Red Flame Ring (2)
Chapter 63 – Red Flame Ring (2)
Eight days after Rashta asked Viscount Roteschu to uncover Duchess Tuania’s weakness, the viscount paid a visit.
"You’re earlier than expected."
Rashta spoke to him in a sharp voice and ordered Viscountess Verdi to take away the tea.
"Oh dear. You won’t even serve me tea?"
"No. And I didn’t send her away because of you."
"Then?"
Rashta did not reply. She didn’t want to tell Viscount Roteschu that she didn’t trust Viscountess Verdi.
"Hm. You don’t want to say."
Viscount Roteschu seated himself comfortably in a chair and smiled.
"Speak quickly. Have you found anything useful?"
"Indeed. It was not that hushed, so the information wasn’t hard to find."
"What information?"
Rashta waited in anticipation for his answer. Viscount Roteschu grinned and pulled a gossip magazine from his bag.
"What is this?"
Rashta took out the gossip magazine and unfolded it. It was dated from twenty years ago.
"Read it."
The magazine included topics on trendy designers, fashionable hat shops, popular actors, weddings that month, and restaurants. Although the fashion was two decades old, Rashta was still dazzled by the pictures.
Why was she looking at this? She flipped the pages with a frown. With her limited reading ability she could only glean some information through the pictures or simple words, but she couldn’t tell what Viscount Roteschu was talking about. Annoyed, she set down the magazine and stared at the viscount, who gave an "Oh" and took the magazine away.
"I thought the Emperor taught you everything."
He smiled as if to reassure her that he was not making fun of her, and pointed to a section of the magazine.
"Nian, a beautiful young lady; Marquis Tuania, who devoted himself to the Church; and Lord René, Nian’s fiancé. This is the most talked about story here."
Rashta frowned.
"I told you to find information about the Duchess, didn’t I?"
"Here, Lady Nian is now Duchess Tuania."
Viscount Roteschu explained with a click of his tongue.
"You think she was a duchess from birth?"
"Then is Marquis Tuania the Duke Tuania now?"
"The man we call the Marquis Tuania here is the eldest son of the Duke Tuania at the time. Now everyone calls him ‘Lord Marian’."
"?"
"At the time, the successor was this man. But now Nian’s fiancé, René, is Duke Tuania. "
"…"
"I’ll speak of them with their current titles, as it’s confusing. Lord Marian fell in love with his younger brother’s fiancée, Duchess Tuania."
"Really?"
"It’s in the gossip pages, but it’s true. He even chased after her and they had a good relationship. But when the Duchess Tuania finally married Duke Tuania, Lord Marian was completely shocked, and he gave up his inheritance and went into the Church."
Rashta opened her eyes wide.
"Why give up everything?"
"I don’t know. The problem was, Lord Marian committed suicide within a week of entering the Church. Since then the Duchess has had the reputation of a femme fatale. The gossip was all ablaze."
Rashta’s gazed at the magazine with keen interest.
"This is the duchess’ weakness, isn’t it? People wondered if she killed him."
"There were more rumors after that, but there isn’t any more information because the publisher went out of business."