The Male Lead’s Fake Sister - Chapter 53

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Chapter 53

The Duke, Heint Leontine, had experienced turbulent days recently.

There were many reasons.

From the increased number of people in the family to the fact that he had to leave the mansion for inspection soon.

Yesterday, he spent most of his day bowing his head repeatedly in front of the Emperor.

‘I didn’t expect to suddenly deal with so much work at this age.’

The downside of being the Emperor’s right hand was that he couldn’t retire even in his old age.

Fortunately, the Emperor allowed him to succeed his position and step down after he completed this last mission.

Duke Leontine frowned due to the rush of fatigue and recalled the conversation he had with the Emperor.

“Heint, perhaps you are already aware of this, but the Blue has recently become a threat to the aristocracy.”

A privileged class like the aristocrats would be bothered when the commoners, the mere subjects of taxation, were able to rise and stand shoulder-to-shoulder with them.

But the problem wasn’t simply about the nobles’ hostility toward the Blue.

“So far, Blue’s wealth is less than that of a high-ranking aristocrat, but it’s only a matter of time before the position is reversed. Change is inevitable.”

“Then, does Your Majesty want to restrain them?”

“Restrain them. Many nobles have already formed an alliance with the Blue. In this situation, if you come up with a vague containment policy, I’m sure we can widen the gap. Don’t you agree?”

Duke Leontine nodded.

“I know Your Majesty has great insight. But I cannot discern the deep meaning of Your Majesty’s words yet.”

“There’s nothing to discern. It’s as simple as,” said the Emperor.

The Emperor took a small pouch out of the drawer and threw it to Duke Leontine.

“Removing the public enemy.”

When Duke Leontine opened the pouch, it contained a white powder with the scent of magnolia.

“Your Majesty, may I know what this is?”

“It’s a drug called Dark Flower. You will know the effect when you try it yourself. I’ve detected frequent distribution of this drug in the slums recently.”

There was no change in the Emperor’s expression, but Duke Leontine could see the blade that shone eerily through his opponent’s eyes.

A monarch is still a monarch no matter how old he is.

The Emperor, still wearing a mysterious expression on his face, continued slowly.

“Given that the drug was distributed in the slums instead of the wealthy areas, I suppose the perpetrator was a lowborn. They may have started off poorly, but since the drugs are even in my hands, the scale must be quite large by now….”

So if you hit them right on the neck, they will bleed profusely.

Upon hearing the Emperor’s trailed off words, Duke Leontine came to realize his intention.

“….Do you want to teach them a lesson?”

“I’m simply doing what must be done.”

Instead of denying, the Emperor fiddled with his ring bearing the royal insignia.

“You also know that this drug is illegal, right? So you must do the right thing as well.”

Those who held the right to distribute Dark Flower, and even better, the Dark Flower himself, were very easy prey.

First, the business itself was illegal under the law, and no one dared to side with those who commit a felony.

It was to set up a great lesson by giving a harsh punishment. Those who had seen the lesson wouldn’t draw their sword at each other under the Emperor’s nose.

Rather than growling at each other, they would be busy picking up even the smallest debris of Dark Flower that had been destroyed.

Of course, it was the Emperor who benefited most from this.

Not only would he take the biggest share of the Dark Flower remains, but he will also earn peace without meddling between the two growing powers.

The fact that peace would be temporary was not very important to the old Emperor.

Since he planned to end his reign soon enough.

Cough, cough.

After a light cough, the Emperor continued.

“Heint, you know that it’s not very long before I lie in my coffin. I don’t want things to be noisy before that. So I’m asking you for one last favor.”

“If it means that I could be Your Majesty’s aide until the very end, it would be my pleasure to take on your request.”

“You always say something nice to hear.”

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The Emperor smiled brightly and held out an envelope filled with information about the Dark Flower. From distribution methods, usage, and the place where Dark Flower was presumed to be produced.

“Help me do the right thing for the last time.”

The Emperor asked him to find the man who held the distribution rights for the Dark Flower.

It was impossible to decline this mission. Duke Leontine was also aware that it would not be easy to find the right person because it was an undercover assignment from the Emperor.

What the Emperor wanted was to quell the dispute between the Blue and the nobles by eradicating Dark Flower. Because it was harder to find a man among the high-ranking aristocrats, who either joined hands with the Blue or despised the Blue.

So he accepted the Emperor’s order.

He made an excuse to go to the outskirts in order to investigate.

This evening, he left for an investigation. Leaving to carry out the orders issued by the Emperor sounded like something that a hot-blooded young man would like.

‘I don’t think it’s going to be difficult because the information that His Majesty gave me is so detailed.’

Why am I so uneasy?

Feeling a little stuffy and other mixed emotions, Duke Leontine was unable to leave the desk, perhaps he was weighed down by the fact that he had to leave the family as soon as he had a new successor.

‘I’m glad to hear that Tidwell is getting along well with Ravia.’

In fact, he worried about Ravia more than Tidwell.

She was the only one he couldn’t hug or push away.

-I’ll do whatever I want, so please leave me alone. Like you always have.

Upon hearing that, it felt like something was falling apart. It felt like the sins that he had always chosen to ignore finally crept on his back.

Duke Leontine was harsh with Ravia because of the suspicion that Ravia might not be his child. If she were his child, she would have silver hair.

However, then he would have to admit that his beloved wife had an affair.

So Duke Leontine decided to protect his wife and threw his daughter away.

The problem must lie in that child because there’s no way my wife cheated.

He thought all the problems arose because the child did not inherit his silver hair.

However, a very minor change in his mindset had occurred in recent years. Ironically, it happened because of the Dark Flower that Tidwell fed to Duke Leontine in the Velocio Theater.

-My sister is definitely Leontine. Don’t you think so?

Duke Leontine wasn’t aware of it, but Tidwell’s hypnosis has changed his mindset.

Thoughts about the possibility that Ravia might not be his child had tormented him until now. But now he came to believe that Ravia was undoubtedly a Leontine, and there was nothing bothering him anymore.

It was a shame that Ravia did not have silver hair, but more importantly, Ravia is his child and his only daughter.

When Tidwell’s hypnosis cleared the doubt, only then could Duke Leontine see things that he had not noticed before.

The fact that his grown up daughter had drifted away from him.

A tired looking face and a self-deprecating smile. A little hint of resentment.

And emptiness.

While those little doubts had clouded his judgment, his neglected daughter was slowly drifting away from him.

He was afraid of it, so he tried to give her a present.

But looking back, he didn’t even know what his daughter liked.

Fortunately, despite his poor parenting skills, he wasn’t lacking in wealth.

Wouldn’t she at least be delighted by one of the gifts if I bought everything for her?

With that thought, he bought and sent a lot of things that his daughter would like.

How many times had he sent such meaningless gifts already?

The butler couldn’t bear to watch it and gave him a word of advice.

-Your Excellency. My Lady is not as materialistic as you thought she would be.

-Really? Looking at her recent spending, I thought she was buying a lot of things for herself.

It was a silent message not to spend money unnecessarily and buy things to fill the mansion.

Of course, his loyal butler did not forget to add practical advice.

-Pardon this old man for giving you advice, but I think My Lady will prefer something intangible rather than material goods.

-Intangible?

-Please think carefully. Isn’t there something that My Lady always wanted?

As the butler said, there was something like that. It was just a matter of his inability to give it to her.