This Villain Is Mine Now

Chapter 92

From this point on, the remaining three were also aware of the story.

Marquis Redwood reported the late Archduke’s rebellion to the Noble Council and stood at the forefront to block his former lord. Thanks to his actions, the rebellion led by Archduke Grant, who had gathered a massive army, ended in vain.

Shawd slammed his fist onto the dining table. “That bastard tried to justify himself by saying that stopping His Grace’s ‘insanity’ was the only way.”

Insanity.

If only it had truly been that.

“I can say this with certainty. His Grace the Archduke had no intention of rebellion at that time. If he truly had, he would never have left his family in the capital.”

The late Archduke had been a man of immense loyalty to the Emperor. When he was captured so easily by Fleang, he was said to have left the words, ‘At least it’s a relief that no rebellion actually took place.’ upon being imprisoned. That statement had been a great shock to Lyle.

“Why… are you telling me this only now?”

Lyle’s voice rose.

“You kept silent when my grandfather died, when my father and I were dragged to the battlefield.”

“No!”

Shawd cut him off with a shout.

“No. Absolutely not. I sent letters numerous times. When I explained the situation to Fleang, he said that if the North acted recklessly, an already complicated situation would only become even more difficult.”

At the time, Shawd had taken Fleang’s words at face value, believing him when he said he was doing his best to clear their lord’s name. He had been reassured by the term ‘insanity’ that Fleang had used.

Even if the worst were to happen, if the incident were recognized as the result of insanity, His Grace’s past loyalty to the imperial family would be taken into account, preventing the most severe consequences.

However, for the people of Pendita, who waited anxiously for the situation to unfold, the news that finally arrived was like a bolt from the blue.

“The North heard nothing until the situation had already been settled. By the time we received word, His Grace… had already been executed, and you both had been sent to the battlefield.”

Many from the North traveled to the capital to explain the situation, but each of them was immediately punished for siding with a traitor.

As the lord of Pendita, Shawd could not easily leave his territory. He endured the situation with blood and tears.

“And the price of enduring it was utterly devastating.”

The imperial envoy who brought the Emperor’s decree announced that most of the Grant family’s assets now belonged to Marquis Redwood. Even Pendita, the very heart of the North where the Archducal Castle stood, was no exception.

Fleang Redwood, who had only been a mere viscount, returned in a grand carriage—just as grand as the title of Marquis that now accompanied him.

“So that’s why you closed the gates of the Archducal Castle.”

At Elaina’s words, Shawd nodded with a pained expression.

“There were too many inconsistencies in the situation back then. Fleang—no, Marquis Redwood’s actions made it impossible to allow him entry into the castle. He is a cunning man. That’s why I sealed the Archducal Castle, leaving everything exactly as it was ten years ago.”

That wasn’t all.

Having experienced firsthand how poorly he was regarded in the North, Marquis Redwood never stepped foot in Pendita again. However, whenever enough time had passed for the matter to be forgotten, he would send veiled threats, demanding that the gates of the Archducal Castle be opened.

The more he did so, the more convinced Shawd became that there was something within the castle that Fleang Redwood was after. Thus, he steadfastly refused.

Shawd continued, his expression firm, “If my suspicions are correct, and Marquis Redwood was involved in what happened ten years ago—”

“Then the evidence must still be in the Archducal Castle.”

“Exactly, Your Grace.”

Lyle, Elaina, and Leo all grew serious at Shawd’s unexpected revelation.

***

“I thought this would just be a light trip before returning to the capital.”

Leo shook his head. A light trip? From the moment they arrived in Pendita and saw Shawd on the verge of breaking into tears, he had sensed that something unusual was bound to happen.

“If what he says is true, then there’s a high possibility that Marquis Redwood was involved in what happened that day.”

“Yeah. I think so too.”

Lyle’s fists clenched. The pieces of the puzzle were falling into place.

“I had thought it was strange back then, too. No matter how much he coveted the title of Archduchess for his daughter, it made no sense for him to propose marriage to someone like me, who had nothing.”

At the time, he had been blinded by his duty to revive his family. But looking back now, it had been an absurd offer.

Diane, the Marquise’s daughter, had been a highly sought-after match, nearly on par with Elaina. If things had not gone awry, entangling her between himself and Elaina, Marquis Redwood could have easily found a more fitting son-in-law.

