Grand Duke of the Heibern House

＜Episode 22＞

‘… … love?’

A word I had never imagined, no, that didn’t go well with the monsters of this family in the first place.

The words that came out of Dane’s mouth came as a shock to Soene.

However, there is a strange sense of heterogeneity felt from Dane.

His eyes, which suddenly resembled those of an archduke, were of a kind he had never experienced before.

Soon, Soene’s blank face turned to Deache.

Then she hardened again.

The gaze of Deache looking at the Archduke.

It was because that gaze was also very similar to Dane’s.

‘east longitude… … ?’

Those eyes are something that never existed in his brothers.

There is no fear or intimidation, such a soft feeling when looking at something you love.

Even though what had happened so far in Bernheneum must have been so shocking, it was as if Deasch was getting peace of mind by looking at the Archduke.

Wiphone nodding with a strong expression.

Even Kazen, the standard bearer of the kingdom, is looking at the Archduke with firm faith.

What on earth had happened to that family while he was unaware?

Soene asked Dane.

“I am… … This aunt… … I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

What he is seeing with his own two eyes right now is a mystery that cannot possibly happen in this family.

In this huge lion’s family, ‘debt’ was not such a noble thing.

wealth.

authority.

life.

The debts she experienced are generally things closely related to human desires.

Therefore, there was no choice but to feel an indescribable sense of difference in Dane’s argument.

“It is literally, Auntie. A brother is not someone who puts us under our feet and reigns over us. If we had been treated like wild dogs in the first place, there would be no way we would teach them and give away what we have.”

“… … Are you giving away what you have?”

The Archduke shares something with his brothers?

Soene had never heard of such a thing.

It was the same in the history of the family, and it was the same in all other aristocratic families where the principle of succession was the eldest son.

“What did the Archduke give you?”

Dane looked at his father.

When Kazen sent his consent with a light nod of the head, he spoke again.

“Auntie, what my brother gave me is the grand duke’s hierarchy.”

That moment.

Soene and Nizen, as well as all the knights under their command, stiffened with shocking expressions.

Soene’s dazed gaze was slowly scanning her brother’s family again.

Kazen is silent.

Ruin’s indifferent expression.

Deash and Wiphone without any agitation… … .

As if you already knew, what you can feel from their appearance is a clear agreement.

“Oh, that can’t be!”

Archduke.

A being who inherits everything from the Lion King.

The one who was promised by the family to be the standard bearer of the kingdom gave all that brilliant glory to his brother?

He possessed more than half of the kingdom’s military power, and had tremendous power comparable to that of the king.

To yield the pinnacle of power in this country, the kind of honor that all knights long for.

It was something no one in this great swordsmanship could have imagined.

The silent Ruin’s mouth opened.

“It’s just fine. We declare here where all the clans and vassals of the family gather. The next jockey is Dane. My position as archduke is forever provisional and will surely be delegated when he is ready.”

shocking silence.

The one who was as surprised as Soene was Kazen’s younger brother, Nizen.

“But the royal law… … !”

The eldest son of an aristocratic family cannot refuse succession without special reasons.

That is the royal law of Lemadel, which has prevented the power struggle of the aristocratic world and the confusion of the kingdom.

It was impossible for Nizen to give up the position of grand duke even while violating the royal law.

Louin laughed.

“The Archduke who died in confinement not too long ago. It was a temporary status that could only be maintained until Dane reached adulthood anyway. There’s no way my father would put my name on a socialite list like that. Isn’t our family a noble family?”

“… … .”

Kazen, who was watching his son from afar, distorted his face.

It was bittersweet that Ruin’s words weren’t wrong, but it was also true that I felt disgusted at the same time.

If I had known in advance that he had such a great side, I would have taken him directly to the royal family rather than to the socialite list.

“The royal family of Lemadel, as well as any aristocratic family, must not know of my existence. I am sure.”

Not sure, but it was true.

In the past, when Ruin left the family and came out of the world, no one knew of his existence.

Rather, it was common to be treated as a fraudulent surname of Bern.

“What other barriers are there to a Dane becoming a grand duke?”

“… … .”

Everyone is heavily silent.

Since the kingdom didn’t even know of Ruin’s existence because they didn’t have any enemies in the social world, the king’s law couldn’t be a hindrance.

However, the question of ‘why?’ was omitted in the grand duke’s argument.

As for why he was giving up his position as archduke, he still did not say the most important thing.

Perhaps reading Nizen’s eyes, Ruin continued with a calm voice.

“I have no intentions. Didn’t everyone expect that the imprisoned could not become the standard bearer of the realm? It’s just going back to Dane as scheduled.”

“No!”

Excited Nizen.

“Anyway, that’s what happened when the Archduke wasn’t normal! Also, the fact that my older brother does not restrict you from wandering around outside the confinement area means that the order of confinement has been implicitly withdrawn!”

Seeing his uncle like that, Ruin laughed out loud.

My uncle who had plotted a rebellion just a moment ago.

But from such a man, principles that can only be heard from the elders of the family flowed out?

Moreover, the content also takes its own side.

