RXN 01

Chapter 1

Shengart was already a living hell. The soldiers guarding the castle were no match for the royal guard, who had grown tough on battlefields from the very beginning. The King’s royal guard, led by Marquess of Crottin, was infamous for its bravery and cruelty, and was called Kerberos. Like Kerberos, the ferocious three-headed dog that guarded the gates of hell, they were mocked for their loyalty that didn’t hesitate to give their lives for their master.

Marquess of Crottin, who inherited his mother’s blue-tinged black hair and black eyes, was a man of great beauty but as cold and cruel as ice. He was the King’s illegitimate son, born between the late King and his beautiful mistress, the marquess’s widow.

Charles Fitzroy.

Fitzroy was the surname used by the King’s illegitimate children. Although the late King had acknowledged him as his own son during his lifetime, he was born from an adulterous relationship, not a legal marriage, so he could not inherit the right to the throne.

The King who ascended the throne after the late King went against the public’s expectations that he would neglect and be wary of his beautiful and talented half-brother, Marquess of Crottin. Instead, he appointed him as the captain of his royal guard. Taking the saying “keep your friends close and your enemies closer” as his motto, he judged that it was more advantageous to keep him close, use him as his limbs, and keep an eye on him rather than distance himself and neglect someone who could become his greatest political enemy at any moment.

Marquess of Crottin, who knew all too well the inherent limitations of being born a bastard, willingly knelt before the King and swore his loyalty, but deep in his heart, he was not truly obedient. Having outstanding talent and ability, he was born as the King’s son, yet he was treated with contempt as a bastard simply because he was not born to the Queen, and could not even inherit the throne. He was filled with resentment over his situation, but Marquess of Crottin hid the dagger of his ambition deep in his heart and lowered himself even more. And he resolved that one day, he would surely make those who had insulted him pay the price.

The young King, who had just ascended the throne, planned to suppress the overly powerful religious authority and strengthen the royal authority by eliminating the wealthy and powerful nobles one by one. The current head of the noble faction was Duke Marcel, who possessed wealth and power rivaling the King through maritime trade. For the young King aiming to restore royal authority, he was like a thorn in his eye.

Shengart was Duke Marcel’s territory. The King summoned the Duke to the palace, then charged him with blasphemy and treason, had him executed on the spot without a trial, and even before the blood that had spilled on the floor could dry, sent the royal guard to occupy Shengart. The soldiers, who had no idea that Duke Marcel had been murdered, opened the castle gates without much suspicion to the royal guard who pretended to be the Duke’s messengers. As soon as they did, Shengart was trampled under the hooves of the royal guard in an instant. True to their nickname, Kerberos the guardian of hell, they showed not a moment’s hesitation as they cut down everyone in the castle, men and women, young and old alike. Duke Marcel’s two grown sons also fought alongside the soldiers and died a heroic death.

> *”Find the Duke’s daughter. Don’t kill her, capture her alive.”*

At Marquess of Crottin’s command, the royal guard searched every corner of the castle, but they could not find the Duke’s daughter.

“We found the Duchess, but it seems the daughter has already fled. We will send a pursuit team shortly.”

Upon receiving the report, Marquess of Crottin’s expression turned grim. Understandably so — he had no intention of keeping Duke Marcel’s sons alive anyway, but the daughter was useful. In order to legally take over all the territories and properties of the House of Marcel, he needed to marry the Duke’s only remaining heir, his daughter.

“And the Duchess?”

“She is in the family chapel.”

Walking slowly toward the back of the hall that his subordinate pointed to, Marquess of Crottin opened the solemn yet ornately carved door. The small, tidy chapel connected to the underground family crypt was as quiet as if it were removed from the scene of slaughter. Approaching the Duchess, who was kneeling before the altar in prayer, Marquess of Crottin calmly knelt and made the sign of the cross.

“Lady Marcel.”

He rose and called her in a low voice. Only after a long moment did the Duchess turn to look at him, her eyes filled with hatred. The beauty that had once been called “The Star of Altenburg” and aroused the admiration of all the knights on the continent still shone brightly. Charles Fitzroy — Marquess of Crottin — had also been one of the young nobles who admired her. But she had turned down countless suitors and remarried Duke Marcel, who was raising his two young sons alone after losing his wife. Many young nobles envied and were jealous of Duke Marcel. Duke Marcel loved her and called her the most brilliant jewel of Shengart, and the daughter she bore him, Roxanne, was also precious to him — so much so that he would have cherished her even if she were in his eyes.

“Where is the Duke?”

“Unfortunately, he has passed away.”

Although she had vaguely expected it, hearing the answer directly from Marquess of Crottin’s lips made her stagger from the shock. Marquess of Crottin reached out to support her, but she brushed him away as if he were something filthy. Despite her behavior, which could have been taken as insulting, Marquess of Crottin merely shrugged his shoulders without showing any particular emotion, and pulled out the King’s decree from his bosom.

