# 30
Meanwhile, while Hugo Bernstein was making a new determination.
The royal palace of the Ratlay family was reeling under the weight of a single guest.
“Ha-ha-ha.”
A flawless laugh rang out in the royal reception hall, but it sent shivers through the air.
The Ratlay King and his crown prince, Luke, did not dare try to stop the guest who was laughing endlessly.
No, it is more correct that they could not do so.
“I didn’t expect your family to stab me in the back like this?”
The guest, Hyperion Gervais, slammed the newspaper he was carrying on the floor of the reception hall.
The thrown newspaper fell at the feet of the Crown Prince, Luke Ratlay, who was drenched in a cold sweat.
He took it with trembling hands and read it.
The newspaper was carrying the same news that had arrived in a hurry last night, confirming that it was not just a rumour.
[The wedding of the Duke of the North, Hugo Bernstein, will take place! With the bride: “Angelica Ratlay”, daughter of the Duke of Ratlay!]
Even though he blinked several times, the news remained the same. His sister Angelica Ratlay, who went missing a month ago, was really married to a man from the Selene Empire!
“Do you have a trivial excuse that you would like to use? I think it would be better than remaining silent under the pretext of preserving dignity.”
Hyperion's smile deepened on his face, and his voice, although soft, had a biting edge to it.
But the irony is that the soft tone of his voice made the king shiver and tremble with fear.
The king opened his mouth hesitantly after it had been closed the whole time, and coughed nervously.
“I thought she was just a runaway. You know, that girl was of little importance...”
“If it wasn't important, do you think I'd be standing here right now?”
Then he added in a sarcastic tone:
“Who gave you the right to make decisions on your own?”
Hyperion ran his tongue over his lips, then moved his hand to move his silver strands of hair, which sparkled under the sneaking rays of the morning sun, and flowed softly.
“When you get a dowry worth billions of gold, you should have at least told me what’s going on!”
“…”
“Now, what are you going to do?”
“S-Mr. Prince! We will take it back now. Is that satisfactory to you?”
“Ha-ha-ha!”
Hyperion laughed a sarcastic laugh full of mockery in response to Locke's words, then walked towards him with slow steps, and pointed to a certain place in the newspaper that Locke was holding tightly.
“Read well, Crown Prince Luke. Who is the man who married her?”
"I-I know! It's… it's Hugo Bernstein…"
“Exactly. The monster that caused your kingdom to be subjugated to the Selene Empire.”
Hugo Bernstein... There is no country on the continent that does not know this name.
Especially the Gervais Empire, which has been in a long conflict with the Celine Empire, and is well aware of how dangerous it is.
“This monster can eliminate hundreds of magicians in the Gervais Empire using only an ancient sword, in the blink of an eye.”
Speaking of the objective history of the continent, the Gervais Empire has always preceded the Selene Empire in dominance.
This is because magic was more widely used than swords, both in everyday life and in major battles.
But Hugo Bernstein's fighting skills were enough to turn the most powerful wizards of the Gervais Empire into mere mortals helpless before his devastating power.
“You're talking about taking away Angelica Ratlay from a swordmaster whose most magic spells are impermeable, as well as his extraordinary swordsmanship? By what means do you think you can do that?”
“H-Well... Women, you know, have to stab men, so I'll yell at her like usual...”
“If that's the case, then it's normal for her to obey her husband, right? Do you think Angelica doesn't see things through and lives like this stupid Crown Prince?”
“Gh…!”
Although he barely understood anything else, his ability to notice the insult directed at him was beyond failure.
Hyperion smiled wryly at this ridiculous contradiction.
“What remains is the legal procedures. The law of the Selene Empire encourages divorce by mutual consent. What about the laws of your dukedom?”
The king replied in a reserved tone:
“It is better not to go into the laws of the kingdom.”
Hyperion nodded in understanding.
Of course, what can you expect from a closed country that still treats women like property?
“So, it seems that divorce by mutual consent is the only solution...”
