Last Chance [Extra #2]

Part 15

No one in the shabby tavern would even be able to imagine that the great Grand Duke was sitting right beside them, drinking the same ale they were, dressed in the same clothes they usually wore, or eating the same stew they were. The man was a noble, a grand duke; it made little sense that he would lower himself to their level. Aristocrats were known to despise being around commoners, and surely the Grand Duke was no different.

They were wrong.

The Grand Duke took his role as a lord seriously and had always liked mingling with people from his land. He knew, though, that it would make them uncomfortable if he showed up like a noble, so his escapades were always kept a secret.

After the war, from which he had only just returned, Cassian wanted nothing but a pint of good old ale and to listen to the carefree banter of people around him. It was relaxing, truly, to get back to normal life after the nightmare on the battlefield, although it was a bit difficult to not reminisce about recent events. People here knew little about the atrocities the Grand Duke had seen, and fearlessly slandered his name.

It was one of the reasons Cassian even came out of his mansion. He needed to know why people talked about him in the way they did, why vicious rumors were spread and who started them.

When a young couple entered the tavern, they immediately got his attention. They may have been dressed like others, but the way they carried themselves betrayed them, at least before him. To common people, they would probably look completely normal, but he could tell they were nobles at first glance.

It piqued his interest to see the young woman with raven black hair casually order a pint of ale for her and her companion. Women usually didn't drink, as it was frowned upon, so he was curious as to who the woman was.

Before he could get his answer, the tavern's owner's son joined the couple and started talking to them as if he knew them. He sat down with them and shared all the gossip that was circulating in the city, including the rumors about the Grand Duke, who was now known as the warmonger and a mad dog of the battlefield.

As if he went to war willingly...

It hurt Cassian's heart to hear people talk about him with such animosity but there was little he could do to change their perception of him. He did go to war, he killed people there, he slaughtered entire armies, burned villages to the ground, and left nothing but carnage behind. It made some sense to think of him as a monster, even if he didn't do it out of his own volition.

He was just trying to protect his people, but those people didn't see it that way.

And it was all because of those rumors that someone spread.

After talking to the owner's son for a while, Celosia shared her views with Edgar, caring little about others listening to her.

"This all seems too convenient... for one person," she said, trying to organize what she'd just heard from Rufer, the owner's son.

Edgar was intrigued by this observation even more than by Celosia's relations to Rufer. She clearly knew him, otherwise he wouldn't be so eager to share the rumors with her.

"Who?" he asked her curiously.

"The Crown Prince."

"Why?"

"Think about it. First, the Imperial family starts a war with a kingdom up north, where they know the Grand Duke resides. It forces the Grand Duke to take the vanguard and mobilize an army to stop the invasion, which wouldn't have happened in the first place if not for the Emperor. Then, while the Duke is on the battlefield, his fiancee leaves him for none other than the Crown Prince and malicious rumors suddenly start to spread around about how brutal, cold-blooded and monstrous the Duke is. His reputation plummets and he's no longer the respected lord of the land but instead a warmonger and bloodthirsty beast. That's not all. Thanks to his fiancee, who leaves him, he loses his chance to fully inherit the title of a Grand Duke. According to Imperial law, a noble can only inherit the title after being married. I suppose it's to ensure there's an heir, but that's beside the point. Somehow, the person the fiancee goes to is none other than the Crown Prince who has been at odds with the Grand Duke for years. With one move, the Crown Prince not only stopped the Duke from inheriting his father's title, but also prevented him from taking part in the battle of succession of the royal throne. Let me explain. The Grand Duke has royal blood, doesn't he? So, theoretically, he has the right to fight for the throne. However, the Emperor is no fool. There's a law which says that in order to have the right of succession to the royal throne, the royal descendant must have a title of his own. And the Grand Duke doesn't have that, because he's not married and thus cannot inherit his father's title."

"That's genius. The Crown Prince is an only child, so the Grand Duke could've been his only rival in the battle of succession, but due to his current circumstances, he's no longer able to fight for the throne."

"Exactly. To be honest, I wouldn't be surprised if it was the Crown Prince's scheme from the beginning to stop his cousin from being a threat. Because to the Crown Prince, the Grand Duke is the greatest threat there is. He could take away the one thing the Crown Prince always took for granted - the throne. What strikes me as odd is the fact that the Duke's fiancee went right for the Crown Prince. It gives off a strange feeling, almost as if she knew the Duke wouldn't return from the war. Yes, that seems plausible. The war started right when the Crown Prince reached adulthood and could become the next Emperor, but there was still a thorn in his side in the person of the Grand Duke. If the Duke got married, he would inherit his father's title and could possibly fight for the throne, as it is his right, being of royal blood and all. So, the Crown Prince must've decided to get rid of the competition before it could take him down. Send the Grand Duke to war, have him killed, and if that doesn't succeed, stop his marriage and prevent him from getting his title. I really wouldn't be shocked to hear that there were assassination attempts on the Duke during the war."

Edgar nervously glanced around the place to see if anyone suspicious was listening to them then whispered to his sister, "You should be careful saying things like these out loud. You could get arrested for slandering the Imperial family," he warned quietly.

Celosia only scoffed bitterly at this, "And what can they do? Kill me? You know I'm not afraid of dying."

"But I'm afraid of you dying!" Edgar shouted, absolutely gobsmacked by how little Celosia cared about her life. True, she may have lived many lives, but that didn't mean it was alright to throw them away like nothing just because she would start a new one.

"Eddie..." Celosia sighed, using Edgar's nickname to avoid getting him recognized.

"No! You talk about dying like it means nothing to you and it hurts me to see you like this. Do you really feel nothing? Are you that cold that you don't even think about the people who would be in pain if anything happened to you?"

Truth be told, Celosia didn't think of that. She only wanted to find peace that only death could bring, with little care for the aftermath. She didn't bother thinking that others might be grieving her death or feel loss after she was gone. She experienced death too many times to worry about something so trivial.

While the siblings were immersed in their own discussion about the lady's disregard for her life, Cassian, who heard their entire conversation, sat still and pondered over the lady's words. What she said made so much sense it was baffling. The longer Cassian thought about it, the more convinced he was that she may be right.

He wanted to hear more about it, but when he turned to ask the lady to speak with him, she was already gone, having left just moments earlier with her companion.

He turned to one of his knights, and also close friends, who came with him, and asked, "Where's that woman?"

"The lady that slandered the Crown Prince? She left."

"Did you get her name? Did anyone mention it?"

"No, they never called her by name," the knight, Joseph, frowned in concern. The Grand Duke seemed agitated and clearly shaken up. Was it because of that woman? "Is there something wrong?"

Cassian looked Joseph straight in the eye and ordered, "Find her."