Chapter 4

Aksha’s insolent gaze made Adrian’s face twist in disgust.  

“You show no sign of repentance, even until the end.”  

Aksha quickly began thinking. If he didn’t give the answer Adrian wanted, his neck would surely be severed.  

‘For now, I need to lead him to where my father is. We’ve set up numerous traps in preparation for situations like this. Not even Duke Bartman will be able to escape.’  

Even if that didn’t work, he figured he could find an opportunity to escape. With that in mind, Aksha spoke words that contradicted his true intentions.  

“Wait! There’s an old mine deep inside the forest! The women we kidnapped are being held there, but without me, you’ll never find it! I swear!”  

Aksha planned to activate the traps as soon as the knights entered the mine. It was a shame to lose the women they had worked so hard to capture, but sacrificing them to kill Duke Bartman wasn’t a bad trade-off.  

“T-That’s all I know… So please… spare me.”  

“Spare you? Why should I?”  

Adrian crouched down in front of Aksha, meeting his eyes.  

“You seem to be under a delusion. I’ve never let someone live when they’ve tried to stab me in the back.”  

“W-What?”  

“The idea of luring me to a trap under the pretense of guiding me and burying me alive is clever, but you’ve picked the wrong opponent.”  

Aksha’s eyes widened in shock.  

“I’m not someone stupid enough to fall for that.”  

It had been two weeks since Adrian left the Helios Empire. Originally, he had intended to annihilate the barbarians within a week, but this cockroach-like man had stubbornly clung to life, delaying him.  

Unfortunately, Aksha was the only one who knew the location of the kidnapped women. Adrian hadn’t expected that the moment rumors spread about Duke Bartman’s appearance, the man would flee. 

Aksha was trying to figure out where the information had leaked.  

[How did this happen? Only my father and I knew about the traps…]  

Adrian, as if reading Aksha’s thoughts, repeated them out loud.  

“Ah, so only you and your father knew about the traps?”  

At that moment, Aksha’s face was painted with shock as he realized the situation.  

[He… he’s reading my thoughts…] 

“You’re only realizing this now?”  

Thunk!  

The sensation of his sword piercing flesh, breaking through bone, and finally stabbing the barbarian chieftain’s heart left Adrian’s eyes cold. Without hesitation, he turned away after finishing the deed.  

“What difference would it make, even if you knew about my ability?”  

After all, he was going to die anyway.  

***

“Waaaaah—!”  

Cheers erupted from the soldiers as Adrian returned. In his hand was the severed head of their enemy’s leader, Aksha. This trophy would serve a crucial role in demoralizing the barbarians in the remaining battles.  

Handing Aksha’s head to another soldier with instructions to store it in a box of salt, Adrian entered the barracks. After a brief rest, he planned to rescue the kidnapped women and finally complete his mission.  

‘At last, I’ll be able to return.’  

To where she was.  

To where he belonged.  

After wiping the blood off his body, Adrian looked at his reflection in the mirror.  

“No matter how many times I see it, these eyes are unsettling.”  

Adrian despised his own eyes. They were blood-red, as if soaked in blood, and seemed capable of devouring someone’s soul.  

Those with sharp intuition often said they felt as though their innermost thoughts were laid bare when they looked into his eyes. And they were right.  

Those who carried the blood of the Bartman family could read people’s thoughts. This ability had allowed the family to prosper and turn crises into opportunities.  

But the ability came with its drawbacks.  

First, he could only read someone’s thoughts by making eye contact. This applied even if it was through a reflection in a mirror or glass.  

Second, he could only read the thoughts someone was currently having.  

This was the part he disliked the most. If he asked a question and the person thought about something unrelated, he wouldn’t be able to find out what he wanted to know.  

‘And lastly, I can’t read the thoughts of those carrying holy relics or those connected to the temple.’  

Even so, it was a useful ability—aside from the fact that it often dragged him into troublesome situations.  

The moment Adrian looked away from the mirror, he heard the urgent voice of his aide from behind him.  

“It’s an emergency!”  

Set, who had hurried into the temporary tent, was panting as he delivered news from the capital.  

“Lady Rivera has…!”  

Adrian froze. The moment he made eye contact with his aide, he already knew.  

[She said she’s going to build a harem!] 

“She said she’s going to build a harem!”  

Hearing the shocking news repeated twice, Adrian stood frozen in place.  

A harem? A harem, of all things?  

Adrian staggered, momentarily losing his balance.  

“Your Grace!”  

The man who had never shown weakness before was now crumbling.  

‘What happened while I was away? What kind of change in mindset would make Rivera say something like that?’  

