun his head to look at the Duchess. With a forced grin, Duchess Mirae presented the iced tea.

"Look! Nero had invented a new type of beverage. It's delectable and refreshing. Do try some," she rambled before handing over the cup.

The Duke cleared his throat before reaching for the cup, coming to a halt when his fingers brushed against the Duchess. Nero wished he could gouge out his eyes. The two were behaving as if they were in a shoujo manga, which Linda also enjoyed reading.

"Isn't our son brilliant?"

Duke Veron hummed as he took a sip, clearly impressed, but he didn't show it for long.

"Good," he said, nodding and narrowing his eyes at Nero. "You're not as useless as I thought."

The shoulders of the Duchess slumped down, disappointed at the turn of events. The sullen look on his mother made Nero grit his teeth. He was planning to take a step back with how desperate Duchess Mirae was to lighten up the atmosphere but with the way it was going, he might as well continue jabbing to his jerk of a father.

"Coward," he spitted. Before someone could even speak, Nero continued to speak as he calmly reached for a pitcher to refill his cup. "Father, do tell me. Why do you still blame mother?" He tilted his head as he innocently asked.

"Nero-" Duchess Mirae had called out warily but Nero was far too annoyed already.

He had always been a calm person, not one to react immediately but he also wasn't a pushover. He might have been quiet all his life with the demands of his biological parents but that's because they weren't worth making the effort for.

It's been a decade already and yet the Duke still refused to acknowledge the fact that what happened was indeed unfortunate, but not enough to be a reason to continue hurting the person he had vowed to cherish for the rest of his life.

Nero put down his cup and stood up to continue his talk. "I would have understood if it we're just me." He ignored the sharp intake of breath Duchess Mirae had done and kept walking towards the Duke till he was facing him head on.

"Just me." The child of the damning prophecy.

"But not her." Not his mother.