How could a name mentioned from Michelo’s lips be so ominous? Bane was now at the point where his throat would choke up just hearing the word ‘Reibritton.’ And now not only Genoa but also Michelo knew this.

“Only you consistently sense a threat from her from beginning to end.”

How chilling Genoa’s words were. Bane repeatedly rubbed his face, trying to shake off the instinctive aversion that kept rising.

His lord knew. That Bane’s particular wariness and classification of the princess as a dangerous person wasn’t solely because she was a princess from a defeated nation. But did he really know everything? The full cause of the aversion Bane felt when looking at the princess?

“The princess is fulfilling her role well. Don’t pay unnecessary attention.”

Bane moved his feet to pick up the sword that had been knocked away without saying anything else to Michelo.

“Yes, yes, yes. Of course.”

Michelo grumbled behind him, but Bane’s mind was already too complicated to even remember to scold him.

“Go in and get some sleep! If you’re going to follow our lord to the imperial palace later, you should go looking at least somewhat decent!”

“I suppose so.”

Bane bent over to pick up his sword, chewing on his lips. His hand had lost so much strength that his sword was deflected by Michelo’s lightly swung wooden sword. In this physical condition, it would be difficult to prepare for any threats that might arise when accompanying his lord to the imperial palace.

Threats. As he thought of this, Genoa’s words crossed Bane’s mind once more.

“The threat you feel from the princess isn’t about such official matters, is it?”

At that time, Bane couldn’t say anything to Genoa. To fully reveal the anxiety quietly spreading within him, he would have to bring up matters from long ago that he had never managed to confess to Genoa.

Bane bit his lip as he sheathed the sword he had picked up.

This was a sword personally bestowed upon him by Genoa. That night, after surviving the test at the Ivanstein mansion, Genoa had drawn the sword from his father’s waist and given it to Bane.

“I’ll make you my sword. Start training from today.”

If Genoa had known whose blood stained that sword, he probably wouldn’t have bestowed it upon Bane. That’s why Bane chose to keep silent. At that time, it seemed the best choice. Though he wasn’t sure if Genoa would acknowledge Bane’s choice as the best one.

“Oh, right! Captain! Lin says the princess would like you to visit her when you have time!”

“Why would the princess want to see me?”

“I wouldn’t know. Lin didn’t know either.”

“……Tell her that if she has something to say, she should send a message through a maid.”

Bane walked away from the training ground with quick steps, leaving Michelo behind. As if he wanted to escape from this current situation.

Behind him, Genoa’s voice seemed to follow, rising in his mind.

“I’ll wait, so report to me when your thoughts are organized. Of course, if you don’t feel the need to report your personal concerns to me, you don’t have to.”

To this, there was only one thing Bane could answer.

“The princess resembles Mel too much.”

Not to mention, isn’t she acting more and more like Mel? To an eerie degree.

Has Genoa already forgotten, or does he not feel how the princess is filling that child’s empty space like a perfectly natural piece? Bane couldn’t tell.

* * *

“You want me to meet that slave?”

To Bane’s surprised question, Genoa nodded and smiled broadly. Bane’s blinking face was so amusing that Genoa’s face filled with the desire to tease him.

“The child is pure and clean. She’s with her mother, and they get along so well. I was even envious!”

“Young master……”

Genoa’s lips moved busily as he praised the child in front of Bane. Since Genoa had never shown such excitement even when discovering a toy he liked, Bane’s gaze gradually changed as if he were looking at something unfamiliar.

“Slaves that age are usually separated from their parents and sold. She’s even smart enough to be sold without being separated from her mother.”

Genoa looked delighted. Seeing him not hiding the chuckles that escaped, Bane felt it was so unfamiliar that he thought he needed to remain calm.

“Why are you allowing me to meet this slave when you haven’t permitted it until now……”

“I’m thinking of entrusting that child to you when I’m not around in the future.”

“To me?”

“Yes. So take good care of her.”

The color of Genoa’s purple eyes seemed to deepen as his eyes curved beautifully.

