The Villainous Family Loves Me Too Much!

Half a day had passed since my grandfather and I left the Felosite Palace.

After asking about Lucian’s past, my grandfather invited me into the carriage, and ever since, all I could see out of the window was endless fields of wheat.

We passed the familiar county of Kenoch, and then more wheat fields.

As the sky turned orange, the carriage finally came to a stop in front of a small countryside house.

“Let’s get off for a moment.”

When the grandfather knocked on the door of the rural house, a small woman holding a child opened it. She glanced at grandfather’s face and couldn’t hide her joy as she gestured for us to come in.

“Please come in. Honey, the lord is here.”

The man who revealed himself behind the woman was none other than Sir Robben, whom I had seen through the ‘gap in space and time.’

“It’s been a while since you visited. It’s modest, but would you like to join us for a meal?”

Grandfather naturally nodded his head and took a seat at the dining table.

“Who is this, Your Lordship?” asked someone.

“My granddaughter.”

As we had dinner with Sir Robben’s family, I realized one thing.  Sir Robben had no idea who he was, and he knew nothing about his past. 

After we had both boarded the carriage, carrying a basket of fresh potatoes gifted by the kind couple, my grandfather and I could finally talk about sir Robben properly.

“What happened to him… Grandfather?”

* * *

After Heinrich Felosite and Karena’s carriage departed, another carriage stopped under a tree not far from Robben’s house. 

Riding in that carriage was Archduke Lucian Felosite.

Karena might not have known, but when she infiltrated Lucian’s ‘gap in space and time’, Lucian knew that he was trapped in his past memories. Of course, he didn’t recognize her presence.

The problem was that he had now learned about his past, which he had never known before.

-So this is how it ends up. The fate of the cursed bloodline is inescapable.

The fate of the cursed bloodline? What exactly was it that made his father and grandfather lie and protect themselves?

Lucian had believed that an artificial creature, a human-like monster serving his father, had attacked and killed his father.

However, that creature was not just a victim he had created. Ultimately, it was Lucian himself who had killed his father.

Perhaps he was also the cause of the world’s destruction. Was that the fate of the cursed bloodline?

Just learning this was horrifying enough…

When he was losing consciousness in the ‘gap in space and time’, Lucian saw Karena’s figure casting light on him. That’s when he knew.

‘This woman knows all my secrets.’

So, when he woke up, he couldn’t reveal that he remembered everything. He still didn’t have all the answers. 

What exactly was the ‘fate of the cursed bloodline’?

Why did his ‘awakening’ happen, which led him to kill his father?

He could have easily asked his grandfather, but perhaps he didn’t want to admit it. When he mentioned that he saw the ‘humanoid monster’, his grandfather ignored him, possibly because it was his own fault.

Lucian left various food ingredients and a basket of toys for children in front of Robben’s house and didn’t look back.

‘I’m sorry for hating you for so long.’

Lucian bowed his head toward the inside of the house where Robben was, then got into the carriage and ran quickly along the side road.

He needed to arrive at the Felosite Palace ahead of his grandfather and Karena.

* * *

Finally, the day Beatrice and Liam had been waiting for had arrived: Liam’s Crown Prince ascension ceremony.

“Liam, just become the Emperor like this.”

On that day, as Liam, now in his beast form, calmly devoured an innocent victim, Beatrice cleaned his blood-stained body.

“Bea, you don’t have to do this yourself. I can do it, or we can have servants do it.”

“What if strange rumors start spreading, Your Highness?”

“We could just kill them.”

At Bea’s mocking laughter, Liam flinched.

“You are still this naive even after becoming a Great Demon Beast, so I have no choice but to protect you myself.”

When the foam-filled sponge brushed against his defenseless waist, Liam flinched again and ducked.

“These are not easy opponents, you know. If you continue to be so naive, we’ll only end up as victims.”

Beatrice’s words weren’t just empty talk.

Despite being the main character of the ascension ceremony, prince Liam’s parents, the Archduke and Archduchess of Felosite, were more prominent than him.

The Archduke, who possessed the strongest magic power on the continent, and the princess Karena, who possesses the Power of Light capable of controlling space and time, had formed a powerful combination.

They had tried to reverse Gabrielle’s murder accusation using wormholes, but when it was treated as an accident, their high-profile powers drew even more attention.

The question of whether the Archduke and Archduchess would attend the ascension ceremony had become a major topic in the social circles.

Even when the Archduke couple weren’t in the Empire, wasn’t the Empire overly excited because of them?

Most young noblewomen attending the ceremony were actually there to catch a glimpse of the Archduke and Archduchess.

“When the princess was here, imperial events used to be fun to watch. Nowadays, there’s hardly anything worth seeing, right?”

“Oh, dear, you’re quite the character! You didn’t come to enjoy the imperial event, did you?”

“Still, there should be something to look forward to, like when the princess was here. It was fascinating how dress and hairstyle trends changed every time.”

“That’s right! Princess Beatrice’s fashion choices seem a bit… old-fashioned, don’t they?”

As the early arriving noblewomen gathered and chatted about the imperial family, carriages continued to arrive one by one, revealing high-ranking nobles.

Amidst all this, a large, peculiar-looking carriage arrived, causing people to buzz with excitement. What made it strange was that there were no horses or coachmen with the carriage, yet it glided smoothly and came to a stop at the entrance.

“Kyah! The carriage is moving without horses! It’s a ghost!”

Some people screamed in terror upon seeing the carriage.

Even the palace magicians conducting magical inspections on the carriages for security were astonished.

“They have this kind of technology? No, it can’t be.”

Then, the door of the carriage opened, revealing its occupants: a young couple dressed in exquisite outfits. The black velvet attire was adorned with golden embroidery, and the woman wore a dazzling dress adorned with large ruby gemstones.

It was none other than the Archduke and Archduchess of Felosite.

“Unbelievable, they came dressed in black.”

“Indeed, not just black, but entirely black from head to toe.”

Their attire was shocking.

In Castien Empire, black traditionally symbolized ‘death’, and it was never worn on joyous occasions in the imperial family.

“It seems our plan worked quite well,”

Karena whispered to the Archduke, holding his hand gracefully as they walked towards the banquet hall.

However, the Archduke’s reaction was different from usual.

Even though Karena approached him closely, his face didn’t blush, but rather, he looked displeased and frowned.

* * *

“Don’t talk to anyone, and try not to speak if possible. I can’t change my voice properly yet.”

“Sister, can you come at the right time?”

At that moment, one of the twin maids who had come to assist the Archduke and Archduchess secretly slipped out of the banquet hall.

However, with her freckled cheeks and cute red hair, nobody paid any attention to her. She quietly moved away, disappearing into the crowd.

Then, she reached her destination: the Empress’s Palace.