Thud. With a dull sound, James fell forward. But before he could collapse completely, Knox, standing behind him, pulled his shoulder.

“Ugh!”

James groaned as his body was forcibly pulled back with his bound arms. At the same time, blood poured from his throat and ran down his mouth.

Seeing James in tatters up close, Hayden and Frederick frowned. Watching the suffering of someone they had faced for a long time was uncomfortable even for them, who had witnessed all sorts of cruelties while roaming battlefields. But Knox, who was actually torturing James, showed no particular emotion despite being the closest to him among the three.

Thud. Thud. The silent violence fell a few more times. Roshan, the only one sitting in the room watching this, raised his hand only after blood had spilled from James’s mouth several more times.

“Knox. You may rest for a moment.”

Knox bowed and stepped back one pace. Naturally, James’s face fell to the floor again.

Thump. The sound of him hitting the floor was quite loud, but Roshan didn’t even move an eyebrow. He gestured to Knox to untie the ropes binding James. Knox took out a dagger from inside his clothes and cut the ropes restraining James in one go. With his body somewhat more comfortable, James gasped and tried to push himself up with his hands on the floor.

“Huu……”

“If you wanted to commit a crime, you should have done it without my knowledge.”

Roshan muttered as he watched James repeatedly fail to get up. James applied strength to his arms but bit his lip hard at Roshan’s words.

‘How……’

Confined in the tower, Yerena seemed to have no protection at all aside from the guard knights. However, in reality, quite a dense defensive wall had been built around her.

As an example, even the meager meals going to Yerena were inspected each time. One might wonder who would want to kill a princess from a defeated kingdom who was imprisoned for being cursed, but Roshan had issued orders as soon as she entered the tower. To monitor not only the goods and meals going to the tower but also those who made and delivered them. And the person overseeing all of this was James.

‘You say someone who appears to be the empress’s pawn looks suspicious?’

‘Yes. The way he keeps feeling his clothes and I think poison……’

‘……’

‘Should we deal with him?’

‘No. Leave him be.’

That’s why James quickly noticed Liliana’s poisoning attempt. No, it would be more accurate to say this poisoning was his plan. It was he who leaked to Liliana’s maid that Frederick, one of Roshan’s close aides, was guarding Yerena.

‘Pardon?’

‘I said leave him be. That’s what I want.’

Liliana’s strange obsession with Roshan had gone on for years, and James had known about it for just as long. But it wasn’t just knowledge—he had a clear sense of her temperament and how she would respond to the rumors he spread.

However, he was too excited when plotting. Roshan’s attitude, which he had never seen before, and his crushed pride. Despite seeing how much attention Roshan was paying to Yerena, James acted hastily.

“When you make it so obvious, how could I not know.”

And this was the result. Roshan had seen through James’s intentions from the beginning. Yerena didn’t die, and James was kneeling on the floor in a miserable state.

“James. I don’t keep dogs that bite their master. You know that better than anyone.”

Roshan ordered punishment for James, who had been with him for a long time, without a moment’s hesitation. Looking at Roshan’s cold red eyes, James had no doubt he would die here.

‘If you knew there was poison, why did the princess collapse? The report said she definitely drank the poison……’

A faint question arose amidst his overwhelming fear. But his dizzy head and painful body didn’t allow further thought, so James stopped thinking and raised his head. Even in his spinning vision, only a pair of inhuman red eyes remained clear.

“Y-Your Highness, I didn’t mean to deceive you. I just……”

Thinking he was going to die, he felt he should say what was on his mind before going. James opened his mouth, believing his loyalty to his lord was justified, even as he trembled under Roshan’s pressure. But Roshan cut off his words sharply and slightly furrowed his brow.

“You really like saying you’re doing things for my sake. But you see, I don’t need you anymore.”

“……”

“Of course, you’re more useful than most. James, I won’t deny that I’ve been able to live more comfortably thanks to you.”

“……”

“But didn’t you ever think that’s all? It doesn’t matter to me if you’re gone. If one isn’t enough, I can find someone else to do similar work, even if they’re not as good as you. I could use two or three if needed.”

“……”

“So I have no reason to let you off after you went against my wishes.”

Each of Roshan’s words stabbed James’s heart like a dagger. But what was more painful to him was Roshan’s expression. Roshan was visibly annoyed by the current situation. The occasional small sighs proved it.

‘……This is the end.’

Even his last burning conviction flew away. James closed his mouth and waited for his neck to be broken. Roshan looked at him and called Knox.

“Knox.”

