Chapter 72

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Translator: Harry Potta
Chapter: 72
Chapter Title: A Father's Place
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Baron Elorde had been exceptionally happy lately.
His family had been utterly ruined, and he had been suffering through agonizing days with no other source of income in sight. But then, his daughter, from whom he had expected nothing, had suddenly become the Grand Duchess.

It was a windfall from the heavens. Baron Elorde’s days were filled with joy at the thought of all the fun he would have with money, using his daughter's name.

However, as the Grand Duchess’s father, he knew he had to maintain a certain level of dignity. His plan was to acquire wealth without being as blatant as he had been in the past. Even before the wedding, people had already begun flocking to him, buying him drinks and fawning over him.

From now on, he wouldn't even have to try; others would offer him riches of their own accord. Baron Elorde believed all he had to do was enjoy it to his heart's content.

But Baron Elorde's rosy future crumbled the day after the wedding.

*Bang, bang!* A rough knocking at the door woke him in the morning, and when he went to see who it was, a man of immense stature was standing in front of his house. Baron Elorde looked up at the man with trembling eyes. He recognized him well—a man whose face was half-covered in burn scars.

“S-Sir Rotan…?”

“Good morning, Baron.”

Rotan greeted him with a deadpan expression. Baron Elorde instinctively shrank back, a chilling sensation creeping up his spine. Rotan was one of Grand Duke Erzet's royal guards.

The four royal guards, handpicked and trained by the Grand Duke himself, obeyed his orders with absolute devotion. They were men mad with a loyalty so fierce they would kill themselves on the spot if he commanded it.

As befitting men who had rolled in the muck of the battlefield, each of the royal guards possessed a cruel disposition. They had once sat Baron Elorde down in a torture chamber and forced him to watch, up close, as they sliced a man apart while he was still alive.

Trapped in that chamber, Baron Elorde had watched for hours as the pitiful victim died. He was then forced to sit in the very chair the tortured man had been tied to. Whenever he recalled that day, his vision would go dark, and his legs would tremble with terror.

The damp, hot feel of blood on his palms, his backside, and his spine. The vile, coppery stench of blood that seemed to hack away at his very lungs.

The memory resurfacing once more, Baron Elorde forced a smile onto his pale, ashen face.

“What brings you here…?”

There was no reason for the Grand Duke’s knight to visit the house Aileen had left. He dreaded the reason for this unexpected visit. His fearful premonition was spot on.

“You’ll have to come with me.”

Rotan seized the baron’s arm, yanked him out of the house, and immediately shoved him into a military vehicle. It was an abduction to an unknown destination, but Baron Elorde couldn’t utter a single word, simply trembling as he was carted away.

Their destination was a ranch, an hour's drive from the capital. There was nothing around the peaceful ranch, which was managed by an old couple and their son. Only endless plains stretched out in every direction.

“You will be staying here from now on.”

A small house attached to the ranch was to be Baron Elorde’s new home.

The command, tantamount to a death sentence, left Baron Elorde frozen, his eyes wide. He wanted to protest, but he was too terrified of Rotan to even part his lips.

Rotan looked down at Baron Elorde and gave him a simple, clear warning.

“Don’t do anything foolish.”

From that day on, Baron Elorde was put to work on the ranch. As he hauled hay and milked cows, he remained in denial. He couldn't believe his new lot in life as a ranch hand.

He couldn't stand the thought of rotting away forever in this place, with no liquor, no women, and no gambling. Baron Elorde desperately searched for a way to escape.

But the old couple and their son watched him constantly, and soldiers stood guard around the ranch, making escape utterly impossible. And so, one day, while trapped and being worked to the bone…

A military vehicle appeared as suddenly as it had the first time and took him away. *Are they taking me to be executed?* Baron Elorde trembled with suspense, but then his eyes widened as he saw a familiar landscape unfolding outside the car window.

He was returning to the capital.

He was even given a clean wash and a respectable new set of clothes. He savored the feeling of being a nobleman again, yet he was plagued with anxiety, wondering what this was all about.

“Have you been well?”

Grand Duke Erzet appeared before him.

“Your-Your Excellency the Grand Duke.”

Baron Elorde broke into a cold sweat as he paid his respects. Dressed in the imperial military uniform, Grand Duke Erzet was, as always, so dangerously beautiful it was unnerving.

The Grand Duke’s red eyes swept lightly over the well-dressed baron. The sensation of that crimson gaze on him was enough to make Baron Elorde’s legs give way, nearly causing him to collapse to the floor.

The Grand Duke smirked at the pathetically trembling baron. He offered no explanation as to why he had suddenly thrown the baron onto a ranch or when he would be let out. He simply stated the baron’s use for the day.

“Today is the day Aileen receives the name of Erzet.”

“Ah! Has it been that long already…?”

He knew seven days had passed since the wedding, but he had been completely unaware that it was the day Aileen would take her husband’s name. He had been too preoccupied with plotting his escape from the ranch to think of anything else.

“On such a joyous day, it is only right for her father to offer his congratulations.”

At the Grand Duke’s words, Baron Elorde nodded frantically in agreement. He followed the Grand Duke, his trembling hands clenched into fists, his eyes fixed on the man's back. Before he knew it, he was at the Imperial Palace.

***

To meet her father at the Imperial Palace. Aileen felt like she was in a dream.

She had been thinking that she needed to visit him before he caused any trouble and give him another stern warning. But she had never imagined he would show up here first.

*Though I suppose His Excellency the Grand Duke must have brought him…*

Aileen glanced at Baron Elorde, who looked as if he might collapse at any moment, then slowly shifted her gaze. When their eyes met, a faint smile touched Cesare’s long-lashed eyes. His legs were so long that he reached her in just a few strides.

The first thing Cesare did was pull Aileen by the waist, tucking her neatly into his embrace. Then, he immediately leaned down and kissed her cheek.

A hushed gasp rippled through the crowd that had gathered around them. No one could tear their eyes away from Cesare, who expressed his affection so freely.

Though their gazes were so intense they almost stung, the man, accustomed to being the center of attention, paid them no mind. He looked down at Aileen and smiled pleasantly.

“My wife has finally arrived.”

Aileen, held tightly in his large embrace and having just been kissed, was startled for a moment, but soon a small, soft smile graced her lips.

The moment she was in his arms, everything felt right. The miserable feeling that had enveloped her just moments ago vanished completely. Her mind was filled with a single thought: as long as she had Cesare, nothing else mattered.

If she could have her way, she would have hidden in his embrace for a long time, but that wasn't possible. Aileen reluctantly pulled away. Pretending to fiddle with her hair, she hid her ears, which had turned slightly red with shyness.

“Thank you for coming to get me.”

After greeting Cesare, she turned to her father. He was staring at her with an incredibly unfamiliar expression, as if wondering if this was really what his daughter looked like.

He had only ever seen her with shaggy bangs and thick glasses, so it was understandable that he would find her dolled-up appearance strange. Aileen thanked her father for coming as well.

Honestly, she had never dreamed he would be here, but she knew well enough not to show it. She faced him with the most composed expression she could manage, as if his attendance had been planned all along.

At that, a flicker of a smile crossed Cesare’s eyes. It was a smile that clearly showed his amusement.

*Is my acting that awkward?*

She thought she was doing her best. As Aileen glanced at him cautiously, Cesare took her hand as if to say, *well done*.

Cesare, who had naturally intertwined their fingers, finally turned his gaze to Duke Parvellini and Ornella. They were the ones who had been utterly ignored until now, as if they didn’t even exist.