The Grand Duke's Son Is A Heretic
Chapter 272

Chapter 272: 272

"DAAAMNNNN!"

"Next time we meet,I will kill you."

The practice chamber raged like a battlefield.

Blades of wind slashed through the air, crashing into the walls with booming intensity. Dust and stone fragments scattered as storm-like bursts of sword energy erupted from the center. Each strike was violent—raw, desperate, and filled with wrath.

Amidst the chaos stood Adele—her golden eyes burning like twin suns, her raven-black hair soaked in sweat and whipping wildly in the turbulent wind she herself had conjured. Her cloak had long since been shredded, and the floor beneath her feet was riddled with deep gashes and smoking cracks.

"DAAAMNNNN!"

A piercing roar tore from her throat as she swung her sword again, unleashing a crescent arc that split through the reinforced ceiling tile like paper.

"This isn’t enough!" she screamed. Her breathing was ragged, her limbs trembling.

"More... I need more power... Power to reach S rank!"

Her next swing cut through a reinforced practice dummy with explosive force, the fragments hurled into the far wall like shrapnel.

"Nanny was right... Strength is everything! Only strength deserves to rule over this world!" Her voice cracked into madness.

She stabbed the blade down into the floor, and the impact shattered the tiles beneath. The entire room trembled, thick fissures webbing out from the epicenter like a spider’s nest.

"Aaaa..aAAAHHHHHH!"

Her scream reverberated through the manor, chilling the guards posted outside. The pressure in the room was suffocating—her aura fluctuated with instability, like a volatile flame about to burst.

On the other side of the reinforced glass wall, a pair of guards flinched and turned to Mariana, who observed calmly.

"Miss Mariana, please stop her... She’s overdosing on aura force again," one said in a worried tone.

"It might be harmful for Her Highness."

"This might injure her."

"She’s going to collapse.."

But Mariana only adjusted the monocle on her eye, her expression unreadable. "Let her vent it."

"W-What?"

"She needs to purge that emotion. If she holds it in, it’ll rot her from the inside. Let her break. That rage will forge her into something stronger."

Inside, Adele’s legs finally gave out. She crashed to the ground, panting and dripping in sweat. Her body trembled as she struggled to move, her hands gripping her sword as if it were her lifeline.

Around her, devastation reigned.

Training weapons were shattered. Dummy mannequins were decapitated or burned. The walls bore scars of elemental destruction—lightning cracks, frost marks, deep slashes. The reinforced metal support beams were bent, and the floor resembled a battlefield crater.

Adele lay in the center of it all, eyes staring blankly at the broken ceiling.

The door hissed open softly.

Mariana stepped inside, graceful and composed. In her hand, she carried a white towel and a flask of water. She knelt down beside Adele, placing the towel gently on her shoulder without a word.

Adele didn’t move. She simply stared ahead, eyes dulled.

"I failed," she murmured. "I can’t break through to S-rank... Even with everything, I’m stuck. The crown games will come and I’ll still be behind him."

Her voice faltered. "It’s useless..."

Mariana calmly replied, "You’re rushing it, Miss. Your foundation is solid—but there’s still a gap. That needs time and further refinement."

Silence. Then Adele, after a heavy breath, sat up and took the flask. She poured the cold water directly over her head, soaking her hair and face. Her breathing calmed.

"...You’re right," she muttered. "It’s not over. I still have days left. I’ll find elixirs. I’ll train more. I’ll push myself further."

Mariana smiled faintly.

"What about my suggestion?" she asked gently.

Adele blinked. "Suggestion?"

Mariana’s gaze didn’t change, but something unreadable flickered behind her monocle.

"I mean," she said lightly, "looking for resources that will make you breakthrough easily like the elixirs."

"...Ah. Right." Adele rubbed her temple. "Are there really elixirs as such out there?"

"Of course..As long as you make an effort there is nothing you can’t find in the market."

"So should I send people to look at those?"

But Mariana’s smile lingered just a little longer. Quiet. Calm. Waiting.

Adele paused for a moment and nodded.

"Yes,you may..If there exists such a thing,I should look for it quickly."

Adele stepped out from the ruined training chamber, her breathing steady now, but her eyes still sharp with lingering fury. Her hair clung to her damp forehead, and her cloak hung in tatters, but she held her head high—unbroken, unbent.

Mariana walked silently beside her, ever composed, her gloved hands folded neatly before her.

As they passed the outer corridor, Adele’s voice rang out, low and commanding.

"Any new information?"

The knight walking several steps behind them straightened and nodded immediately. "Yes, Your Highness. We’ve received a major update."

Adele halted and turned, her golden eyes narrowing.

"Speak."

The knight took a breath, glancing once at Mariana before relaying, "Sir Kael is back."

Adele froze.

Even Mariana, who rarely betrayed emotion, tilted her head slightly. "He is... back?"

The knight nodded. "Yes, milady. He returned early this morning."

"Where has he been all this time?" Adele asked, her voice taut.

