Keeping the Yandere Duke in check chapter 55

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“Who are you trying to provoke?”

As Hernan wiped the blood from his blade on the clothes of the intruders and sheathed it, the ancient dragon let out a scoff from the shadows.

[It’s exactly what I expected. You think I’ve only been watching you for a day or two?]

While Hernan’s biological father locked down Velon and ruined the kingdom, what had the ancestral dragon been doing?

Aside from the minimal regency needed to maintain the Viscountry, the dragon had done nothing.

One might think that, as the guardian dragon, he should at least try to help the kingdom develop.

Yudenet had lived for a time incomprehensible to humans, and believed that all efforts were ultimately meaningless.

Although he was bound by a contract through the blood of the Yudenet family, preventing him from refusing his descendants’ requests, he was fundamentally a dragon with a skeptical view of humanity.

It wasn’t because he was particularly cynical—it was the inevitable conclusion for anyone who had watched the same mistakes, failures, and history repeat over millennia.

“If you knew, you could’ve told me earlier.”

Hernan shot back without backing down, earning another sneer from Yudenet.

[Even if I had told you, would you have done anything differently?]

The obvious answer was, of course, “No.”

Hernan had no desire to become a virtuous ruler.

Quite the opposite.

Back when he was so frail and weak that it seemed he could die at any moment, there had been only one person who had reached out a hand to him.

At one point, he had wished for everyone except that person to disappear.

So, he didn’t care how miserably the people who had turned their backs on him lived while he was on the verge of death.

He swung his sword whenever those who sought to use him commanded it, tore apart whoever they told him to destroy.

If he could survive this, he would confess that the only moment in his harsh life when he thought it was worth living was when that person had extended their hand to him.

It was that small, lingering attachment that allowed Hernan to survive time and again.

He gritted his teeth and endured through situations where dying would have been far easier.

When he finally returned to his homeland, recognized for defending the northern front, his two older brothers had self-destructed, leaving Hernan as the heir to lead Velon.

He hadn’t asked for the position of successor, and there was no sense of responsibility or duty attached to it.

Though rot had set in throughout the kingdom, and the Yudenet family was mocked, Hernan didn’t care as long as no one pointed their sword at him.

So, he had no intention of burning with righteous fury to right every injustice now that he was the ruler.

‘Do you have no goals or principles as a ruler, Your Grace?’

In a time when even the royal family had long since abandoned their grand ideals and become a self-serving faction, he remained unwavering.

The problem was that Hernan desperately wanted to be seen favorably by that upright man.

To impress him, he inevitably had to become a good duke.

Simply mimicking virtue would be seen through instantly.

So, Hernan couldn’t have been unaware of the chaos his large-scale investigation would cause.

“That’s not it.”

When Hernan answered curtly, Yudenet scoffed as if to say, “I told you so.”

[See? Even if I warned you, you wouldn’t stop. It’s pointless.]

Annoyed by Ryuudene’s infuriating remarks, Hernan rang a bell to summon soldiers instead of servants.

“Take them and interrogate them.”

At the very least, they should be able to find out how the traitors had committed suicide.

Hernan had heard plenty of reports that the lords, who had until now thought they could easily deceive him, had been thrown into chaos.

They had likely panicked when they found out he was sending people to investigate the corruption they had previously hidden through paperwork tricks.

With no legitimate heirs or close relatives to take over the ducal seat, and with the duke unmarried, some might have thought it fortunate that there was only one person left to deal with.

But that was a grave miscalculation.

If they were going to send assassins, they should have sent ones who were better at hiding their presence.

There was no way Hernan, who had survived countless life-threatening situations as a child, wouldn’t notice.

The ones sent after him had lived far too comfortable lives to understand that.

After motioning for the soldiers to take away the corpses, Hernan looked at the piles of documents on his desk and stifled a sigh.

Did that person know just how hard he was working behind the scenes?

They probably didn’t, and it was better that way.

But there was no way they wouldn’t find out eventually.

When Jurgen, who had undoubtedly been raised in comfort, learned the truth about the north, that would be the day everything crossed the point of no return.

