The Search for the Duchess’s Husband - Chapter 122

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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In Search of the Duke’s Husband – Episode 122

The Empress had entrusted all of Killian von Orpheus’s upbringing and education to the attendants.
She was always at the side of her firstborn son, Arsen, while Killian von Orpheus grew up seeing his mother’s face only rarely.
Yet Killian von Orpheus always longed to see the Empress.
It was the instinct of a child born from her womb.
But it was an unrequited love.
The Empress’s expression would contort whenever she so much as made eye contact with Killian von Orpheus. She would swat away his small hands as though the slightest touch would bring calamity.
Then one day, Killian von Orpheus fell gravely ill with a severe cold.
Having been robust his entire life and never once fallen sick, the pain and terror of his first illness were overwhelming for him.
Tears spilled from the wide eyes of the three-year-old Killian von Orpheus.
“M-Mother….”
The Nanny’s face went pale upon hearing Killian von Orpheus’s thin voice.
“Your Highness, please wait just a moment. I shall bring the Empress at once.”
But the Empress never came. Neither did the Nanny.
After suffering for a full week, Killian von Orpheus regained consciousness and asked about the Nanny’s whereabouts.
“Where has Anne gone?”
The Maid answered with an awkward smile.
“She was unwell and has temporarily left the palace for recuperation.”
A few days later, Killian von Orpheus learned that this was a lie.
He heard the Maids whispering, believing him asleep as he lay with his eyes closed in bed.
“Anne will never return to the palace, will she?”
“No. She incurred the Empress’s displeasure. No matter how His Highness searched for her, how could anyone dare to retrieve her from such a place?”
“I cannot understand the Empress at all. No matter how exceptional her love for the sickly Prince Arsen, he is still her child just as much as Prince Killian von Orpheus. How could she be so heartless….”
“Do you truly not know?”
The Maid glanced at Killian von Orpheus, who appeared to be in deep sleep, then spoke in a hushed voice.
“The Emperor forced himself upon the Empress to bear Prince Killian von Orpheus.”
The First Prince was born so frail that he could scarcely cry.
The Empire’s finest Doctors labored to barely save his life, yet his condition never improved.
Arsen fell ill constantly and was always asleep, drowsy from potent medicines.
Eventually, the Emperor made a decision.
He would have another heir born as soon as possible.
The Empress’s consent was irrelevant to this decision.
The Emperor forcibly separated the Empress, who refused to leave Arsen’s side even for a moment, and consummated their union.
The Empress gave birth to her second child merely a year after bearing her first.
“The Empress’s body had not properly recovered when she gave birth, and her life hung in the balance. How could she possibly harbor affection for a child born under such circumstances?”
Anger flickered in the Maid’s voice as she spoke of her reverence for the Empress.
“Unless she wanted to hate him to death.”
It was not something a mere Maid working in the Imperial Palace should have said.
Yet she could speak such words because the Empress openly despised Killian von Orpheus.
And what would a mere three-year-old Prince understand anyway?
After the Maids left the room, Killian von Orpheus opened his eyes.
Though still young, Killian von Orpheus possessed far greater intelligence than his peers. He could not fully comprehend all of the Maid’s words, but one thing became abundantly clear to him.
‘Mother hates me. Enough to want me dead.’
His chest ached as though it might tear apart.
The pain was far worse than the fever and body aches that had plagued him for days.
Tears leaked from Killian von Orpheus’s golden eyes.
‘Anne said that a Prince must never cry in front of others.’
So I must not let anyone discover this.
Killian von Orpheus buried his face in the pillow, his shoulders trembling with silent sobs.
From that day forward, Killian von Orpheus never begged to see Mother again. He never ran toward her with eager steps.
He only watched the Empress’s mood carefully, taking pains not to displease her.
As though that were the only way a child could avoid being hated further by his mother.
It was a year later that Killian von Orpheus developed a second desire.
Until then, he had never once seen Arsen.