> *”His Majesty has commanded that your daughter marry me.”*

“Duke Marcel did not consent to this marriage.”

Of course, Duke Marcel had refused Marquess of Crottin’s proposal. The reason was that Roxanne was still young, but Marquess of Crottin firmly believed that the reason his proposal had been rejected was because he was a bastard. Long ago, when he was still young, he had proposed to Rosalyn, who was then the lady of Altenburg, but the Grand Duke coldly refused Charles’s suit, saying that he could never allow a marriage between the noble and the lowborn. The young Charles, who had fallen into despair, could not help but feel devastated when the lady soon married Duke Marcel, a collateral branch of the royal family. He realized then, before the wall of reality that a Duke Marcel, a collateral branch of the royal family, was of higher status than himself — the King’s own son — that there was no place for a bastard to find footing in aristocratic society.

“Could the opinion of a dead Duke possibly be more important than His Majesty’s command?”

The Duchess bit her lip and glared at Marquess of Crottin, but his face remained calm. For the King, by having his close associate and half-brother Charles inherit the title of Duke Marcel, he could not only bring the most powerful noble faction to his side, but also keep his younger brother content and settled with a suitable reward. There was no reason not to approve this marriage.

“So where is your daughter?”

“That poor child died at your hands.”

“Dead?”

Marquess of Crottin’s eyebrow slightly lifted. Slowly looking around the chapel interior, he walked to the door leading to the catacombs and chuckled, guessing that Roxanne had escaped through the underground passage.

> *”Hah, Rosalyn, Rosalyn, my beautiful Rosalyn.”*

Marquess of Crottin called her name tenderly, as if calling a lover, and clicked his tongue.

“Why did you do something so pointless?”

Snapping his fingers to call the soldiers guarding the chapel door, Marquess of Crottin pointed to the passage leading underground.

“Find Lady Roxanne. If she resists—”

He paused for a moment and met the Duchess’s eyes. The corner of his mouth curled slightly.

> *”You may kill her on the spot.”*

The moment the Marquess’s command fell, the soldiers rushed down the stairs. A look of bewilderment appeared in the Duchess’s eyes.

“If that child dies, you will never get what you want.”

“What I want…”

Marquess of Crottin deliberately spoke slowly and took a step closer to the Duchess.

> *”Since I was born of such lowly birth and have nothing, what I want is rather a lot, wouldn’t you say?”*

“If Roxanne, the sole heiress of the House of Marcel, dies, you won’t be able to claim this wealth either.”

“Ah! If you’re talking about the wealth of the Ducal House, rumored to be richer than His Majesty the King—”

As Marquess of Crottin took another step forward, the Duchess instinctively stepped back, but she bumped into something and stopped.

> *”It doesn’t necessarily have to be young Lady Marcel.”*

Marquess of Crottin stepped closer, his body pressing against the Duchess, who could no longer retreat.

> *”Lady Marcel, already a wealthy widow, is standing right before my eyes, isn’t she?”*

Only then did the Duchess realize what Marquess of Crottin was implying. She was horrified, but he reached out and grasped her chin. The Duchess shook her head in refusal, but he paid no mind and took her lips.

“No!”

The Duchess bit Marquess of Crottin’s tongue in resistance, spreading the metallic taste of blood in his mouth, but he toyed with her as much as he pleased before finally pulling back. The Duchess, barely freed from his grip, glared fiercely at Marquess of Crottin, but he wore a nonchalant smile.

“I will never let you have your way.”

The Duchess pulled out a dagger hidden in her sleeve and tried to stab it into her own throat, but Marquess of Crottin stopped her and knocked the blade to the floor.

> *”God will never forgive you.”*

Having lost her mind and raging with curses, the Duchess picked up the fallen dagger again and lunged at him, but Marquess of Crottin lightly struck the back of her neck, and she lost consciousness and collapsed to the floor. Staring down at the fallen Duchess, Marquess of Crottin muttered quietly in an emotionless voice.

> *”A God who put the shackles of bastardy on me from the moment I was born— I don’t fear such a God anyway.”*

> *”It’s here.”*

When Roxanne came out through the secret passage of the catacombs with Anna, Jacob, who had been pacing anxiously, welcomed them with relief. Jacob was a servant who had accompanied her mother when she married, and he was originally from her maternal family, the Grand Duchy of Altenburg. As a second son of a noble family, he could not inherit the title, but luckily he inherited a small estate from his wealthy father. Having not only a private tutor from a young age but also studying at a university, he caught the eye of the Grand Duke of Altenburg and was working at the palace when he came to Shengart following Lady Rosalyn after her marriage to Duke Marcel. In Shengart, he also earned Duke Marcel’s trust and helped manage the territory’s finances.