Rivera had met multiple men, but she had always dated one at a time. She wasn’t someone who led a promiscuous lifestyle. That’s why Adrian was more worried than anything else about the change in her behavior during his absence.  

“So… did she really say she’d build a harem?”  

“Thankfully, Miss Trisha seems to have stopped her, but it appears that her heartbreak from consecutive rejections has deeply affected her. At this rate, she might actually go through with it.”  

Hearing this, Adrian made up his mind.  

“Summon the knights immediately.”  

Set tried to stop Adrian, who looked ready to leave at that very moment.  

“Please wait a moment. Are you planning to return right now? What about the kidnapped women?”  

“I’ve already located where the women were imprisoned and severed Aksha’s head. What more do you want from me?”  

“B-But…”  

“If it’s so urgent, tell the Emperor to handle it himself.”  

Adrian was immovable. Who could blame him? Hearing that the woman he liked had talked about building a harem was enough to drive anyone mad.  

He was anxious, even now, that he couldn’t be by Rivera’s side.  

***

A week later, Adrian stepped out of the bath, his body reflected in the glass window. His damp hair and sculpted muscles glistened under the moonlight, creating an almost otherworldly atmosphere.  

Drying his hair with a towel, Adrian stood at his desk, reviewing the stack of documents one by one.  

‘I have to finish all this before I can go check on Rivera’s true feelings.’  

He wanted to burn all the papers right then and there.  

As he tried to focus on his work, preparing to meet Rivera early in the morning, a sudden gust of wind blew through the room.  

Flap—  

The papers on his desk scattered.  

“…?”  

Had the servants forgotten to close the windows after ventilating the room?  

Though the cool breeze was pleasant, it was disrupting his work. Adrian walked toward the balcony to close the doors.  

But then, outside the window, he saw a woman leaning against the railing, asleep under the moonlight.  

Her violet hair swayed gently in the wind, carrying a soft floral scent. Her pale, porcelain skin and rosy cheeks glowed under the light.  

Her long lashes curled delicately, giving her the appearance of a doll. Her crimson lips shimmered, capturing his attention.  

Adrian was momentarily speechless as he looked at the woman sleeping in his study.  

“…Rivera?”  

This was an impossible situation. Rivera, who should have been at the Iaron Earl’s estate, was here. He hadn’t received any reports about her arrival.  

Adrian, wondering if he was hallucinating, pinched Rivera’s cheek. Her soft, cheese-like skin confirmed she was real.  

“…It’s really her.”  

How had she gotten here? What were the guards doing that they hadn’t reported her presence?  

“Could it be…”  

A strong smell of alcohol wafted from her slightly parted lips.  

“…She’s drunk.”  

If that was the case, then everything made sense.  

The Bartman estate had a secret passage Rivera often used. For the sake of security, the passage should have been sealed, but Rivera had clung to Adrian’s pants, begging him not to block it.  

– It’s only natural to fix the estate’s walls if they’re damaged.  

– No! If you block it, I won’t be able to sneak in!  

– You can just use the front gate.  

– But what if I need to sneak in?  

Adrian had thought he could simply order the guards not to stop her, but Rivera stubbornly refused, saying something completely unexpected.  

– What if I suddenly want to see your face late at night? Wouldn’t the guards find that strange? 

And with that, he had foolishly given in.  

[If Adrian blocks the passage, I won’t be able to sneak in and steal his alcohol!]  

His brief happiness had been shattered the moment he heard her true thoughts. Even so, he had pretended not to know and let it slide.  

“No matter how warm the spring nights are, it’s still chilly.”  

Worried she might catch a cold, Adrian gently lifted Rivera to place her on the bed.  

Clink.  

The sound of a rolling bottle caught his attention. A clearly empty bottle had hit the balcony railing.  

“……”  

‘I didn’t see anything.’  

Adrian closed his eyes tightly, choosing to ignore the bottles. Right now, his priority was to lay Rivera on the sofa. He would deal with the room afterward.  

Having known her since childhood, he was used to this sort of thing.  

‘And I know those bottles aren’t the only ones.’  

Sure enough, as he searched the room, he found empty bottles hidden under the sofa and inside the fireplace. She had clearly been sneaking into his study to drink while he was away.  

“It must have been hard for her.” 

He had heard about her being rejected and even her absurd idea of building a harem. But it had been a week since she was rejected.  

The time it took to return from the border to the Bartman estate had left Adrian worrying about Rivera’s condition.  

‘I’ll have to make her eat something before she complains about a hangover tomorrow morning.’  

One bad habit Rivera had was not eating snacks while drinking. No matter how much Adrian told her it would ruin her stomach, she never listened.