Hyperion sighed, running his hand across his forehead as if he had a chronic headache.
By this moment, the Selene Empire must have already fully discovered Angelica Ratlay's abilities.
That empire would not give her up easily, and Angelica's position itself was complex and difficult to predict.
“Even if she had been kidnapped, her character wouldn’t allow her to do something she didn’t want, so how could she agree to marriage so easily?”
Money and honor are things she doesn't care much about. As for power...
“She did not want to become queen, but would rather be queen herself than under someone else’s command.”
Especially Hugo Bernstein, isn't he the type that Angelica Ratlay hates the most?
“A ferocious beast, moving from one battlefield to another, reveling in blood and carnage.”
At the very least, Angelica wanted to marry someone with a mind she could reason with.
“Then why then?”
“We will send a delegation from the principality to the Selene Empire.”
This sudden sentence interrupted the king's thoughts in an instant, as he stopped his speech.
Hyperion ignored the sarcasm and agreed graciously, in fact, he had nothing more to say.
If there had been any other option, he wouldn't have allowed her to be kidnapped in the first place.
As he looked at the disconsolate king and Prince Luke, who was still trembling with embarrassment, he suddenly turned and left the room.
“I will hold off on handing over the remaining dowry until I can get Angelica back.”
"W-Wait! This…"
“Would you like to get back even what you received?”
Having no conscience, Hyperion ignored Prince Luke who tried to stop him, and walked out of the room.
Before the door to the room closed, he heard a loud sound coming from inside, something being thrown on the floor.
The king's angry voices overlapped with Luke's words filled with anger.
“They only know how to scream like barbarians.”
Hyperion described the principality's situation dismissively as he crossed the pass.
As his steps approached the palace entrance, they suddenly turned in another direction.
When he reached the far part of the palace, he sent his magic guards away and walked towards the nearby tower.
His steps were heavy, and as soon as he started climbing the stairs, his white shoes were covered with dust.
Soon, his head and shoulders were covered in dust as well, and he shook it off himself before entering Angelica Ratlay's room at the top of the tower.
The creak of the door was accompanied by the creak of the destroyed furniture inside the room, as the room was filled with evidence of her escape.
“Hmm...”
Hyperion walked around the room, then his eyes stopped at a corner of it, and he smiled a sarcastic smile.
“Did you think this was just an escape?”
From the bed to the window there were ropes made of dresses and fabrics that were tied together.
Hyperion quietly approached and grabbed one of the tied fabrics.
“Even the dress I gave her. No mercy.”
That dress had been custom-made by the best tailors in the empire, and he had it tailored for Angelica according to her taste.
Remembering how Angelica was showing unfeigned happiness when she received the gift, Hyperion smiled sweetly.
“You think you can escape from me?”
Then the dress was easily torn apart by his tremendous force.
His eyes sparkled purple as he threw the torn dress to the ground.
Hyperion exhaled a deep breath, but he did not calm down his anger easily.
He smiled again as he turned towards the table, then opened the first drawer to discover that the letters he had exchanged with him were carefully arranged.
He ran his hand over the letters, selecting a few to reveal the numbers written on the envelopes.
“You kept these letters carefully, yet why did you do that?”
The most provocative thing was not the torn dress on the floor, but the carefully arranged letters that increased his anger.
“Why did you do this?”
His actions were always in keeping with Angelica Ratlay's taste.
He was a meticulous and polite person, acting not on emotions but on rationality first.
“More than that, I was playing the role of a loving man wholeheartedly.”
Because he had an outlook of wisdom, he acted in a way that did not make it seem fake, mixing truth and feelings.
“Ah…”
Despite his persistent attempts, he was unable to find a convincing reason for that change.
He frowned briefly, then finally shrugged.
If he clings to past things, he will not be able to move forward.
He rolled the things he had with him for her into his hand.
“Angelica Ratlay.”
The reason doesn't matter anymore.
Regardless of the reason, the result was clear.
“Let's go back and meet soon.”
You'll love me again.
Without a doubt, and desperately.
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