"Please spare my father's life! I'll never flee from this castle. I'll take charge of educating not only Adele but also the Truhity heir. I'll make those children the wisest individuals in this empire! Please show mercy to my father and me! I'll do anything the Grand Duke commands! So please! I beg you!"... more>>

Barbiena wailed beside her unconscious father.

Marquis Valtz, after enduring brutal torture, had vomited all the remnants of food in his stomach before fainting as if having a seizure.

"To become the tutor of my heir..."

Francis quietly repeated Barbiena's words.

"Truhity... No, the daughter and son of Berger will tear through your loins. The child you bear will call me father. And you, Barbiena..."

He took out a handkerchief made of expensive cotton from his pocket and was tenderly wiping the vomit-stained corners of Valtz's mouth.

"Will become my wife."

Those refined fingertips exuded an elegance that sent chills down one's spine.

"What a life, to have a man you despise as your husband forever. How pitiful."

The man’s gentle fingertips that threatened her father were now gripping Barbiena’s delicate neck.

"No, hnngh..."

Barbiena hung her head low, covering her face as she sobbed miserably.

"Please release me, Your Excellency the Grand Duke..."

But that trembling was merely an act to hide the joy escaping through her teeth. <<less