Chapter 62

Randolph gestured to one of his men as he stepped forward.

“Hostage.” Only one face came to mind at that word.

‘No way…’

Aneta’s gaze, noticeably pale, was fixed on the back of the subordinate entering the bedroom.

Sure enough, the mercenary emerged again, carrying the familiar crimson-haired figure – it was Chris.

“…Chris.”

Upon seeing Chris, whom she had thought moved elsewhere, Aneta called out her name in a voice that was almost a groan. There was no answer; she seemed unconscious.

Aneta’s despair did not end there. Serce, barely holding on with his doppelgänger, was finally overpowered after exhausting all his strength.

“Ugh…!”

The mercenaries mercilessly struck Serce at the back of his neck, knocking him out. Randolph’s gaze then turned to Aneta.

“Now, Your Ladyship, there is only one of you left, make your choice. Will you throw away what you have in your hand and end the resistance, or will you watch these precious people get hurt?”

Randolph presented Aneta with a choice laced heavily with threats. No, it wasn’t even a choice, it was a demand.

There was no way she could stand up to a man who threatened to set fire to her hostages. Aneta’s face grew grim with anger for a moment.

It felt as if all the blood drained from her torn fingertips.

In the end, Aneta had no choice but to drop the mirror shard she was holding. As the blood-stained shard hit the floor with a shattering sound, Randolph quickly approached her.

His movements were incomparably swift, unlike the other mercenaries, proving his status as the leader. Sensing his approach a split second late, Aneta hurriedly reached behind her and tore off a small ornament from her coat.

She did it to leave a trace of her presence.

Naturally, the ornament she tore off with her injured hand was stained with blood. Just as she dropped it, Randolph grabbed her arm. The sound of the ornament hitting the floor was drowned out by the noise of her being dragged.

“Close your eyes for a moment. When you wake up, we’ll likely have arrived at our destination.”

…

Without any chance to resist Randolph’s words whispered in her ear, his hand struck precisely at the back of her neck. With a heavy pain, Aneta’s vision darkened.

Randolph spoke as he supported Aneta’s body, which had collapsed limply forward despite his careful use of strength.

“Now that we’ve captured the Marquis, it’s time to move. Knock out the coachman of their carriage and bring the carriage we prepared. We need to leave the capital as soon as possible because it’s obvious we’ll be pursued.”

With Aneta’s absence, her household would send people to investigate. Once they assessed the situation, they would likely control access to the capital, so they had to get out and reach their destination before then.

Carrying the helpless Aneta in his arms, Randolph strode forward without hesitation. The shards of broken mirrors crunched under his feet as he walked.

“If you’re planning to come along, you’d better hurry up.”

Before leaving Chris’s house, Randolph spoke to Lily, who stood by the wall as if nailed in place.

“I’ll stay here.”

Lily’s hesitation did not last long. Soon, with a resolute expression, she refused his offer.

“Are you sure? You’ll be the first one they suspect of bringing the Marquis here.”

“I have a plan. Don’t worry about it.”

“Then I’m off.”

Randolph didn’t insist further and brushed past Lily. There was no need to drag her along if she didn’t want to come.

Though Randolph knew what the shadow on her face meant, he too had staked his life on this mission and quickly dismissed any concern.

Intervening wouldn’t change anything.

As the mercenaries followed their leader out, Lily was left alone. Chris’s house was in complete disarray, a chaos unparalleled.

There was only one way she could clear herself of suspicion in this situation: inflict wounds on herself and act as if she were a victim too.

She had been prepared for this ever since she set out to find Aneta, but now that it was time to act, fear washed over her. Still, she couldn’t hesitate.

Lily picked up a dagger that was lying on the floor.

***

Erez paced anxiously in front of the room, biting his nails.

It was the second day since he had come down to the territory, using the excuse of his grandfather Baron Bauter’s first birthday since his death. By now, he should have heard from the mercenaries, but the absence of news since dawn had made him restless.

“Surely, they haven’t failed, have they?”

Just as Erez’s anxiety surged and his expression soured, a knock came at the door.

Knock, knock.

The door opened, and the butler, Jin, who had come down to the estate with him, entered.

“How did it go? Did they succeed?”

Erez, who had heard the knock and turned his head so quickly that it sounded like a whimper, asked how things went as soon as the door closed behind him.

