Chapter 183 33 The Death of the Old Duke

Chapter 183 -33- The Death of the Old Duke

Boulder City, Duke's Palace.

"Cough cough cough... cough cough cough..."

Severe coughing sounds came intermittently. The old Duke Andre of Bold was lying on the bed, looking haggard and completely different from the high-spirited person he was a year ago.

The lit incense puffed out light blue smoke in the brazier, exuding a mixture of spices and medicine.

In the huge bedroom, the windows were closed and it was deserted. The only person serving the old Duke was his personal maid who had been with him for many years.

"Your Majesty Duke, it's time to take medicine."

The maid held a tray in both hands and said respectfully.

The old Duke opened his cloudy eyes and took a hard look. He saw a silverware filled with black powder and a goblet filled with water on the tray.

"Hey...what...what is this?"

He asked hoarsely and weakly, his difficult and slow voice as if being dragged out of a carriage that was about to fall apart.

"This is the secret elixir that His Highness Philip consulted from ancient oriental books. It is made by mixing the powder of thousand-year-old mummies and Coria ointment, and mixed with the holy water of the church. It should be helpful to your condition."

The maid said respectfully.

"Mu...mummy? Cough cough cough cough..."

The old Duke's voice rose slightly, and his coughing became more intense.

"Your Majesty the Duke..."

The maid placed the tray beside the bed and quickly stepped forward to help the old Duke.

The old Duke opened his mouth, took a few hard breaths, and said weakly:

"Help... help me up."

The maid supported the old Duke's arms, which were like dead wood, and helped him up with difficulty.

Through the mercury mirror on the bedside, the old Duke's turbid eyes reflected his haggard appearance and gray messy hair, with a somewhat gloomy expression.

He opened his mouth tremblingly, and the maid carefully mixed the black powder with holy water and fed it to him bit by bit.

The pasty "elixir" entered the throat, with a strong spicy taste, which made the old duke cough violently again. He couldn't swallow it with difficulty until he took a few sips of the holy water.

As the elixir entered his stomach, the old Duke soon felt a warm power gradually spreading in his body, nourishing his increasingly decayed body.

After regaining a little strength, the old Duke's increasingly sluggish thinking slowly began to revolve:

"You...you just said, who...who brought the prescription?"

"Your Majesty the Duke, this is His Royal Highness Philip."

The maid replied respectfully.

"Philip...? He...is already here?"

The old Duke was startled.

"Your Majesty the Duke, His Royal Highness Philip arrived last night and is now waiting outside with His Majesty Eleanor."

the maid said.

The old prince was silent.

After a long time, he sighed and said in a hoarse voice:

"Let them...come in."

The door to the bedroom was pushed open with a creaking sound like a rotten dead wood, and the third prince Philip and Eleanor walked into the room hand in hand.

"Lord Andre (father)..."

The third prince and his wife came to the bed together and bowed respectfully to the old duke.

The old Duke stared blankly at his daughter, whom he had not seen for many years.

After so many years of not seeing her, she seemed to have lost a lot of weight.

Her eyes are not as lively as before. I am afraid that life in the royal family has also brought great pressure.

Thinking of this, the old Duke felt a trace of guilt in his heart.

Maybe...he shouldn't have let his daughter marry the Crescent Royal Family back then.

If there is no marriage, he can still let his daughter find a husband and continue to inherit the territory.

If there is no marriage, his daughter can always be by his side, and he does not have to be alone in this last moment.

Unfortunately, there is no if in this world.

When he learned that he had an illegitimate child, he had already given up his daughter.

Perhaps this was the punishment given to him by the God Lord. His daughter became a deal for him to consolidate his rule, and now, he not only lost his daughter, but also Lenno.

The Bold family, which has been passed down for thousands of years, may be cut off in his generation.

Recalling the tall figure who slammed the door out a year ago, a sadness flashed deep in the old Duke's eyes.

The old Duke didn't know how to describe his current mood.

despair?

sad?

No……

When the matter of his family's heirloom was revealed to him, he suddenly found that he was much calmer than he had imagined.

