Duke 129

CHAPTER 129

Bonus chapters (1/2)

***

Translator: Rae

The inside of the chapel was pure chaos.

As assassins clashed with those trying to stop them, screams and the clang of weapons rang out everywhere.

Startled nobles scrambled to their feet and fled in panic. With several hundred guests attending the betrothal ceremony, being crushed in the rush was inevitable.

“This way! You can escape through here!”

Nocturne directed the crowd surging toward the entrance to the emergency exit.

As people began splitting off and escaping, he hurried among them, helping anyone who ran into trouble.

He helped those who had been knocked down back to their feet and restrained those causing a scene in their desperation to get out first.

Amid the frantic movement, Nocturne spotted a woman lying unconscious. There was a young child beside her, shaking her and crying so pitifully.

The situation was gravely dangerous, and they could easily be trampled by the fleeing crowd.

He rushed over and lifted the woman into his arms. As he slung the woman over his shoulder and reached for the child, a pair of pale hands reached out first and took hold of the child.

Nocturne’s eyes widened when he recognized who it was.

"Lulien? Why are you here? What about Her Ladyship?”

Lulien answered Nocturne’s question, who appeared surprised, and she lifted the crying child.

"Her Ladyship told me to protect you because she had someone to protect her. And you know I always listen to her. I’ll take the child, let’s go.”

"Alright.”

Nocturne nodded and carried the woman before striding toward the emergency exit.

As Lulien moved to follow with the child in her arms, a gunshot rang out, which made her instinctively turn to look.

Lulien was about to move toward her unconsciously, but the child’s sobs snapped her back to reality.

“Mom… huhu… Mom…”

Biting her lower lip, she forced herself to turn away.

Going to Elysia now would only get in the way, and she had a duty. It was to help people evacuate safely with Nocturne.

‘You have to be safe, Elly.’

Telling herself that the Duke of Deimos was there and everything would be fine, she quickened her pace.

***

As Iker forcefully knocked aside an assassin’s blade, his brow furrowed. The mana he sensed from the bracelet Elysia wore had suddenly intensified.

‘That’s strange.’

Sensing that something had happened to her, he kicked the assassin coming to him in the abdomen, sending him flying aside.

When Iker spun around, he saw Elysia collapsed on the floor. She didn’t move at all, as if turned to stone.

"Elly!”

As he hurried toward her in alarm, Dustin’s sinister voice cut in between them.

"Stand up, Elly.”

The moment Dustin finished speaking, Elysia began to rise.

Iker’s dark brows twitched, and the moment she fully straightened and lifted her head, he realized something was wrong.

Her movements were unnaturally stiff, and her deep violet eyes were clouded with confusion.

As if she didn’t understand why she was acting this way.

Iker’s gaze shifted from the red bracelet on Elysia’s wrist to Dustin, quickly finding the red ring radiating mana.

Deep anger flared in Iker’s golden eyes.

“Did you use a magic artifact on Elly?”

Startled for a moment by Iker’s piercing gaze and overwhelming presence, Dustin twisted one corner of his mouth into a nasty smile.

“That’s right. Guess being a magic swordsman helps you caught on it fast. But tell me, what right do you have to call her Elly?”

Though he could already tell their relationship from the looks and expressions exchanged between them, he asked anyway, seemingly unable to accept it.

And Iker’s reply was more than enough to make him snap.

“Ellie gave me her direct permission. Did you ever receive her permission, Your Highness?”

Meeting that razor-sharp gaze that seemed to see straight through him made a stabbing discomfort shoot up Dustin’s spine, urging him to contort his expression.

As the man before him had said, Elysia had never allowed him to use a nickname. He had simply done so on his own.

Dustin couldn’t accept that Elysia had chosen another man, or accepting that himself was nothing more than an obstacle between them.

“…I still don’t like it.”

Jealousy boiled like magma, churning inside him.

Unable to contain his surging rage, he ground his teeth and looked at Elysia. The Duke of Russet’s order to bring her back quickly had long since vanished from his mind.

The only thing filling his thoughts now was the desire to annihilate the man before him from this world without a trace. 

Dustin’s eyes gleamed ominously.

“Elly, kill Duke Deimos. With your own hands, right now.”

Elysia’s violet eyes shook violently, as if caught in a storm.