“Just to be clear, when I ask you to take good care of her, I don’t mean for you to evaluate that child.”

“Then what……”

“I’ve already evaluated her. You just need to look after her as I’ve decided.”

“……”

As Bane sank into thought for a moment, Genoa sat on the windowsill, enjoying the night air and swinging his legs. At his feet lay a blood-covered person who had lost consciousness. When Genoa nudged the person with his toe, they rolled over lifelessly, seeming to have breathed their last.

“I knew they wouldn’t last long, but they died quickly.”

Genoa swallowed a regretful sigh as he looked at the corpse, whose bulging eyes hadn’t even closed properly in death.

Bane, who had been lost in thought, suddenly came to his senses and began wrapping the now-corpse tightly in a prepared cloth.

“The duke has newly hired someone to manage the corpses. It will be quickly discovered if the number of dead doesn’t match.”

“That’s a shame. This was the first slave who was still breathing.”

“We’ll have to wait for another opportunity. For now, we need to take this person to the corpse incinerator without being discovered.”

“Hmm.”

Genoa put aside his regret, took his eyes off the corpse, and looked outside again. Though it was hard to see in the deep darkness of night, black smoke seemed to be rising from somewhere in the distance. They must have started burning corpses.

“There’s a limit to how much they can burn stealthily at dawn. Do we really need to hurry?”

“It’s never bad to be cautious. This corpse came from the ‘testing ground,’ not just anywhere, so they’ll certainly react sensitively.”

“Tsk.”

Genoa stopped grumbling.

As Bane said, this corpse was a slave who had been injured and discarded from the ‘testing ground.’ They probably thought it was a corpse and carelessly threw it away, but in fact, this slave had been breathing until just moments ago. It was Genoa and Bane who had brought him in, treated, and cared for him.

“I wonder why corpses mauled by beasts occasionally come out of the ‘testing ground.'”

“……”

At Genoa’s words, Bane pressed his lips tightly.

No one knew what exactly happened there or what Genoa would face in that place. They could only guess by examining the condition of the corpses that came out one by one.

“I promised Mel I’d visit her tomorrow…… I guess I won’t be able to go?”

“You shouldn’t leave your room for a while to avoid suspicion……”

Bane, who had been nodding mindlessly at Genoa’s words, paused his busy hands when he heard the slave’s name that Genoa mentioned.

“You made a promise with a slave?”

“I told you, that child’s name is Mel.”

Genoa’s face sweetened as he rolled the slave’s name in his mouth. Bane felt goosebumps rise on his forearms whenever his master made such a face.

“What a pitiful child.”

“Why?”

“Because the young master seems to like her so much.”

“Ah, yes, that’s true.”

Genoa laughed more loudly at the explicit sympathy that appeared on Bane’s face.

Now wasn’t a good time to visit Mel. It was because the Duke of Ivanstein, the master of this mansion, had become suspicious. After learning that the duke was bringing in slaves from the tower, Genoa occasionally diverted slaves who came out as corpses from the ‘testing ground.’ There was something that could be inferred by knowing how they died there.

But as the suspicious Duke Ivanstein hired someone specifically to manage the corpses, using that method became more difficult. Genoa had no intention of easily revealing Mel’s existence.

“Mel will be disappointed if I can’t visit her.”

“That would be better than dying because you’ve been discovered interacting with her.”

“Really?”

Bane stared at Genoa, who was questioning him. When their eyes met, Genoa’s elegant eyes curved gently.

“Mel doesn’t know yet. That slaves like her are dying in that place.”

“But she’ll soon find out, won’t she?”

“I suppose so?”

Genoa licked his lips and flopped down on the bed. Bane’s eyebrows twitched slightly at the unrefined behavior. Though knowing that Bane disapproved, Genoa pulled the blanket over his clothes, which he hadn’t even changed. He didn’t mind if blood that hadn’t been wiped off stained the blanket.

“That will be fun.”

I’m sure it will be.

Bane swallowed the words he wanted to say and felt sympathy for the girl who would be disappointed at not being able to meet Genoa.