I Didn’t Tame The Beastly Duke! - Chapter 103:
Because the duchess arrived late at night, the maids had to shift once more. It had been predicted when the duke and his wife attended a late-night banquet.
While Edna was being made to run around by the head of maids, Edna was cursing Celia inwardly. Bedtime was pushed back for a long time as a result of this.
Edna worked until several o’clock in the morning when Celia was at a party for a long time, but that was then, and when she got into trouble, it was a different set of rules.
The head of maid allowed her to skip the morning schedule and return to her room. This was something she hadn’t seen in other aristocratic families, but she didn’t think much of it.
The maids had to move again because of the duchess arriving late at night. It was already foreseen at the time when the duke and his wife attended a late-night banquet.
‘I have to sleep in until morning!’
There was only one advantage over her previous visit to the capital. She was able to make use of a single room because there was not other maid who was willing to share a room with her.
Bringing men into the room was still prohibited, and the room was overly cramped, but she liked the part about being alone.
Edna, who had pulled her blanket over her head and attempted to sleep, frowned at the sound of knocking on the window. Do birds fly through the window?
‘This is not the time! Whatever it is, get out of here quickly!’
Even though she was holding on with both ears plugged with a pillow, the opponent didn’t seem to give up. Edna, who was only half awake, mistook it for a bird.
Even the most dim-witted bird would not risk its life by trying to fly through a pane of glass in the middle of the night.
‘Who could it be?’
Edna got up from her seat, a look of disapproval plastered across her face, and pulled back the curtains on the window in her room. Billy positioned himself so that he was squatting in front of the window in her room on the first floor.
Edna quickly opened the window and allowed Billy to come inside as soon as she saw the figure outside with his hood pulled up to his head.
“What’s going on at this hour?”
“Edna. I witnessed something absurd. It’s a real thing.”
“The last time was also absurd, but it was amazing.”
It was absurd, but Joel’s messenger had paid for the information. It also gave a large sum of money.
“This one is real. That’s really great!”
Billy seemed to be trying to catch his breath as he paced around the room, unable to contain his excitement as he said this. Billy stopped Edna when she tried to turn on the light in the room. If she did it, someone might notice that he was there.
“Do you want some water?”
“No. I’m fine.”
Billy looked at Edna as he put his hand out to her, but she turned it down. Because it was dark, Edna couldn’t tell what expression Billy was making.
She wondered if anyone would peer through the curtains, which made her even more concerned.
‘It would be better if the moonlight came in.’
“Edna, listen up. I saw Prince Michael’s biological father being dragged in.”
“His Majesty is the father of His Highness Prince Michael.”
When Edna replied as if to say something, Billy’s voice rose slightly.
“I mean! His Highness Michael is not actually the son of His Majesty the Emperor!”
“What?! That’s crazy!”
Edna’s surprise caused her to smack Billy on the shoulder, and this only served to further shock her. Lowering her voice so that the person next to her could hear, she said,
“Can you confirm that?”
“I heard that the person I serve is carrying Prince Michael’s biological father? I remembered everything about moving it to a warehouse. Here……”
Without any hesitation, Edna took the neatly folded piece of paper that he offered her and held it out to her.
“Is this the map?”
“Yes.”
Edna eagerly opened the map as soon as she got it and wanted to look inside. But she was afraid that turning on the light would aggravate Billy.
“Is this enough for now? It’s extremely dangerous for me if this gets out. I’ll die if you don’t get me out of the duchy.”
“Thi-This is enough! With such valuable information, Your Highness the Second Prince will undoubtedly make an excellent prize!”
“Isn’t it helpful since Prince Phil has been removed from his position as prince?”
Billy asked if he was completely incredulous. Edna quickly spoke to him while hiding the map in her arms.
“Even if we can’t do it, he will give us a large sum of money! Then we can leave the duchy and run away and live anywhere!”
The truth was she was planning to take the money and flee the duchy on her own, but Edna intervened. Billy remained silent for a brief moment.
“Wh-What’s the problem?”
“The reason I came so quickly is because I’m going to follow him out of town for a while. If not, I’ll be out of here for the next five days.”
“But? Oh, no! That’s not it at all…… You can come back safely, right?”
Edna, who had a swollen heart to flee the capital over this, was in a buoyant mood. She wished that Billy was doing well without her. She’d be able to flee more easily if Billy wasn’t bothering her.
“I’ll be right back, even for you.”
Billy uttered these words while he was embracing Edna very tightly. Even if she wanted to kiss him before she left, she seemed to have given up because she was in the dark.
He left through the same window that he had entered the room through earlier.
