The Founding Monarch Became the Mastermind

Chapter 1

Jang Theo-Bastien Si-on, the Duke, knew that his remaining time was short.

Old age had already taken a deep hold.

He was 61 years old.

He had lived long enough.

Many of his brothers and other high-ranking nobles had passed away at a much younger age.

Thus, the Duke was calmly preparing for his death.

“It’s a bit stuffy. Open the window. Wide.”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

As the maids opened the large window, the cool September night air flowed in.

The air might be too cold for the old and sickly Duke, and the chief attendant’s expression darkened.

But the attendant, knowing that his master’s time was nearly up, could not bring himself to nag about this final, simple wish.

Once the Duke fell asleep, he would close the window when checking on him.

“……You may all leave now.”

With cloudy eyes, Duke Si-on stared outside, breathing heavily, and when he waved his hand, everyone bowed and left the room.

Once the sound of their garments dragging disappeared, only the faint sound of the wind lingered intermittently in the bedroom.

The Duke lay down, turning his head slightly to gaze at the night sky beyond the window.

The faint crescent moon hung in the clouds, and the flickering starlight filled the Duke with calmness, prompting his mind to reflect sequentially on his past life.

Born as the eldest son of the Ducal family, he had received education and training from an early age to live as a ruler.

Right after his coming-of-age ceremony, he followed his father to learn various administrative tasks, and at the age of twenty, he inherited the title, becoming Duke Si-on at a young age.

For over forty years, the world had been chaotic, but the Si-on territory had thrived and remained stable.

When he first ascended to the dukedom, the population was barely 100,000; now, it was nearing 150,000, and all institutions and administrations had been established, reaching their zenith.

His heir, although a bit inflexible, was diligent and steadfast, and would manage the territory without issue. His two daughters, who had married long ago, were also living well.

“It was a good life.”

He felt proud, believing he had lived well as a ruler and a father.

The only regret was his longing for his wife, Elizabeth, who had passed away over a decade ago.

Thinking of his wife, the faces of others began to surface naturally.

Especially the two who had left his side long before his wife passed away.

“Mother, Father…….”

With a sigh that was almost a long exhale, two hazy figures of his parents formed in the old Duke’s mind.

The faces of his parents, as remembered, were much younger than the Duke was now.

Although he could never recall his father’s face because of the mask he always wore, his mother was always beautiful.

“Why… why did you do it?”

The Duke asked, as if his parents were right in front of him.

In their early forties, still healthy and in their prime, his parents had not only handed over the title but also left the territory.

Despite having the noble status of the former Duke and Duchess and enjoying every luxury, they didn’t just leave the castle—they left the duchy entirely.

It was so unprecedented that everyone back then had wondered why, just as the Duke had questioned a moment ago.

But in truth, even then and now… Duke Si-on knew the reason.

“Still… still, if you had stayed by my side a little longer…….”

The old Duke’s eyes grew mistier as he thought of his parents.

In his last memory, his mother’s face was still beautiful despite being in her early forties, but she had not entirely escaped the passage of time.

She merely looked five or six years younger than her actual age.

However, his father, the founding patriarch of the Si-on Ducal family, and the previous Duke who had always worn a mask…

“Were you… truly human?”

A fact known only to the immediate family and the close aides of the previous Duke.

The previous Duke did not age.

The father in Duke Si-on’s memory always had the same face.

After seeing his children, he even grew a beard to appear older in front of the family, but he could not completely hide his youthful appearance.

So he began wearing the mask, initially reserved for formal occasions, in his daily life once his children began to grow aware.

An ageless man.

A being that defied the will of the gods.

If this fact were known, the nobles of the suzerain state, the Kingdom of Obla, who were already wary of the Duchy, would surely rally behind the church and attack.

Not only his father but the entire Ducal family would be in peril.

It was for this reason that his father left the duchy after passing on the title, taking his mother with him.

“Father…….”

Setting aside his self-sacrifice, giving up power and wealth, his father was truly great.

One of the six Heroes who ended the Age of Chaos, and the knight of knights who slew the Dark Dragon Vyuslek.

But what made his father truly great was not only his legendary martial prowess.

After marrying his mother, a princess of the Kingdom of Obla, his father had led a group of five hundred pioneers to this land, building everything with his own hands.

This land, once less than a mere barony of the Kingdom of Obla, had become so prosperous entirely thanks to his father.

As a Duke who was praised as a wise ruler, Duke Si-on had only followed the markers his father had left on the grand canvas he had drawn.

All the glory rightly belonged to the former Duke, his father.

“Haa…….”

A long sigh escaped him, filled with the guilt of having once felt resentment, and the sorrow and longing for his parents, whom he could never see again.

While his mother had passed away long ago and returned to the duchy in a small urn, his father’s whereabouts remained unknown.

Since he hadn’t aged, he was probably still alive.

