Saved By The Mad Duke
Chapter 206: A Puppet

Chapter 206: A Puppet

Yanad stormed into his brother’s lab, the heavy door echoing his frustration as it slammed shut behind him. It had been a torturous three days since Melania’s trial. Despite the absence of a formal punishment, her once-spotless reputation lay in ruins, as if she had already faced the executioner’s blade.

The Crown Prince, his fists clenched with white-knuckled intensity and his jaw rigid with fury, advanced toward Valon’s desk. Each step reverberated through the room like the approach of a titan. With a forceful motion, he slammed his hands down upon the desk’s surface, his voice a seething growl, veins bulging on his neck and forehead as he vented his frustration.

"What in the world is happening, Valon? First, the princess is dragged into a trial without so much as a warning. Then, despite my repeated pleas, both the queen and king have evaded granting me an audience for days on end. And now, I find myself having to practically threaten your assistants into allowing me to see you. Have all of you collectively lost your minds?"

The second prince scoffed at his brother’s loud lament. With a calm expression, he gestured for Yanad to take a seat across the desk. Once Yanad settled into the chair, he leaned back, adopting a relaxed posture before he began to speak.

"My dear brother, your reaction seems a tad exaggerated. The princess may have committed a crime, and as usual, someone else bore the consequences. The trial was rushed to prevent the accused from tampering with evidence. Surely, as the Crown Prince, you’re well-versed in such protocols."

"Why resort to fabricating evidence then?" Yanad’s expression darkened. "I know Melania didn’t actually have an affair with that artist. What does the king intend to do with her?"

Valon regarded his brother with a prolonged, contemplative gaze before bursting into laughter.

"What does it matter now? The gears are already turning, Your Highness. Unfortunately, your input holds little sway."

The Crown Prince snapped at Valon’s audacious response, feeling as though he were being openly mocked—a sensation he loathed the most. In the presence of the second prince, Yanad always felt a gnawing sense of unease and vulnerability.

Valon was anything but ordinary. There was something unsettling about him, he was not right in his mind. The realization that someone like him held the reins of power sent a shiver down Yanad’s spine.

Yanad surged to his feet, his gaze ablaze with intensity as he demanded answers from his grinning brother. Valon, unfazed, merely snapped his fingers, casting a spell that forced the Crown Prince back into his seat, rendering him powerless.

Stepping out from behind the desk, the second prince approached Yanad, placing a pale, slender hand on his brother’s shoulder. His voice, though calm and oddly gentle, held an undercurrent of authority.

"How dare you snap at me like that, Your Highness? From our childhood, your path was clear—you were destined not just for kingship, but for empire. Your duties were simple: study, obey our father’s commands, and bask in the glory of others’ work done on your behalf."

Valon’s grip on Yanad’s shoulder tightened, his smile taking on a hint of menace as his tone grew colder.

"You never had to soil your hands; that burden fell to me. My pursuits in alchemy, the networks I cultivated, the sacrifices I’ve endured... Do you truly believe I did it out of enjoyment? Spare me! It was all for you—for your future, for the sake of Geraldion!"

Finally removing his bony hand from his brother’s shoulder, Valon’s expression softened lightly. He stood before Yanad, a faint curl forming on his lips.

"Princess Melania was naught but a pawn from the beginning. Her marriage to you, her arrival here—it was all orchestrated by Anathaen. Why else would Mother have so readily dispatched Catriona to marry their prince when she was barely seventeen? She was but one sacrifice among many necessary to elevate our kingdom to an empire. It’s regrettable that an innocent soul like Melania Lafad became entangled in our parents’ machinations, but her sacrifice hardly warrants such distress from you... Your Imperial Majesty."

Yanad was left speechless, a sour taste rising in his mouth, threatening to overwhelm him. He was sick and helpless.

He knew Valon spoke the truth; suspicions regarding his family’s schemes had lingered in his mind for some time. Yet, he clung to the hope that they wouldn’t stoop so low as to destroy innocent lives for their own greedy gain.

’Perfect. Mother always demanded perfection,’ he thought to himself, bitterness coloring his thoughts. "Mad Valentines were not fit to be the rulers of Geraldion, so Father disposed of them all. Aideen, not of royal blood, with her own imperfections—Mother got rid of her too. My entire life, I’ve been sculpted into the image of a flawless ruler, a mere puppet in Anathaen’s grand design. I’m sick to death of it all.’

Sensing Valon’s spell had finally lifted, Yanad shot one last furious glare at his brother. With a tense jaw, he pushed himself up from his seat, his words grinding out through clenched teeth. "The madness you all fear courses through our very veins. A perfect Empire? There’s nothing perfect about any of us."

Fueled by a potent mix of anger and frustration, the Crown Prince stormed out of Valon’s lab, his steps brisk as he retraced his path back to the main palace.

His head spun with turmoil, his chest constricted with pent-up emotion, his heart pounding against his ribcage as if threatening to break free.

He had never desired any of this, yet somehow, he found himself branded as the one in the wrong.

He had watched Aideen wither like a rare flower, enduring the relentless abuse from his own family. All the while, he clung to the hope that once he ascended to the throne, he could put an end to her suffering, finally saving her from their cruelty.

But fate had other plans for both of them.

Now, another soul stood on the brink of facing the same tragic destiny.

He couldn’t stand idly by and let it happen.

"Melania locked herself in her bedroom and hasn’t emerged since the artist’s punishment," he mused, determination sparking in his mind. "I need to learn what she wrote in that letter that found its way to Valon. She’s been secretly corresponding with someone outside her family... I must find out who it was."

With resolve coursing through him, Yanad cast aside all propriety and pushed open the doors to Melania’s chamber—only to be met with a chilling emptiness.

His wife was gone.