Chapter 5 (Part 1)

A certain amount of time passed.

Bang! Bang!

“Open the door! Open it by force if you have to!”

At someone’s shout, Beonar’s door opened, and the servants found Maxwell lying on the floor, bleeding horribly.

“Maxwell… Oh my God.”

Maxwell slightly opened his eyes and looked at Seria, who was crying in front of him.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t keep our appointment today.”

“Is that what’s important? Look at you!”

“I’m an illegitimate child.”

“Before being an illegitimate child, you are my person, approved by His Majesty the Emperor, and the lover of a princess!”

Seria looked at Beonar, who was snoring on the bed, with disgust.

“Let’s go to the palace for treatment.”

With trembling hands, Seria brushed the blood-soaked hair from Maxwell’s face, feeling heartbroken.

“This isn’t right, Max…”

“An illegitimate child is like livestock in the family. Even if they are beaten to death, it is not a crime… Normally, I wouldn’t even be able to meet someone like you, Seria.”

The knights escorting Seria, the servants, and the maids who followed all fell silent at the sight of Maxwell’s severe condition.

“I’m taking Maxwell to the palace. Move him carefully into the carriage.”

“Yes.”

“If I had known you were in this state, I would have brought holy water… I’m sorry, Max. Just hold on a little longer.”

When Maxwell closed his eyes with a smile, Seria’s anger reached its peak.

“Tell Marquis Fedeurus that I will be nursing Maxwell, so he shouldn’t look for him.”

“Understood, Princess.”

“Why did he beat Maxwell like this? I warned him not to lay a hand on my lover… How dare he ignore the words of royalty? I won’t let this go.”

As Maxwell disappeared in the royal carriage, the servants sighed in relief. However, Koi began to tremble in fear.

“It’s okay… Young Master Maxwell is alive…”

Parker, knowing that Koi, as Beonar’s servant, would bear the brunt of Beonar’s anger, hugged the trembling Koi.

“Just hold on a little longer… Better days will come.”

“I will endure.”

With hope.

Seria took Maxwell to the palace where she was staying and immediately called for a physician.

“How serious is his condition? Tell me!”

“He has been slapped a lot, causing his eyes and the inside of his lips to burst…”

The physician frowned as he examined the inside of Maxwell’s mouth.

“His inner teeth are broken. His condition is very bad.”

Forgetting that he was in front of the princess, the physician clicked his tongue and looked down gravely at Maxwell.

Seria ordered the maids to bring holy water. She poured it over Maxwell’s wounds until they healed, her anger turning to tears. Seeing the pitiful sight of the two, the physician and the maids quietly left the room.

With only the two of them left in the room, Seria wiped her tears and looked sharply at Maxwell.

“Get up! You bad man.”

Maxwell, who had gotten up, approached the tearful Seria and wiped away her tears.

“Maxwell, stop hurting yourself.”

“How did you know I hurt myself?”

“Even if Beonar was drunk and hit you, he doesn’t have the strength to break your teeth.”

“I could have been hit by a bottle.”

Maxwell gently hugged Seria and closed his eyes.

“A drunk man’s throw wouldn’t do much. Anyway… everyone thinks Beonar did it, so just stay quiet, Maxwell.”

Seria caressed Maxwell’s cheek and looked into his eyes.

“Maxwell.”

Seria cried again.

“Don’t let your anger explode yet…”

“I couldn’t control my anger and hit myself hard. Soon, everything will be settled. When that time comes, I hope you will come with me to visit my mother’s grave.”

“Of course.”

Seria hugged Maxwell’s neck and cried again.

Maxwell patted Seria’s back and sang a lullaby that his mother used to sing to him, closing his eyes.

* * *

Beonar woke up holding his aching head.

“Why am I lying here? Why is the room so dirty? Is there no one? Come in!”

At Beonar’s loud shout, Koi trembled and entered the room.

“Koi, clean the room and bring Maxwell.”

“Young master Maxwell is not at the mansion. Princess Seria took him.”

“Then there’s nothing we can do. Just clean the room.”

Koi sighed in relief and started cleaning the room.

Whack.

Beonar approached Koi and slapped him hard on the cheek.

“Why are you so clueless? I’m already annoyed that Maxwell isn’t here!”

“I’m sorry. I was wrong.”

Koi trembled and crouched down, covering his head with his arms. He thought of Maxwell, who had been beaten and passed out. He expected the same would happen to him.

