HDFL 04

Chapter : 04

At the same time, Calian sat alone on the terrace, gazing out at the moonlit sea.

His villa, perched on the most expensive stretch of coastline where luxurious townhouses crowded together, was every bit as extravagant as its location suggested. As his eyes drifted toward the silver stars scattered across the pitch-black sky, he found himself, absurdly enough, reminded of the woman’s shimmering hair from earlier that evening.

The reason he had hired a complete stranger without even asking her name was probably because she reminded him, somehow, of the most beautiful—and most horrifying—memory of his life.

“Your Grace, an urgent message has arrived from the capital.”

When no answer came despite waiting for a while, his adjutant opened the door without hesitation.

Calian, seated on the terrace with a cigar in hand, didn’t even bother turning around. He simply exhaled a plume of white smoke.

“Cough… Cough…”

As always, Derek broke into an exaggerated coughing fit before extending a sealed letter toward him.

“A message from His Majesty the Emperor. He specifically instructed that you read it immediately upon its arrival.”

“Sending a letter this late at night? That’s rather disappointing treatment for such a loyal servant.”

“Would you also spare a thought for your loyal subordinate, Your Grace? I’ve told you hundreds of times that smoking is bad for your health. You’d barely touched a cigar lately, so I thought you’d finally quit.”

Derek Garcia.

Top graduate of the Imperial Academy. Heir to a fallen count’s family.

The man who had confidently proclaimed Calian would never regret appointing him as his adjutant had long since become the shameless subordinate who openly nagged his superior to quit smoking.

If he had served any other noble, he would probably have been thrown out empty-handed by now.

Yet he remained faithfully at Calian’s side.

As the longest-serving adjutant, Derek possessed enough talent and capability for his master to tolerate his constant barking.

“Don’t lie, Derek. You just hate the smell of tobacco.”

“…Who in the world likes it? It’s not perfume.”

“Oh, there are plenty.”

“A misunderstanding. It’s simply a mirage created by the brains of women rendered incapable of rational thought by Your Grace’s face.”

Watching Derek straighten his glasses out of habit as he answered made Calian let out a quiet chuckle.

He deliberately blew another cloud of smoke directly at him.

Derek immediately grimaced in disgust, waving his hand furiously to clear the air.

Ignoring him completely, Calian sliced open the envelope with a letter opener and slowly read through its contents.

“His Majesty is as hot-tempered as ever. He’s threatening that if I continue fooling around with romances even here, he won’t let me off.”

“It’s only natural. Anyone would be furious at the thought of giving their only younger sister to someone like Your Grace. I completely understand His Majesty’s feelings.”

It was an outrageously insolent remark, but Calian responded with his usual silence.

With such an uncompromising tongue, it was little wonder that despite his remarkable talent, Derek had ended up serving under him.

Taking another slow drag from his cigar, Calian clipped off the ash with a cutter before speaking calmly.

“I have no intention of marrying the Imperial Princess. That’s the Emperor’s wish, not mine.”

“You should say ‘His Majesty,’ Your Grace. What if someone overhears?”

“It’s only the two of us here. Don’t tell me you’re planning to run straight to the Emperor and report me?”

The relationship between Calian and the current Emperor was far too complicated to be described as merely that of ruler and subject.

The Emperor, born as the Third Prince from a palace maid and the previous Emperor, had spent his childhood treated as less than royalty, never mind the Crown Prince.

Calian’s circumstances had been much the same.

He had been born to one of the countless courtesans who had shared a bed with the previous Duke, a man infamous for his insatiable lust.

The two had fought together on countless battlefields from childhood.

After earning the trust of the previous Emperor, they became renowned throughout both the capital and the front lines.

Calian inherited the ducal title shortly after the Third Prince, Kenneth, ascended to the imperial throne.

The current Emperor wasn’t merely placing his trust in Calian.

He intended to bind him permanently by marrying him to the Imperial Princess—his own younger sister.

Calian knew perfectly well that he was being used.

To discourage the Emperor, he deliberately cultivated scandal after scandal, ensuring his name became synonymous with countless love affairs.

By now, rumors that Calian shared his bed with both men and women had spread across the entire Empire.

Even so, the Emperor stubbornly refused to give up.

“You know better than anyone that I’d never do such a thing,” Derek replied. “You’re the only lifeline I’ve got left, Your Grace.”

“Then stop wasting time arguing and focus on your work. I gave you more than enough assignments.”

“I actually came to report on one of them.”

Derek handed him another document.

“It’s information on that guild member.”

The report contained a brief summary of the woman’s background.

Name: Lucrezia
Surname: None
Age: 21

Lives in the slums with a middle-aged blacksmith named Jack.

Though unrelated by blood, they have lived together like family for approximately ten years.

Jack suffers from a rare disease that is gradually turning his entire body rigid, leaving them in severe financial hardship.

“So that’s why she boldly demanded half the payment in advance.”

Calian smirked.

“It’s enough to bring tears to my eyes.”

“Please. As if someone without blood or tears would cry.”

“That was rather harsh.”

With a dismissive snort, Calian tossed the report into the fireplace without the slightest hesitation.

Watching the papers burn, Derek spoke with a troubled expression.

“Are you really planning to hire her? If all you need is someone to pretend to be your lover, I can find plenty of suitable candidates.”

“It seems my inflexible adjutant has finally learned the value of flexibility.”

“To be honest, I want to stop you. Does it make any sense for the Duke to keep a woman who made her living cracking safes in the back alleys by his side?”

Logic.

Reason.

Those weren’t the things that had made him decide to keep her close.

It was nothing more than a whim.

And curiosity.

Nothing more.

Nothing less.

Having settled the matter in his own mind, Calian casually jerked his chin toward the door, dismissing the uninvited guest as he always did.

Returning to the terrace, he listened quietly to the crashing waves before muttering to himself.

“What an irritatingly peaceful night.”

Today was his mother’s death anniversary.

The day a pitiful woman—who had continued believing until the very end that the Duke would someday come for her despite slowly losing her mind—was beaten to death by a customer while working.

He could no longer even remember her face.

Smoking a cigar each year on the anniversary of her death had become Calian’s own form of mourning.

She hadn’t even been granted an ordinary grave.

Her body had been burned away at the slums’ cremation grounds.

This was as close to a memorial as she would ever receive.

“Lucrezia…”

He rolled the name quietly over his tongue.

“Not a bad name… surprisingly.”

Within the Dristan Empire, the name Lucrezia carried two entirely different meanings.

One belonged to the tragic woman who lost her chastity to a prince from a neighboring kingdom before taking her own life.

The other belonged to the infamous temptress who committed incest with her father, the Pope, and her powerful brother.

The truth behind either woman, hidden beneath the veil of history, was impossible to know.

One thing, however, was certain.

As Derek had said, it wasn’t a name that suited a lowly woman who survived by robbing other people’s safes.

It also irritated Calian more than he cared to admit that the name—fairly common in Benin—was identical to one buried deep within his oldest memories.

“This is going to get interesting.”

How long had it been since anything had stirred him?

Even after beheading countless people on the battlefield…

Even when beautiful women threw themselves at him…

Nothing had been able to make blood flow through the heart that had forgotten what it meant to be human.

From time to time, unfulfilled lust would flare up within him, but satisfying it was enough to extinguish the feeling.

Now that an unwelcome peace had settled across the Empire, the only thing left for Calian was to seek diversions that reminded him he still possessed the smallest trace of humanity.

In that regard, the woman who irritated him simply by standing before him was more than welcome.

He was almost grateful for her existence.