The Villainess Lives Twice: Butterfly's Dream (IF Story) - Chapter 64

Although Cedric had this conversation with Eloise, he wasn’t really planning on giving Graham advice just yet. He had things he wanted to say, but Graham had his own advisors, and the Emperor would also offer counsel separately. It wasn’t his place to intervene.

Graham looked down at the map that Cedric and Pavel had spread out and smiled.

“So, what’s this? You two talking like actual Grand Dukes now?”

“I was thinking I might head south once…” 

Pavel sighed as he spoke. It was only natural for Duchy Riagan to want Pavel to visit. Up until now, the Empress had ignored this wish, citing Pavel’s youth as the reason.

The South was more prone to complex diplomatic issues with foreign countries, and its social circles were just as complicated, making it impossible to suggest that he simply treat it as a casual trip.

But now, Pavel was eighteen. With the added pressure of Graham heading west to take on an important role, Pavel found himself feeling more anxious.

Graham ruffled Pavel’s hair. Pavel grimaced and quickly fixed his tousled hair with his hand.

“You still have five more years, don’t you?”

“It’s Brother’s fault for being late.”

“You brat.”

“Ah, I still have to go when I turn twenty.”

The older brother trying to mess up the younger brother’s hair and the younger brother trying to protect it made for a playful scene. Cedric watched them with a relaxed smile.

“Pavel, you don’t need to worry. You have Duchess Riagan there.”

Mentioning his grandmother made Pavel flinch. Graham chuckled.

“Yes, what’s the big deal about going to the maternal grandparents’ house?”

“It’s not the same as when we were kids.”

“It’s different. This time, you’ll probably have to come back at least engaged.”

Pavel’s face tightened. Graham spoke with a carefree smile.

“Considering Grandmother’s personality, it’s a hundred percent. I don’t think you’re going to handle it on your own.”

“Is that why you came here? To talk about this?”

Pavel said irritated. Graham pulled out a chair from the side and sat down, glancing at Cedric.

“No, I came to talk to Cedric.”

“Me?”

“Eloise asked me to have a word with you. So did Dame Amalie. They said you have a great strategy.”

“Sister Eloise was exaggerating. What I said was that, instead of relying on the East for supplies, it would be more stable if we could split the burden with the West.”

“That has nothing to do with the inspections, but go ahead and explain. Sister must have agreed with you to say something like that, right?”

Cedric paused for a moment. It wouldn’t be impossible to only discuss the matters related to the North, but doing so wouldn’t truly help Graham. Besides, he wasn’t sure how much of the information he had was accurate, and even if it was, he wasn’t prepared to explain how he knew it.

However, there was no way he could ignore a potential solution for the West’s situation.

The news that a guest had arrived came just as they were in the middle of discussing how to effectively prevent the Monster Wave.

“Who is it?” 

Graham, whose conversation had drifted into territory that Pavel couldn’t quite follow, turned to ask.

“It’s Lady Morten.”

Pavel glanced at Graham. Graham gestured for him to handle it as he saw fit. Cedric nodded.

Soon, Lysia was shown into the room. Pavel was taken aback when he saw her.

“Have you been crying?”

Lysia’s eyes were red and swollen. Her clothes were wrinkled, and there were stains on her white blouse.

“I heard Lord Ced was here. I’m sorry to disturb you, but I really need to ask him for something.”

Lysia’s voice was hushed. Pavel quickly grabbed her arm and helped her sit down, noticing the stains. They were dark, dried bloodstains.

Cedric was also surprised, immediately set aside the conversation he was having with Graham and moved closer.

“Lysia?”

“What happened? Are you hurt?”

“Tha, that…”

Lysia, unable to answer immediately, choked up. Tears welled up in her eyes and began to fall. The shock and sadness that had been bottled up finally surfaced. She spoke with a trembling voice, almost pleading.

“I went to Marquis Rosan’s residence today, and Lord Lawrence…”

“Lawrence, what did he do?”

At Cedric’s angry voice, Lysia fumbled for words.

“He… he hit someone. With a whip… smiling.”

“What?”

Pavel’s eyes widened in disbelief. Even Graham, who had been lost in thought while looking over notes from his conversation with Cedric, was startled and approached.

“The person he hit… was a mess. Lord Lawrence is… strange. Really strange.”

Lysia couldn’t fully express what she had felt, but she clung to Cedric’s arm as she spoke.

Cedric understood exactly what she was trying to say, so he gently patted her back, his gaze then shifted to Alphonse, who had come in with Lysia.

Alphonse stepped forward to explain.

“I saw Sir Lawrence beating a young servant at Marquis Rosan’s residence until they were near death. It seems this has happened multiple times, as the servant was in a state of shock and had many injuries and bruises.” 

Graham’s expression hardened. Alphonse continued with a dry face.

“Lysia and I took the servant out without permission, and he is currently being treated at the mansion. Judging by his attire, it seems the servant originally belonged to the Imperial Palace.”

“I see. It’s best to go see him now.” 

Cedric replied and immediately instructed a servant to bring him his coat. The servant who had been holding his jacket hurried over and helped him get dressed.

To be honest, Cedric didn’t think this was a serious matter. Incidents of nobles beating commoners typically went unpunished. It was even harder to address the fact that the Emperor’s son had struck one of his own servants.

The bigger issue could be that he had taken a palace servant without permission.

Cedric couldn’t just let it go.

‘So, he was already doing this kind of thing from such a young age.’

He gritted his teeth and swallowed his regret. Should he have beaten him first and corrected his behavior before a victim was created?

The world he knew had changed, and he had hoped Lawrence would be more careful, but it seemed that his innate temperament couldn’t be changed.

When Cedric mentioned he would go ahead, Graham, who knew Lawrence’s temper better than Pavel, gestured to take his jacket as well.

“Let’s go together.”

“Will you help me?”

“I should see and report what the situation is. If this blows up, it will cause a fight between you and Milaira.”

Graham said with a serious face. Cedric nodded. He was already prepared for this.

“I should have fought back earlier.”

“What about your little fiance?”

“She’ll understand.”

In the past, Cedric had avoided fighting Marquisate Rosan because he worried it would hurt Artizea. But now, he was confident that she had grown strong enough to handle it.

When Pavel asked to bring his own jacket, Cedric stopped him.

“You stay here with Lysia.”

“Huh? But…”

“I’ll go. I need to explain.”

“It’s fine. Alphonse will give the testimony. Stay here with Pavel. Don’t worry. I’ll handle everything.”

Cedric patted Lysia’s shoulder reassuringly and stopped her from protesting further. Pavel grabbed Lysia, who was shaking her head in worry.

Cedric, Graham, and Alphonse left the room at a brisk pace.