No Regression for the Victor - Chapter 6
For a while, Hyun’s plan seemed to be going smoothly—at least until the caretaker, startled by a loud crash from the laboratory, came rushing over.
This was the day that marked the third year since the Duke Transis had become nothing more than the hollow shell of a fallen noble. The day when lightning struck the spire perched atop the old castle.
The caretaker of the frozen lake exile was convinced that the Duke had finally gone mad.
Otherwise, how could a person change so much? As usual, the caretaker opened the door to deliver the Duke’s meal, keeping his body hidden behind the door in case something was thrown at him out of irritation.
“Dinner has arrived, Your Grace.”
The title of Grand Duke had long since been stripped away, so calling him just ‘Duke’ or ‘Lord Transis’ was more than sufficient.
‘If I called him that, he’d raise a huge fuss, asking if I was making a fool of him.’
Since he was working at the exile site by imperial order, there was nothing to be gained by provoking the Duke’s temper. Calling him ‘Your Grace’ wasn’t difficult anyway, and it wasn’t as if the man could do anything, so it was easy enough to play along.
It had already been three years since the Duke Transis’s attempt to assassinate the imperial prince had come to nothing. Just as the caretaker thought, the Duke’s honor had long since fallen so low that even a dog wouldn’t pick it up.
The war-madman Transis, who dared not know his place and threatened the imperial family. Not content with sending young men to war and extorting taxes for his own greed, he had even dared to threaten the benevolent imperial prince. His was the most reviled name in the entire empire.
You’d think that being so hated would make a man reflect and learn some humility. But unfortunately, Duke Transis had lived his whole life looking down on others, intoxicated with aristocratic superiority, and even as a ruined noble who had lost everything, there had been no improvement in his attitude.
‘Yesterday, he was making a racket over some ritual again…’
As if that would work. They said he’d been a promising mage at the Mage Tower as a child, but where had all that talent gone? Every time he pulled some foolish stunt, it was up to the caretaker to clean up the mess. This time, hopefully, the cleanup would be easier. The aging caretaker inwardly sneered, waiting for the Duke’s response.
“Your Grace…”
Not hearing the usual reply to just leave it and go, the caretaker, feeling uneasy that the man might have collapsed while doing something strange again, nervously peeked his head through the door—
when a familiar voice called out urgently.
“Stop! Just leave it in front and that’ll be enough!”
Startled by the unusual, awkward tone that was so different from usual, the caretaker accidentally dropped the tray he was holding.
Clatter, roll, roll, roll…
‘Did I hear that right? Instead of leave it and get lost, he said, just leave it in front and that’s enough?’
The caretaker doubted his own ears, and at the same time, prepared himself for a scolding for not even being able to do something so simple, clutching his head in anticipation. The Duke had a habit of flying into a rage and throwing things. But the response that came after the caretaker dropped the dishes was completely unexpected.
“I’ll— I’ll clean it up, so you can just go!”
What was that supposed to mean? Had the Duke gone mad? Cleaning up something himself? Was he even capable of that? The caretaker now sensed something strange had happened to the Duke, and swung the door open to check the laboratory inside.
“What on earth are you talking about…?”
As the frightened caretaker opened the door, the scene that greeted him was…
…A floor soaked with dark red from the magic circle…
“……????”
……And the Duke himself, hunched over and desperately trying to cover the chaotic traces on the floor.
The Duke has finally gone mad. The caretaker’s mind flashed at one thought.
He finally had something to report to the imperial family.
