Please Don’t Let Go Of That Leash - Chapter 5 - Eden’s Regret (Part 1)
Chapter 5 – Eden’s Regret (Part 1)
In the deepest part of the underground prison of the Imperial Palace.
A place so dark that you can’t see ahead without a torch, with air colder than midwinter, reeking of mold and filled with insects, and walls and floors marked with layers of dried bloodstains.
“Ugh…”
Omur was currently imprisoned there, enduring yet another round of beatings.
Daily beatings and treatments repeated, driving him continually mad. Omur had reached a point where he could curse even if the emperor himself were beating him.
‘Damn it.’
‘What did I do so wrong? At the recent banquet, all I did was, ah. Lose that girl to the crown prince and take my lust out on a passing maid? Why?’
‘Who would make such a fuss over a mere maid doing odd jobs in the palace? Besides, she enjoyed it, too.’
Gritting his teeth, Omur loosened his frown as his swollen eyes stung.
‘Where the hell is that sister of mine, Katrina, when her brother is suffering such injustice here?!’
Though he thought he could curse the emperor, he wasn’t actually that bold. Naturally, his anger turned towards his younger sister, Katrina, who always cleaned up after him.
At that moment, a grating sound of rusted metal echoed. The beating stopped simultaneously.
Omur, lifting his blurry vision to see what was happening, barely recognized three people in fine clothes and the departing jailer after a while.
‘Ah, have they finally come to get me out?’
Ironically, he thought they were there to rescue him. Sometimes when he flirted with a lady with a fiancé, got beaten, and dragged to the police, Katrina would send servants dressed in fine clothes to solve the problem.
Because he once yelled that his dignity depended on it.
Though it was absurd, disgusting, and annoying, Katrina had no choice because their parents couldn’t let go of him yet.
“Cough, you’re too…late.”
“…”
“Hurry up and untie this…! Ugh!”
“Shut up.”
Laughing at the thought of finally leaving this filthy place, Omur suddenly couldn’t breathe from the intense pain piercing his stomach.
‘What? What is…’
Unable to think clearly due to the unexpected situation, a cold blade touched under his chin. His head lifted, meeting blood-red eyes.
‘Gasp.’
Omur involuntarily inhaled sharply. Blood-red eyes, there was only one person in the empire with those. Duke Eden Carlisle.
“Yes, it’s late. I should have come and killed you sooner.”
“Gasp, Duke, there’s a misunderstanding…”
“Misunderstanding? No. Just for touching her, you deserve to die. Why should I listen to you?”
“Aaah!”
The sword plunged into his thigh. Blood spurted around. Omur, choking on the pain far beyond any beating he’d endured, screamed.
“Kahin.”
When Rune called, Kahin gagged Omur with a rope. His screams were muffled.
“Shut up. I don’t want to hear your voice.”
For the first time, Omur felt the fear of death.
As time passed, the amount of blood soaking the floor increased. He repeatedly lost and regained consciousness, but the beating continued endlessly.
Even after stabbing his thigh, they didn’t use the sword again, which wasn’t a relief. Each punch brought pain far beyond what he had experienced from the guards or occasional knights.
“Cough, cough, ugh-!”
He spat blood again. His head was dizzy. His limp arms and legs dangled as his body was lifted and shaken.
“You should have known better.”
But Rune’s eyes, looking at his bloodied face and body, were still unsatisfied. She was precious to him, down to her last strand of hair, and yet, Omur dared.
Just as he was about to punch again in unrelenting anger, Omur suddenly burst into laughter.
“Heh, heh heh.”
Whether he’d gone mad from the endless beating, Omur continued to laugh like a madman. And then he finally said something he shouldn’t have.
“For just one woman, heh, acting like this… how ridiculous.”
“…”
“Oh, I see. Cough, the thought of taking her by force, heh…, was quite arousing.”
“Shut up.”
Omur’s body was roughly thrown to the floor. Rune’s kicks followed mercilessly.
“Talking nonsense just because you have a mouth. Or are you asking for your useless tongue to be ripped out?”
Eden, violently grabbing Omur’s face, forced his mouth open. His eyes were colder than ever.
With a single movement, Omur’s tongue dropped to the floor. As blood filled his mouth, Omur tried to scream but only managed a muffled sound. Eden raised his sword again.
Rune, holding back his rage, called Eden with a slight frown.
“Eden.”
But Eden, as if he couldn’t hear, swung his sword.
“Eden Carlisle!”
Startled, Eden stopped just before the sword’s tip reached Omur’s abdomen.
“It’s not time to kill him yet. You know that.”
“…”
“Let him go.”
Eden’s hand, gripping the sword, trembled with rage. He knew. He knew, but…
With a clang, the sword dropped to the floor long after. Eden left the place without looking back.
“Kahin, give him some basic treatment. I’ll tell the guard to call a doctor.”
“Understood.”
Leaving Omur to Kahin, Rune followed Eden.
As they climbed the stairs leading outside, they saw Eden’s blood-stained gloves abandoned and soon bright light appeared. Coming out, they found a grassy forest. The underground prison of the palace was under the most secluded tower, so no one passed by.
Rune quickly approached Eden, who was walking away.
“Eden.”
Eden stopped at his call.
“Why are you so emotional, so unlike yourself?”
“…”
“I understand you’re angry at what he said. I wanted to kill him right away too. But that wasn’t our plan. Publicly…”
“What’s the difference?”
Turning to Rune, Eden’s twisted face looked both pained and angry.
“What he tried to do to Ria and what I did to possess Ria, what’s the difference?”
“…”
“Damn it.”
Eden swore, roughly running his hand over his face. His hand trembled finely.
“I never understood what the problem was. Love was just a reason my parents abandoned me, so words of love always seemed ridiculous to me.”
“…”
“You knew, didn’t you? Why I kept picking fights that way with you.”
Rune remained silent. That silence was affirmation. Eden let out a hollow laugh.
“Stealing women who approached you, I… maybe I hoped for someone to teach me genuine love. So I could understand why my parents abandoned me.”
But no woman had ever done that. They approached him with their own purposes. Yet, they called it love. The more they did, the more he resented how such worthless love made him abandoned and scorned from birth. His emotions only dulled further.
Then Ria appeared. She made him feel emotions he thought he’d lost. Always having the same person at the end of his gaze stirred something, so he wanted her.
But not knowing love, he didn’t know what to do. So he did what he always did. He used his cards, and he got her that way.
“Sleeping with Ria that first time was a gamble, based on a single myth, but it was also because I had no other way. I’m that kind of person.”
His clenched fist turned white.
“I didn’t consider Ria’s will, only my selfish desires. Apart from the myth, how am I different from him?”
It was the easiest and most familiar way for him. So even afterward, he never truly realized it was a problem. He just thought it was one reason Ria didn’t trust him.
But thinking about Ria being treated the same way by Omur made his blood boil. And he realized what he’d done to her. He was disgusted with himself.
‘What did I do to you?’
His fingernails dug deep into his palms, blood dripping to the ground. But he couldn’t unclench his fist.
The pain in his heart was worse than in his hand.