Chapter 5 – Part 9

Marcus smirked and kicked Count Smith’s leg forcefully. The Count, halfway stumbling, fell to the ground.

“On your knees. Say that again.”

Reluctantly, Count Smith, who had risen in panic, grabbed Marcus’s thigh.

“Moe, you’ve got it all wrong…! Please spare me!”

The relentless kicking began again.

“I said kneel, not grovel.”

“Your Excellency, please spare me.”

The Count clasped his hands together in front of him, begging for forgiveness. He hadn’t even hit him yet, but he looked like he was about to piss himself.

Marcus searched his pocket for a cigarette. As he lit it and blew out smoke, he looked down at Count Smith, who knelt before him.

“Explain properly from the beginning.”

From the incident with the children to the present, Marcus had been told everything.

It turned out that the trouble started when they went to threaten a ten-year-old and encountered Lieselotte instead. It was so ridiculous that he couldn’t help but laugh.

But the blackmailer had a habit of twisting things to his advantage, so there was something to be said for that.

“What about the scar on Miss Brennan’s forehead?”

“A, a wound? What…?”

Marcus drew back his fist and smacked the count over the head. He was getting tired of correcting this insolent scumbag every time he floundered, punching him in the temple.

“Stop wasting time. Next time, I won’t use my fist, but a knife.”

“Ugh….”

The Count couldn’t move a muscle in front of the huge boulder-like man.

One blow from Marcus’s foot or fist would have shattered him like glass, and yet he was willing to use a blade. Despite his wealthy upbringing, he had become nothing but a deadly weapon on the battlefield.

“It’s just that… I hit her with the corner of a money enevelope… I didn’t really mean to, we were arguing… ….”

“An envelope of money?”

“It was the money that YMiss Brennan brought me to help pay for my treatment… Ughhhh.”

“Was the amount small?”

“It was definitely not, but that….”

“Aha, you just didn’t like Lieselotte.”

Marcus was annoyed and gave the Count another slap. The weakling rolled on the dirty floor without shame.

It was foolish for Liese to give the money he had given her for this bastard. It was easy to see why she’d tried to hide it from the man who could have easily solved the problem.

Her pride was strong, and she was desperate and frustrated.

The scar on the tip of her brow was the first thing he’d seen when he’d carried her to the couch and laid her down. He’d found it after the doctor had left, when he’d watched her sleep, and he remembered it clearly, because he’d applied medicine and bandaged it with his own hands.

A trickle of blood rises to his forehead as he remembers the way she nodded in response to Marcus’s question about whether she’d hurt herself installing the fountain without realizing it.

“Not only did you already damage my woman’s face, but you also planned to cut her with a knife.”

“Please forgive me, Your Excellency the Duke. I swear I did not know she was your lover.”

Count Smith begged, grimacing, his face covered in tears, snot, and blood.

“There was another man by her side at the time. The way he wrapped his arms around her as they broke up the fight, he looked so much like a lover that I never realized it was the young lady who was in relationship with Your Excellency.”

Marcus’s eyes widened as he looked down at the man, trying to figure out how to cut through the bullsh*t.

“Another man?”

“Yeah, yeah. A man with orange hair.”

Count Smith nodded urgently.

“He was well enough, but it was clear he was not a nobleman.”

It was the same man who had flirted with Lieselotte on the boulevard overlooking the Melir River.

“They looked like lovers.”

“Ah, yes….”

Count Smith said, glancing at the Duke’s rapidly sinking expression.

“I saw it clearly with my own eyes. They were hugging the young lady and asking if she was okay, making a fuss, so they definitely weren’t normal… . Ahh!”

With that, the Count stomped off once more, spouting unhelpful information. The last blow must have taken its toll on him, because he didn’t even stir.

“Bugger.”

Marcus looked down at the two slumped men and finished his cigarette. They looked right at home on the filthy back alley floor.

“I’ll spare your lives for your child.”

His quiet, gravelly voice fell over the heads of those who couldn’t hear.

“But in return, you’ll have to go back to where you came from.”

