Chapter 13

Chapter 13
## Chapter 13

“I understand you sent for me.”

“Indeed.”

As Lucian stepped into the study, the Grand Duke shifted a pile of files to the edge of his desk.

He sat in silence for a brief window, eventually speaking with a hard-to-read look on his face.

“You’ve stirred up quite a commotion lately. The rumors regarding you and Jordi are on everyone’s lips.”

It was difficult to discern if the statement was meant as a scolding or a backhanded compliment.

Lucian lowered his gaze and offered a disciplined response.

“It was a minor matter. I simply provided a lesson to some staff members who had lost sight of the household hierarchy.”

“And by doing that, you made a fool of your brother. He is not the sort of person to let a slight like that slide. Are you prepared to manage the fallout?”

“There is no fallout to ‘manage.’”

“What do you mean?”

“It was a simple case of enforcing order and following the rules. If I were to shrink away from such basic obligations because I feared a reaction, how could I ever be worthy of the name Valdek? I merely made a decision that would protect the integrity of that name.”

“…Ahem!”

The Grand Duke’s mouth twitched momentarily. He appeared to be fighting back a grin.

Regaining his stoic mask, the Grand Duke ran a hand over his jaw in thought.

“Regardless, Jordi is going to keep targeting you. He has viewed you as an obstacle for a very long time.”

“….”

“If he weren’t so plagued by that obsession regarding his mother’s side of the family, he would have the potential to reach much greater heights. It’s a shame his perspective is stunted by such petty fixations.”

Hearing this, Lucian’s focus sharpened.

The data he had compiled since his soul’s rebirth raced through his thoughts.

‘Come to think of it, my own maternal line was the House of Grimaldi from the Northern territories.’

Even though they held the rank of Duke, that family had collapsed ages ago, surviving in name only. They possessed neither influence nor coin, and because their lineage was so thin, very few of them remained.

In truth, the bloodline had officially ended when the previous patriarch—Lucian’s grandfather on his mother’s side—passed away without a son, leaving only a daughter behind.

However, despite the family’s economic ruin, the Grimaldi name itself remained legendary.

Unlike the various houses that had appeared after the Empire’s birth, the House of Grimaldi was a prehistoric royal dynasty of the North that predated the current regime.

They had been relegated to the rank of dukes after their defeat in the Unification War, but regarding heritage alone, they were more ancient than the Imperial Family themselves.

Because of this, the Grimaldis commanded significant reverence from the nobility despite their lack of practical power. In a high society that worshipped status, a deep history carried massive importance.

The fact that they were too broken to be rivals, combined with the fact that a marital alliance with them could provide instant prestige to another house, likely added to their value.

‘Conversely, Jordi’s maternal line, the Hexen Baronial House, is undeniably born from the merchant class. Their noble lineage only goes back three generations.’

That fact was enough for peers to dismiss them, but the method by which they acquired their status was also a scandal. They had been gifted the title of Baron as a reward for funding enormous military costs during a past coup.

No matter the amount, wealth was still just wealth. Who would actually respect a rank purchased with gold instead of won through legendary feats on the battlefield? Especially when the owners were traders who, until very recently, had been bowing to the very people they now stood beside.

‘Three generations might be long enough to fix one’s social standing, but it isn’t nearly enough to scrub away the reputation of being a simple money-grubber.’

A cynical grin touched Lucian’s mouth.

He had wondered why Jordi was so obsessed with ruining him; now the motive was clear.

Even with the Grand Duke’s blood in his body, the stigma of his mother’s family must have trailed him like a ghost. Even if he masked it, it was clearly a massive insecurity for Jordi.

Meanwhile, the maternal tree of Lucian—the man everyone called a loser—wasn’t just respectable; it was grand.

To Jordi, it must have been infuriating. It was as if a priceless heirloom he craved with his whole soul was being held by an idiot who didn’t even recognize its worth.

‘Well, that doesn’t mean I have any plans to just hand it over.’

Jordi might feel his bitterness was earned, but from Lucian’s view, he had done nothing to deserve such malice. He had no reason to sit and take it; if anything, he had every motivation to strike back.

After clicking his tongue briefly, the Grand Duke gave a heavy sigh and got down to business.

“If Jordi keeps picking fights with you, you have my permission to hit back. However, if this feud goes too far and causes a scandal for the house….”

“I will ensure it stays contained.”

“Don’t interrupt me. If that happens, no matter who started it or who is right, I will back Jordi.”

“Excuse me?”

What was the meaning of this sudden shift?

The Grand Duke wore a chilling smile as he observed the confused Lucian.

“Why the shock? Jordi might be hot-headed and impulsive, but he exerts himself for this family in many capacities. He is not like you, who spent an entire year doing nothing but consuming food and sleeping.”

“….”

“As the patriarch, it is only logical for my favor to lean toward the son who provides value, rather than the one who offers nothing. Do not view this as an injustice.”

It was a blatant display of favoritism, almost shocking coming from a man like Grand Duke Sigmund.

Lucian narrowed his eyes for a second, then, grasping the underlying message, he countered.

“If I am hearing you correctly, you are saying that if I prove more valuable to the family, you will take my side instead.”

“You are observant. If you want your father to support you, develop your own power and bring something to this house. If you plan to stay hidden in the shadows, I cannot go out of my way to shield you.”

Lucian suppressed a dry smile. He believed he understood the Grand Duke’s gambit.

‘He’s trying to light a fire under me to get me moving.’

