He could recognize her disheveled outfit from a distance. She desperately organized her clothes while she followed the man. The grand duke watched everything silently.
The next day, the grand duke returned to the castle with the grand duchess. The grand duke did not change much. But the grand duke no longer granted the grand duchess’ request to return to her hometown.
Then the grand duchess conceived a child. Hearing her doctor’s words and counting back, the grand duke discovered that it was a child that must have been born around the time when she first said she wanted to. But perhaps that child was conceived a little earlier.
As her stomach became bigger, the grand duchess grew weaker. Both her body and her nerves became sensitive, making it difficult for even the experienced maids to serve her.
As the childbirth approached, the condition of the grand duchess became even more serious. She didn’t eat anything. As the day went on, her condition worsened.
In the past, the grand duke would have suffered more than anyone else at her change. However, despite hearing the reports of her maids, the grand duke did not respond and asked only briefly about the child.
Everyone left without saying anything more because they were more concerned about her child than his wife.
Regardless of his mother’s health, the child was born safely after ten months. The grand duke shunned the dissuading doctors, and he entered the antenatal chamber and checked on his child.
A blond and blue-eyed child. The grand duke also had blonde hair and blue eyes. The grand duchess looked at the duke, who was staring at the child, and said.
“The child looks just like his father.”
With those words, the grand duke remembered the man he had been contemplating killing a long time ago. The eyes of the man who was glaring at him were also blue.
The grand duchess’ words became a will. She had fallen asleep after speaking those words and never woke up again.
The grand duke looked at his child and pondered. Why did the duchess specifically say that this child’s eyes resembled his?
The grand duke has since taken in another wife. Unlike the first grand duchess, the second grand duchess gave birth to two children in succession. However, the grand duke did not particularly value the children. The only child he cherished was Richard, the son of the first grand duchess.
With the sadness that his mother passed away early, Richard grew up being loved by everyone. Time passed quickly and the grand duke weakened. He decided to hand over the grand duke to his son, Richard.
It was natural for him, the first son, to inherit the grand duchy, and there was no problem.
However, on the day that the authority of the grand duke was temporarily transferred to Richard, a problem arose. For the first time in Hessenguard’s history, an earthquake struck the capital. At the same time, demons appeared everywhere.
The grand duke, who was a wizard, could feel it. The fact that the power to protect Hessenguard was almost gone. He hurriedly went to the forest of Irgis.
Richard’s name was now written on the entrance where his name was written. And he saw a pillar about to collapse.
These pillars were the axes of magic that the first grand duke made for Hessenguard. A magic that is maintained by the magic of the grand dukes from generation to generation and stabilizes the Hessenguard land.
And the pillar brings the magic of the two grand dukes.
Not surprisingly, the first couple were both wizards, who loved each other and hoped that their relationship would be passed on to their descendants. Also, in case of an emergency, instead of relying on only one person, the burden is divided between two people.
The pillars protected the country. So, for a long time, the borders of Hessenguard did not change at all. Hessenguard was a realm protected by magic.
The grand duke lowered his head when he saw the split pillar.
His son had no magical powers. While the bloodline of the Grand Duke of Hessenguard continued, there were some who had little to no magic power, but none were lacking. Besides, the grand duke was a great wizard.
“No, he’s my son.”
His son couldn’t do this. The prince’s eyes gleamed. Richard is my son. It is the fruit of love between himself and the grand duchess. That’s the way it was.
But at this rate, the pillars would break and the Hessenguard would not be maintained.
Of course, there were other children other than Richard. However… The grand duke had no intention of handing over the Hessenguard to the other children.
However, the grand duke feared nothing more than the collapse of the pillar or the destruction of the country.
It was not long before people began assuming that Richard was not his son.
He wondered what he could do. He was a good and capable wizard.
Hessenguard has two pillars which are dependent on the magical powers of the grand duke couple. The grand duke remembered that fact and figured out a way to overcome this situation.
Shortly thereafter, the marriage of Richard Hessenguard took place very hastily.
The new grand duchess did not speak the Hessenguard language well, and is a child of a branch from the grand duke family a long time ago. Still, she was overflowing with magic. Although she came to be the grand duchess of Hessenguard, she was a mere pawn to actually maintain the pillar. That was Richard’s wife, Isabelle.
As soon as the wedding was over, the pillars were no longer on the verge of collapse, and the Hessenguards regained stability.
But the grand duke’s greed did not stop there. He wanted Isabelle’s magic to be Richard’s. It would have been possible if he had tried.
Now, as it is, Richard only needed to live as the grand duke without any problems. He thought it was all over.
But a tragedy struck Hessenguard again when Richard Hessenguard fell in love with Isabelle, who was supposed to die quietly and slowly as a living sacrifice…
But Isabelle loved his younger brother, not Richard, who benefitted from her magical powers.