Finally, the soldiers quietly escorted the three limp-bodied intruders out of the office.

As Hernan sat back at his desk, the ancient dragon whispered to him.

[Don’t forget. I’ll help with everything you’re trying to do, as long as my breath can reach it.]

The dragon’s silky voice reverberated low, like a curse.

[But you must take responsibility for all the consequences and judgments of your actions.]

“I’m not naïve enough to be unaware of that.”

Hernan chuckled softly and turned his gaze back to the mountain of paperwork.

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The next morning, I woke up feeling as though I had heard some commotion in the middle of the night.

I busily prepared breakfast, feeling strangely refreshed despite waking up earlier than I ever had in Nirvan, all thanks to Hernan’s constant insistence that I go to bed by nine.

‘So this is why people go on about being morning people.’

With that idle thought, I opened the door to leave my bedroom.

“Ah.”

There, waiting for me, was a rather unwelcome face.

“What is it?”

Of course, it was Hernan. He looked slightly tired but still infuriatingly perfect.

“Nothing. You seem the same as usual, so it’s fine.”

Contrary to my expectations, Hernan simply gave a curt greeting and headed back to his office.

It was unexpected, but a relief.

With him out of my hair, I finished setting up the banquet hall and admired the castle’s now-pristine exterior after thoroughly cleaning the walls.

‘Wow… It may have been crudely built, but the way the castle blends with the snowy mountains is impressive.’

Having replaced all the dust-covered fabrics inside as well, the place looked less like an old fortress and more like a recently renovated building.

The weeks of backbreaking work to get everything spotless were worth it, especially when I imagined the guests’ astonished faces.

Let’s see… Viscounting the confirmed replies from the people I sent reminders to…

‘Hmm…’

Including their companions, there would be fourteen in total.

That was well within the margin of what I could handle.

The menu was also perfectly planned.

All I had to do was remind Hernan to avoid any awkward blunders.

I had made it clear to him that no one should ever find out about his past engagement to Berta or the pact he had with me.

‘There’s nothing to spill to those gossip-loving busybodies anyway.’

The news of what they had learned spread quickly through the empire’s social circles that very evening.

As long as the matter at the Velon branch was handled smoothly, they could have brushed it off as if nothing happened.

I didn’t want to slap the label of “the fiancée who broke off an engagement” on Berta for no reason, and I also didn’t want to end up in the gossip mills over what sort of deal the Viscount of Everdeen had sworn to.

Hernan seemed to agree that being the center of rumors wouldn’t do him any good either, so he unusually agreed to cooperate.

“There’s nothing we can do but trust that for now.”

After nervously preparing everything, the day finally arrived.

I stood up, watching from the window as carriages began pulling up one by one at the castle gates.

“They could’ve all come at once instead of trickling in with this annoying time gap.”

Apparently, that’s considered proper etiquette among high-ranking nobles.

I composed myself and walked out with a calm smile to greet the first guest.

“It’s been a while, Duchess Velesa.”

The young-looking Duchess, who still had an air of a newlywed about her, greeted me with a wide smile as soon as she saw me.

“Hello, Young Viscount Everdeen! I was so worried, but you look even better than before!”

Though she was younger than me, she had already been married for three years, having wed early before reaching adulthood.

As she extended her hand confidently to me, her gaze briefly flicked up towards Hernan, standing nearby, as if she couldn’t ignore him.

And at that moment, I saw it with my own two eyes.

The joy in her eyes from seeing me vanished the instant she caught sight of something too beautiful to believe, her expression turning to shock.

Thud.

The fan she was holding slipped from her hand, falling limply to the floor, as if in a trance, she extended her hand to Hernan instead.

“Hernan Velon Yudenet. Thank you for coming all this way.”

His voice was soft and kind, but his eyes weren’t smiling at all.

Yet the Duchess’s cheeks flushed instantly, clearly unaffected.

Excuse me! She’s married, you know!

I had countless things I wanted to point out, but before I could even catch my breath, the next guest arrived, forcing me to move on.

Of course, this guest also gazed up at Hernan with a similarly dumbfounded look.

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