The Crystal Glasshouse

After Lanier left, the office door opened once more, and the old butler stepped inside.

“Your Grace,”

The old butler approached the desk and bowed respectfully.

“Have you found out who did it?”

“It was Young Master Derry's parents. His father, Baron Kaz, has his territory in the western part of the Callis Grand Duchy.”

In the Kester Empire, the Grand Dukes held complete sovereignty over their respective territories.

The Kester Empire was not a unified, centralized empire, but rather a relatively loose composite empire. Its system of governance was somewhat similar to the Holy Roman Empire of Tyr's past life.

Of course, only the Grand Dukes possessed truly independent sovereignty; other nobles were not qualified to exist in the form of independent states.

The reason these Grand Dukes could become independent monarchs was not because of how much they contributed to the empire, but because every single one of them was a Demigod.

As the peak combat power of the continent, even the Emperor himself was merely a Demigod. Naturally, he had no way of forcing these Grand Dukes into complete submission.

In the end, whether one could possess independent sovereignty came down to whose fists were bigger.

“The western part of the Grand Duchy... they've lived in peace for too long. They are becoming increasingly petty—a bunch of short-sighted fools.”

A thick wave of killing intent flashed through the Grand Duke's eyes. The Callis Grand Duchy had stood tall in the Kester Empire for over a hundred thousand years, relying not on schemes and conspiracies, but on absolute strength.

Did they really think that by killing off the family descendants whose talents surpassed their own children's, their children would be able to sit securely on the throne of the Grand Duke?

Without sufficient strength to hold down the east, they would only be devoured whole by the other nobles of the empire.

“Dispose of them. Send the Enforcement Squad.”

Compared to the knights under the Grand Duke's command, the Enforcement Squad was a far more cruel and bloody organization of violence.

They were specifically responsible for purging the pests within the Grand Duchy, and once the Enforcement Squad was deployed, they left no survivors.

This included Derry, who originally had the qualifications to become a candidate for Grand Duke. Regardless of whether Derry would hate the family because of the squad's enforcement, Grand Duke Callis would not leave such an unstable hazard alive.

Besides, when you do something wrong, you must pay the price.

“Yes, Your Grace.”

The old butler, Aldrich, placed his left hand behind his back, rested his right hand across his left shoulder, and bowed. He then withdrew from the office to issue the order.

...

The bedroom.

Tyr lay on the bed, his legs dangling over the edge as he stared boredly at the canopy above.

Since entering the Grand Duke's mansion, Tyr had only one overriding feeling.

Big. It was simply too big.

The magnificent buildings, the splendid estate, and the sheer, massive scale of the space.

Take the bedroom they were currently staying in: just the area within his line of sight was far larger than their entire wooden cabin back in Wayne Village. And this didn't even include the bedroom's bathroom, balcony, walk-in closet, and other adjoining spaces.

“Do you want me to take you out for a walk?”

Seeing her son's bored expression, Ivelina sat down by the edge of the bed and spoke with a smile.

“Is there really anywhere worth walking around here?”

Tyr turned his head to look out the window. Although the sunlight outside was abundant, it still gave off a dark and oppressive feeling, as if the entire Grand Duke's mansion were shrouded in a shadow.

“How could there not be? This is the Callis Grand Duke's mansion, the most powerful place in the entire eastern part of the empire. How could there be no beautiful sights here?”

Ivelina stood up from the bed and reached out to pull Tyr up.

“Come, I'll take you for a stroll.”

The bedroom door opened, and Ivelina led Tyr out by his small hand.

“Madam.”

“Young Master.”

Seeing the two of them emerge, the maids who had been waiting outside bowed in greeting.

“Mhm.”

Ivelina merely nodded slightly, then led Tyr out of the villa palace.

A moment later, Ivelina brought Tyr to the outside of a massive crystal glasshouse.

Through the transparent glass, Tyr could see many black roses planted inside.

Pushing open the door of the crystal glasshouse, Ivelina led Tyr inside.

Tyr's pupils contracted slightly. Although he had seen what was inside from the outside just now, actually standing inside the crystal glasshouse was a completely different feeling.

The black roses here were meticulously cared for, blooming in dense clusters. Walking along the path of the crystal glasshouse, Tyr felt as though he were immersed in a sea of flowers.

“Beautiful, isn't it? This crystal glasshouse has existed since the very beginning of the Grand Duke's mansion. It's said that the first Grand Duke planted it himself for the first Grand Duchess, representing his ultimate love for her.”

Ivelina walked ahead, turning back to speak with a smile. She caught every change in Tyr's expression.

“It really is beautiful.”

To be honest, Tyr was not someone who particularly liked flowers, yet he was still struck with awe by everything here. It was truly beautiful.

“By the way, Mother, you seem very familiar with this place.”

“Of course. I visited the Callis Grand Duke's mansion several times when I was a child. Otherwise, how do you think I met your father?”

“I thought you met at the academy. After all, you two always say that Father courted you at the academy.”

“That's true, but we actually knew each other before going to the academy.”

“I'll let you in on a little secret: I actually had my eye on your father even before we went to the academy.”

Ivelina winked playfully at Tyr, as if sharing a deep secret with him.

Tyr: "..."

After taking a stroll around the black rose glasshouse.

“Come, let me take you to another beautiful place.”

A moment later, the two arrived at another crystal glasshouse.

To Tyr's surprise, there were actually two crystal glasshouses in the Grand Duke's mansion.

He wasn't surprised by the sheer quantity—after all, with the wealth of the Grand Duke's mansion, let alone two, building a thousand or ten thousand crystal glasshouses would be effortless.

He simply felt it was unnecessary. If they liked different flowers, they could have easily expanded the existing one. Moreover, with magic, they wouldn't have to worry about different flowers requiring different climates.

Following his mother into the glasshouse, Tyr's eyes lit up. This place gave him a completely different feeling.

Compared to the black roses, the flowers here were much smaller, scattered like tiny specks of light. In the relatively dim environment of the Grand Duke's mansion, these blossoms resembled a sky full of stars.

Forget-me-nots.

“The forget-me-nots here were personally planted by the first Grand Duchess for the first Grand Duke, representing her eternal, unchanging love for him.”

While Tyr was still lost in thought, Ivelina had already begun her introduction.

“How is it? Isn't it romantic? Just as the first Grand Duke planted black roses for the first Grand Duchess, she planted forget-me-nots for him.”

“This is a love that goes both ways.”