Thank You For The Confinement, Grand Duke! - Chapter 74.1

“D*mn it….”

Barca cursed under his breath in a rough voice.

After drinking from the wine glass in his hand, he suddenly swung his arm toward the wall, clearly frustrated by something. The silver wine glass shattered against the wall, crumpling on impact.

“D*mn it!”

He spat out another curse, but the tumult in his chest wouldn’t settle easily.

How much longer would he have to wait? How much more effort would it take to bring Chaperil back? How much longer would he have to leave Chaperil in that filthy bast*rd’s grasp?

“Chaperil…”

He first met her when he was still a teenager, just having ascended to the position of crown prince.

At that time, a woman had already been arranged to marry him as soon as she came of age. She was the youngest daughter of a Duke from a politically powerful family. Moreover, she was the beloved child of a strict Duke, showered with his abundant affection. Perhaps because she had been pampered from a young age, she seemed like the perfect candidate for a wife. Her beauty was unmatched, so much so that most noble ladies couldn’t compare, with graceful and refined behavior. Above all, she always complied with his wishes.

He thought she would be the best spouse. After all, it was only natural.

He would soon become the next Emperor.

Until he became an adult, his brother Enfrise wasn’t appointed to the position of crown prince. And when the time came, at the age of twenty, he could no longer delay and immediately rejected the title of crown prince to remain a Grand Duke.

Barca’s appointment ceremony as Crown prince followed shortly after.

They must have intended it from the start, both his father and brother. Hence, they didn’t even assign an engagement to his brother and gave him the best prospective bride. Thinking about it like that, the woman beside him felt more like a trophy than anything else.

Then, Chaperil appeared before him.

— Hello, Crown Prince. I’m Chaperil of County Rivette.”

From her, he felt something he had never sensed from the other noble ladies around him. Was it a bright light? It felt as if a halo surrounded her.

As he stared at her in a daze, she left him with a soft smile before disappearing. It seemed she felt he wasn’t greeting her.

Barca forgot about his fiancée beside him and chased after Chaperil.

— Lady Rivette!

When she turned to look at him, leisurely exchanging greetings with those around her, he felt something stir within him.

In a way, it felt like the world had flipped upside down.

Until now, what he had known was the world of the stage, and after meeting her, it was as if the real world had finally unfolded before him. The vibrant colors surrounding him began to fade into just one hue.

— Crown Prince?

— I… I apologize for my earlier rudeness. I was lost in thought for a moment.

He couldn’t exactly say that he had been mesmerized by her, so he made up an excuse. Chaperil’s eyes widened in surprise, and then she smiled brightly.

— That’s understandable. It’s kind of you to apologize after coming all this way.

The people around them went silent.

Barca was a person who was sensitive to rudeness directed at him.

How dare the daughter of a mere Count speak to the Crown Prince as if she was superior? If anyone else had addressed him in such a manner, saying something like, ‘I’ll forgive you,’ it would have surely caused a commotion.

But Barca,

— Thank you for your forgiveness. Lady Rivette, if you don’t mind, may I ask you for the next dance?

He invited her to dance.

Everyone around must have sensed it. They could tell what feelings Barca harbored for Chaperil.

And so could Barca’s fiancée.

— Why don’t you look at me like that?

If she had been listening closely to his words, she would have positioned herself accordingly. If she had done so, she would have been the Empress by now.

However, she wanted more than that.

She was a foolish woman. To the Emperor, women were merely tools for bearing children and forging political alliances. Wishing for love was simply preposterous.

How could the daughter of a Duke not understand such basic truths?

“…Hah.”

Now, instead of the face of a woman whose features he could no longer even remember, Chaperil’s face emerged in his mind once more.

Since then, he had sent people out several times. Fearful that the other factions might take notice, he only enlisted the most skilled members of the assassin’s guild and the palace knights. Yet, none of them had returned.

Even Enfrise had ignored the summons to enter the palace, claiming illness and remaining holed up in his mansion.

“Chaperil…”

How much torment was she enduring, being with that dirty bast*rd man all day long? How much suffering would that wretched bast*rd inflict on her?

All of a sudden, the image of her pained face, twisted in agony, flashed in his mind. A beautiful, naked white body glowed softly in the darkness. As a dark-haired man lunged toward her as if intent on devouring that radiant light, Chaperil struggled in torment.