“If only… if only I could see you one last time…….”

The old son, who stood on the brink of death, longed for his youthful father.

Whoosh.

A chillier wind blew in, fluttering the curtains, and the edges of the curtain entered Duke Si-on’s view.

As the curtain, which had billowed in the wind, slowly settled back into place, it revealed the window that had been briefly obscured.

“……!”

The Duke’s wrinkled eyes widened slightly.

Something was visible behind the slightly swaying curtain.

It was a human silhouette.

‘Am I hallucinating?’

For a moment, the old and ailing Duke wondered if his mind was failing him.

Who could intrude into the Duke’s chamber at this late hour?

Unless it were a bird, no human could climb to such heights.

But it was neither a hallucination nor a mistake.

Step, step…….

The faint sound of footsteps drew closer.

Gradually, the figure hidden in the deep shadow cast by the lantern’s light began to take shape.

He saw a black robe that hung down to the knees over brown boots, and soon, the intruder’s entire appearance was revealed by the lantern’s light as they approached the foot of the bed.

Duke Si-on’s eyes trembled violently. His parched lips quivered.

After a moment that felt like an eternity, a trembling voice escaped the Duke’s lips.

“Are you… an illusion? Am I… dreaming?”

A hand.

A large hand descended upon Duke Si-on’s head.

The hand that brushed back his white hair gently stroked his wrinkled forehead and touched his rough, dry cheek.

“It’s not a dream, son.”

“……!”

At the warm, gentle voice that accompanied the touch, the old Duke’s eyes widened further, and a tear rolled down.

“Ah, Father. Dad…….”

The old son, who had reverted to being a child, reached out weakly toward his father, as if trying to confirm that this was not a dream.

“Yes, my son. Jang Theo, my brilliant son.”

The father grasped his son’s hand tightly.

The faint warmth lingering in his memories traversed the decades, reaching Duke Si-on once more, causing him to shed hot tears.

Only his father had ever called him Jang Theo.

“Why, why have you come only now? Father, Dad… I’ve missed you so much. I’ve longed for you. Why did you come only now? Huu……”

“I’m sorry, son. I’m just… so sorry.”

Wiping away the tears that trailed down his son’s deeply wrinkled eyes, the father smiled.

Upon seeing that smile—so bitter and sorrowful—the Duke realized.

For someone who neither aged nor died, seeing his child grow old and approach death must be a profound agony.

Before being an immortal, as a father, the pain of watching his child age and die was something Duke Si-on understood.

But at the same time, the old son recognized.

That his father’s love for him was far greater than that immense pain.

It was that love that had brought his father back to him.

The moment Duke Si-on perceived that deep, boundless love, he felt indescribable fulfillment and peace.

“Father…….”

Like when he was a child, the old son spoke in a trembling voice to his father, who nodded reassuringly as if he would grant any wish.

“Was I… a good ruler? Was I a ruler who wasn’t ashamed before God and you?”

That had been the source of Duke Si-on’s strength to live as a ruler.

For all those long years, tirelessly striving as a Duke and a ruler was not just for the duchy and its people.

To confess, what he wanted most was his father’s acknowledgment.

And now, with time running short, he desperately wanted confirmation from his hero.

The trembling Duke saw his father shake his head.

Just as disappointment began to settle in his heart, a gentle voice whispered in his ear.

“You are my proud son. I have always been proud of you, Jang Theo.”

“……!”

Duke Si-on’s widened eyes soon softened into a gentle arc.

Before being a ruler, as a son, his father had always been proud of him.

“I love you, Jang Theo. Thank you for being born and living as my son… I was grateful.”

His father’s voice, seemingly touched with emotion, felt warm.

It felt like the time from his childhood when his father would tell him fascinating old tales before bed.

“Yes, Father… I was grateful, too. I was happy because you were my father.”

“Yes, yes.”

“You know, Father? Ten years ago, I……”

Feeling like a six-year-old child, the old son, even while struggling to breathe, proudly shared with his father all the things he had done.

His father, holding his son’s hand tightly, nodded continuously, smiling softly.

The conversation between father and son continued warmly.

* * *

Two days later.

On a day that had fully embraced autumn, Jang Theo-Bastien Si-on, the Duke, passed away.

He died peacefully in his sleep.

Knowing that the Duke’s time was short, many, including his family and relatives, had already gathered at the duchy, allowing the funeral to proceed promptly.

As befitted the funeral of a wise ruler who had led the duchy to its renaissance, a great crowd lined the path to the family’s mausoleum, bidding farewell to the Duke on his final journey.

Among the crowd was a tall man, clad in a long, thick robe like the mercenaries of old, his face half-hidden beneath a hood.

Standing motionless among the mourning citizens of the duchy, the man watched the funeral procession before turning away.

“I will always love you, my son…….”

A low whisper, like a secret utterance, slipped from his tightly closed lips, but no one heard it.