ETCHY 25

Chapter 25

“Erich said that?”

Crescentia asked back, bewildered by Sazar’s explanation. She couldn’t understand why he was finding fault with Anton.

Anton had a strong conviction as a knight. He came from the Drago family, which had produced royal knights for generations.

Since the beginning of the Lodovini dynasty, the Drago family had stood beside the throne.

That was why Anton carried the pride of being a royal knight. It was also why he had willingly followed Crescentia to the Empire, even though he would have to spend the rest of his life there.

To protect the princess whom Regina loved, until the very end.

“Anton, you choose. What do you want to do?”

As Anton’s master, Crescentia wanted to give him the treatment he deserved. So rather than deciding on her own, she gave him a choice.

“I…”

Anton grasped the hilt of the sword at his waist, conflicted. He stared intently at Crescentia’s door, then spoke as if he had made a firm decision.

“I want to always stand by Your Highness’s side. Day and night.”

“Then that’s what we’ll do.”

Crescentia answered cleanly and spoke to Sazar.

“You heard him, Sazar? I’ll let my escort knight do as he wishes. Add more personnel from the Peter Knights. Anton’s duties will remain the same.”

“Understood.”

Sazar bowed deeply to the princess. Crescentia looked at the courteous adjutant for a moment, then asked in a tense voice.

“Is the Grand Duke returning to the residence tonight?”

“Ah? Yes, he will be. He only sent me ahead for this matter. He should be leaving the palace in about an hour.”

Crescentia nodded in relief at Sazar’s answer. She thought that today, of all days, she needed to have a conversation with him.

—

* * *

—

The sound of dozens of chairs scraping back rang out, and the nobles of the Senate, seated around the oval table, rose simultaneously.

The nobles left the meeting room, one by one offering silent bows to the wizened elder seated at the head of the table.

The elder, with his graying hair combed back without a strand out of place, bore the marks of time on his face. Yet his upright posture and the sharp gaze with which he reviewed documents remained vigorous.

“Peter Grand Duke, a moment.”

When Tobias Zander Marquis called out to the man across the table, the assembly fell silent. The bustling atmosphere after the meeting instantly grew heavy.

“What business do you have?”

“Heh heh, why so tense? I just wanted a word among family.”

As Zander Marquis laughed heartily, the nobles laughed along as if in agreement. But even so, they moved busily. To escape the uncomfortable situation as quickly as possible.

The Senate—the council that determined the Empire’s major policies.

Only one representative per family could attend the Senate. But there was one exception: the Peter family.

The Peter family, with its long history, had prospered by branching out over the generations. Thus there were several collateral houses that originated from Peter.

The Zander March family was among the most prominent of these.

Therefore, having Tobias Zander Marquis and the Peter Grand Duke together in the Senate violated the Senate’s principles.

But they could neither expel Tobias Zander Marquis, who had served as the head of the Senate for decades, nor refuse Erich von Peter Grand Duke.

And so, unprecedented in Imperial history, the Peter family came to have two representatives in the Senate.

Some nobles worried that power would become too concentrated in Peter. But that was merely an unfounded concern.

Because Tobias Zander Marquis looked unfavorably upon the Peter Grand Duke, who was from Ezatz.

“How is your married life?”

That was why Erich could not take the Marquis’s question as a simple greeting. It was obvious that he was once again looking for something to interfere with or meddle in.

“I say this out of concern for the Grand Duke. It would be best to produce an heir as soon as possible.”

Just as expected.

Erich, who had been silently staring at the Marquis, let out a small scoff. He glared at the old man spouting impertinent nonsense with icy eyes.

Even now, some of the collateral branch refused to acknowledge Erich as the Peter Grand Duke. And Zander Marquis was the one fostering that atmosphere.

Erich had not forgotten.

What Zander Marquis had said just before he was to inherit the Grand Ducal title.

Zander Marquis had told Erich that since the previous Grand Duke had no legitimate heir, they had no choice but to acknowledge him. So he had better not delude himself into thinking the Peter clan would serve him with their whole hearts.

At the time, Erich had dismissed Zander Marquis’s drivel as noise.

But his words proved true over time. And in a most annoying way.

Some of the collateral houses sided with the conservatives and grumbled against reform, putting the brakes on Erich’s endeavors.

Not out of conviction. Purely to block Erich’s success. They didn’t want to see history written where Ezatz raised the Grand Ducal house, so they pulled that kind of stunt.

To them, Erich’s origins seemed more important than the rise or fall of the family.

How absurd. What great right did a mere collateral branch have to stake territorial claims over the Peter family? If Erich was a bastard, they were nothing but offshoots of the direct line.

“An heir.”

Erich replied with weary indifference, feeling thoroughly sick of it.

“You must be getting old, Marquis. Worrying about things that needn’t concern you.”

“Heh heh, perhaps so.”

Zander Marquis stroked the beard on his chin and chuckled. But Erich watched him with an expressionless face. Even breathing the same air in the same space as the Marquis was repulsive.

If Janings Marquis was an old weasel, Zander Marquis was an old fox.

“If you’re done, I’ll take my leave.”

Erich cut the conversation short and headed for the door. Just as he was about to pass the Marquis and leave—

“How long do you think we will tolerate a bastard Grand Duke?”

Zander Marquis’s hoarse voice stopped Erich in his tracks.

“Be grateful you’ve married the princess. It’s a chance to mix that filthy blood with royalty.”

Erich, who had stopped walking, clenched his fist as he listened to Zander Marquis’s outrageous words. As he curled his hand with enough force for his nails to dig into his palm, the Marquis kept chattering on without pause.

“You understand, don’t you? Produce an heir quickly. Restore the dignity of the Peter family, tarnished by a bastard’s blood. If you wish to continue receiving the collateral branches’ support for the Grand Duke’s reform projects.”

“…Since when was I a stud?”

Erich, who had been clenching his jaw and pulling his chin tight, narrowed his eyes. He shot Zander Marquis a fierce glare.

“Stop here. If you say such things again, whether it’s the Senate or the collateral branches—I’ll feel like smashing them with my own hands.”

“This old man is merely offering advice…”

“Advice, you say. Then shall I offer you some advice as well?”

Erich let out a snort. He smiled a chilling smile and spoke sharply.

“If you want to die of old age, keep your nose out of other people’s business. I’d hate to see you meet an untimely end.”

Erich raised his hand and slowly drew a line across his throat in a slitting gesture. At his “advice,” Zander Marquis’s Adam’s apple bobbed up and down.

“Wh-what a joke. Heh heh…”

An awkward laugh escaped the old man’s lips. Erich, who had instantly changed his expression to a grim one, leisurely exited the meeting room.

‘Bastard.’

He was sick of it.

That damned background.

The bastard label, the Ezatz tag.

Even after achieving reform, the old men of the family still saw Erich as Ezatz. At this point, he was curious to see how long this would continue.

Well, he was curious.

Just how far did he have to go for them to acknowledge him.

‘Will they still spout that garbage even after I produce an heir with the princess?’

Erich’s pace, walking down the corridor on long legs, gradually slowed. He tousled his neatly combed black hair and turned his head.

Through the corridor window, he could see the garden tinged with autumn colors. It was a day of good autumn sunlight and clear air.

And yet, Erich’s heart was filled only with thick gray clouds. As if it might rain at any moment.