Chapter 524: Grand Duke Rivas’ Suspicion
Grand Duke Rivas had felt uneasy about the imperial family’s treatment of his household since last year. He didn’t know why, but ever since Aldrian left the empire, the imperial family seemed to be paying unusually special attention to the Rivas family.
For example, the emperor once sent many gifts to his daughter, Irene, without any clear reason. When Grand Duke Rivas asked about it, the emperor merely said that they were rewards for Irene’s great contribution and merit to the empire.
Grand Duke Rivas knew this was bullshit—there was nothing Irene had done that would justify receiving so many lavish gifts from the imperial family.
He wanted to know what kind of contribution or merit the emperor was referring to, but the response remained vague. The emperor only said that she had already done something that would be written in the empire’s history.
He really wanted to pull his hair because the imperial family refused to give him a clear answer, and their behavior was truly suspicious. Even now, the emperor had sent Prince Hector to assist them right after they were attacked by the Sloth Devil.
At first, he thought all those gestures were the imperial family’s attempt to win his daughter’s heart, hoping she would marry Prince Hector. But he set that possibility aside after noticing that the prince didn’t seem interested in marriage, and Irene never cared to discuss any man other than Aldrian.
His intuition told him there was something only the imperial family and Irene knew—something they believed was better kept from him, even though he was the head of the family.
The imperial family’s treatment of Irene, and the Rivas family as a whole, could not be ignored. He truly wondered what Irene and the imperial family were trying to hide.
The only thought that came to mind was that it had something to do with that man, Aldrian. That seemed to be the one subject where both Irene and the imperial family shared the same view. Even the way they spoke about Aldrian was similar.
From his observations, the imperial family seemed to place Aldrian on a pedestal above anyone else. The emperor himself spoke highly of the man whenever they happened to meet, even in front of him and Irene. Prince Hector and Prince Alderia also had nothing but praise whenever the topic of Aldrian came up in conversation.
All of them had good opinions about Aldrian, and they spoke to him as if he should know Aldrian’s qualities directly. He knew that Aldrian was a powerful cultivator and undeniably famous now, but what made them so eager, as if they were trying to shove Aldrian’s virtues down his throat?