“Yes.”

“How should we handle this?”

At his lord’s question, anguish appeared on Knox’s face. Not only had James gone against his lord’s wishes, but secretly plotting it was a crime of deception. So normally, James would have to lose his life.

“……Executing him would be right.”

“……”

“But Your Highness. You know. Sir James has handled many tasks for you until now. So please show mercy.”

Knox said executing him was right but then knelt and earnestly pleaded for mercy for James. This was uncharacteristic of his usual temperament.

“Hayden. Did you bring what I asked for?”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Roshan looked at James, who was hanging his head with closed eyes, and Knox kneeling beside him, then gestured to Hayden. Hayden, who had been watching the situation with a stern face, finally came to his senses and ran to Roshan. Roshan had separately instructed him to bring something before punishing James.

“Here it is.”

What Hayden handed over was a small wooden box that looked old. Roshan received the box from Hayden and opened the latch.

Inside the box, something wrapped in white cloth appeared. Roshan removed the cloth, grasped the object, and tossed it in front of James. Clang. Something metallic hit the floor with a sound, rolled in circles a few times, and stopped in front of James. It was a sharp dagger.

“This is the dagger that took your mother’s life. The only debt I owe you.”

James raised his head at Roshan’s words. The dagger, with its faded leather handle from age, was the object that had taken his mother’s life. James looked at the sharp blade of the dagger, or more precisely, at his reflection in it.

“For Liz’s sake, I won’t order your execution. Instead, choose.”

“……”

“Will you stab your own neck with that dagger, or will you sacrifice one eye?”

He meant to either commit s*icide or stab one of his own eyes instead of being executed. At these overly harsh choices that could hardly be called mercy, Frederick, who had been standing silently, clenched his fist.

The noble society of the Vistius Empire valued appearances. Therefore, nobles often despised visible physical disabilities. Of course, knights who went to battle or those with reasons were praised as honorable, but others were mercilessly ridiculed. Moreover, James held a position where appearances were extremely important in that noble society.

Frederick was worried that the proud James might choose s*icide. But after a brief contemplation, James painfully raised his battered upper body and picked up the dagger with difficulty.

“My eye……”

“……”

“I will choose my eye.”

If he only considered his injured pride, s*icide would have been right. But James bit his lip, thinking that if he committed s*icide here, it would be like losing to his mother, whom he had always considered pathetic.

‘If I commit s*icide here, I’ll forever be remembered by my lord as a servant worse than that pathetic woman. That can’t happen. I am the most outstanding subordinate in my lord’s memory. At least better than that woman……’

James shook his head slightly, then raised the dagger high. And without any hesitation, he plunged it toward his eye.

“No!”

Frederick, who was watching, shouted when he saw James’s strength was too great. At the same time, Knox quickly moved his body. However, Knox’s movement only twisted the trajectory of the dagger but couldn’t significantly reduce its force.

“Aaaagh!”

A scream escaped James’s mouth as blood spurted into the air. Unable to bear the pain, James hunched over and choked. Knox quickly examined him. But because of all the blood, he couldn’t properly assess the wound.

Knox looked back at Roshan, who gestured at the red blood soaking the floor and spoke in an indifferent voice.

“Show him to a physician. If you go quickly, he won’t die.”

At those words, Knox bowed his head in salutation and hurriedly supported James. Though not too heavy, their steps slowed due to the awkward posture, so Frederick also asked Roshan’s permission and moved with them.

The three quickly disappeared. Hayden watched the backs of the three men with a hardened expression and only turned around after they were gone. By then, Roshan had already directed his gaze elsewhere.

Hayden turned his head toward where his lord was looking. Then he saw a crown adorned with lilies gleaming inside a small decorative glass dome. It was the crown that had belonged to Adora, the late queen of Sedas and Yerena’s mother, taken from Bianca, the mother of the current king of Sedas.

Naturally, he thought of the princess confined in some tower in a corner of this imperial palace. Hayden was about to clench his fist unconsciously as he thought of her, whom he hadn’t seen for quite a while, but turned his head to observe his lord.

‘Ah……’

A silent sigh echoed inside Hayden. Though unspoken, he could tell. His lord was thinking of the same person while looking at the crown. And very deeply, as if she were everything in the world.

Only then could Hayden completely let go of his lingering feelings for Yerena. He looked at Roshan’s face with a bitter expression. But Roshan, not paying any attention to Hayden, examined the lilies blooming on the crown and muttered to himself.

“She seemed weak. She should eat well to regain her strength quickly.”

* * *