HRNGDS 84

~Chapter 84~

Ivelina knew Kassen wasn’t lacking in “reason” to keep Delphina around—he just wanted to see her.

Gritting her teeth, Ivelina said,

“I don’t care what feelings you have or who you cheat with. You just have to become the Duke of Fuat.”

It wasn’t a surprising statement, so Kassen only shrugged. He already knew Ivelina didn’t love him.

Ivelina thought,
Once I’m Duchess of Fuat, I can slowly pressure the North again.
She wouldn’t have to watch Delphina acting so arrogant anymore.

Kassen replied casually,

“Yeah, Ivelina, don’t worry. Like you said, I’ll be Duke.”

“You haven’t forgotten our deal, right?”

“Don’t worry. I’ll make you Duchess. But more importantly…”

Kassen’s eyes glinted slyly.

“You don’t actually like me, right? If you want, you can take someone else as a lover—as long as it helps us.”

“Hm…”

Interest flashed across Ivelina’s face. Kassen continued with his arms crossed.

“To achieve our goals, we need to take down the North. But we don’t have to be in love to do that.”

“That’s true.”

“You can have a lover you actually like.”

Ivelina gave a short, mocking laugh.

“Ha, Kassen. You think I don’t know what you’re planning? You’re just trying to avoid officially recognizing me as Duchess.”

“…”

“If I just follow along, you’ll take everything you want and then accuse me of cheating to throw me out. You think I’m stupid enough to let that happen?”

Her eyes flashed dangerously. She understood why he was playing word games.

“You’d better do this properly.”

“Ivelina?”

“If you don’t officially acknowledge me as your partner during the succession ceremony, I’ll push Delphina right off the stage.”

The succession ceremony was held in the tower. As Kassen’s fiancée, Ivelina’s place was right beside him.

And as her direct family, Delphina would likely be standing nearby.
If Ivelina really wanted to, it would be easy to do as she threatened.

Kassen’s face hardened. He knew she was the type to carry out her threats.

“You know me well—we’re the same kind of people.”

People who would do anything to reach their goals.

Kassen was ready to kill his own younger brother to become Duke, and Ivelina wouldn’t stand by and watch Delphina be happy.

Kassen smirked.

“Do whatever you want, Ivelina. I don’t know if it’ll change my mind, but you know the more recklessly you act, the more trouble you’ll cause for yourself, right?”

“What?”

“I’m saying don’t act rashly.”

Kassen met her gaze, still provoking her despite knowing she’d do anything to get what she wanted.

If Delphina didn’t move as he wished, then she was useless to him too.

There’s no way I’ll watch her live happily next to the Northern Grand Duke.

He thought this with a cold smile.

There was someone eavesdropping on their conversation—Pepper, Jerian’s subordinate and Delphina’s close friend.

As the saying goes: “Birds hear the words of day, mice hear the words of night!” Pepper took pride in being Delphina’s perfect spy.

Pepper clicked his beak in disgust at Kassen’s slimy demeanor.

‘Wow, that guy is truly hopeless trash.’

The advantage of being a bird? Being able to openly insult people without them understanding.

Pepper shook his head as if trying to shake the filth out of his ears.
He was angry at Ivelina’s plan to threaten Delphina, and shivered at Kassen’s move to provoke her further.

‘Idiots—they don’t know I’m listening! I’ll protect Delphina.’

Pepper felt glad he’d overheard the plot.

‘I’m amazing—spying without getting caught.’

Even if they knew a bird was listening, normal people wouldn’t care. They wouldn’t imagine the bird could understand and repeat their words.

‘But I’m Delphina’s extraordinary friend! I can deliver their words, and my amazing Delphina will understand me, hmph.’

Feeling proud, Pepper’s thoughts drifted—he wasn’t the type to stay focused for long.

That rice cake Delphina gave me the other day was delicious.

He was a special bird—able to eat as much of Delphina’s food as he wanted.
The more he ate, the more his vocabulary and intelligence grew.

Lately, after eating even more since Delphina’s arrival at the Fuat estate, his body had begun to change.
His wings tingled, and he felt larger.
A hot energy burned inside him.

‘Maybe I, Pepper, am actually the legendary phoenix?’

The Fuat family was said to have started long ago in the North, protected by a phoenix. Pepper had heard he might be the family’s divine beast—but with no powers, Kassen had treated him harshly.

He remembered Kassen’s words when discarding him:

“Useless bird—better off with someone just as useless.”

Pepper scoffed. He should have made Kassen’s bald spot even bigger.

Still, he didn’t mind. He knew Kassen would soon regret it.

Without thinking further, Pepper spread his wings and flew off—he needed to tell Delphina about the plot.

Delphina widened her eyes when she saw Pepper—more specifically, at the information he brought.

I knew Ivelina’s personality was bad, but this is worse than I thought.

She had expected Ivelina to threaten her—her jealousy had always been extreme—but hearing an actual plan was different.

She really hates me enough to kill me. And Kassen provoked her on purpose.

Once again, Delphina confirmed that Kassen was trash. Seeing her happy with Elcayan, he was ready to hurt her if she didn’t come to him by the succession ceremony.

Delphina hugged Pepper and looked up at the system window above his head.

<Pepper loves Delphina’s food! He is consuming large amounts of food blessed by the god Frad. Soon, he will be ready to become the legendary phoenix. Tip: Feed Pepper well. Riding on a phoenix’s back is a privilege of the god’s apostle. With his affection for Delphina at 100, Pepper will be very cooperative.>