# Chapter 32
Bart revealed a shocking truth.
“Eqian, you are not the biological child of the Mayus couple.”
"…What are you saying?".
At first he didn't believe it, but because Bart is not the type to make such baess allegations out of nowhere, Ekian refrained from telling the Duke and Duchess.
“I always mixed a potion that changes your hair color into the tea I give you.”
Every morning, Ekian would drink the tea that Bart prepared for him. All members of the Duke's family drank the tea prepared by Bart in accordance with their bodies.
“Stop drinking this tea, then you will understand.”
A few days later, Ekian noticed black hair growing at the roots of his hair.
As despair overtook him, Bart gave him a medical journal. The journal was a record of Isabella's health kept by her former family doctor.
And in that magazine, there was a gap of ten months – the year Ekian was born.
"In the year she was born, the Duke and Duchess traveled to the Isle of Perth. It was originally scheduled to be a short trip of three nights and four days, but the Duchess did not return to the capital until two years later. She returned with her baby boy Ekian, whom she claimed to have given birth there. However, ten months of her pregnancy are missing from the records. She claimed they were lost."
He handed Bart another medical journal. This journal recorded Ekian's health since he was two years old.
“Hmm.”
Bart smiled.
“Your development has been remarkably fast, hasn't it?”
Ekian was breathing hard.
Bart looked coldly at Ikian who looked upset, and continued: “The lady discovered you as an abandoned child on Perth Island and decided to raise you as her own son. Blonde hair is rare, so even though the dye is expensive, they chose a harmless color and gave it to you constantly.”
“I...I...I will ask them directly...”
“Then you will never be able to discover the whole truth, as you do now.”
Bart's voice was polite but cold.
“Eqian Mayus, you are not just an abandoned child who was picked up by the Duke and Duchess. You are of imperial blood.”
"…What?".
Seventeen-year-old Ekian was completely shocked when Bart continued talking.
“The imperial family blessed by the moon has a unique characteristic. When it is exposed to the moonlight, its members bleed...”
As if enchanted, Ekian unknowingly pulled out a dagger.
If the Moon Blessing was a gift to the Imperial Family, he had some knowledge of it but always thought it was irrelevant to him.
He was standing at the window in the moonlight, and he injured his arm. Despite the deep wound, the wound healed immediately.
“You already knew that, didn't you?”
Ekian cut his arm again, then again, and again, creating deeper wounds each time. No matter how deep the wound was, it was healed in an instant. By the time tears, not blood, started falling, Bart spoke slowly.
“Please leave Maius Palace.”
In the room, with just the two of them, Bart slowly knelt down.
That was the day seventeen-year-old Ikian's world came crashing down.
“Young Master Karl Mayus is the rightful heir. I cannot allow the Mayus family to be consumed by imperial blood.”
“But I… I…”
“I am the only servant in this house who knows this fact. That is because I need to make the tincture. Understand that my loyalty to the Maios family compels me to make this request.”
At that time, Ekian was a seventeen-year-old young noble who only lived within the confines of his palace.
He was horrified and alarmed by the truth he knew. However, he understood one thing: the position of young duke was not his. Rather, it belonged to Karl, the legitimate heir to the ducal line. Moreover, Karl, despite his young age, was exceptional in many ways.
There was no reason why Karl couldn't become the next duke.
If he told the Duke and Duchess everything, they would certainly try to stick it out. It was also clear that Karl, who greatly adored Ekian, would not assume the position of heir.
And so he left the place, having no desire to go to the Emperor whom he had always despised.
He simply hoped that after five years, he would be declared missing, and Karl would naturally take over the role of the young duke. Although this may sadden the Duke and Duchess, they believed it was the right decision.
He wanted to die but found it too difficult, so he chose to live a completely different life.
And then, thanks to Judith, he survived. Through her, he learned the whole truth from Bart. Then, on the night Bart was arrested, Ekian visited the cell again.
“Let me tell you the truth, because this will hurt you more, Your Highness the Cursed Prince.”
Bart smiled as if he had been waiting, looking at the now mature black-haired young man.
“The Emperor has imposed himf on the last priestess, and you, Ekian, are the child born of this union.”
Bart was never loyal to Duke Maius.
“…The Last Priestess?”
“Yes, and after she gave birth to you, she used her life to cast the curse.”
There were rumors about the disappearance of the last priestess, but Ekian never imagined that she was related to him.
“A curse upon the child for destroying his father.”
Ekian swallowed dryly. This was the first time he had heard anything about his real mother. At the age of seventeen, he was so shocked to learn that he was not a biological child that he immediately ran away. However, he was curious about his real mother.
“She used her life to cast this curse on you when you were a newborn. The Emperor ordered you to be killed on the spot, but the priestess used the last of her strength to leave a will: ‘Anyone who kills this child will also be cursed.’ In the end, the servant, reluctant to kill the child, abandoned you at sea. You drifted to the island of Perth, where you were received by the Duke and Duchess of Maios.”
But that mother was already dead, and even cursed him.
“The Duke and Duchess are aware of all this. However, their affection for you has led them to turn a blind eye and ignore the matter. If you visit the Shrine of Frozen Time, you will see how powerful the priestess’s spell is. In the end, it will cause the downfall of your father, Duke Maius.”
Bart laughed maliciously.
“In the end, you won't be able to come back.”
That was true. Ignoring the curse and living with his family, the Maios, whom he cherished so dearly, was unthinkable.
Although the curse was probably directed at his biological father, the Emperor, Ekian spent seventeen years believing that the Duke was his father. This belief has not changed yet.
If asked who his father was, he would answer without hesitation that it was the Duke of Maios. Even at this moment.
“The Emperor knows this too. He tracked down the abandoned child and discovered that he had entered the Maius family.”
Bart smiled lightly and added, "And he pretends he doesn't know. He expects you to bring ruin to the Mayus family, which you consider your father's family."
A moment of silence passed. Ekian already knew that the Emperor was a vile man, but the realization that he was being used as a weapon made his presence feel unbearable.
“Then why...”
Knowing the truth made it impossible for him to return here, where his beloved family and Judith lived.
“Why did you expel me five years ago? If you were not loyal to the Maios family, wouldn’t it have been better for me to stay here as the Duke’s son and inherit the title?”
This was the question he had been most curious about since discovering Bart's crimes.
Bart had cited loyalty to the Maios family as a reason for Ekian's expulsion. But now that the assumption has been shown to be false, Ekian is unable to discern Bart's true intentions.
"that it…".
What Bart said next was something Ekian could never have expected.
's prediction turned out to be correct, and the Emperor turned out to be despicable 😑