Arsen had been born with a frail constitution and had remained confined to his chamber in the Empress’s Palace since birth.
The Empress strictly controlled access to the chamber—only she, the attending Doctor, and a few Maids were permitted entry.
Whenever Killian von Orpheus passed the tall building where Arsen’s Chamber was located, curiosity stirred within him.
‘What does my older brother look like?’
The name Arsen was forbidden in the Imperial Palace.
The attendants never spoke it, and so Killian von Orpheus knew almost nothing about Arsen.
‘He must have black hair and golden eyes like me, since he’s my brother.’
Being older, he would be this tall, and he would jump incredibly high.
I wanted to see him.
The one person in this world who shared the same father and mother as me—my older brother.
But if Killian von Orpheus so much as spoke Arsen’s name aloud, both the Emperor and Empress would rage like thunder. Knowing this, he could confide in no one.
Then one day… Killian von Orpheus saw a bird perched at the window of Arsen’s Chamber high above.
In that moment, his large golden eyes gleamed with light.
“If I become a bird, I can go meet my brother.”
At that time, Killian von Orpheus could not use magic at all.
The Magic Tutors who came to teach him lamented that no matter how much they instructed him, the Prince could not manifest magical power, and that he was essentially no different from an ordinary person.
Yet Killian von Orpheus could feel a mysterious force within himself.
Killian von Orpheus clenched his small fists.
“I will become a bird.”
He had already learned the theory of using magic sufficiently.
Killian von Orpheus closed his eyes and concentrated his mind.
“Find the energy within Your Majesty’s body—that is, your magical power. Then draw it out and manifest it. It is no different from producing sound or moving muscles. Once you master the method, you can wield it as naturally as your own limbs.”
I recalled the words my Magic Tutor had repeated so often they had become ingrained in my ears.
If I couldn’t succeed even when the tutor was helping me, there was no reason it should suddenly work now.
Yet I did not surrender. I repeated the same action dozens of times, hundreds of times. My small face grew pallid, and my breathing became ragged.
‘Just once more….’
Scraping together every ounce of my will, I finally found the magical power dwelling within my small body and drew it forth. I had succeeded in this much a few times before.
The true challenge lay in what came next.
Manifesting the magical power into the form I desired.
‘Please, please, please…!’
I wanted to see my brother!
Moments later, a brilliant light burst forth from my body, and my small frame transformed into something far tinier—a bird.
A fluffy chick with black plumage and golden eyes.
‘Yes, success!’
“Chirp chirp chirp!”
Instead of human speech, bird sounds tumbled from my beak.
But a new problem emerged.
No matter how frantically I flapped my short wings, I could not lift off the ground.
My inexperienced magical power was imperfect, and moving naturally like a true bird proved difficult.
I was grateful to sleep alone without attendants. Each night I could transform into a bird and practice flying.
I had no talent whatsoever for magical power, but I was born with an aptitude for physical movement. Before long, I managed to fly, however clumsily.
And so the fateful day arrived.
I chose a dark, cloudy day to minimize the chance of being seen.
By then, having grown skilled in wielding magical power, I transformed into a chick in an instant.
Standing on the windowsill on my short legs, I swallowed hard.
The drop below was dizzying.
I had succeeded many times when practicing in my chamber, but this was my first true flight through the sky.
‘If I fail, my body will shatter like broken pudding.’
Fear seized me, but it was not enough to make me abandon what I had longed for so long.
Whoosh.
I took a deep breath, then dashed toward the open window and spread my short wings wide.
My small body shot out into the air.
‘I can do this…!’
I flapped my wings with desperate intensity.
And then my small body lifted—soaring upward.
My power was still insufficient; each gust of wind made my body sway precariously.
Yet I did not surrender. I flew and flew and continued flying until I finally reached my destination.
The windowsill of Arsen’s Chamber.
But the moment I squeezed through the small window, I reverted to my original form. My magical power was completely exhausted.

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