“What exactly was the Marquis thinking?”

Leo muttered to himself, rubbing his chin. Then he turned around.

“Elaina? What do you think?”

“…Huh?”

“What’s on your mind?”

“Nothing. It’s nothing.”

Elaina dismissed it but then turned to look at Lyle.

After parting ways with Leo and arriving at their room, Elaina locked the door and spoke to Lyle.

“Lyle, the dream that the late Archduke had… it’s bothering me.”

“A dream?”

A glimmer of understanding flashed in Lyle’s eyes after a brief moment of thought. He understood the implication behind her words.

“You mean it’s similar to the dream you had.”

“That’s right. The Propheta Kyst spoke of. The dragon that showed me those visions—this is too similar.”

Similar wasn’t even the right word. A deep, instinctual sense of unease told her that what the late Archduke had experienced was exactly the same as what she had.

Elaina bit her lip.

She was certain that the cause of the dream was the Propheta. The problem was that she had no answer as to why the dragon had done this.

“Propheta warned Kyst. It said you would kill him. It showed him a future where Mabel was engulfed in flames, and the Empire was completely burned to the ground.”

And to her, it had shown the unhappy marriage between Diane and Lyle.

Because she had married Lyle instead, Diane had ended up with Nathan. And through that connection, Nathan had been able to create the sachets that eased Kyst’s suffering.

The visions that Propheta had shown all revolved around Kyst. Until now, she had believed that the dragon had done so out of affection, out of concern for his closest friend who would be left behind after his death.

Perhaps Propheta had foreseen the future to some extent. The reason he had allowed her to read the book in the dragon’s language was likely to enable her to communicate with Kyst.

But if it had shown the late Archduke a future of rebellion…

“Shawd was certain. There was no sign of treason. But that dream—it definitely foretold the future. I struggled with it, too. I can completely understand how His Grace must have felt.”

At first, it might have seemed ridiculous. Something to simply laugh off. But as time passed—one day, then two—the weight of it would begin to suffocate you.

“He’s right. There are too many strange circumstances surrounding the events of ten years ago.”

The false vision from Propheta, the strange actions of Marquis Redwood, who had been expected to be the Archduke’s closest advisor—there were too many unanswered questions.

“We have to go to the Archducal Castle tomorrow.”

Elaina spoke firmly, her expression resolute.

“Marquis Redwood kept ordering the castle gates to be opened even after all these years. But why? He has no reason to enter the Archducal Castle. After all, he is not the Archduke.”

“…Wait.”

Lyle raised his hand. He felt as if he were on the verge of grasping something.

“…The Archduchess.”

At last, a soft sigh escaped him, carrying the weight of realization.

“So that’s why he made that marriage proposal.”

Another puzzle piece had clicked into place. The reason why Marquis Redwood had been so fixated on securing the empty title of Archduchess.

“He needed a way inside. A legitimate reason that Shawd couldn’t refuse.”

If his daughter became the Archduchess, Marquis Redwood would become the Archduke’s father-in-law. With that status, even Shawd wouldn’t be able to deny him entry.

Elaina’s face turned pale as she understood his reasoning.

“I see. So that’s why. That’s why he was so determined to push for that marriage.”

People—including even Elaina—had thought the same way. That Marquis Redwood, as a rising noble, wanted to compensate for what his family lacked. That he sought to make his daughter, Diane, the Archduchess of the prestigious Grant family, even if only in name.

But if that had truly been his reasoning, then why had the Marquis in the “Moonshadow” done nothing while Diane’s marriage fell apart? It had seemed strange at the time, but if Lyle’s theory was correct—if the Marquis’s only goal had been to gain access to the Archducal Castle—

‘Then Marquis Redwood had no reason for Diane to remain married for long at all.’

A shiver ran down Elaina’s spine.

The rebellion from ten years ago. And Diane’s marriage.

Things she had thought were long over were now resurfacing, all connected by the mention of Marquis Redwood’s name.

“Tomorrow, we search the Archducal Castle.”

Lyle’s crimson eyes gleamed with a dangerous light. The savage emotions he thought he had long buried since meeting Elaina began to rise once more.