The Mighty Dragons Are Dead

However, Liszt did not recognize this noblewoman.

“Liszt, why are you hiding here, I’ve been looking for you for a long time,” the voice of Cousin Meioubao came from behind him, “What are you looking at by the Window?”

He walked straight up to Liszt and looked outside, perfectly overlooking the carriages in front of Long Taro Castle, “Hmm, you’re not trying to suss out in advance which lovely lady is worth the effort, are you? Indeed, viewed from this angle, the ‘height’ is very clear.”

The ‘height’ he referred to was the impressive silhouette when seen from the front and the profile.

“Not at all, just feeling it’s too stuffy in the hall.”

“I understand.”

“What do you understand?”

Meioubao clinked his glass of red wine against Liszt’s champagne flute, “You’re waiting for that beautiful Asina from the Salmon Family, aren’t you?”

“Not at all,” he replied half-heartedly before suddenly asking, “Is she coming this time too?”

“You said you weren’t looking forward to it, did you? Liszt, when you rejected Asina back then, why do you care about her now?”

Liszt didn’t beat around the bush and said directly, “Maybe it’s because it feels significant to me; I seldom attended such balls on Coral Island or had an invitation from a female noble of my own age to visit her home. At the ball on Red Crab Island, Asina was the first to recognize how outstanding I was.”

“No wonder.”

As if a nerve had been struck.

Meioubao suddenly stopped teasing and instead, with a touch of melancholy, said, “A man should find a woman who understands him… If she doesn’t understand him, I can’t imagine what the future life would be like.”

Liszt ventured, “Are you talking about Princess Angela?”

“Yes, Angela Sapphire, the brightest pearl on the Grand Duke’s Crown, and if all goes well, she’ll be the future mistress of Red Crab Island.”

Duke Andrew had two sons and two daughters; Angela was the youngest daughter.

“Have you confirmed your relationship with her?”

“Not me and her, but my grandfather and the Grand Duke have sealed our relationship.” He drained the glass of wine in one gulp, throwing the glass back onto the servant’s tray with a “Go away.”

The servant hurriedly bowed and left.

Meioubao rested his hands on the window ledge, “Do you know why I chased after her so desperately without a single response, only to have a definite relationship now?”

Liszt watched him, waiting for the rest of the story.

“Grimmand Truth, I naively thought he truly came with the Grand Duke’s blessing, but the truth was…” he suddenly turned around and patted Liszt on the shoulder, “Grandfather says your future is immeasurable, and we share the same blood; I have nothing to hide from you.”

“Please tell me, cousin,” Liszt had already guessed.

Sure enough, Meioubao’s telltale disclosure was almost exactly as he had surmised—he had become the fall guy.

Of course, Princess Angela would certainly not come with her child in tow. Even as the Grand Duke’s most beloved daughter, she could not bring a child into a marriage with an heir to a Marquis. This was not only a violation of the morality under the knight system but also an immense disgrace to the Marquis Family.

Therefore, Princess Angela, several months pregnant, was forced to have an abortion.

“Her reputation was dreadful, I knew that much already, as long as there wasn’t too much of a scandal, let bygones be bygones. But what’s unforgivable is that the father of that aborted child… his… his… was nothing but a street performer!”

If her reputation was already tarnished, it wouldn’t matter who the father of the child was.

But as a noble, a member of the natural ruling class, Liszt could very well understand Meioubao’s feelings. Nobles could fool around with each other, but never with commoners, especially not nobles of such high birth as the daughter of a duke. A street performer was as low as a serf, so it was no wonder Meioubao was furious.

Swirling his champagne, Liszt took a careful look at Meioubao and then had another thought.

Perhaps Meioubao was not angry because the princess had dallied with a street performer, but rather because the news had leaked out—it was clear to the Long Taro Family that the princess had conceived with a street performer, which meant the affair was no secret on Blue Dragon Island.

“Perhaps in Meioubao’s eyes, Long Taro Castle has started to look green, sickeningly green.”

He suppressed the urge to gloat over the misfortune.

He pondered for a moment.

He decided to comfort Meioubao, “Life isn’t always smooth sailing. Although Princess Angela doesn’t meet the moral standards of a noble lady, she is still the mistress Long Taro Castle needs the most. Compared to the harmony of marital life, what are those pre-marital incidents, really?”

As he said this, Liszt suddenly recalled his own views on romance.

In his youth, he had hoped to save his first time for the girl he chose; as a young man, he thought it didn’t matter if it was the first time or not; in his early adult years, he felt the past wasn’t important; as he matured, he believed that what mattered was mutual love. Reaching the cusp of thirty without having found someone, he just wanted to settle with whoever came along.

The struggle between man and life is such that if you take a step back, life moves forward a step.

It was perhaps just a grumble.

Meioubao soon freed himself from the fury of having to take up the unwanted legacy, already resigning himself to the role of the scapegoat: “Let’s go, let’s chat in the hall. All the young nobles from Red Crab Island are here today; perhaps you’ll find someone satisfactory.”

Only then did he remember, “I’ve been so caught up in my own affairs, I forgot to tell you, don’t wait for Asina; she won’t be attending the ball. She fell in love with a baron at the Sea Festival dance and is likely to become a baroness by next year.”

“Is that so?”

Liszt responded flatly, as if indifferent.

In fact, his heart tightened severely inside, a feeling of discomfort that he couldn’t put into words. The effort he had put into repressing the schadenfreude he felt towards Meioubao popped like a balloon.

Meioubao being forced to take up the unwanted legacy was laughable indeed, but wasn’t his own long-standing self-love just as laughable?

“I assumed too much. Among the nobility… there’s no such thing as love at first sight, and what’s more, it was just a fleeting encounter at a ball; perhaps she forgot about me right after it ended.”

All of a sudden,

His enthusiasm waned.

The social ball that was supposed to stir some excitement, especially with the anticipation of seeing Asina, suddenly felt empty. The thought of the so-called social dance being nothing more than a union of noble interests, showing off their assets, and selecting suitable matches to continue their family lineage made his previously restless heart settle back down, and a standard noble smile returned to his face.