Chapter 165

‘Perhaps at least one or two of the assigned knights will be able to serve as my messengers. There must be a reason for Ober to act arrogantly. He is now in the same boat with the emperor by forming an imperfect union, but if I take the oar away from the betrayer and drown him, the boat will move again as I wish…’

Right at the moment, Duke Hubble’s closed door opened slowly and without notice.

The two instinctively looked at the door. Something slipped inside the door. It was the edge of a dark satin dress. The light reflected on the fabric sparkled like a shining stream. The scent of the jasmine flower drifted into the room with the outside air.

“Oh, sorry. I’ve been overhearing your conversation outside. I just feel so sorry for your son Elias.”

She tossed a tightly woven black veil with her elegant hand. The woman making a pitiable expression was Mrs. Chester.

Duke Hubble didn’t respond. He did not ask how she entered the mansion currently surrounded by security guards of the Imperial Palace. Anyway, he shared lots of plots and tricks with her. Without that, he would not have paid any attention to her from the beginning.

But the muscle under her chin swelled noticeably. Her dark eyebrows were turned up. The unwelcome intruder’s visit was a matter of good or bad rather than possible or impossible.

No matter how often she visited his mansion, she should have followed the due process of entering the mansion, let alone his room.

Every servant and maid at his mansion was well aware of Mrs. Chester’s fiery temperament, but most of them stuck to the strict procedures about outsiders’ visits despite her strong rebuke and resistance because the owner of their mansion was more powerful than she was.

But how could she ignore the procedures just because he was under house arrest?

It was natural that Duke Hubble felt unpleasant and disgusted at her arrogant attitude as someone who had held an influential power since he was born. He had never felt such an unpleasant feeling even during the late emperor’s reign, who had always kept aristocrats in check.

“The social circles were shocked because of you today. I hear you were put under house arrest. I was so surprised and worried that I ran straight here. You don’t know how hard it was to appease the security guards here to come in. Hope you can appreciate my hard efforts.”

Mrs. Chester approached the table while Hubble and his son stared at her. She bent her knees slightly for their understanding then slowly sat down on the sofa. Every time she moved, the scent of the jasmine flowers wafted into the room.

“Elias. Go and bring Wigden here.”

Duke Hubble ordered in an annoyed tone. When Elias was about to stand up, Mrs. Chester spoke.

“Wigden? I think I have heard that name before…. Wigden…”

“Really? I’m glad to hear that. That guy kindly escorted you back to your mansion before.”

“Ah, I didn’t know his name was Wigden. You said something ambiguous at the end of your talk, so I was wondering what you meant.”

She nodded as if she fully understood. Now, Duke Hubble’s face, which obviously showed he was very uncomfortable about her presence, was distorted like crumpled paper.

He was a veteran politician and more seasoned than anybody else. He was also a political gambler who played hundreds and thousands of games. In the capital, it was a piece of cake for him to solve the messed up puzzles or find the right pair of missing cards. He quickly began to make a plan for survival by finding the horses and cards that he failed to link because of his complicated thoughts.

Ober’s bold betrayal, Mrs. Chester’s arrogant attitude, the missing knight, his servants who failed to ask him about her visit, and his son who shut his mouth even now…

“Elias!”

The hidden card in this chessboard, which made everything possible, destroyed his tranquility.

“My goodness! How mean you are! You said you couldn’t trust your son until a moment ago, but now you are calling him desperately because you badly need him. That’s not good. Doesn’t he feel bad if you use him like an object then throw him away?”

Mrs. Chester sneered at him kindly. Unable to resist his father’s sharp glance, Elias hesitantly stepped towards Mrs. Chester’s seat.

“You’re great, though. You are so smart to grab the situation so quickly. I’m glad I didn’t have to explain to you about complicated things. Awesome!”

“Shut up.”

“Please watch your language. You aren’t in a position to command me now, are you?”

Her face, which had been smiling all the time, quickly became cold.

“Well, I’ve been wondering what made this wolf-like bastard act so arrogantly. You think you can control everything because you were bewitched by that woman. How stupid you are…”

And then Duke Hubble shouted back at Elias again, “You idiot! You are a disgrace to my family! How dare you fool your father? How could you sell off the honor of my great family? Do you think those evil bastards will follow your wishes? How can you be so stupid? You have known all along what they have been doing to harm me until now!”

“Damn it! All this happened because of you!” Elias also shouted at his father, raising his head.

He clenched his fists, shook his shoulders, and even stared at his father with bloodshot eyes.

“If you trusted me only once, if you just once told me what you have would be handed down to me, if you had told me that just one time, you would not have ended up being stuck in this situation!”

“You stupid…”

“Honor of the family? Authority and glory? Are you joking? I’ve never enjoyed that anyway. If I can have them all, it’s better for me to share it. At least this woman needs me. She has told me I have my own role to replace you! ”

Listening to his excuses, Duke Hubble grabbed the armrest of the sofa. Bloody veins stood out on the back of his wrinkled hands. It looked like he would charge at him right away and slap him in the face.

But Duke Hubble miraculously quelled his own anger. Then, he turned to Mrs. Chester.

“Good. This time you have shown a fantastic card. Let me admit frankly you have made a surprise attack on me successfully.”

“Only now you’re praising me! I am so moved that I feel like my tears come out.”

“But you’re not going to get what you want.”

Duke Hubble sarcastically sneered at her and continued, “As you know, if you do it like this, I can’t hand down all that power to that stupid guy. Even if you incapacitate my power and confine me to my bedroom, do you think the rest of the nobles will support Chester without any resistance?”

That made Mrs Chester show a very mysterious expression. She looked happy and annoyed.

“Oh my… That’s an answer that shows how much you underestimate me.”

She was willing to sympathize with Duke Hubble’s arrogance. She felt that was the very fearlessness of power or the kind of power that didn’t know its limits. As he had never seen his life ruined before, he couldn’t figure out what the worst is, even in this difficult situation.

“Well, it’s far from a good conclusion, but you’re right. If Sir Elias forcibly took your title, those who supported your family would not betray you overnight. Although you might be doomed, you can overthrow the chessboard and regain power as long as there is a pivotal figure.”

She folded the fan abruptly while gently fanning herself.

“Sure, as long as there is a pivotal figure.”

Mrs. Chester smiled elegantly. But it apparently was mixed with her intent to kill him.

“… Act smart. That guy doesn’t know anything. What can you do with that useless jerk? The emperor will never see you as an ally anyway. This is just stupid self-harm,” Duke Hubble said, frowning heavily.

His tone was calm, but there was something new between the syllables of his words, which clearly indicated that he was nervous.

Mrs. Chester patted Elias’ shoulder with the end of her fan instead of replying.

Then Elias approached the window and unlocked the window.

Soon, the window opened wide. In addition to the peculiar air in the night, snake-like slender shadows slipped into the room one by one. There were a total of four strangers, veiled from head to toe, each holding a weapon with blood still dripping from them.

“You told me last time that if I don’t like this game, I need to make a decision that will generate a new game, even if that requires overturning the chessboard. ”

The atmosphere in the room turned chilly like the middle of winter. Feeling the shadow of death coming up every moment, Duke Hubble bit his lip as hard as he could.