“Elodie, I’m fine. I’m okay… please stop this.”

Elodie shook her head.

“More, more, more I must do. Wind will help me!”

“…Ha, haha, hahahaha!”

The Marquis burst into laughter.

“Indeed! The report was correct. The Baniche young lady was a monster after all!”

Even while pathetically slumped on the floor, he pointed at Elodie.

“Hahahaha! Child, do you know what you’ve just done?”

I took a deep breath. Elodie’s face remained expressionless after hearing such mockery. Above all, her eyes…

‘They’re completely empty.’

Just when I opened my mouth to call out to Elodie, I felt a sharp pain just below my chin. The Marquis had pressed a sharp dagger against my throat.

“Aria!”

As Elodie became greatly agitated, the wind surged even more violently. I squeezed my eyes shut. I wanted to tell her it was okay, but the Marquis’s threat to kill me if I moved even slightly grated in my ears.

‘I don’t care what happens to me, just let Elodie be safe…!’

As if someone had answered my desperate wish, an unforgettable voice pierced my mind.

“Remove that filthy hand, or I’ll cut it off entirely.”

***

‘It’s Duke Baniche!’

My relief was momentary. As soon as I slightly raised my head to look at Duke Baniche, I felt chills run down my spine. If anger were molded into human form, would it look like this?

Duke Baniche’s severe face was filled with rage, and his cold gaze never left the Marquis. But the Marquis didn’t seem to value his life. Judging by his openly mocking tone.

“Kill me if you want. Though I’m not sure if you can handle the consequences.”

It was quite a bold statement to make in front of someone emanating enough killing intent to instantly slay a hundred men.

“I have no intention of killing you.”

An icy voice flowed from Duke Baniche’s lips.

“But if you don’t release Miss Bertin…”

At that moment, the biting wind continued to blow fiercely. I tried not to let my chin be cut deeper by the Marquis’s dagger as I turned my head.

‘Elodie…!’

I saw Elodie trembling violently. I opened my mouth to comfort her, but the Marquis tightened his grip on the blade, forcing me to close it again.

“Elodie.”

Duke Baniche called to the child without taking his eyes off the Marquis.

“It’s okay. Everything’s fine. Just calm down a little…”

But Elodie was in no state to listen to the Duke. I hunched down as the piercing wind began to mix with hail. It would have been a terrifying situation if not for the Marquis laughing loudly enough to compete with the wind. However…

“Haha, seeing that you’re not surprised, you must have known your daughter was a monster. Is that why you abandoned her? Because you couldn’t handle the monster anymore?”

“Shut. Up.”

I gasped out the words. Despite the urgent situation, anger welled up inside me. How dare he shoot such viper-like words at Elodie? Just how far would this person’s vileness go? Marquis Carbodin blew into my ear.

“Miss Aria, what kind of relationship do we have for you to speak to me like that? How disappointing… ugh, uuugh…!”

Several events occurred rapidly in succession. The Marquis screamed strangely as if all his air passages had been blocked. With a clang, the dagger fell to the ground, and the strength completely left the Marquis’s hand that had been gripping my arm. There wasn’t even time to think about who had done what. I quickly pulled myself away from him and ran to Elodie.

“Elodie!”

The wind hadn’t subsided at all, and my whole body stung, but I didn’t care. My child, the most precious Elodie in the world, was crying just a few steps away. I had to comfort her somehow.

“Aria…!”

“Elodie, it’s okay. I’m here. Come, let me hold you.”

I rambled as I embraced Elodie. The hail had caused scratches on my face and arms that stung, but I didn’t mind at all.

“…Aria.”

Elodie called my name.

“Aria, Aria…!”

“Yes, it’s me.”

I buried my face in Elodie’s hair and took a breath. The child’s head smelled of slight sweat, good soap, and sweet sugar.

Elodie burst into small sobs and burrowed into my arms. She clutched my clothes with hook-like hands, seemingly afraid that I might leave her even for a moment. Elodie sobbed in a small but clear voice.

“I’m scared. The scary men… they… to Elodie…”

Those few words chilled my blood, and I wasn’t the only one. These people had not only confined Elodie in a small, musty space but had also abused the child.

I could hardly imagine how terrified this child must have been, already bearing wounds from human traffickers. Crack. With the sound of something breaking, the Marquis let out a scream.

I covered Elodie’s eyes and turned around. Duke Baniche had placed his military boot on the Marquis’s ankle, which was now bent at a strange angle. He spoke in a rigid voice.

“What did you do to Elodie?”

Despite his face contorted in pain, the Marquis held his head high and defiant.

“I only tried to draw out the potential of that little monster.”

“…Don’t call my daughter a monster.”

Despite Duke Baniche’s obvious displeasure, the Marquis’s attitude didn’t change at all. In fact, he seemed to be pushing even further, suggesting that this whole situation was unfolding according to his plan.

“Then shall I say she takes after you?”

The Duke was silent for a moment.

“…What’s your purpose in doing this?”

“Isn’t it obvious?”

The Marquis smiled.

“To let the world know what kind of mongrel she is…!”

If Theodore Baniche had any patience left, it seemed to have evaporated at that moment. Immediately, a dark aura surged from him and engulfed the Marquis entirely.

“Die.”

A sound more like the echo of a cave than a human voice rang in my mind.

‘He mustn’t kill him!’

I stared at Duke Baniche in horror. Marquis Carbodin must not die at the Duke’s hands here. If he were of a status that could be covered up by the Duke’s power, I wouldn’t intervene, but the opponent was Marquis Carbodin.

Though there might be extenuating circumstances since he tried to harm the Duke’s daughter, the fall of the family would be inevitable. The Duke’s house would face extinction in Theodore Baniche’s generation.

‘Then, Elodie…!’

I gently set down Elodie, who had begun to tremble even more violently, and stood up.

“Aria, don’t go!”

I wanted to listen to Elodie, but I had to prevent the impending tragedy. The tragedy of Marquis Carbodin?

No. It was to prevent the tragedy of Duke Baniche, who had found his cherished daughter but had never been called “Dad,” and of Elodie, who had met her loving father but couldn’t accept his love.

I staggered toward Duke Baniche. Fortunately, the cutting wind that Elodie had summoned had somewhat subsided, so it didn’t hinder my movement, but my whole body ached and I couldn’t muster much strength. Sensing my approach, Duke Baniche growled.

“Stop right there.”

Simultaneously, the black energy emanating from the Duke’s body began to surge. Perhaps the only reason he hadn’t attacked me immediately was a thread of sanity still holding him back. I gritted my teeth. If I stopped here, the Duke would take irreversible action. And Elodie would lose the family she had just found.

I paused for a moment and stared at the Duke’s broad back. Since there was no way I could match him in physical strength, there was only one solution available to me. A dangerous gamble that made my heart pound just thinking about it, a life-risking bet. But hadn’t I told the Duke that I would risk my life for Elodie?

‘Yes, this is the only way.’

I wrapped my arms around the Duke’s waist and embraced his entire body, resting my face against his back. I could feel the tension in his massive yet firm muscles under my touch.

“I’m sorry.”

I murmured softly. Naturally, the Duke instinctively began to intensify his black magic aura to defeat the intruder. I tensed my entire body. The black energy enveloping me like a crushing weight made it hard to breathe.