Thud!

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry! Argh!”

Koi burst into tears. He was more afraid of this moment than the physical pain.

Thud!

Beonar kicked Koi’s body as if he were kicking a ball. Koi rolled on the floor, groaning as painfully as possible. The more he showed pain, the sooner Beonar would stop hitting him.

Koi bit the soft flesh inside his mouth hard enough to draw blood. When he tasted blood, he coughed. But when he coughed, only saliva came out, not blood. He should have bitten harder… Koi looked up at Beonar with a pale face.

“You filthy bastard. How dare you spit?”

“I’m sorry, young master. Please forgive me. I’m sorry.”

Koi knelt and begged, tears and snot streaming down his face.

At that moment, there was a loud bang as the door was roughly opened. The butler, panting heavily, urgently spoke to Beonar.

“Young master, a demand notice has arrived for you.”

“What? A demand notice? What are you talking about?”

“A man named Iudi sent a demand notice to you.”

“What?”

Beonar thought things couldn’t get any worse, but he was greatly mistaken.

“A demand notice? What are you talking about?”

He snatched the letter from the butler’s hand, tore open the envelope, and read the contents.

“I only borrowed from the bank…”

Beonar couldn’t understand why the bank loan had turned into a personal loan. He crumpled the demand notice and stomped his foot.

“Young master, what kind of demand notice is it?”

“Shut up! You’re distracting me. Clean the room while I’m out. No one follows me!”

Koi sighed in relief and staggered to his feet.

* * *

Beonar frowned as he got off the carriage. He stood in front of a three-story building and knocked on the door irritably with his cane.

“Who is it?”

“I’m from the Fedeurus house.”

A rough-looking man with a scarred face opened the door impassively. As Beonar entered, he met the gaze of a man sitting in a chair, welcoming him.

“Welcome, Young Lord Beonar.”

“Who are you to send me such a demand notice?”

Beonar pulled the demand notice from his pocket and threw it roughly at the man sitting down.

“My name is Iudi. As you can see, I handle various matters.”

Beonar looked at Iudi. Despite his welcoming smile, there was something chilling about him.

When Iudi gestured to his subordinate, the subordinate quickly handed a stack of documents to Beonar.

“Would you take a look at this?”

Beonar’s face turned pale as he looked at the bonds. Sweat began to bead on his forehead.

“This is nonsense… The bank can’t just sell bonds at will!”

“They sometimes sell bonds for a fee, noble sir.”

However, when transferring bonds to individuals, the bank charges a high fee. That’s why no one buys bonds from the bank.

“Who would pay that money… to buy my bonds!”

It didn’t make sense. The man named Iudi in front of him was not someone who would buy bonds. This meant someone had bought the bonds from the bank and resold them to Iudi.

Who could it be? For what reason?

Seeing Beonar’s reddened face, Iudi smiled slyly and spoke calmly with his hands clasped.

“Tell me who sold the bonds!”

“The person who sold the bonds didn’t want to deal with you, so they sold them to us… Do you think they would meet you?”

Bang!

A rough-looking man next to Iudi approached Beonar.

“If you’re a noble, you should feel responsible and repay the borrowed money.”

“I never borrowed money from you!”

“We paid for the bonds of the money you borrowed.”

“People like you, who don’t have money, bought my bonds on purpose? Make sense!”

The rough-looking men around Iudi all approached Beonar with fierce expressions.

“Where do you lowly beings think you’re approaching!”

“Don’t you know that even nobles must kneel and beg to lowly beings if they can’t repay their debts?”

Seeing Beonar’s face turn pale at his subordinates’ words, Iudi sneered.

“If you mess with me, the Marquis house won’t stand still!”

“Don’t you know that in the hierarchy of bonds, there is no distinction between commoners and nobles? You should relearn the imperial law.”

“What on earth are you relying on to do such a thing?”

Iudi had something to rely on.

<Just collect the money from Young Lord Beonar of the Fedeurus house using the bond.>

<People like us don’t believe in freebies.>

Collecting difficult money was something Iudi and his subordinates excelled at. However, since it was a marquis’ household, there was some concern. Although the imperial law states that there is no hierarchy in the relationship of bonds, touching a noble could lead to big trouble later.

<It seems difficult. It’s a Marquis’ household… It’s a bit scary.>

<Don’t worry about that. Our master will protect us.>

<I’m not interested in who your master is.>

<Rockbellion.>