Chapter – 19
As soon as I returned to the ducal house, it felt like bombs were falling nonstop.
The Academy issue, and now Ppiyakki too.
For a moment, I stood there blankly, staring at the fluffy little back as it flew away.
Then Grandfather cleared his throat once and said,
“Go after it.”
“Yes?”
“Summoned beasts depend greatly on their masters emotionally.”
Grandfather looked straight at me and continued.
“Even if you said it carelessly, it probably hurt its feelings. Go comfort it.”
Right now… did Grandfather just call me the master?
I stared at him in shock.
I had been sure he would be angry, saying I had stolen Melissa’s summoned beast in the end.
How troublesome must I have been before…
Even if Grandfather did not go that far, I never expected him to acknowledge me so easily as Ppiyakki’s master.
And in front of the servants too…
“Ah… um…”
When I hesitated with a surprised face, Grandfather added in a low voice,
“A summoned beast only obeys its master’s orders. Ppiyakki listened to your command, so that makes you its master.”
“……”
“That is all. Do not be trapped by the past and think too deeply about it.”
Grandfather lightly patted my back.
Good heavens.
Did Grandfather just sincerely give me advice about a summoned beast—the symbol of House Prelai?
It felt strangely emotional.
“Alex… please do not curse in front of your summoned beast. They say a beast’s personality follows the summoner.”
“Joshua, if you start giving jewels to a summoned beast like that, you will have to give them forever. Do not spoil it.”
“Melissa, just because Ppiyakki says something does not mean you must listen to everything. You should decide your own matters.”
I had always envied moments like that.
Grandfather, the only real adult in the Prelai family, giving advice to the children about their summoned beasts.
And now that same thing was happening to me.
I felt dazed… and honestly embarrassed.
“No matter what happened, you are my granddaughter. So why are you watching my reaction over your summoned beast?”
“……”
I could not bring myself to say, I may not be your granddaughter.
That was something I truly could not say.
There was no way to prove it anyway.
The truth was, there was no answer from Grandfather that I wanted.
That was the problem.
If he said, You are definitely Hyde’s child, I felt I would drown in guilt.
But if he said, Even if you are not Hyde’s child, it is fine, then I would feel that he too was conscious of that possibility.
In the end, the problem was not people—it was the situation.
There was no right answer for me or the rest of the family.
“And House Prelai is not the Academy. So…”
Grandfather spoke firmly.
“Skipping meals, filling yourself with stimulants, and researching in that miserable state—those days are over.”
I had been secretly planning to take stomach medicine because of the pain, but I coughed immediately.
“Anyway, hurry and go comfort your summoned beast first.”
This whole situation was so embarrassing.
It felt awkward to boldly declare in front of Grandfather that from today onward I was Ppiyakki’s master.
So I decided to only slightly show that I accepted his advice.
“Yes, understood. I will immediately chase after it, heal its tiny wounded heart, and also firmly correct its habit of whining to its master. I have deeply accepted Grandfather’s advice. I have now been reborn as Ppiyakki’s true master.”
“……”
“I wonder if that thing skipped work and came here…”
Then I immediately ran toward my room where Ppiyakki had flown.
At that same time, in Hiten’s office at the imperial palace, an urgent visitor arrived.
“Your Highness!”
It was Rodrigo.
After meeting Kiana, Rodrigo had come straight to Hiten.
“You come far too often.”
Hiten sighed lightly.
“You know I am not receiving visitors because of His Majesty’s illness. Even for me, if you keep coming like this, the palace officials will notice.”
“Just this once!”
Without even greeting properly, Rodrigo sat down in front of Hiten and spoke.
“Please help me this once.”
“……”
“I have a request.”
Hiten looked at Rodrigo coldly, then quickly hid his expression.
Rodrigo did not notice and continued at once.
“I want to marry Kiana Prelai… that young lady.”
Rodrigo was not especially slow at understanding situations.
After speaking only a few words with Kiana, he realized she no longer obsessed over him.
“I wondered what it was. If you want to marry her, then do it.”
Hiten smiled crookedly as if it were nothing.
“Did that young lady not used to adore you?”
“Well, the problem is…”
Rodrigo bit his lower lip and answered gloomily.
“I think her feelings have changed. It was all from childhood, after all.”
“How unfortunate.”
Hiten returned his gaze to the papers he had been reading.
“If Your Highness helps me, it would become easier.”
Rodrigo’s eyes sparkled.
