Chapter 17

Valerie sat next to her daughter Heloise, fanning her face over and over again.

Dominic’s wife, Countess Emma Laurent, also occupied a seat.

She was always not feeling well, and as soon as she arrived yesterday, she said she was tired and didn’t even show her nose in the Grand Duke’s bedroom.

The son of Count Laurent, Richard, did not have the right to be here because he was not yet a legal adult, but he sat proudly between his parents.

It was because his father, Dominic, insisted that he come into the office because he was the eldest son of the family.

Fabian leaned against one wall and watched as his relatives were all seated in their chairs.

All of his relatives, except for Heloise, were just nervous.

“It was a mistake to let him go to the academy in the first place. I thought he would never come back…”

Dominic murmured.

His eyes were on his wife, Emma, but he was actually talking to himself because Emma didn’t listen to him.

There were no problems a decade ago when Fabian was not accepted as a member of the Laurent family.

But when he graduated from the academy and returned to the Laurent family, everything changed.

There was no longer the Grand Duke scolding Fabian out loud, there was only a grandfather who took pride in everything his grandson did.

All his relatives knew it.

That’s why everyone is paying attention.

Dominic was nervous because he did not know what the contents of the new will would be.

Fabian glanced at the lawyer.

The family lawyer even brought the policeman and left him waiting outside the office.

That made everyone more anxious.

Soon the lawyer took an envelope out of his bag.

He assured everyone that the wax seal that sealed the envelope belonged to the deceased Grand Duke had never been opened.

Then he took the will from the envelope and began to read it.

“I, Frederick Laurent, the 17th Grand Duke of Laurent, hereby declare that this document is my last will. Everything was written before this document is null and void, and in this document I declare…

The lawyer’s voice echoed through the office.

The nervous faces of the Laurents stared intently at the paper the lawyer was holding.

No one looked tired of the pouring legal terms.

After a while, the reading of the will came to a part that everyone was curious about.

“… The 18th Grand Duke’s position is passed on to Fabian, the son of his eldest son Vie.”

“What!”

Dominic cried out and stood up from his seat.

It was because the previous will had his name in place of Fabian’s for the position of the next Grand Duke.

“This is invalid! The nonsense of an old man with dementia…”

“Be quiet. I haven’t read it all yet.”

The lawyer put Dominic back in the chair in a word.

Dominic wheezes and shuts his mouth tightly.

“However, only if Fabian gets married within one year of the issuance of this will, and the woman must be a noble. If this condition is not met, the position of the Grand Duke shall be succeeded by my second son, Dominic.”

It was something no one could have guessed.

Dominic threw the chair over and got up from his seat and looked at Fabian.

His face turned red, and veins grew from his neck.

“You bastard, what have you done to my father! You are just a subject born of such a filthy bloodline, do you dare to look over the position of a Grand Duke and even a noblewoman?”

The lawyer warned Dominic with a tired voice as if he knew this.

“Count Laurent, if you wake up one more time, I will call the police out the door. If you want to listen to the end, please sit still.”

But the lawyer’s warning was to no avail.

Even before calling the police, Dominic swung his fist at Fabian.

Fabian avoided Dominic’s fist.

A giant fist grazed Fabian’s hair and went into the piece of furniture behind him.

There is a hole in the old-fashioned furniture.

“You bastard!”

Dominic, who had only broken the furniture, looked back at him, shaking his bloody fists.

Far from stopping his own father, Richard was laughing aloud from a few steps away.

Heloise watched as she sat still. With a smile on her lips, she said, “I have a good idea. If you marry me, everything will be resolved, Brother Fabian.”

“What, what did you mean, Heloise!”

This time Valerie raised her voice.

“I have no intention of marrying you off to a half-nobleman! And you two are cousins!”

“But, for nobles, marriage between cousins isn’t anything out of the ordinary. Besides, is there anyone else suitable beside me?”

Heloise smiled at her mother and looked at Fabian.

“The only daughter of the Marchioness of Conrad is perfectly suited to be the future Grand Duchess. Later, your grandson will take over the title of Grand Duke, mother.”

Valerie seemed to be speechless for a moment. Her anger was poured out on Fabian, not on her daughter.

“Nephew, you must be careful with your life. Don’t think I will leave it alone.”

“Of course, Aunt Valerie. That’s not going to happen.”

It was Richard who answered Valerie’s threats.

He was sitting in an arrogant position, with his legs crossed and one of his arms placed on the backrest at an angle, looking this way.

“Shouldn’t it be enough if Brother Fabian can’t get married for the next year? If she were a sane noblewoman, it would be an insult for her to have an affair with a witch’s child.”

A smirk appeared on Richard’s face.

Heloise turned around and looked at him.

“Do you dare say to me now that I am crazy, Richard?”

“Ha, were you serious then? Now, are you going to embarrass not only the Laurent family but also the Conrad family?”

The inside of the Grand Duke’s office became a mess with swearing and intimidation.

Fabian put one hand on his forehead.

He didn’t know that he would not be able to hear all of his grandfather’s will.

“I’ve heard the most important part. Send me a copy of the will later, and I’ll read it slowly.”

Fabian left the office.

‘In just three years…’

It was only three years that Fabian entered the Laurent estate and lived with his grandfather.

Those three years have changed the stubborn Grand Duke to the point of writing a new will.

He was about to win the grand duke’s seat, even if he had blood on his hands anyway.

‘… but what about marriage?’

The condition that he must marry a noblewoman.

Blood was Fabian’s only weakness.

His father was the eldest son of the Grand Duke, but his mother was a commoner without a family, let alone aristocrats.

No, it was not just a commoner.

His mother was a so-called witch.

A witch who disturbs the minds of good people with her special magic.

There’s no nobleman who wanted to marry off his daughter to a man who had inherited the blood of a witch.

Even more so, the deceased Grand Duke had left a command to marry a noblewoman in his will.

He hoped that the troubled grandson would marry a powerful family and consolidate his position as grand duke.

Fabian wiped his face down with one hand.

‘First of all, whoever it is, I have to get married.’

He was given a chance to get what he wanted without seeing blood.

Of course, he had no intention of marrying his cousin.

He felt uncomfortable in his stomach just thinking about Heloise.

‘It is better to avoid annoying things in the first place.’

As he was walking down the hallway in thought, he suddenly stopped and saw that he was standing in front of the portrait of the Grand Duke.

Fabian looked up at the portrait of the Grand Duke in his youth.

Next to him were several portraits of his brothers, all of whom had been slain at the hands of the Grand Duke.

Frederick also had a history of killing his brothers in order to gain the position of Grand Duke.

‘Do not be hostile to each other, and marry quietly.’

Guessing his grandfather’s obvious intentions, Fabian ridiculed him.

‘Grand Duke, I have no intention of obeying your will. What should I do?’

He wanted to become the Grand Duke, but he didn’t want to continue this damn family.

He wanted to make the Grand Duchess have scandals.

His purpose was to defile that noble lineage.

Fabian stood for a moment before the portrait of the Grand Duke, then he bowed his head slightly and returned to his study.

Soon, Fortus appeared in his study.

“Did you call?”

“My grandfather told me to sit on the throne of the Grand Duke.”

At the shocking words that came out at first, Fortus swallowed his saliva.

He also knew roughly the contents of the previous will.

After a moment of silence, he nodded.

“It’s a natural result. Count Dominic is hot-tempered and dull, so he’s not a good fit for a Grand Duke.”

“There is a condition attached.”

“A condition?”

“He told me to marry a noblewoman within a year.”

Fortus also quickly guessed the intentions of the Grand Duke.

A smile appeared on his lips.

“Then you should do it.”