The Duke Dad I Chose Can’t (Really) See Well - Chapter 1

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 1

There’s a saying in this world.

If you hold a wedding on a rainy day, the couple will live very happily together.

Someone might have believed those words and had a happy wedding, but unfortunately, it seemed those words didn’t apply to me.

“Huff, huff…”

I, the bride, was running frantically while still wearing my dress. The dress I had tailored for today was already covered in stains and torn to shreds.

“Hurry and get inside over there!”

“Take cover immediately!”

The wedding guests were already busily taking shelter.

“The Rebel Forces will attack soon!”

“Escort His Majesty the Emperor and Her Majesty the Empress to the inner palace!”

“Call the mages and priests! Prepare defensive positions!”

They were busily devising countermeasures, but no one was interested in me, the bride.

It was only natural.

This marriage was nothing more than a performance.

* * *

I was the daughter of a Saintess.

The reason I use past tense is because I was no longer the daughter of a Saintess.

The family I belonged to, Agnito, was a ducal house of the empire known as ‘those blessed by God.’

The Agnito Family had produced Saintesses for generations, and with their immense divine power, only one person per generation could become a Saintess.

Naturally, many people coveted this bloodline, and as a restriction to protect the Saintess, she had to marry someone chosen by the Temple.

The Agnito Family, which had produced Saintesses for generations, was extremely proud of these marriages. Everyone was desperate to marry a Saintess.

However, all of that crumbled in an instant.

The Saintess—that is, my mother—suddenly became pregnant with another man’s child.

Father: unknown. Mother: divine power lost.

Moreover, the child born showed no abilities whatsoever.

What happened after that was predictable.

My mother was declared to have died during childbirth, and the child born was never allowed to take a single step outside the family estate…

Such a common story.

From the Agnito Family’s perspective, I had tarnished the family’s reputation, so it was understandable that they would despise me terribly.

In any case, the fact that I was born from an illicit affair remained unchanged.

Having no abilities, I had to stay locked away alone in my room.

If it hadn’t been for ‘that child’ I met by chance, it would have continued that way.

Anyway, with that child’s help, I was gradually able to escape from my room.

But that wasn’t the end of it. I wanted to have a family.

So I tried my best to somehow become a true ‘Agnito.’

Then one day.

“Get married, Hanisha.”

My uncle, Count Agnito, said this to me.

“They are those who rebuilt the forbidden land. Their momentum is extraordinary, but we lack justification to suppress them. His Majesty the Emperor has commanded us to propose an alliance through marriage. You just need to marry their leader.”

“But Count…”

I couldn’t help but hesitate at the sudden marriage proposal.

If marriage was truly necessary, it would be better to marry my cousin, Esther, rather than me.

Unlike me, Esther was the empire’s only Saintess.

However.

“If this marriage is resolved well, you too can become a true Agnito. His Majesty the Emperor and the Temple will acknowledge you.”

“…”

“All of this is for the family.”

I had never once been publicly revealed. It was because I was the family’s disgrace. So much so that more people remembered me as ‘the disgrace’ than those who remembered my name.

For someone like me, acknowledgment from the Agnito Family—from my family—was what I desired more than anything.

So I accepted that marriage.

I was scared, but I also had some expectations.

Having a husband meant forming a family.

And on the long-awaited wedding day.

“It’s the Rebel Forces! Move over there!”

The man who was to become my husband led an army and attacked the Imperial Palace.

“Found her, over there!”

“My lady, come this way!”

I heard voices calling to me from behind.

It was the Agnito Knights who were supposed to protect me, but I ignored them and ran.

Just before the wedding ceremony, the Count had told me this:

“If something happens to you, go to the Inner Imperial Palace, Western Corridor. I’ve prepared another plan there.”

Until then, I thought the Count was looking out for me.

But there was no one at the promised location.

Really, no one at all.

“Congratulations, sister.”

At that moment, I remembered what Esther, the Saintess and my cousin, had said to me just before the wedding ceremony.

“You’ll be able to be free from now on. You’ve worked hard all this time.”

Only then did all the puzzle pieces fit together.

The entrance directly connected to the Imperial Palace Forest. The passage where not even refugees were fleeing. This scene, as if it had been deliberately emptied…

‘It was all planned.’

This marriage was just bait to lure the Rebel Forces into the Imperial Palace.

‘I’m a chess piece meant to be sacrificed.’

As soon as I realized this, I left the spot. Then, as if they had been waiting, the Agnito Knights chased after me.

It became even more certain.

The Count wants me to die.

So there would be proper justification to suppress the Rebel Forces. And so he could demand appropriate compensation from the Imperial Palace.

“…Huff, huff.”

Why was it?

I thought I would cry, but no thoughts came to mind.

Perhaps it was because I had known this would happen.

That no matter how much I struggled, I could never become real family. That I could never be acknowledged.

Because I had been alone from the beginning…

“Ugh!”

At that moment, my body was suddenly grabbed. It was the Agnito Knights.