The threat that he would always side with Jordi was likely a partial bluff. As long as Lucian didn’t retreat back into his isolation, the Grand Duke would likely mediate any clashes with fairness.

The reason he spoke such words was to test Lucian. It was both a prompt and a caution to properly exhibit his talents now that he had re-entered the world.

‘Watching him take such an unusual approach, I assume the battle for the inheritance is starting to take a definite shape.’

It appeared the Grand Duke wanted Lucian to grab this final opening. If he failed to prove his utility now, he wouldn’t even be permitted to join the race for the title.

“You are dismissed. And never forget—if you keep your weapons hidden for too long, they might rot away before you ever have the chance to draw them.”

Seeing that Lucian had taken the point, the Grand Duke signaled for him to go.

However, Lucian didn’t move toward the door. Instead, he spoke up.

“What if I have already secured a victory worthy of this house?”

“What?”

The Grand Duke scowled at the unexpected boast. A victory? When he had only left the estate once in the last seven days?

“Don’t let your desperation turn into empty bragging. Achievement is not something picked up off the ground. If you plan to offer some random gossip you picked up in the city as a major merit….”

“I have uncovered proof that the House of Roglan has been sabotaging our lands. They were preparing to flood our streets with narcotics through the criminal underworld.”

“…!?”

“The evidence is already in my possession. Would you care to examine it?”

Lucian immediately signaled for Hugo to bring in the compiled documentation.

Because Hugo was the individual who had been overseeing the operation, the evidence was exhaustive. Where the production facility was located, how the transport networks were organized, the scheduled launch date for sales, and their methods for dodging patrols.

The Grand Duke, who began the meeting in doubt, could only stare in shock as the proof piled up.

“Bernhardt! That rat actually dared to pull a stunt like this on my own territory!”

Crash!

Grand Duke Sigmund slammed his fist onto the surface as he barked the name of the current Marquis. He was so fuming that a fissure formed in the lapis lazuli desk, a material known to be as tough as tempered steel.

After gasping for breath for a moment, the Grand Duke sank back into his chair, trying to bottle his rage.

“Curse it! My gut tells me to report this to the Emperor this instant and have that stain on the Empire put on trial, but…!”

“It would be a struggle. All the connections were made using the names of trade guilds under his umbrella. If you show this data, he will simply sever ties and let them take the fall.”

“That is exactly the problem! That slippery snake!”

The Marquis had crossed a line, but he wasn’t stupid; he would never put his own signature on the crime. While anyone looking at this file would know the Marquis was the architect, it stayed in the world of theory. It wasn’t quite enough to crush the influence of a Marquis and force a trial.

“…Even so, with this much proof, he will be forced to shut down his pet merchant groups just to look innocent. You have done a fine job.”

The Grand Duke offered praise as he settled down, but his expression stayed dark. He could nick the Marquis, but it felt like a tiny price for the scale of the crime.

Reading the Grand Duke’s frustration, Lucian spoke.

“Are you truly content with just that?”

“How could I be? But if he senses we are coming, he will burn whatever evidence is left. It’s frustrating, but we have to take what we can and wrap this up fast.”

“We simply need to ensure he remains oblivious. No matter how clever the Marquis thinks he is, how could he suspect a thing if House Valdek stays out of it?”

“What are you suggesting?”

“The man running this operation surrendered to me a few days ago. To be more accurate, he is a sellsword who has finally decided where his true benefits lie.”

“…!”

“No matter how paranoid a person is, he won’t suspect the very man carrying out his orders. No, especially in a dirty business like drug running—he would never dream that someone would swap sides.”

Because there was no world where a turncoat was treated with respect.

The man was a commoner, a thug from the slums, and a drug dealer. Even if someone used his intel and then tossed him aside like trash, nobody would complain. In fact, the nobility would find it bizarre if a lord actually compensated such a person.

In that light, the Marquis would view betrayal as a death sentence, and since Hugo didn’t look like the type to commit suicide, he wouldn’t easily doubt him. Even if he did, it would only be after he had been bled completely dry.

“Therefore, there is no requirement for you to intervene personally, Father. If a saboteur causes chaos from the inside, it will inflict massive, unseen damage on the Marquis. If we execute this correctly, we might even find smoking-gun evidence of the Marquis’s personal hand in this, not just his shell companies.”

The Grand Duke went quiet as he processed Lucian’s plan. He seemed to be calculating if the strategy was actually viable.

After a long pause, the Grand Duke spoke with a heavy tone.

“Can that person be relied upon? I don’t know his history, but he’s a man who was willing to peddle poison.”

“It isn’t that I rely on the man himself, but rather the ambition he carries.”

“An ambition?”

“He stated that he wants to become a knight and earn a reputation. He wants to etch his name into the annals of history.”

“An arrogant dream for a street-level criminal.”

“But it is also the kind of dream that a man would chase until he goes mad.”

Lucian knew this because he had once held that very same aspiration.

Hugo would not turn on him. A master who publicly guaranteed a knighthood was a person a man might meet only once in a lifetime. As long as he clung to that goal, he would bleed to keep Lucian safe.

“And if you have miscalculated and the whole thing collapses?”

The Grand Duke’s sharp eyes locked onto him. Lucian replied instantly, without a hint of doubt.

“I will pay with my life.”

“Hmph.”

A grin finally broke across the Grand Duke’s face at that vow. After a moment of reflection, he turned away and spoke.

“Once your health has fully returned, meet me at the training grounds.”

“Pardon?”

“I am going to instruct you in the Lion Heart Sword. You are now officially a contender for the position of next patriarch.”

“…!”