When Billy left, the wind blew in through the open window. Edna quaked in front of the swaying curtain and pulled out the map hidden on her chest.
‘Oh my god…… Billy, you are awesome! It’s crazy!’
Even though he was her lover and they would never see each other again after this night, she felt a genuine love for Billy at this point.
✦ ✦ ✦
The abilities possessed by the emperor, the princes, and the princess were acknowledged by the priest. He didn’t even specify that it was a gift from God; rather, he referred to it as “divine power.”
So Michael asked the priest to examine the stone.
It was for the simple reason that the priest would be the first to notice if it wasn’t a stone but rather a clue to divine power. He obtained a saintess’ relic in order to summon them from the temple in order to appraise it.
Of course, he did not meet as a prince.
Even when he went to the mansion that was located outside the imperial palace and met the priest, he did not speak to the priest directly but instead listened to his aide have a conversation with the priest from another room.
The black stones in the jewellery box went unnoticed by the priest.
To his surprise, however, an unanticipated event transpired when he held the stone in his hand in order to gauge the amount of energy it contained. The chunk of stone wriggled as if it were alive.
“Argh!”
The priest was taken aback and dropped it, but the aide caught it just in time before it hit the ground and said it was something precious. The priest repeatedly apologised and inspected it.
“I can sense some mysterious power, but I’m not sure what it is……”
If the priest hadn’t been able to sense the presence of divine energy, he might have thought that it was a piece of a monster’s bone. However, the stone moved only when the priest touched it.
The priest was sent back, and the stone returned to Michael’s grasp.
“What on earth could it possibly be, Your Highness?”
Michael did not reply when one of his entourage members asked him a question in a cautious manner. He couldn’t understand why the emperor vomited this stone.
‘So this is……’
It was inside the body of the emperor, and since he spits it out, does that mean that he can no longer use his power?
Having come to a conclusion, Michael acted quickly.
He put the stone in his mouth and swallowed it. Although it was small, it was about the size of a quail egg, so he thought it wouldn’t be easy to swallow.
But as soon as it entered his mouth and passed down through his throat, it fell down his esophagus gently, as if it had lost its hard form.
“Your Highness! What are you doing?”
The assistants started running away in shock, but Michael stopped them with the palm of his hand.He thought he’d swallowed a stone, but when it moved down his throat and into his stomach, it felt more like he had swallowed something soft.
The heat spreading into his stomach was far from normal.
Michael burst out laughing maniacally when he realised that what he had done was the right thing. This is the power he has been longing for!
‘What is mine? Am I also the power of purification because I swallowed the power of the emperor?’
However, it did not appear to be the same as the emperor. Although it is a remote possibility, the Emperor may view him with suspicion.
Until now, no one in the imperial family possessed the same power. So……
‘I don’t care what it is as long as it is powerful! If it’s powerful enough to make me the conqueror of this continent!’
It felt as though the warm power was swallowing him up to his chest and spreading through both of his arms. One of his assistants managed to get away as flames shot out of his hands like flamethrowers, but another one was struck.
“Argh!”
“Y-Your Highness!”
The shocked knights approached Michael and put out the fire that was on his body, but Michael did not give a look. The red flame in his palm was more important to him.
“Did you just see it? I mean, did you see the flame coming from my palm?”
The agitated tone of Michael’s voice caused his assistants to look perplexed and nod their heads. Despite their unyielding reaction, Michael burst out into fits of laughter.
“Finally! I finally got my power!”
It was just a mistake due to lack of practice. As Michael rekindled the fire in his palms, his entourage began to retreat in all directions.
The red flame blazed up and moved according to his will.
“Your Highness, you are amazing! How can this be……”
Michael’s eyes shone brightly as he looked at him. They may not have been aware of the context, but they were well aware that he had stolen the Emperor’s power by using Penina Flower powder.
‘Should I kill him?’
He paused for a moment, but now was not the time. There will be no need to kill the loyal ones if he doesn’t know who his enemy is in relation to his real father.
“Finally, my power came out. I will notify His Majesty at the appropriate time.”
His entourage’s eyes lit up with excitement, completely oblivious to the fact that Michael had just attempted to kill them. In every way, Michael was superior to the other princes.
For one thing, because he didn’t inherit any power from the imperial family, he couldn’t be appointed crown prince, but now that he did, the emperor would reconsider.
“His Majesty will also be very pleased with this.”
Would he do it even if he knew his ability was gone and his son possessed it?
Michael returned a meaningful smile to his entourage.
“My world will come soon.”
Michael had a fleeting thought of a note with his father’s name on it, but he believed what he said. There was no one who could be his opponent if he wielded such power.