The Count, who had risen to his undeserved position thanks to his relative who had tragically died, was right to return to the gutter. To make sure he crawled away in disgrace, he planned to have his underwater henchmen dispose of his entire gang, including the hitman. Count Smith was a man who had not been able to shake off the habits of his time as a smuggler and often committed illegal activities, so there were endless possibilities for him to catch.

And that lad man who’d wrapped his arms around Liese like a lover. Marcus felt his blood run cold in his veins.

Sending a man to find out everything he wanted to know, from his identity to his relationship with Lieselote, would be a piece of cake compared to dealing with the Count.

Slowly rolling his tongue around the inside of his mouth, Marcus looked down at the Count and then walked away.

Still, this was something he had to hear directly from her mouth.

***

What was supposed to be an informal dinner at the ducal residence turned out to be larger than Liese had expected.

In the spacious dining room of the annex, the largest and longest table she had ever seen in her life was set, and people of all colors sat across from each other. They all seemed to know each other well, and there was no awkwardness in the conversation.

Once seated at the table, it became clear that the dinner was more social than formal.

Instead of sitting alone at the head of the table, Marcus sat in the center and chatted naturally with those sitting nearby. He could not be called kind, but he treated everyone in an appropriate manner, with an occasional smile that everyone would like.

Although Liese had seen his ruthless side several times, she had no choice but to acknowledge once again that he was a man who could wear the mask of socializing to perfection.

Liese was seated right next to Marcus. As a result, she was constantly getting stares from all directions. Across from them, the Marchioness of Witrock and her husband covered their mouths with their hands and whispered, glancing at Liese again and again.

Feeling as if she had to feign intimacy, Liese stole glances at Marcus. He didn’t avert his eyes if they happened to meet, but that was it. Strangely, today he didn’t seem to have the slightest inclination to torment her.

He hadn’t been smirking in front of others, hugging her, kissing the back of her hand, or otherwise acting like a lover.

In any case, she was very fortunate to be able to sit next to Claudia in an extremely uncomfortable atmosphere.

“You’re not good with alcohol, are you?”

Claudia asked, staring at Liese’s glass, which never seemed to get any smaller. Liese was nervous, and instead of saying that she hadn’t been drinking for fear of making a mistake, she offered a different answer.

“Not exactly, but I don’t enjoy it much.”

“Still, you have to try this. It’s a rare grape wine produced only in the Stone Ridge region. The flavor is excellent.”

Claudia held up her glass, and Liese raised her own in a polite toast. She brought the rim to her mouth and sipped. The rich flavor after the astringency wasn’t too bad.

“How do you like it?”

“Mmm… impressive. It’s interesting how all the different flavors blend together.”

Taking another sip, Liese narrowed her brow, rolling the wine silently on her tongue.

“I just don’t think my palate is refined enough to appreciate the delicacies of this fine liquor.”

“Humble. Then you should train your palate by trying different wines.”

Claudia leaned forward and whispered confidentially.

“I’ll ask Marcus, who has hundreds of bottles of vintage wine. When else will we get to raid the wine cellar of the count’s mansion?”

“…Ahhhhh.”

“I’m serious.”

Claudia gave her a faintly serious look. It seemed like she wasn’t joking, but Liese smiled.

The face of her grandfather, who loved to drink, flashed through her mind, but only for a moment. The last thing she needed was to go further into debt here.

“Try some of this.”

Claudia ordered a servant to bring her new glasses and poured herself a glass of wine. The crystal-clear, pale white wine had a high sugar content, much to Liese’s liking.

“This is very sweet and I could go on forever, so I’ll have to be careful.”

“A glass or two is fine but how about this whiskey? It goes very well with steak.”

Another drink was poured, this time a darker color. Liese frowned smugly.

“Ah, um…. I can’t, this is too strong.”

“You’re cute. Then let’s try something else.”

Liese sipped as she was offered, and suddenly she had a hiccup.

“Claudie.”

Marcus, who had been preoccupied the whole time, interrupted her. Claudia giggled and set the bottle down. Meanwhile, Liese hiccupped again, her eyelids clenched. She felt dizzy from the pounding in her head.

“Get up.”