The Voiceless Duchess - Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Translator: Yonnee

—

Lohengrin furrowed her brow. This place was the rear of the Nordvant manor, just across the road, and beyond a small forest lay the eternal resting place of the departed members of the Valdrant Imperial Family. It was a place not easily accessible, where not even a single ant seemed to pass through.

Moreover, just a while ago, she had certainly used magic to erase her presence, so why…

Her thoughts couldn’t continue.

The man’s shadow drew even closer. A sweet and heavy fragrance reached her first, before he bowed down and leaned his face closer under the hood.

Neatly combed brown hair, prominent cheekbones and graceful eyebrows, long eyelashes and seductive glimmering golden eyes, a teardrop mark nestled at the corner of his right eye.

The man stared directly into Lohengrin’s bewildered eyes, and she hurriedly lowered her gaze to his collar.

A straight and high bridge of the nose, straight lips forming a thin line, a chiseled jaw…

It was a clean and tidy appearance, a face so captivating that it could steal the hearts of all women and charm even men.

Without realizing it, Lohengrin instinctively took a step back, and her back collided with the wall.

She knew whose face it was. There was no way not to know. It was also the person who had crossed her mind just a moment ago.

Bastard of Wynbergen.

Baron of Ansgar.

Carlisle Ansgar was the illegitimate child of the Duke of Leinmond.

Behind him, numerous negative monikers clung like shadows. Wynbergen’s disgrace, Bern’s libertine, Bertholdt’s dog…

Even as lived in the northernmost part of the country, such a rumor reached Lohengrin’s ears without fail— that Carlisle Ansgar was different with the women he met in the morning, the women he met in the afternoon, and the women he met at night.

Despite his sordid actions, Carlisle Ansgar was not expelled from Bern’s social circles. It was because he had the backing of First Imperial Prince Bertholdt and Duke Leinmond.

Originally, bastard children were treated as if they didn’t exist, but the duke provided him with treatment akin to a legitimate son.

This was evident in the way that he had been assigned a place to stay right next to the chambers of the household’s legitimate heir, Julien, in House Wynbergen main residence—Hoenvalde.

Countless speculations circulated. Some said that his birth mother was deeply loved, causing the duke to lose his judgment. No, perhaps he’s the emperor’s bastard child instead. Or, no, he’s a distant relative of the imperial family, and the duke brought him here for some reason. No, he might be a hostage from the southwestern coalition of small kingdoms…

However, the moment the child revealed himself, all speculations vanished without a trace. It was solely because of his golden eyes, which were said to appear only in the Wynbergen bloodline.

People sympathized with and ridiculed the Duchess.

Julian, with his dark brown eyes, couldn’t believe that the illegitimate child, with a mix of lowly desert nomad blood, had golden eyes. How pitiful and amusing it was.

The duchess, however, only smiled calmly as she faced everyone’s mockery under the guise of sympathy.

Indeed, he was just a bastard, and as long as he lacked the Wynbergen surname, the duchess had the confidence that he couldn’t dare to usurp Julian’s position.

That wasn’t incorrect. When Carlisle led the suppression of the Kleinche rebellion to victory and received a title, the surname Ansgar from maternal lineage served as a shackle to keep him in check.

However, at some point, rumors began to circulate. The rumor was that Young Duke Julian was actually a child born from an illicit relationship between the duke’s younger brother, Franz, and the duchess.

The duke’s heir immediately denied it and tried to find the origin of the rumor. But, that was also precisely when the duchess stopped all her activities in high society.

As the rumor spread far and wide, the young duke confronted Duke Leinmond at a banquet, demanding why he wasn’t rectifying the situation. The duke remained silent, clenching his lips.

The real issue came next. The duke called forth Carlisle Ansgar, who was some distance away, and offered him a glass of wine.

Actions spoke louder than words.

Subsequently, the entire Wynbergen family, including Carlisle, hurriedly descended to the Leinmond estate. The lingering suspicions were amplified through the mouths of the aristocrats.

As time passed, along with the summer monsoon, shocking news reached the capital. It was the news that Julian, the duke’s heir, had murdered the entire Wynbergen family and committed suicide.

There was only one survivor—Carlisle Ansgar.

In the meantime, First Prince Bertholdt, now Emperor, openly expressed his intention to grant the title of Duke to Carlisle, as if he had been waiting for this moment. The shock of the Wynbergen tragedy had yet to fade at the time.

Baron Ansgar had made many enemies due to his messy personal life. Many nobles rose in opposition as one.

In the autumn of that year, someone claiming to be of the Leinmond lineage, despite no one knowing of their existence, appeared and filed a lawsuit for the succession of the title.

Following that, there were nobles who disliked Carlisle Ansgar. House Gideon, House Muzag, House Emshire, House Blacher, and…

House Nordvant.

For update pings, novel discussions and/or to send mistake reports, join our discord server~