Chapter 14.10

That night, unlike her confident attempt to lay Herace down, she’d wondered if something was wrong because he was so much larger than she’d read in books.

At first, she doubted her eyes, then doubted Herace, but the intimidating sight only grew larger the more she looked.

So whenever she faced Herace, she tried to forget it.

She tried to erase the feeling of him whispering love in her ear and pushing her all night.

She felt she couldn’t look into his eyes if she didn’t forget the heat and his scent.

She feared she’d end up avoiding him.

And, they hadn’t had the leisure or comfort to talk about such things.

But Herace seemed to have misunderstood her feelings all this time.

“If I didn’t please you, let me make up for it. That night, I held back again and again, worried it would be too much for you.”

“You… held back…?”

Brienne, seeing Herace’s sincere expression, stammered, breaking into a nervous sweat.

His deep gray eyes shimmered without a hint of playfulness.

Still tightly holding her, Herace left Brienne no room to escape, making her heart race.

Brienne quickly pulled herself together and tried to change the subject.

“A-All right. I get it, so let’s deal with this first and talk later.”

“You must keep that promise.”

Only then did Herace’s arms around her loosen.

Brienne nodded hurriedly and almost fled down the stairs, while a gentle smile returned to Herace’s lips.

“You’ll trip if you hurry, Brienne.”

Even with his worried words, Brienne didn’t look back.

Brienne, who had been leading for a while, stopped in front of a row of basement prison cells.

Torches were placed here and there, making the prison brighter than expected.

Holding her breath, Brienne looked around nervously. Thanks to the commotion outside, it seemed no one was guarding inside.

‘By now, they must have realized I’m gone.’

Then Winor….

She remembered Winor’s hopeful face when she promised to help him meet his siblings.

Brienne moved quickly.

If it was discovered that Winor had helped her, his life could be in danger.

“We need to wake the people up.”

Brienne whispered quietly, opened the nearest prison door, and untied the sacks lying carelessly around.

“I’ll do this.”

Herace immediately crouched down and checked the faces of the people inside the sacks.

Women, men, children, elderly.

There were all kinds of people inside the tightly bound sacks without air holes.

The only thing they had in common was that they all looked like nobles.

But none of them opened their eyes.

“…Herace, what do we do?”

Brienne frowned, examining the faces of those still unconscious. She put her finger under their noses and felt a faint breath. They seemed to be in a deep sleep.

“Let’s check the other cells first. Kaiden might be here.”

Brienne nodded and started searching the cells with Herace.

But only after they untied the last sack did they realize their initial assumption was wrong.

Kaiden and Winor’s siblings weren’t here.

‘Strange.’

Where was everyone?

She had thought the reason Duke Bannon could do such things in the heart of the capital without being caught was because he only used the basement prison in this small annex.

But if Kaiden wasn’t here….

“We’ll have to look for a place where the Duke might be.”

Herace pointed to the stairs on the opposite side from where they had entered.

Brienne nodded.

“Then let’s lock the doors from inside so they can’t get in. We can’t take the unconscious people with us.”

It was a little worrying, but it was the best they could do now.

In the end, Brienne and Herace locked all the doors leading outside.

And just as they were about to go up—

Thud!

A loud sound came from the ceiling above where they stood.

“…What was that sound?”

Brienne turned her head toward the noise.

* * *

“Your Grace…!”

Kaiden, who had been sitting helplessly, rushed at the Duke as soon as he heard that Brienne and Herace had disappeared.

The startled secretary tried to approach Kaiden, who had grabbed the Duke, but the Duke raised his hand to stop him.

Even as he was suddenly tackled by his son, the Duke remained calm.

“…What are you doing, Kaiden?”

“Father, I was wrong. Please, let them go. Please… I beg you.”

Kaiden, who had been staring at the floor with empty eyes as if resigned, now had focus in his gaze.

Deep emotion surged over his dried eyes.

Brienne.

Just for that one name.

Knowing this, Duke Bannon looked at Kaiden with contempt.

“So the first time you admit your mistake, it’s for that girl. Was your love really so deep and desperate?”

“No, it’s not. I just liked her on my own. Brienne did nothing wrong.”

Tears fell from Kaiden’s deep blue eyes, soaking the Duke’s collar.

But that wasn’t the reaction the Duke wanted.

“…Tsk.”

The Duke scanned Kaiden’s face with cold eyes.

“Foolish boy, if you really wanted to marry that girl, you could have just said so. If you’d pleaded sincerely from the start, I might have agreed.”

Kaiden’s gaze wavered at the Duke’s sudden change in attitude.

He knew it was just words to tempt him, but he couldn’t remain calm.

Then the Duke pressed further.

