Chapter 126: Light and Dark (Part 23)
Sly, cunning, ruthless—and utterly lacking in compassion.
That was the assessment of Duke Lex by those esteemed nobles whispering behind his back.
And he loved it.
Because he understood that the reason they said such things was simply out of sheer terror of him.
“When someone starts to fear you, you can literally take a dump on their head without even bothering to ask their name. If that person is much richer than you… well, bless the deities, that’s just a fantastic situation! Lex, my brother. Get those brain gears turning and make those dapper bastards fear you. Make everyone fear you!”
Years ago, the bandits of Alkin Mountain had told him this. The words were crude, but Duke Lex had kept them close to his heart. For many years, he held ‘making others fear you’ as his survival mantra and reveled in it.
Duke Lex believed he was already pretty ruthless and cunning enough. He took pride in others fearing him. But as time passed and he learned about the thoughts and actions of those Black Robe freaks, he suddenly felt like a weak lamb bound in a cage compared to them.
Duke Lex spent his days holed up in Fulesk Fortress, being consumed by his scheming, obsessively contemplating how he could stealthily k*ll Elizabeth and plop himself onto that oh-so-sought-after throne. He envisioned countless plans, each one more exquisite and logical than the last, ensuring none of the blame would ever stick to him. But executing them was tricky and demanded a long, drawn-out process to achieve satisfying results.
But he wasn’t sure if he’d even live to see that day.
Even though the Clive Family had grown strong enough that no one dared ignore them anymore, as long as they continued on their stable path, considering the royal family’s current decline, it wouldn’t be long before the Clive Family would replace them as the true rulers of Ethanbel.
But Duke Lex was sixty-seven this year.
By that time, perhaps he would already be with the fishes. And the head of the Clive Family wouldn’t even be him anymore.
The one who would eventually sit on the throne might be his son or grandson, and they would be remembered forever, while his name would quickly fade into the depths of history.
So what was the point of all this?
Duke Lex felt a deep worry about it all. Yet his yearning and expectations for the throne kept him awake at night, making him lose clumps of hair. Even so, he never considered—nor dared to think—that there was another way to win quickly.
That would be to destroy Boswell, to obliterate the pride and faith of the royal city that had stood for centuries.
As long as that eggshell layer was shattered, given the royal family’s current meager power, facing the Clive Family with their tens of thousands of troops would absolutely leave them without a fighting chance. Squishing them wouldn’t even be that hard.
But he had never thought of it that way.
And he learned of this idea from those Black Robe demons.
One night, when those folks proposed this idea to him, Duke Lex was taken aback and furious, nearly kicking them out. He simply couldn’t believe it.
Boswell had existed for centuries, claiming to resist all the evils of the world—a source of pride for Ethanbel. Even the nasty rumored monsters that crawled out from the Abyss couldn’t do anything about it in front of that sturdy barrier.
The Holy Church claimed it was a divine gift to humanity, and Duke Lex scoffed at that. He didn’t buy into such nonsense, but he also couldn’t deny that it was a force not easily shaken by humans.
Complete babble—absolutely ludicrous.
At that moment, Duke Lex thought those Black Robes were downright insane.
He even suspected that his own reckless and shameless son was trying to harm him, or perhaps he had just been blinded by greed to introduce him to such a bunch of dreamers.
Ridiculously funny…
Duke Lex eventually sent them packing.
After that, he ignored those Black Robes entirely, expecting nothing more from them, even contemplating hiring someone to take them out—he secretly kept a band of assassins, some pretty nasty characters who once nearly offed even someone as powerful as Elizabeth.
He had seen the strength of the Black Robes and knew they were formidable. But really, could they outmatch the Pope Knight?
Getting Elizabeth killed was hard.
But killing them? That was just a matter of words.
In the end, Duke Lex didn’t give that order because the Black Robes first made him see the feasibility of the situation.
It all started with a confidential letter from the Church of the Royal City.
To this day, he had completely forgotten the contents of that letter, but he vividly remembered the signature.
Teresa Antoniel.
She was the main head of the Royal City Church, often rumored to be a genius of faith, saving countless fools with divine miracles, affectionately referred to as the “White Feather,” the nun who was most favored to become a Saint.
This revelation struck Duke Lex pretty hard psychologically.
Even if he loathed all those preaching clerics, he never imagined that those crazies had close ties to someone so high up in the church. Clearly, the other party understood the situation and came rushing toward him. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have sent the confidential letter at such an opportune moment, nor written that signature afterward.
It seemed that demons even existed within the Holy Church.
Duke Lex was intrigued.
At least he now understood that those Black Robes were not just spewing nonsense.
This opportunity could be a one-time deal.
After realizing this, he began to take things seriously, negotiating multiple times with the Black Robes. During this process, Duke Lex learned of their desperate needs.
They required fresh live subjects—preferably homeless children.
Duke Lex gladly agreed.
Just some kids who would’ve died without a soul caring about them.
For him, it was no big deal. Even though he had no idea what the Black Robes wanted the kids for, he figured it couldn’t be anything good. Perhaps they intended to cultivate a new breed of lunatics—what did that have to do with him?
The agreement was quickly reached.
Thus began the true collaboration with demons.
Even though Duke Lex hadn’t stepped foot in the Royal City for a long time, his network of contacts there had never faltered. He kept up with necessary arrangements without skipping anyone. The Black Robes needed to deliver supplies regularly to the Royal City, and he covertly arranged everything in an orderly manner. Even if discovered, no one could trace back who was pulling the strings.
At the same time, he had people scouring the surrounding towns for the homeless, luring them to the Black Robes’ hideout. As for what happened afterward, the other party wasn’t willing to say, so he didn’t pry.
But their secretive attitude made him increasingly uneasy.
Privately, Duke Lex had people investigate the origins of the Black Robes—he hadn’t cared before, but now it was a must. Since the matter involved the Church, one misstep could truly spell doom.
After much hassle, however, he still found nothing.
The only information he garnered was that they all hailed from the Eastern Continent—that’s something anyone could see. Those white-haired, blue-eyed figures peeking out from under their black hoods were distinct to the Eborista people.
Even a fool could see that.