There was a dull ache in the back of his neck, but that wasn’t the important thing.

“Yes, they have completed the task as you instructed, My Lord.”

“Is that true?”They had captured Aneta and Chris. The good news brought a glow to Erez’s face. The thought of finally getting rid of the woman who had been a thorn in his side filled him with excitement.

“Yes. They expect to reach the designated location by tomorrow morning at the earliest. However, there’s a small issue.”

“What? What issue?”

“They also captured the companion who was with Marquis Adenauer.”

“Who’s the companion?”

“Lord Serce Raphaeli.”

Hearing a name he couldn’t possibly know, Erez recalled the red-haired man who was always by Aneta’s side at events in the Imperial Palace. He had a face too valuable to waste, but what could he do? Now that he knew about this, he couldn’t be left alive.

‘Why would someone like him associate with such an unpleasant woman?’

In any case, she was a woman who was no good to anyone. Erez clicked his tongue in disapproval, referring to Aneta with utmost personal disdain.

“Well, that’s all right, it’ll be a bit of a hassle to clean up, but we’ll have one more hostage to threaten Aneta Adenauer.”

He could have ordered the mercenaries to kill them on the spot, but Erez didn’t do that.

There was no particular reason. He simply wanted to see Aneta groveling at his feet, begging for her life.

“How nice it would be to see that noble woman begging for her life in a disheveled state.”

Just imagining it brought immense pleasure as if he had the world in his hands.

“Would you spare the Marquise of Adenauer if she begged?”

“Am I crazy? If I was going to spare her life, I wouldn’t have spent the money to have them bring her here in the first place.”

Erez planned to kill Aneta slowly and painfully. Watching her writhe in agony greater than death itself would be the reward for all the emotional turmoil she had caused him.

“I’ll make sure to end their lives thoroughly. That way, there won’t be any loose ends.”However, he did intend to give Chris a relatively less painful death. It was a decision born from the fact that he didn’t have any personal grudge against her.

Eretz felt no fear whatsoever about killing the three of them. This was a world where even attempts on the lives of the Emperor or the imperial family were common occurrences. Killing a few supporting characters would make no difference.

The fact that aside from Chris, the other two were barely even developed characters in the original work further reinforced his confidence.

“Jin, just do as I say.”

Erez lifted his chin with a confident expression.

“Listen carefully. Before dawn, prepare a carriage. I’m going to secretly go to where the mercenaries are, and you must make sure no one enters my grandfather’s room until I return. Make it seem like I’ve locked myself in there out of grief.”

Erez planned to use his deceased grandfather to create an alibi. He had long discarded any sense of guilt.

‘It’s good that a dead person can be of use to the living in this way.’

With a crooked smile, Erez sent Jin off. Jin obediently went to inform the coachman as requested.

Left alone, Erez finally felt at ease and lay on the bed, stretching out his legs. Although Serce’s involvement was unplanned, he was satisfied that everything else was proceeding smoothly.

When he first decided to bribe Vernon’s servant, he had been worried. If the servant informed Vernon instead of cooperating, everything would fall apart, and he would face punishment.

Nevertheless, he went through with the bribe because he had learned of Lily’s existence.

Lily had grown up in an unfortunate family situation and had started earning money from a very young age. Erez exploited her circumstances.

“If this task is successful, I will make sure that you and your family will never have to worry about making a living for the rest of your lives.”

With this offer, and handing over a piece of jewelry, Lily immediately promised to cooperate. Erez also mentioned her young sibling, advising her to behave well, making betrayal unlikely. She handled the task better than he had expected.

‘I picked the right person for this.’

Given her impressive performance and his plans to keep her as a useful pawn, Erez intended to reward her. But not immediately.

“If I become the Duchess of Baltimor as per the original plan, such money will be nothing. I can pay her then.”

Currently, all Erez had were some jewelry and clothes he had bought during better times.

He had squandered his grandfather’s accumulated wealth on luxuries, and the remaining funds were used to hire the mercenaries, leaving him with nothing to give Lily.

If Lily had known this, she wouldn’t have seized the opportunity during Vernon’s absence, but Erez was completely unconcerned.

By the time she found out, everything would be over, and she would be an accomplice, unable to speak about the deal.

With all this calculated, Erez couldn’t suppress a smile as he anticipated the morning.

Tomorrow, he would reclaim everything that had been taken from him.