“Well, it’s not too late. Shall I let her live and make her your bride?”

Kaiden bit his lip hard.

No, it was too late.

He knew that well.

His selfish longing for Brienne made him hesitate for a moment, made him waver, made him falter like a fool.

<You came here because you want to win Brienne Ford back, didn’t you?>

<That wish, I’ll make it come true for you.>

Even in the face of that temptation, and now, Kaiden felt his heart tremble.

He knew his feelings, like greed, would only hurt Brienne more, and that he needed to empty his heart.

Unable to do so, he nearly took Melosi’s hand.

He put his own feelings before Brienne’s happiness.

So he wandered and wandered again.

He saw Brienne in Riela’s image in the illusion, harbored his twisted feelings, and tried to fill them at Riela’s side.

He didn’t want to admit that Herace Belif now lived in the light green eyes that always looked at him.

He was more afraid of that than death.

But in the end, Kaiden had to admit it.

In that illusion, in front of the one and only cage, Brienne did not choose him. She chose to save Herace.

So compared to how he felt then, the pain now was bearable.

Kaiden slowly took a deep breath and closed his trembling eyes.

Yes, if he truly cared for Brienne—

‘I must not waver.’

Now he had to pull himself together and look ahead.

He couldn’t become as strong as Brienne, but he could at least stop living as his father’s puppet.

Kaiden gripped the Duke even tighter.

“…Since you ask such a foolish question, let me ask in return. Hamartia. Do they know you’re the one controlling them?”

“They don’t.”

The Duke answered without hesitation. There was no trace of guilt in him. If anything, he seemed proud of it.

As if he were a god boasting about his own creation.

“When life is difficult, people want to rely on invisible hope. I simply take advantage of that pitiful desire. That’s why they follow their own hearts.”

As if that was all there was to it, the Duke’s indifferent attitude made Kaiden feel a deep anger.

“…What do you gain by going to such lengths, Father?”

‘Why do you walk into hell on your own two feet?’

With a cold, hollow laugh, Kaiden muttered, and Duke Bannon smiled as if pleased.

“Honor, status, reputation—don’t these remain?”

“…”

“But will my name not be remembered in history?”

“Now…”

“With this, I will become the greatest Bannon, Kaiden. My name will be carved into history and widely known for generations.”

For such, for such a trivial reason…

Kaiden’s eyes, as he looked at his father, were filled with deep contempt.

He had always thought his father must have had some grand reason. At least some circumstance that made him act so cruelly.

But—

His father was wasting countless lives for things that would disappear as soon as he closed his eyes.

And he did not hesitate over any of it.

That fact was truly disheartening and horrifying.

“Father… have you taken so many lives for such a trivial reason?”

Kaiden’s voice, spoken with force, carried a hint of menace.

“Have you truly abandoned your humanity for mere superficial honor, status, and reputation?”

Kaiden’s body, having experienced countless deaths since childhood, began to tremble. It was panic.

Because of this, Kaiden didn’t notice when the Duke reached out and grabbed the paper knife that had fallen to the floor.

The Duke gripped the knife tightly and gave a chilling smile.

“Seeing you ask boring questions to the end, you really must have been wrong from the start. My expectations were misplaced. That’s truly disappointing.”

“…”

“Kaiden, you are my failure.”

The sharp tip of the knife slashed through the air toward Kaiden’s throat.

But at that moment—

…Bang!

A loud gunshot rang out.

Kaiden turned his head toward the sound. Herace stood at the door, aiming a rifle at Duke Bannon.

“Get up, Kaiden!”

And Brienne shouted angrily beside him.

The light green eyes that watched Kaiden, weary from this wretched life, seemed to say:

Don’t fall.

Don’t be swayed.

Don’t let it happen again.

“You have to find your own life.”

Behind her, a golden glow spread out. From Brienne’s outstretched hand, a great flame erupted.

Magic.

The power Duke Bannon hated so much rushed toward him. The heated metal forced him to drop the knife.

Clang.

“Duke Bannon.”

A strong voice rang out between them.

Brienne slowly stepped into the room.

“Kaiden is not your puppet. He was never wrong from the beginning, and he is not a failure. So the only one who is truly wrong here—”

Brienne, with a cold smile, reached out her hand to help Kaiden up.

Her light green eyes, colder than ever, slowly scanned the Duke’s face.

“Duke Bannon, it’s you.”

At those words, the Duke let out a deflated laugh as if amused.

“You speak so boldly for a mouse in a trap, Brienne Ford. This is the end for you.”

His laughter was laced with menace, but Brienne did not step back.

“Then go ahead and try to catch me.”

“Are you confident?”

“Yes. But if I get out of here, Your Grace, you will pay for your crimes.”

A game of life-and-death tag began.