AFRPR 44

Episode 44

“…Mm.”

“Mmm?”

Duren has lived twice before?

Did he really think I’d believe that?

Glessia glared at Lennox, her eyes full of annoyance.

Her already sharp features—long lips and slanted eyes—looked twice as scary.

“There’s such a thing.”

“‘Such a thing’? There’s nothing you don’t say to me, huh?”

Whack!

Glessia smacked Lennox on the head.

Lennox, hit for telling the truth, silently vowed that one day he’d get his revenge for this.

“D-Duke.”

As he was quietly enduring his headache, a servant hurried over.

“What is it?”

“A letter from the Imperial Palace, sir.”

The kind of news that would make his headache worse.

Lennox frowned as he took the letter—and then his expression changed.

* * *

“Princess, are you busyyy?”

“Yes.”

The middle-aged man’s playful question got a cold, blunt reply.

“My dear princess, no matter how busy you are, you should have lunch with your father sometimes~”

“Next time.”

Surprisingly, the two speaking were the Emperor and Princess Alice.

At Alice’s short answer, the Emperor drooped his eyebrows like a sulking child.

His tone and manner didn’t match the dignified ruler people knew in public.

“Your birthday’s coming up soon. Is there anything you want?”

“I want the Duke of Winterlen to get divorced.”

“Princess, that’s…”

“You always say no to everything!”

When Alice heard about Lennox’s marriage, she was sick in bed for days.

Why her?

Why did Estelle—the woman who humiliated her publicly—get to marry the man she loved?

Nothing could be more insulting.

“Dad, you said the Duke married her because he loved her, right?”

“That’s what I heard.”

At that, Alice’s eyes sparkled.

Recently, she’d heard something interesting from her friends.

“But the truth is, it was just a fake marriage so he could adopt a child. Isn’t that the rumor?”

“What?”

The Emperor had suspected as much himself.

After all, Lennox—a famously antisocial man—had suddenly married out of nowhere.

“That’s why the one-year marriage rule exists, right? To prevent people from adopting with bad intentions! This isn’t right!”

“Well… yes, but there’s no proof.”

In an empire where political marriages for family gain were common, suspicion alone wasn’t enough to accuse someone of a fake marriage.

“Dad, invite the Duke and his wife to my birthday party. If they’re really in love, I’ll be able to tell right away.”

“The Duke of Winterlen isn’t exactly the sociable type…”

“I don’t want any other present! This is my birthday gift! Please?”

Compared to asking for a divorce, this was a much easier request to grant.

So the Emperor sent Lennox a letter, appealing to his sense of duty and honor—hoping for a “yes.”

* * *

When Lennox received the princess’s birthday invitation, he made his decision.

“Prepare to leave for the capital.”

“The capital?”

So suddenly?

Estelle tilted her head at the unexpected news.

“It’s an imperial order. We’re required to attend the princess’s birthday party.”

Everyone knew how much Alice was loved by the Emperor.

The banquet would be a grand event.

But even so, Lennox could have easily found a way to avoid going.

“They want to see if we’re a real couple. Since I pushed so hard for the adoption before the wedding, it’s only natural they’re suspicious.”

It was exactly like in her previous life.

Back then, Lennox had shown up briefly with his contract wife, just enough to be seen.

If the Emperor had any excuse to doubt him, he wouldn’t approve Duren’s adoption.

“So we have to go and act like a normal couple.”

“Yes. Leave it to me.”

Lennox studied her face carefully.

‘She says she’s healthy… but she coughs up blood, gets dizzy walking, and sometimes stops breathing in her sleep.’

He’d been keeping an eye on her ever since the day she claimed she’d only had a nosebleed.

And he’d concluded one thing—

The mandrake medicine hadn’t worked on Estelle.

So Lennox decided that while they were in the capital to prove their marriage, he would also meet the Tower Master.

“Duke? Did I say something wrong?”

“No, nothing. Just do as we planned. The party isn’t for a while yet, but we’ll leave a few days early—pack your things.”

“In the capital, there’ll be kids Duren’s age. He could make lots of friends.”

In her past life, they hadn’t taken Duren along—he wasn’t in any condition to go out.

[Hmph!]

But now, she couldn’t imagine leaving the child behind, even for a few days.

“That would be nice.”

So the Winterlen family’s trip to the capital was decided.

And Estelle thought to herself—

‘I need to meet him.’

The one person who could be a stepping stone in her revenge against Bellonsa.

Someone who could diagnose exactly what was wrong with her—something even mandrake couldn’t cure—and actually heal her.

There was only one such person.

The Tower Master.

* * *

A few days later, in the capital—

The Magic Tower was in chaos.

“Duke, you can’t just barge in without an appointment—”

“Move.”

Ignoring the flustered aide trying to block him, Lennox strode forward.

Bang!

“What the—?”

On a desk piled high with glittering gold coins sat a man, smiling as he carefully polished each one.

He looked to be in his late thirties, and when he saw the uninvited guest, he quickly fixed his expression.

His golden eyes narrowed slightly, and a polite business smile appeared.

“Aren’t you a guest?”

Even with Lennox radiating enough killing intent to make most men collapse, he remained calm.

“If you’re a customer, you’re always welcome. What can I help you with this time?”

“Give the money back.”

“…Huh?”

This was Claude Vanz, the Tower Master who had made the mandrake medicine.

His face instantly twisted in annoyance.

“Duke Winterlen, have you lost your mind?”

“It was a scam, so of course you have to give the money back. You were the one who claimed it could cure any illness.”

“So you’re saying my medicine didn’t work?”

“Yes.”

“….”

“I gave you plenty of time and gold, but you made a mess of the job.”

Shing—

Lennox drew his sword and aimed it at the Tower Master’s neck.

“Duke Winterlen, you’re not seriously—”

Even with the blade grazing his neck, Claude didn’t blink.

“You’re not doing this because you want the money back, are you? My medicine can’t be ineffective. The formula is perfect.”

“….”

“There’s no drug in the world that draws out mandrake’s power better than mine.”

He sounded completely confident.

“It worked—briefly. But she got worse again soon after.”

“Huh. You used it on your wife, right?”

“Yes.”

Claude scratched his cheek, looking surprisingly clueless for someone with a genius reputation.

“My formula’s made strong enough for a Winterlen body. For an ordinary person, it should give them enough energy to wrestle a bear by now.”

“She can barely lift a child who weighs less than 20 kilos.”

“…Hmm.”

Claude thought hard.

I’m a genius—there’s no way I made it wrong.

So the only explanation was—

“You’re lying because you don’t want to pay me, aren’t you?”

At that ridiculous answer, Lennox sheathed his sword.

Physical threats wouldn’t work on Claude.

If he wanted to hurt him, he’d have to go after what he really valued.

Lennox held out his palm.

“Refund.”

“No way!”

“It was defective—refund me double.”

“No, no, absolutely not!”

Claude cried out, pulling the gold coins on the desk toward himself protectively.

Lennox hadn’t even wanted them before, but now—

Pathetic.

Claude’s obsession with money was so extreme it even made Lennox shake his head.

He hadn’t always been like this.

Years ago, while researching near the Gehenna River, Claude had suffered an accident and fallen into a coma.

He was in bed for nearly twenty years.

When he finally woke up, he became completely obsessed with money.