Episode 15

Who is the Duke?

It turns out that on the day Pedro Guzman was murdered by his son, on his deathbed, he wished for the chance to once again be close to his daughter and for the strength to now, finally, be able to take all the bullets meant for her, regardless of his own life.

He couldn't help but shed some tears when he saw his daughter struck down, but even in the situation, she gave him a smile which almost instantly faded away.

He fell into a deep abyss, plummeting endlessly until he was submerged in water as though at the depths of the sea.

As if the sea were a great mirror, visions appeared before him.

Starting with the day he was saved from near death, thanks to a small woman from another land, he was saved. (It appears they were in some kind of war or internal conflict, not sure).

The woman was a bearer of fire magic. She was an enemy, yet she had saved him.

Something clicked between them immediately, so they didn't hesitate to fight against those who were attacking them.

That woman was a great warrior. She had been against the intervention, but because she was a woman, her peace proposal had been rejected. Yet she had been sent to the war.

Another image passed, a beautiful wedding and the cheesiest, most passionate vow exchange he'd ever witnessed.

Not much time passed, and it went into a kind of montage of days, months, and even years until it finally stopped, showing the woman pregnant, a few months along.

They argued; she wanted the baby, he did not, as his life was at stake. It seemed the baby had inherited both powers from its mother and father. According to the elders and the doctor, because of this, the baby was draining more strength and mana than it should.

She fell ill, growing weaker daily until the day of birth arrived.

Before the event, they talked, and she asked him to swear that he would love and protect their baby no matter what, but he could not promise her that.

"For some reason, I felt a tightness in my chest, as if I would have given everything for that little one. It was then I realized I didn't know who I was. Could I be him? If so, I was the biggest fool in history."

That very day, labor began, and the baby was born. When nanny Magnolia emerged, it was to deliver the grim news.

He simply ran to the lifeless woman, reviling his daughter and the fact that she had taken the love of his life, demanding she be taken away from him, not wanting to see her.

"I felt an overwhelming sense of helplessness at that moment, yearning for something I don't recognize at this time, and this idiot committing such a folly, not appreciating the sacrifice the mother had made."

"Again, a series of images passed in which this fool ignored and even abused his daughter, yes, she turned out to be a beautiful girl."

Years went by until he went off to war again for a year or more. When he returned, his daughter had grown into a young lady.

But he did not return alone; he had fallen in love with a hideous woman—if I compare her to his wife, it makes me want to vomit. Also, a young girl around the same age as his daughter, who, from my point of view, was overly saccharine, I think I'm going to get diabetes just from watching her.

When that happened, the mistreatment of the young girl increased. It seems Sol always mistreated her, and this idiot, instead of investigating, simply punished her, and the mawkish fool, was she inept, unable to defend herself, always playing the weeping willow. (Remember, this vision is from the perspective of the Duke and the new soul you now know who it is)

The man even, to rid himself of his daughter and to adjust his new family, went to the castle to speak with the king and to betroth his daughter to the crown prince.

"Seriously, betrothing a mere 17-year-old girl to a lad who looked quite experienced, why didn't the idiot betroth his stepdaughter? No, it had to be his own daughter."

The king and the prince accepted, the latter clearly pleased as he smiled broadly upon hearing the proposal.

In time, the prince came to the D'angelo duchy to visit his betrothed. He had tried to be intimate with her several times but had always been rebuffed. The Duke witnessed this and warned him to respect Sol, that they were not yet wed and he did not want to see his family's reputation tarnished.

After that, I'm unclear about what happened, only seeing Sol mistreat her so-called sister when suddenly the prince arrived and separated them, casting Sol in the role of the villain. This time, though, I was pleased that she indeed got her comeuppance. The downside was that this caused a rift between the prince and Sol and drew him closer to the other girl. Of course, this upset the poor father (sarcasm).

"As free-spirited as she was, this is supposed to be a time when they are quite strict about such matters, but it seems they are worse."

From that closeness, the other girl ended up in bed with the prince and pregnant.

The man was outraged; his daughter would be the crown princess, but it turned out the damn prince had been involved with his stepdaughter.

That prince could not be so greedy as to want two sisters with him, and he would not allow it.

So he went to cancel the engagement. Though he felt no love for his daughter, he could not accept such humiliation; his deceased wife would not forgive him.

That's how he canceled Sol's engagement, but what he couldn't imagine was that his daughter would become jealous and push her stepsister before everyone, killing the unborn child of the prince.

He went to plead for her with the king, but the king refused, it was a direct attack against the kingdom, so she was sentenced to the guillotine.

But there is something that everyone is unaware of.

Just when his daughter was murdered, he invoked a forbidden spell.

These were very dangerous as you always lost something, but you could never know what.

Afterward, the man committed suicide, ending his pathetic life, as if that served any purpose.

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