Maybe it’s because I don’t have the energy to think so much anymore, or maybe I’m just really tired.

Looking back on his life, he succeeded to the throne when the kingdom was in turmoil at the age of fifteen, followed His Majesty the King on the battlefield, and defeated the enemy time and time again in the Star-Moon War.

In his life, he participated in countless battles and killed countless enemies.

The armies of Falling Star Kingdom will tremble when they hear his name, and the people of Crescent Moon Kingdom will cheer when they see his army.

He is known as the greatest Duke of Boulder in thousands of years, Andre the Lion.

He was high-spirited and attracted everyone's attention.

He holds great power and has no say in the affairs of the principality.

He has great power and is in charge of the kingdom's army. Even His Majesty the King will refer to his opinions in the palace.

However, it was he who, in order to take advantage of the war to advance further in the kingdom, excessively consumed the family's resources in successive years of battles, consuming all the thousand-year heritage of the Boulder family.

However, it was him who had been delegating power to the nobles for many years in order to gain their support during the expedition, which led to him gradually losing control of the territory today.

When a lion is young, he may be powerful.

But, eventually we will grow old.

And when he came to an end, the huge Bold... didn't even have a loyal noble to accompany him.

He can even fuck a young girl!

The old Duke knew that this had something to do with the fact that he had tightened his grip on power in recent years.

But what can he do?

He just didn't want to leave a precarious Boulder to future generations.

Just like when His Majesty the King inherited the Crescent Moon Throne.

Maybe...he was wrong from the beginning.

Perhaps, he shouldn't have spent most of his life on the battlefield.

Perhaps, he should care more about his territory.

Maybe, he should care more about his family.

Perhaps, he should have treated the Castel family in a different way from the beginning, the Earl and his wife with a promising future, and the little girl who seemed young and ignorant but was actually unfathomable...

One year was enough for Duke Bold to investigate something, and it was enough for him to figure something out.

But, it's too late.

Thinking of this, the old Duke couldn't help but raise his head tremblingly and looked at his only daughter.

"Eleanor."

He stretched out his hand towards his daughter with difficulty, and Eleanor quickly reached out and took it:

"Father……"

Feeling his daughter's warmth, the old Duke felt a lot more at ease.

At this moment, he suddenly felt that everything else seemed unimportant.

That’s all.

never mind.

Be it the Principality of Bold or the Castel family.

He was tired and needed rest.

As for my daughter...

Even if she doesn't become a powerful duchess, with the royal family as her backer, at least... she can live happily.

He owes his daughter his whole life.

Now, maybe it’s time to pay off the debt.

Thinking of this, the old Duke took a deep breath and sat up with difficulty supporting his body.

"Your Majesty the Duke..."

The maid hurriedly came to help him, but he refused.

The old Duke sat on the bed panting. The once aloof blazing sun warrior found it so difficult to get up at this moment.

He looked directly into the eyes of Third Prince Philip, and his cloudy eyes seemed to become sharp again at this moment.

"Your Highness Philip..."

The old Duke held the third prince's hands and used all his strength at the moment:

"I... know your ambition, and also know... your desire to control Boulder!"

"Everything I have... can be given to you, everything in Bold... can be given to you!"

The third prince Philip looked at the dying old man in front of him with some surprise. He seemed not to have expected that the Bold Lion who was rumored to regard his family as his life, with a stubborn and sinister personality, would actually say such a thing.

"However, I have a condition..."

The old Duke changed the subject.

I saw him staring into the eyes of the third prince, as if he wanted to see through his heart:

"I...I want you to treat Eleanor well, I want you...to let her get...happiness!"

After hearing the old Duke's words, Eleanor trembled slightly, and a wave of fluctuation seemed to flash through her blue-gray eyes.

The third prince Philip's eyelids were slightly drooped. When he raised his head again and looked at the old Duke, he had already put on a bright smile:

"Of course, respected Lord Andre."

"Eleanor is my most beloved wife, and I will make her happy."

After hearing the third prince's promise, the old Duke finally felt a little relieved.

"Ahem... remember what you said."

He coughed violently several times and said.

After his worries were over, the old Duke felt as if his strength had suddenly receded.