Her eyes clearly resisted, yet her body faithfully obeyed his command.

When Alicia raised her gun and aimed it at him, Iker’s golden eyes darkened.

In this situation, with her controlled by the magic artifact, only one option remained for him.

To evade the bullets she fired and sever the bracelet bound around her wrist.

Iker imbued the tip of his sword with magic. There could be no chance of Elysia being hurt while severing the bracelet.

Just as he tightened his grip on the sword and moved toward Elysia, an assassin rushed at him.

Iker spun swiftly and swung his blade, knocking aside the assassin’s thrust.

At that instant, as if on cue, a sharp bang! rang out.

Dustin’s lips curled into a cruel smile. However, the one who screamed in agony was not Iker.

"Ugh!”

The assassin was shot through the chest and collapsed in a spray of blood, which left Dustin frozen, disbelief flooding his eyes.

It was a magic artifact he had tested dozens of times on maids. There was no way it could suddenly malfunction.

‘Then did Ellie make a mistake?’

The thought that her hand might have shaken while resisting the controlling magic vanished the moment he saw the gun aimed at him.

Elysia’s violet eyes, filled with contempt and hatred, were locked on him like blades.

‘What is happening…?’

Dustin completely doubted his own eyes. He could not believe what was happening.

The only saving grace was that the gun aimed at him shifted toward an onrushing assassin.

Even as Elysia and Iker fought the assassins, Dustin stood there stiffly, staring only at her.

‘The magic didn't work? How?’

Still wearing a look of confusion, he turned at the sound of the Duke of Russet’s voice.

“Get a hold of yourself, Your Highness!”

“Duke…?”

"We're running out of time. We need to get out of here immediately. This way.”

Grabbing Dustin’s arm, the Duke of Russet began dragging the confused prince along.

The duke led Dustin to a spot directly in front of the dais.

The Imperial Consort, who had been waiting for them with a nervous look on her face with the escorts, spoke urgently.

"Hurry up, Father. We’re running out of time.”

Placing Dustin beside the Empress, the Duke of Russet glanced back. Only a few assassins remained.

He was well aware of the Duke of Deimos’ swordsmanship, but he had never expected Elysia to fight with a gun.

Scanning the situation swiftly, the Duke of Russet noticed someone and narrowed his eyes.

If his eyes did not deceive him, the one man fighting the assassins was Joseph, the leader of Helios who had betrayed him, and the young man beside him was…

‘Why is Joseph with the  Marquess Camellia’s knight escort?’

His narrowed eyes quickly returned to normal as his thoughts were interrupted.

The Emperor’s voice cut sharply into his ears.

“It seems almost over. Why don’t you give up now, Duke Lasset?”

Surrounded by the Imperial Guard, the Emperor stood with Rashian, hands clasped behind his back, gazing at him calmly.

Meeting the Emperor’s gaze, a strange smile appeared on the Duke of Russet’s lips.

“Do you truly believe you’ve won, Your Majesty?”

“You disagree?”

“I think I have said the game isn’t lost until one leaves the table.”

“Then you may stand up and leave. That’s all one who’s lost every card can do.”

At the Emperor’s taunting remark, the Duke of Russet slowly curled his lips upward.

“What a cold thing to say. I still have one card I haven’t played yet.”

Perhaps because of that chilling smile, the Emperor’s brow furrowed, and the Duke of Russet continued.

"Your Majesty will come to regret in a moment for not having arrested me sooner. No, you may have no time to regret it.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about. If you won’t end this, I will. Imperial Guard, arrest them!”

Having confirmed that all the assassins were dealt with, the Emperor issued his command to the Imperial Guard.

As the Imperial Guard advanced to seize them, the Duke of Russet pulled a magic artifact from his pocket.

Without hesitation, he pressed the blue button on the left side. A magic circle flared beneath their feet, and in an instant they were gone.

They reappeared in a hidden chamber of stone walls, prepared in advance by Duke Lasset.

“Farewell.”

Stretching his smile wider, Duke Lasset moved his hand to the red button on the right. The trigger for the bombs buried beneath the chapel.

The moment he pressed it, the room shook and a muffled roar echoed through the stone.

Convinced of his success, the smile on the Duke of Russet’s lips deepened.