Chapter 90
That evening, Davin Ainluk opened his eyes in his sickbed.
“I was asleep for six whole years?”
His memories of the incident itself were hazy and fragmented.
He vaguely recalled hearing voices—visitors who had come while he lay unconscious.
His mind was still a jumble; he had only just awakened.
“Alferen must have gone through a lot because of me.”
That was the extent of his commentary.
The people of the Ainluk ducal household rejoiced that the previous duke had regained his strength.
Six long years. They had endured countless crises in his absence, so the relief was profound.
Despite his prolonged illness, Alferen’s supportive magic had kept Davin’s body from wasting away almost entirely.
He had simply not eaten or moved for so long that his physical functions were somewhat diminished.
According to the attending physician, a few months of proper rest would restore him enough for everyday life without issue.
Davin gazed at his son, who had matured considerably since the last time he had seen him.
“You’ve grown a lot taller.”
“Six years have passed, after all.”
His curt son closed his mouth after that single reply.
There was no tearful, dramatic reunion between them. They had always been distant—rarely exchanging more than ten words at a time.
Davin’s gaze shifted to the young woman standing close beside Alferen.
From the moment he woke, she had stayed glued to his son’s side, beaming brightly. He had never seen her before.
“And this lady is…?”
She answered with a gentle smile that seemed to say, You’re only wondering now?
“Hello, Father! I’m Rodellia Peris.”
“F-Father?”
Davin turned to Alferen with a look of utter bewilderment.
In that instant, Alferen’s earlobes flushed crimson, and he spoke in an uncharacteristically shy voice.
“She’s my girlfriend.”
“What did you say?”
Davin’s startled eyes darted back and forth between Alferen and Rodellia.
Somehow, the two were already holding hands tightly.
Rodellia Peris.
Could she really be the treasured youngest daughter of the Peris family?
He had been informed that his son was close with the Peris duke’s son, but this was his first time laying eyes on the sister.
Davin looked at the head butler, Isaac, in shock.
“What about the engagement to the imperial family?”
Isaac hurried to answer the suspicious glance that seemed to ask whether his son had been keeping a noble lady as a mistress.
“The engagement to Her Highness Princess Nanael Barnard was dissolved several months ago. The two of them met afterward.”
“The engagement was broken?”
It had been an in utero arrangement, but Alferen himself had never particularly objected to it.
In truth, Davin had not maintained the engagement because he liked Nanael.
It had simply been a placeholder, a precaution against unforeseen circumstances.
Yet while he lay unconscious, the engagement had been terminated.
He could only blink in disbelief at this uncharacteristically bold move from his son—until Rodellia spoke up.
“When would be a good time to hold our engagement ceremony?”
“Engagement ceremony…?”
He had just awakened to news of his son’s broken engagement—an already shocking revelation—and now, before he could even process it, a new engagement?
“We were planning to discuss it once you woke up, Father! Right, Ren oppa?”
“Of course. If that’s what you want, we could hold it tomorrow.”
“What?”
Davin let out an incredulous sigh at her bright, carefree tone.
His son’s besotted response only deepened the absurdity.
Was some creature wearing his son’s skin? The reactions were that unbelievable.
“Am I the only one who doesn’t understand what’s happening here?”
When Davin fixed his gaze on Isaac, the butler rubbed his nose and replied,
“I’ll explain everything in due time.”
His eyes already seemed to envision the two of them married.
“Please leave the engagement preparations to me.”
When the head maid, Sophia, volunteered to take full charge of the ceremony, Davin reached his conclusion.
It seemed that while he had been unconscious, this adorable and charming young lady had thoroughly conquered the Ainluk estate.
The most astonishing thing of all was his son, acting like a man with a screw loose whenever he looked at Rodellia.
Davin had never once seen his son desire anything so fiercely since childhood.
Yet in this moment, it was crystal clear that Alferen wanted Rodellia Peris more than anything in the world.
‘Well, this is something.’
Davin simply stared blankly at Rodellia, dazed by this unfamiliar side of his son.
It felt as though this young woman had orchestrated every one of these changes.
“I’ll discuss it with the Duke of Peris first.”
As always, Davin answered in a businesslike tone.
But inwardly, without quite realizing it, he was smiling with satisfaction.
* * *
Word of Davin Ainluk’s awakening reached Empress Rosaria in strict secrecy.
Upon reading the report, Rosaria shot to her feet as though seized by a fit.
“That’s impossible!”
‘They swore he would never wake—how could this happen?’
It was a completely unforeseen outcome.
Every time she had periodically arranged for holy water and checked his condition, Davin Ainluk had shown no hope of recovery.
Even Alferen, renowned as a prodigious mage, had been unable to heal him for six long years.
“And now, of all times, he wakes up?”
Could the broken engagement have been a preemptive move because they sensed something amiss?
Empress Rosaria paced anxiously back and forth, biting her nails.
Eight years earlier, during a summer retreat, Empress Rosaria had met the shaman Pierre.
He was the inheritor of her homeland’s shamanic arts, long thought lost when the kingdom fell to the Barnard Empire.
‘O noble descendant of the great Serak Kingdom. I am the one who carries on Serak’s shamanism. For Your Highness the Princess, I am ready to offer even my life—a loyal subject and servant.’
He had revealed his identity immediately, as though he had been longing to meet her.
From that day forward, he became one of her closest confidants.
She was willing to wield even the power of her ruined homeland if it meant making Cesare emperor.
Pierre proved exceedingly loyal and always resolved her worries in an instant.
‘The Duke of Ainluk is far too passive in supporting Cesare—it’s troublesome. His son, on the other hand, seems like he could be swayed quite easily.’
‘Then why not simply remove him?’
‘Haha. Who would dare eliminate the Duke of Ainluk?’
‘Give me the order, and I will grant Your Highness’s wish.’
That very day, the shaman devised a plan to dispose of Davin Ainluk.
Two years later, he finally succeeded.
He cast a spell on the slumbering ice dragon and lured the duke into a subjugation mission.
Unaware of any trickery, the moment Davin Ainluk severed the dragon’s breath, the curse activated instantly, plunging him into a deep sleep.
It was a curse designed to kill slowly—an exquisite way to torment the family with false hope.
The instant news arrived that the duke had collapsed, Rosaria went to the Emperor.
She begged him to help the duke.
The Emperor responded skeptically.
‘Ah, Rosaria. I too regret what happened to the Duke of Ainluk. But this is not something human effort can overcome. His mana core is damaged—there is no hope.’
‘Why is there no hope? The imperial family has holy water. At the very least, we should use it to prolong his life while searching for a cure, shouldn’t we?’
‘Hmm.’
‘This is the man who would have become Nanael’s father-in-law. If the imperial family does nothing, the Ainluk family will surely harbor resentment. So please help him, Your Majesty.’
Unable to resist his daughter’s tearful plea, the Emperor relented.
In truth, he saw it as the perfect pretext to bring the Ainluk family firmly under control—there was no reason to refuse.
He instantly understood her intentions and used the holy water as leverage to shackle Alferen Ainluk.
Compared to the inflexible duke, he believed an eighteen-year-old novice would be far easier to manipulate.
The problem was that the son took after his father—utterly inscrutable.
He had abruptly declared the broken engagement and now awakened Davin Ainluk himself?
If things continued this way, the duke might realize he had fallen victim not to the ice dragon but to a curse—and seek revenge.
Growing frantic, Rosaria spoke to her lady-in-waiting.
“Tell Pierre to come to the palace at once.”