"I... I believe only the Grand Duke himself may know that, Princess. His movements were completely concealed from the outer courts."

Adele clenched her fists. She turned to look at Mariana, who slowly shook her head.

"No one knows where that boy disappeared to," Mariana said softly.

Adele’s eyes shimmered with something unreadable, then she turned back to the knight, her tone sharp.

"Continue."

The knight hesitated for a second, then added, "There’s more. Sir Kael returned... with a dragon."

The silence cracked like a whip.

"WHAAATTT?" Adele shouted, voice thunderous.

Even Mariana’s composed face faltered—her eyes widened ever so slightly, a flicker of shock piercing her usual calm.

"A dragon?" she repeated. "Where did he...?"

She paused mid-thought, her mind pulling at a thread from the past. Lyria. That infernal girl who once carried something wrapped and hidden. A precious burden.

"Wait," Mariana said slowly. "Did he return alone... or with others?"

The knight looked troubled. "He was seen with that demoness."

Adele’s expression darkened at once.

Her aura spiked violently, and her glare could’ve frozen fire. Her killing intent surged, so fierce that the nearby guards stepped back instinctively, their breaths caught in their throats.

"She’s still with him?" Adele’s voice was barely a whisper, but it cut like steel.

"It seems," Mariana said calmly, "that he’s begun laying the roots of his power. A dragon, his servants... Perhaps even a faction."

Adele’s teeth gritted. Her heart twisted.

But Mariana was already moving forward, voice steady and resolute.

"The Crown Games are still ahead. That’s your arena, My Lady. And before that... I will find the elixir that’ll push you beyond your limits."

Adele’s cold fury gave way to something softer—a spark of belief. She looked at Mariana with tired but burning eyes.

"Thank you," she said quietly.

Mariana nodded once, her tone sharp as ever.

And with that, the two walked forward—past the guards, past the whispers, toward a future thick with blood, power, and fire.

........

The afternoon sun bathed the estate in a golden hue, yet Mariana’s expression remained cold and composed as she walked through the mansion’s upper corridor, looking out across the grounds from the veranda.

Below her, the vast estate buzzed with activity.

Servants bustled between the gardens and the manor, tending to the hedges, polishing the statues, or moving crates and laundry. Knights jogged around the perimeter in pairs, going through drills. Stablehands tended to the horses. Everyone was in motion — but none escaped Mariana’s sharp eyes.

"Move the crates with care. If I find a single one bruised again, I’ll have your wages cut," she called out, her voice precise and firm.

"Yes, Lady Mariana!" the servants chorused from below, scrambling faster but more carefully.

A pair of maids paused as they argued over placements of vases.

"Move the crimson lilies to the main hall. Lady Adele prefers them in sight," Mariana instructed without needing to be asked.

The maids bowed hurriedly and did as ordered.

She walked along the edge with composed steps, inspecting everything. There wasn’t an inch of this estate unfamiliar to her, no routine unknown. Her eyes swept across a gardener trimming roses and a pair of attendants arranging curtains.

"Polish the silver in the guest chambers again before sunset. I saw watermarks on them this morning," she added sharply.

Then, turning her gaze to the southern wall, she saw a knight lounging with his sword across his lap.

"Sir Galen," she said coolly, her voice slicing through the air like a blade.

The knight jolted upright.

"Yes, Lady Mariana?"

"Sharpen your blade or your mind. Either way, don’t let both rust."

"Y-Yes, of course."

Her gaze lingered for a second longer before she turned and left without another word.

She moved through the halls with effortless grace, silent as a wraith. Eventually, she reached a secluded corridor and entered her personal chamber.

The room was modest — strikingly so for someone of her influence. The walls were bare save for a single oil lamp, the furnishings minimal: a bed, a wardrobe, a small shelf with books, and a tidy writing desk. No art. No vanity. Nothing unnecessary.

Mariana approached the desk and closed the curtain, then the door. With a quick flick, she locked it. The room dimmed as she pulled the drapes shut.

From the drawer, she drew a small black card etched with arcane lines.

She stared at it for a moment, then whispered softly:

"She is losing her will... but she hasn’t broken yet. It seems further work is necessary. However, we are close... very close. Once the Crown Games strike her down, she will shatter."

The card pulsed faintly, then glowing letters swirled across the surface.

[What if she manages to win?]

Mariana’s expression remained still—then twisted into a sharp, unsettling smile.

"Then isn’t that better?Also she had allowed me to look for elixir" she whispered.

"After all... I already hold her heart in my grasp. Whether broken or proud, in the end, it’s ours."

The card glowed again, as if in agreement.

Then, after reading the final message, Mariana’s gaze darkened. She snapped her fingers once.

The card ignited instantly — no smoke, no ember, only cold black flames. The ashes twisted upward into the air before vanishing entirely.

She stood still for a second, then turned toward the window and murmured with absolute devotion:

"Hail the Heretic Lord."

Her voice was serene.

But in the silence that followed, something far more sinister lingered.