“Just because they called you a princess, you really think you became one….”

“Let go of this!”

“Hurry up and follow us!”

The rough force dragging me showed no mercy. Just as I was being dragged along helplessly.

“Kugh…!”

Suddenly, with ragged breathing, the knights’ bodies fell to the ground one by one.

It was because of someone standing before me, though I couldn’t tell when they had arrived.

Hair as black as the night sky. Golden eyes.

A man perfectly concealed from below his eyes to his feet with a mask connected to his upper garment.

I could tell who it was without asking.

Rene.

The master of the ‘Forbidden Land’ and the Emperor’s bastard son.

Abandoned from birth, yet stubbornly surviving to become the leader of the Rebel Forces that united many races including demons, beastmen, elves, and more.

And… the man who would become my husband.

The man who had cut down many knights in an instant without the slightest sound slowly straightened his body.

As if belatedly noticing the blood dripping from his sword tip, he casually shook it off as though annoyed.

Then, our eyes met.

“….”

He gazed at me with quiet eyes.

I hesitated and stepped back. I didn’t know what to say or what to do.

That’s when it happened.

Rene slowly approached me.

I flinched and stepped back.

It was because my gaze went to the sword still dripping with blood.

Perhaps that’s why.

“…Huh.”

Tears that hadn’t come even when I learned I was abandoned now finally flowed down. Because that sword seemed like it would pierce through my body at any moment.

Rene, who had been frowning at me avoiding him, soon followed my gaze to his own sword.

“….”

Then he raised his gaze again to look at me.

I swallowed dryly. I wondered what would happen if Rene charged at me while holding that sword….

Clang!

With a sharp ringing sound, the sword fell powerlessly to the ground.

Rene had suddenly thrown the sword aside.

As if… he had noticed that I was afraid of that sword.

Before I could even understand the situation.

“I believe the wedding venue is that way.”

An unfamiliar voice interrupted.

Black hair fluttering with the dust. Red eyes. Dark energy scattering around him.

It was Pater Stukya, the Duke of northern Stukya.

House of Stukya was one of the Empire’s four great ducal houses, a family that had walked the path of decline due to some incident.

However, that was all in the past.

After this man before me, Pater Stukya, inherited the ducal title, the ducal house was once again enjoying the greatest prosperity in the Empire.

Of course, if the notorious reputation of being ‘trash’ could be included in their prosperity.

Duke Stukya, having appeared at some point, stood diagonally blocking my front and said.

“Since the bride and groom are here, I couldn’t have found the wrong place.”

“….”

“Then am I the officiant?”

Duke Stukya asked back, lightly shrugging his shoulders.

However, I couldn’t answer.

Why is Duke Stukya here?

Not only was this our first meeting, but he had no reason to protect me.

And his face, that was….

“Princess.”

“…!”

Even though I visibly flinched, Duke Stukya remained unshaken.

“What’s your name?”

He asked in a leisurely tone. Since few people had ever asked my name, I answered stammering.

“Ha… Hanisha.”

“Right, Hanisha. I know my face is handsome enough to make even a bride before her wedding lose her composure, but could you try to pull yourself together?”

A slow yet playful tone. However, his words hit the core and brought me back to my senses.

“The bride seems frightened, so today doesn’t seem like the right day. The rejected groom should come back next time.”

At Duke Stukya’s words, Rene’s brow, which had been expressionless throughout, furrowed.

“…Move aside.”

Eventually, a low voice flowed from behind the black veil that had swallowed his expression.

“Pushy men aren’t attractive. The bride will run away at this rate. That’s advice from experience.”

“I don’t kill the innocent. But if you don’t move aside, I’ll kill you too.”

“And violent on top of that. Princess, he’s the worst as a groom, so how about reconsidering this marriage?”

Even while saying this, Duke Stukya slowly gathered his energy. It was his magical power that he hadn’t shown for years, enough to be considered a secret.

“Sorry to the groom, but I can’t back down either. This side is also quite desperate.”

“So you’re on the Emperor’s side.”

“If we’re being precise, yes.”

The moment Duke Stukya showed agreement, Rene’s eyes instantly turned cold.

The magical power leaking from both men clashed fiercely in the air.

Without anyone moving, only heavy energy pressed down on the scene.

Kuuuung-

The earth shook with a tremendous roar.

At the same time, the sky slowly darkened.

An earthquake? Or some other magic?

I had never seen magic that spread darkness over such a wide area….

‘Ah.’

Realizing like a bolt of lightning, I raised my head.

The sky wasn’t darkening.

The Imperial Palace was collapsing.

Above my head.

In that moment, the life I had lived flashed by like a panorama.

“Princess!”

“…nisha!”

Voices calling my name from somewhere accompanied it.

But I couldn’t turn my gaze.

‘If.’

I thought while looking at the building debris pouring down toward me.

If, though it’s unlikely.

‘If I were given another chance….’

And my vision went completely black.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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