BL999DP

Chapter 26

Taken to the dungeons, Duke Rubellite's butler was eventually released after enduring half a day of torture.

It wasn't true freedom; rather, it resembled a coerced confession that made logical sense, sparing him from further interrogation.

"I-I-I a-acted o-on my own initiative..."

Struggling to articulate the words, he slumped to the floor.

Circumstances and evidence aligned against him as the culprit. In front of everyone, he confessed to attempting to kill Reina independently.

"Take him away and take appropriate action."

"Yes, Your Grace."

Upon Rostin's command, the knights ushered the butler out of the cell.

Despite his release, he wasn't truly free. Since he had tried to harm a noble, immediate punishment was not an option.

Unsettling as it was, they had to keep him alive until the appropriate penalty could be determined, taking measures to prevent immediate death.

'When she was eight years old, Duke Rubellite dismantled the magical princess. Ten years later, as an adult, he exiled her to the North.'

This narrative aligned with Reina's assertions.

It substantiated the claim that Duke Rubellite found her troublesome, prompting him to dispatch his butler to inflict harm.

'Then the princess was indeed persecuted under the misconception that she had simply awakened her black magic.'

There was no conceivable way she could have cast a curse on House Wintersnow when it was already in ruins. Besides, if she truly embodied the demon king foretold by the Oracle, her first target would have been her father, Duke Rubellite.

That was the kind of demon Rostin had envisioned – a creature devoid of blood or tears.

'Now I understand why she spared her father, why she allowed herself to be abandoned.'

The answer was clear: Why didn't the princess seek revenge after her abandonment?

This had been the lingering question, the missing puzzle piece.

'She's not the demon king of the oracle.'

With this realization, everything fell into place.

Rostin felt remorseful for doubting her in hindsight.

What had the princess done to merit being abandoned by her family and left to endure the harsh northern lands?

Yet, Reina had been the one to bring warmth to Luca, who had known nothing but cold. She even provided Veronica with a new job when she had been idle at home.

It seemed ludicrous that such a person could be labeled a demon king.

After organizing his thoughts, Rostin penned a letter to Duke Rubellite.

He detailed the attempted assassination of the princess and held his butler responsible for the disturbance on the estate. Despite his dislike for the man, he vowed not to let him off the hook.

***

Naturally, Duke Rubellite insisted that he had no knowledge of the situation.

And truly, he didn't. He had instructed to take care of her, but not orchestrate her demise.

However, he couldn't simply dismiss it as ignorance; after all, he was Duke Wintersnow.

Despite being a young duke disinterested in politics and power struggles, operating solely in the north, he was not lacking in power and prestige.