ANNOUNCEMENT: I'm sorry for the late update and I'm sad to inform you people that my exam timetable is out and I don't know if I will be able to update regularly lately but I will try to drop as much as I can, there will probably come days of two or more chapters and days of zero chapters so please kindly bear with me and once again, I beg you, people, to show your support, if you have any complaint and idea about my novel, drop your review and let me know, I'm just a newbie trying to improve my skills so please and please, help me grow, thanks for your time and enjoy.
The former Duke of the Southern region believes that there is nothing in this world that can't be bought or sold as long as you have enough power and influence to own it so at the end of the day it all belongs to the highest bidder.
Leonard knows that if the princess had also had an interest in him then the Duke would have him married to the princess since that would benefit him more than having him married to Vivian, he had always known that his father would sell him to the highest bidder or someone that he believes that will be beneficial to the family growth and that was why he was happy that it was Vivian and not another noble because she is easier to manipulate into giving up compared to other noble ladies.
Not that his father didn't try to arrange a marriage with the imperial family because everyone knows that a princess' husband is also entitled to the throne as the princess is also one of the heir candidates but unfortunately for his father, the princess has no interest in him probably because she knows that her cousin is interested in him and probably because the whole royal family knows how ambitious his father is and they don't want to give him a chance if his father had been able to arrange a marriage with the imperial family then he wouldn't have said yes to the archduke proposal.
The only reason why most of his plans have been going smoothly and he has been acting freely lately is because of the fact that his father is currently not in the empire, he went to one of the neighboring kingdoms that are famous, for its beautiful sea sight, entertainment, and exotic dishes and it is also one of the vessel kingdoms under the empire, he plans to relax there for a while before moving to another kingdom, his retirement plan is to travel around the world and enjoy different cultures and traditions before coming back to the empire and spend his old age in one of the holiday houses that belongs to the Valerion family.
But despite the fact that he is not currently in the empire, Leonard has received several warnings from his father, asking him to be watchful of how he acts and to be careful of how he treats Vivian, so that for them not to lose the golden goose that had been providing them with the golden eggs.
He knows that his father has a lot of influence in southern Ducey, a lot of nobles trust his father a lot because despite how ruthless and heartless he is, he has never for once failed to provide results, he has helped the southern Ducey to grow stronger than ever so a lot people trust him and give him the unconditional loyalty and support.
And this has been giving him a lot of headaches for a while because he's finding it hard for him to get rid of his father's influence both in the Ducey and his life, his father has spies almost everywhere and he knows that most nobles don't follow his order unless the seek the go ahead from his father despite the fact that he's not currently in the empire and this proves how deep his father influence is and that is why he has to make sure that he divorced Vivian unfailingly Tomorrow before his father gets back because he is sure that his father's spies will have informed him by now and that is why he needs to have people interrupt him before he arrived at the Ducey or else he won't be able to push the divorce forward.
What he is planning will definitely cause a war between the factions that supported him and those that supported his father but he does not care, it is high time he gets rid of his father's influence on both the Ducey and his life, he needs to prove it to both his father and the world that he is no longer a boy that he can continue to manipulate and use at his own will without taking his opinion into consideration, he can make decisions by himself and he is capable enough as a man and as a leader.
"Father, you are a great man but I am a greater man and I am better than you and I will show that to the world, your time in the spotlight is over, you should have just retired completely and peacefully left the Ducey to me, guess at the end of the day you love doing things the hard ways," Leonard said to himself.
He once again takes a deep breath to calm his raging thoughts, he feels like he has gone through too much of emotions today and he keeps taking one deep breath after the other and he still can't bring himself to get over what happened in Vivian room, thinking of Vivian, that reminds him of Isla, "I wonder how that prideful woman is faring" Leonard thought to himself.
He knows that Isla's pride won't be able to deal with the blow that Vivian has thrown at her, she feels like she is smarter, prettier, and more elegant than most noble ladies so she believes that she deserves the best and better than other noble ladies.
She abhors most nobles and feels like she is better than them despite being a low ranking Noble and of the lowest grade at that, she only feels like using the nobles including him to raise her reputation that she seems to value a lot and not be with them truly, she wants to be in a scandal and yet she does not want to be seen as impure,
"she wants to eat her cake and still have it, Isla, your greediness has finally caught up to you," Leonard said with a smirk.
Leonard would have loved to help her but unfortunately, Vivian is currently angry and needs to vent her anger on something, since she claims to be so smart she should be able to do something about her situation, he will compensate later "I should do at least that much for her for making use of her to push my plan forward even though she also makes you of me"
"Alaric, have the hawks make sure that the former Duke did not arrive until I finalized my divorce with the duchness," Leonard said to his assistant the minute he entered the office.
"As you wish my lord," Alaric said and bowed slightly before heading out to take care of what his master instructed him to do.