Ruin did not understand at first how such a reaction could come from his uncle who had hated the principle of eldest son succession so much.

What kind of heart did that antinomic feeling come from?

Ruin spoke calmly as he looked around the inside of the Bernheneum, which was filled with blood.

“To hear such words from the uncle who created this hell. A little, no, very surprising.”

Nizen, biting his teeth, stared intently at Ruin.

“Don’t recklessly say everything about us is dirty! I am! My sister… … !”

It wasn’t dotted with desire from the start.

The long hibernation of the King of Lions, the rider of the kingdom.

The knights who were constantly agitated.

Obviously, the initial intention was to overcome the situation of the family, which was no different from the vacancy of the head of the family.

However, not all of the methods to rectify the shaky family were clean.

I didn’t want to admit it, but eventually I lost my original intention and became more and more honest with my desires.

It was because of that that a part of her heart continued to feel heavy while refuting the Archduke who was criticizing Breize.

“Even if Yeongji faces a crisis! Even if blood relatives and vassals are shaken countless times! It was none other than my older brother who wanted to solve all of these issues with a monthly meeting! The one who never came out of the room was the rider of that kingdom!”

A bitten mouth, a cry like Nizen’s scream went to Kazen.

“It was my older brother who rekindled the spark of hope in my long-forgotten aspirations and old dreams! If only my brother hadn’t lost his strength! If my brother had been in good health as the family head… … !”

Ruin sternly cuts off his words.

“It’s as empty as snow. Don’t you think there are too many pure people gathered here to wrap up your uncle’s melted faith?”

Nizen followed Ruin’s gaze and was staring blankly at the purebloodists.

Those who kept the knight’s beliefs to the end despite all kinds of adversity and temptation.

The eyes of such upright men were as intense as the sun, as if their entire bodies were being pierced.

Nizen gritted his teeth even more.

“… … Even if you order death, I have no intention of running away! Don’t even try to deny my heart that I wanted to protect Hana Hibern!”

“If this family could only be protected by taking away the rider’s place, I would have done the same.”

Nizen’s agitation intensified at Ruin’s scolding, which penetrated like a dagger.

“okay! I was wrong! I’m all wrong, so recant your words about giving up the Archduke!”

“It has already been decided.”

A question spread in Ruin’s eyes.

“Isn’t it the eldest son’s succession you’ve been wanting to break so much? I don’t understand why you’re doing this.”

“From the mouth of our kindred… … .”

Nizen looks at Ruin’s younger siblings.

“I have never seen the word love come out.”

A word that is too unsuitable for the family of lions, the Hibern family.

Apparently, Dane opened his mouth and was singing love while talking about his older brother. with confident eyes.

A heart born of faith, not by authority or coercion.

That heart is obviously not submissive, but obedient.

A man who could make his younger siblings feel so great, he could never have let the Archduke give up.

“I am… … I never felt that way… … .”

“uncle.”

Ruin stood like an idiot and stared at his father’s helpless face who couldn’t say a word. Immediately, his eyes turned red.

“He is a foolish father who sacrificed all his fighting spirit, which can be said to be everything of a knight, to this goddamn archduke and yet showed no signs of it. Doesn’t such a person know love? hahahaha!”

With so much love in his heart, what is the rider of the Great Joint Kingdom to live by hiding his emotions?

I couldn’t even dare to guess.

that big and wide love.

“You still don’t understand why your father couldn’t kill your uncle and aunt?”

“… … .”

Ruin grabs his chest.

“Because I have lost a loved one. It’s because I’ve been feeling how painful it is. also.”

I could only understand now.

What kind of heart is your father holding on to?

Enormous power of the Enforcers.

There was no way that the head of the Hibern family, who had such people under his command, would not have made any effort in the face of his wife’s death.

“Even knowing all the facts… … Dad is holding on like that again. He is reluctant to even open his mouth, fearing that he will lose his reason, and that he will lose his younger siblings as well. such a heart… … .”

Ruin wiping the flowing tears.

“I dare not even guess.”

Nizen blankly staring at Kazen.

That gigantic body, one head taller than most knights, somehow felt dwarfed.

The heavy armor and sword that my older brother was wearing also seemed heavy today.

The Lion King, who was always steadfast and everyone’s idol.

The cry of such a lion is heard as an hallucination.

Desperate wailing, looking at his idol who is crying with his heart.

Nizen finally fell apart.

dump.

“older brother… … .”

Nizen collapsed with a feeling of not wearing a single thread.

Kazen looked at his brother without a word and said calmly.

“I forgot.”

Kazen bent his knees and met Nizen’s gaze.

“And I will forget today too.”

at that point.

Soene and Nizen wept at the same time.

In the end, I succumbed to the unfathomable mind and the unimaginable distance.

Kazen smiled brightly.

“Didn’t my grand duke say he was different?”

Following Kazen’s gaze, they blankly stare at Ruin’s brothers.

“Our time is over.”

The symbol of the family, Sahol’s bravery was directed at Ruin and his brothers.

“A new Bern was born over there. Raise your sword high and bless their time.”