His body slid down slowly and uncontrollably, and his eyes with a little guilt and love stayed on his daughter.

However, when his eyes slid over his daughter's sleeves, he suddenly saw the dense scars under the shadow.

The old Duke's breath stagnated almost instantly.

He suddenly regained his strength, almost struggling, stretched out his hand towards Eleanor, and then pulled off her sleeve.

Under the sleeves, the arms that should have been white and smooth were covered with bruises and hideous scars.

The old Duke's expression changed almost instantly.

The decadent and astonishing coercion suddenly erupted from his body, and the extraordinary power that had been unable to be mobilized was boiling again at this moment.

I saw the old Duke angrily picking up the third prince's collar and shouting angrily:

"Phillip! What...is going on?!"

The third prince Philip looked calm.

I saw him slowly and forcefully remove the old Duke's withered fingers from his clothes, then stood up gently, looked at him condescendingly, and sighed softly:

"My Lord Duke, it would be great if you had said those words earlier."

The old Duke raised his head and looked at him angrily, but suddenly felt a pain in his abdomen and couldn't help but spurt out a mouthful of black-red blood.

In an instant, he felt the strength in his body being rapidly withdrawn, and the burning pain spread rapidly from his stomach to all sides of his body.

The old Duke raised his head and looked with difficulty at the maid standing aside, but saw that the other party slowly moved to the side of the third prince and stood respectfully, looking at him with only indifference.

The old Duke's eyes widened:

"you……!"

The third prince turned sideways to block his sight, leaned over slightly, and said with a smile:

"Your Excellency, I never like giving alms, nor do I like being forced to trade. I hate being a bargaining chip for others."

"What I want to get, I must get it with my own hands, no matter what method or means I use."

"The Principality of Bold and the Earl of Castells, I will get it myself."

"besides……"

He lowered his head, turned his head to the ear of the old Duke, and whispered:

"You shouldn't have murderous intentions in front of me."

Seeing the third prince's devilish smile, the old Duke looked angry.

His eyes were fixed on the other person's eyes, and his cannibalistic gaze made him want to tear the third prince into pieces...

But soon, he suddenly laughed again:

"Ahem...hehe...haha..."

"Bold... and... Cass... Castel...?"

"Hehe...hahaha..."

I saw the old Duke laughing, the more he laughed, the more wantonly he laughed, the more he laughed, the more crazy he became, and the more he laughed, the more compassionate he became.

Facing the old Duke's meaningful smile, the third prince frowned slightly:

"Your Majesty, what's so funny?"

However, the old Duke did not answer.

He still had a wanton smile.

But his eyes lost their final focus.

A trace of turbid tears slowly slid down his old cheek, and his hands slowly slid down.

Until the moment he took his last breath, his blue-gray eyes were still wide open.

"Is he dead..."

Looking at the lifeless old Duke, the third prince frowned slightly, feeling bored.

However, the old Duke's weird smile made him feel irritable for no reason.

Intermittent sobs came from beside him, and the third prince looked at his wife beside him.

His expression turned cold and he said:

"Did I make you cry?"

Eleanor trembled slightly, lowered her head, and her voice trembled:

"Uh...woof..."

"Yeah, be good."

The third prince rubbed her head with satisfaction.

Then, he ordered the maid beside him:

"Let's take care of this place. The old Duke passed away from illness. From now on, the owners of Bold will be me and Eleanor."

The maid shuddered slightly and lowered her head in awe.

The third prince took Eleanor's hand and walked out of the bedroom.

Returning to the hall of the Duke's Palace, he naturally sat down on the main seat.

Soon, the hurried soldiers rushed in from outside the door, came to him panting, knelt on one knee, and presented a piece of parchment with both hands:

"My lord, an urgent message from the north! The young earl of Castres has returned to his territory!"

Phillip frowned, quickly took it, opened it quickly and started browsing.

And as he looked at it, his face instantly darkened.

I saw him throwing the parchment to the ground and cursing:

"Trash, a bunch of trash! They can't even stop a little girl!"

"With this strength, do you still want to return to Falling Star Kingdom?"