“It is true that I intended to form marriage ties with House Prelai, is it not? The broken engagement with Melissa was entirely one-sided. If Your Highness personally questions them about responsibility…”
“Rodrigo.”
Hiten spoke quietly.
“I believe I already granted one unreasonable request of yours before. I had your older brother sent to the border battles. Was that not enough?”
“But he returned earlier than expected after earning merit there and gained more of Father’s recognition!”
House Furbs chose heirs based on ability.
So Rodrigo, the second son, also wanted to become heir.
But until now, he had always lost to his older brother.
Since he could not compare in personal ability, he tried to raise his value through connections.
“But marriage is different. There is no match in the Empire equal to House Prelai.”
“……”
“At this rate, we must even consider the slim possibility that Kiana might win over her family. Please pressure them into marriage as quickly as possible.”
Hiten stayed silent with an annoyed face.
“Your Highness.”
Sensing the strange mood, Rodrigo lowered his voice.
“We are close friends, are we not? You should grant my request. Compared to what I have done for you, this is hardly anything.”
Hiten narrowed his eyes.
Yes, it was true he had once received Rodrigo’s help.
And afterward, publicly, they had acted as the closest of friends.
“The true power in this palace is Your Highness…”
Rodrigo smiled humbly.
“No matter how great the Prelais are, they cannot refuse Prince Hiten’s proposal. You are the next emperor.”
The emperor had been bedridden with chronic illness for seven years.
Even with the best doctors, his condition had not improved.
Yet he still had not named Hiten as Crown Prince.
The reason was that the body of the Crown Prince, who disappeared six years ago, had never been found.
Still, after the Crown Prince vanished, Hiten had indeed become the real power of the palace.
The emperor was sick, and the empress had secluded herself after the Crown Prince disappeared.
In his youth, the emperor had several consorts for diplomatic reasons, but few children.
He had only three:
The Crown Prince, born of the Empress
Hiten, born of the Third Consort
Princess Seliet, born of the Fifth Consort
Seliet ranked below Hiten in succession, and her mother had died early, leaving her with no support.
She was not even worth guarding against.
Meanwhile, Hiten’s mother, Third Consort Dolores, controlled the political world.
Even so, Hiten deeply hated the fact that he was not Crown Prince.
“Still, I am not the Crown Prince, am I? My beloved younger brother may still be alive.”
Hiten subtly stepped back.
Rodrigo chuckled.
“But are you not already secretly eliminating every young man of the Crown Prince’s age with blue eyes? Blue eyes are rare to begin with, and as you know, eye color cannot be changed.”
“Hm…”
“So do not worry. He surely died when he fell from that cliff.”
Then Rodrigo lowered his voice and whispered,
“Because I pushed him myself.”
It was a way to reassure Hiten while reminding him of his own usefulness.
Hiten quietly stared at Rodrigo.
From the start, he had only used this man because he had been the missing Crown Prince’s closest friend.
There had never been true friendship.
For example, Hiten had not even told him of his decision to destroy House Prelai, which bothered him in many ways.
And he disliked Rodrigo coming like this now, bringing requests while using the past like a threat.
“Very well, Rodrigo.”
So Hiten suddenly smiled warmly and changed his attitude.
“Try your best with Lady Kiana. I will help within reason.”
If Rodrigo could be sent away together with House Prelai, that would be even better.
After all, it would mean one less person who knew the truth.
“You were not formally engaged to Lady Melissa… or rather, the Saintess. So I cannot force a marriage. But if there is no suitable match elsewhere, I can pressure them to consider it positively.”
“That is enough.”
Rodrigo grinned and nodded.
“Did they ever truly care about that discarded youngest granddaughter? Honestly, everyone is just afraid of Duke Prelai, so no one says it…”
His voice lowered further.
“A lady who cannot even summon a beast cannot possibly be a true Prelai.”
He even giggled as if amused.
“Anyone can see she is not of Prelai blood. I do not know why that family keeps such a woman.”
Hiten gave him an empty smile, then immediately wrote a short letter to Duke Prelai.
It contained exactly what he had just mentioned to Rodrigo.
“Anyway, understood.”
Then Hiten handed the letter to Rodrigo for him to see.
“Do your best.”
“Thank you. I will send it to House Prelai first thing tomorrow morning.”
Watching Rodrigo bow deeply in gratitude, Hiten smiled quietly.
And the next morning—
Because of the marriage proposal Rodrigo sent, the Prelai ducal house was turned completely upside down.
