Living a Scheming Marriage with a Mad Villain - Chapter 59

Reus was a genius who had a good family, wonderful parents, superior looks and physical abilities, and on top of that, he was born with natural swordsmanship skills.

So, it was not very surprising that the only young master of the Rochester Duke family was admired by others.

At least, that was true until the Duke and Duchess died in a carriage accident.

The death of his parents was the first hardship in Reus’s life, which had always been rising steeply. It was a big fall, but at that time, Reus was still a clueless child.

His kind aunt, the still-thriving family, and the future were all still there, except for his parents.

One day, when he was slowly recovering his daily life from the shadow over his life,

a boy about his age suddenly appeared before Reus.

His light brown eyes that looked at him had a strangely threatening glow. Anyone could tell that was not the look of a child.

The boy left a strong impression and suddenly said,

“I know who killed your father.”

Reus also knew who killed his parents. Since they died in a carriage accident, it must have been the coachman’s fault for not driving properly.

But so what? Both the coachman and his parents were dead. That meant there was no one to punish or to get a proper apology from.

So the boy’s words did not affect Reus much.

But what if the one to blame was actually still alive?

A voice, strange and full of anger, echoed.

“Emperor Ashelith. He killed your father.”

“If you’re going to say crazy things, just leave.”

As soon as Reus said this, he pushed Theron hard on the shoulder, knocking him down. Normally, he would have handed the boy who snuck into the Duke’s castle to the knights, but he wasn’t in the mood.

Reus turned and ran without direction. Even when out of breath, he did not stop. His heart was beating dangerously fast.

“That can’t be. It’s not possible.”

He wanted to deny it, but it was not just because of running.

Memories and all kinds of questions tangled messily inside him memories he had promised himself to bury.

“No. His Majesty… was my father’s close friend.”

He tried hard not to pay attention to the rising doubts, but the father’s voice, which had become faint after his death, echoed more clearly than ever.

“Besides my family, the person I trust most is, without a doubt, His Majesty the Emperor.”

Then, one by one, voices he did not recognize popped up.

“What’s going on? I heard the Duke and Duchess of Rochester died.”

“Poor son, all alone now…”

“But did you hear? They found the bodies of the Duchess and the coachman, but they never found His Majesty’s body.”

“No, except for one arm, the rest was all eaten by beasts…”

His legs kept running, but the scenery looked like it flowed very slowly as if by magic. The strange gap made his body and soul feel completely out of sync.

He felt nausea rising up his throat, and the heartbeat echoing in his ears made his head feel muffled.

Everything was a mess. But unlike his broken nerves, Reus’s thoughts were still clear.

The sudden accident. His father’s damaged body. The fact that his father was never buried in the family land…

And one memory he promised himself to forget played over again.

The royal knights suddenly came to the Duke’s castle. They told Shanette, pale and exhausted, about the Duke and Duchess’s death.

Shanette collapsed without a sound. But the captain of the guards did not waver and kept telling stories about the carriage accident and the damaged body.

Soon, the coffin lid dropped to the lobby floor with a sharp sound by the royal knights. The captain urged Shanette to check inside.

Shanette fainted, overwhelmed by everything. Then a loud argument broke out between Marquis Levian and the captain, and everything became chaotic.

Shanette couldn’t bear to look, but Reus, watching from afar, saw everything clearly.

The coffin that returned to the Duke’s castle that day was empty. Even the arm they had barely found was burned by the Emperor under the pretext of holding a close friend’s funeral.

But… can they be sure the father’s damaged body was really just the work of beasts?

Did the Emperor hold the funeral to completely burn his father’s remains?

Was there a hidden secret in the carriage accident and the death of his parents?

The endless questions stopped at one.

But why only his father?

At the end of the tangled questions, Reus fell in the lobby. With a heavy sound, the words he refused to admit slipped out.

“He was murdered…”

Why? No matter how much he thought about it, there was no reason.

His father was an excellent man.

Though not fit to be a knight, he was a great strategist, the Emperor’s closest friend, the head of the family, a loving husband, and a proud father.

There was no reason for anyone to murder such a man. Maybe the boy was sent by someone desperate to shake the Rochester family.

So, he shouldn’t listen to some unknown guy’s words.

He tried to believe that, but his wet sobbing didn’t stop. The burning pain in his bones broke his mind apart.

No matter what, he could never go back to before hearing those words. When doubt turned to certainty, Reus’s soul shattered completely.

From that day on, his deceased parents started appearing in his dreams every single day, crying for help.

Whether he slept or not, Reus’s life itself became a nightmare.

In the end, Reus couldn’t hold on for days and went back to the maze garden late at night.

As expected, Theron was there, in the same place they first met. Reus did not avoid his fierce light brown eyes and asked,

“Proof. That the Emperor killed my father…”

But grief welled up from deep inside and blocked his words. Reus swallowed tears with reddened eyes and continued desperately,

“Do you… have proof?”

At that moment, Theron, who was sitting on the floor, suddenly stood up and approached Reus. Then he struck Reus’s chest with his fist in a resentful way.

“Proof? The damn power you have is proof.”

Power? Reus didn’t understand what Theron meant.

Then he remembered the story his father sometimes told in the library attic like a fairy tale.

“The Rochester family has the blessing of the moon goddess.”

His father never explained exactly what it was but said it was a great power to protect what’s precious.

And when Reus was ready, he would tell him the weight of that power. It was a story only between Reus, his father, and his mother.

Theron seemed to firmly believe he had power, but Reus had nothing but that memory.

Still, how did this boy know all this?

Theron handed Reus a piece of paper with clear signs of handling.

It was a letter.

Reus carefully opened it.

[ To my son, Theron.

This is the first time in my life I have ever written a letter to someone. I don’t know where to begin.

At least when you read this letter, I will probably no longer be in this world.

You always wondered what I did. To confess now, I lived my whole life as the Emperor’s shadow.

So most of what I did was stain my hands with blood.

I wanted to be a proud father, but I’m sorry for hurting you this way.

But son, the Emperor gave me an order.

He told me to catch the Duke, who enjoyed all of the Emperor’s favor, alive.

If I catch Rikassen Rochester and make him kneel before the Emperor, we both will surely die, one way or another.

But you, Theron, must survive. The Emperor doesn’t know about your existence.

So… run away and never come back to where we lived.

I’m sorry to leave after saying we’d live together, but this is the best way to save you. I’m really sorry, son.

And I have one last favor to ask before I go.

The Duke has a son. Tell him everything. I have written what to tell him separately, so just deliver it.

No matter what, this sin cannot be repaid, but I want to apologize to the Duke and his son this way.

After that, forget everything. To survive, you must forget.

And never dream of revenge.

The Emperor is not a man but a monster.

P.S. Haven will be your protector. He is the only person your father could trust in life. Please get along well.

I sincerely hope you will be born as a better son than your father in your next life.

Your father, Cain.]

After reading the letter, Reus opened another paper Theron gave him.

It listed the names of those who secretly helped arrest Duke Rikassen, the reasons the Emperor started this, and secrets of the Rochester family Cain heard directly from the Emperor.

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