Editing Tytania:Volume 4 Chapter 5 (section)

=== V ===
On this day, there was only one visitor who brought him joy. His youngest brother, Zelpha. Amidst a schedule so hectic that the media would have been fond of calling it a “day of upheaval”, Idris had made time to meet with Zelpha. Knowing that this boy alone harboured a sense of pure, unadulterated devotion towards his eldest brother, Idris moved to a different seat and commanded a servant to bring him some cocoa, allowing for about ten minutes of conversation.

“If only you were ten years older and an adult already.”

Idris’ voice was imbued with true sincerity.

“Someone like Radmoth… it would have been better if he had never been born.”

Had Idris been his father, such words would have never been uttered, but as the elder brother, he felt free to speak his mind.

His affection for Radmoth had originally not amounted to a single shred, but now it had fallen below zero. He had heard tales of Radmoth’s disgraceful behaviour from some of the defeated soldiers who had returned home broken. Idris had resolved that if he had the audacity to show his face, he would subject him to severe punishment.

“When I grow up, I will surely be of use to you, Brother. I will stand by your side no matter what.”

“Yes, you are the only one I trust. I am counting on you.”

Zelpha returned to his room looking disappointed, and Idris watched him go. Had it ended there, it would have been a day upon which he had regained his good humour, but…

“Duchess Theresa requests an audience with Your Grace.”

“I have no business with her. Send her away.”

Idris lacked the confidence that he could maintain his composure if he were to face Duchess Theresa right now. Even without that, he had only just exploded with passion in front of the Clanner’s infirmary.

If Clanner Ajman, Ariabert, and Jouslain were to vanish forever, he wouldn’t mind letting his passions run wild, but for now, self-restraint was essential. He had only just felt the sting of regret moments ago. However, as he lifted his head from his desk, Lady Theresa stood before his very eyes.

“What is the meaning of this? Am I not even allowed to be alone…?”

Idris’ voice trailed off into the air, and his eyes glared unpleasantly at the uninvited guest.

“I… I apologise, but…”

The security officer’s voice was thick with cold sweat. Duchess Theresa Tytania, who had intruded upon them, seemed like an entirely different person from the last time they had met. A strange confidence surged through her entire being; the flaccid softness of her heavy frame had vanished, replaced by a sense of power that seemed to fill every bold contour of her body.

“Enough, you may leave.”

She announced this with an air of absolute authority, as if addressing one of her own subordinates. After glancing at Idris’ expression, the security officer hurriedly vanished.

Idris let out a long, heavy breath.

“I release you from your confinement, and this is how you repay me? What is the meaning of this? I’m afraid I cannot spare more than five minutes.”

“Do not be so cold.”

The Duchess’ voice grew strangely sweet, and even her tone changed, leaving Idris aghast. He did not offer Lady Theresa the sofa as he did his younger brother, leaving the elder woman to remain standing. It was his way of signalling that she should leave at once, but Lady Theresa seemed entirely unconcerned.

“You must be terribly exhausted. I, too, find those brothers Ariabert and Jouslain to be quite disagreeable.”

“Brothers…?”

“Indeed.”

“Wait a minute, they are supposed to be cousins. Their mothers are sisters…”

It was such an unexpected remark that Idris, already mentally exhausted, found himself unintentionally swept up in the Duchess’ pace.

“Yes, their mothers are sisters, but their father is the same man.”

“Then they are half-brothers…” murmured Idris, dazed.

Lady Theresa watched his reaction with an air of satisfaction.

“H-How did it come to that? And how could you possibly know such a thing?”

“How do I know? Well, I shall leave that to your imagination. However, it is a fact that Ariabert and Jouslain are brothers of different mothers. When one belongs to a ducal house of Tytania, things become quite tiresome, with all his talk of lineage, the necessity of male heirs, and how a girl won’t do. You are well aware of this, are you not?”

“…”

“In your family, you were fortunate enough to have three boys, but in Ariabert and Jouslain’s line, things did not go so well. Ariabert’s mother, Wilhelmina, was as the commoners might put it a ‘piece of work’.”

Bullets of hatred and contempt were spat from Lady Theresa’s lips in the form of words.

“Upon realising that her own husband was barren, out of all people, she stole her elder sister’s husband.”

“In other words, Jouslain’s father was…”

“Indeed, and the two boys were born in succession. Almost at the same time—no, Ariabert was born perhaps two weeks earlier. When they were born, they looked so much alike that even the physician was flustered. As they grew, they both took after their mothers, so they ended up looking like cousins. But had they both resembled their father, things might have become quite troublesome.”

Lady Theresa laughed loudly. That voice, which seemed like a mass of pure malice, struck Idris’ eardrums and echoed through his ear canal, refusing to fade for some time.

<noinclude>
{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaaaaa solid; padding: 0.2em; border-collapse: collapse;"
|-
| Back to [[Tytania:Volume 4 Chapter 4|Chapter 4]]
| Return to [[Tytania|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Tytania:Volume 4 Chapter 6|Chapter 6]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>