Chapter 76

Meia went down to the dungeon with Theodore to meet Luinz.

She sat in a chair and waited for Luinz. Theodore stood right behind her.

Then Luinz appeared, held by the torturers.

“Luinz, it’s been a while.”

“Please spare me. I don’t want to die.”

As soon as Luinz saw Meia, he began to tremble and plead. He had seen her brutally kill all his comrades. He was scared of Theodore, who looked lovingly at the woman who killed many people with magic without blinking an eye and smiling, but she was even scarier to Luinz. He saw darkness that transcended fear and terror.

“Please spare me, Lady.”

A torturer roughly grabbed Luinz’s shoulder as he raised his voice.

“Ugh.”

Meia looked at him with an indifferent gaze. Luinz flinched and trembled under that gaze.

“I’m not as kind as the Grand Duke when interrogating. Since you’ve committed a crime, even if your ankles are cut off, your wrists severed, and your eyes gouged out, I’ll say it’s not enough.”

Luinz shuddered and trembled at the cold voice that made the hairs on his body stand on end.

‘I might die!’

Luinz’s mind was filled with the thought that he might die. That woman was a cold-blooded murderer who killed people without batting an eye.

“Please spare me.”

“Luinz, I spared you that day. What exactly are you asking me to spare you for?”

“Th-that is…”

He had seen her kill people with a smile and then pretend to be weak in front of the Grand Duke. He wanted to shout ‘You murderer!’ but feared Theodore would kill him if he did.

He needed to survive first!

Perhaps because he thought he might die.

He remembered that she was a mage. And he quickly stuck out his tongue.

Wouldn’t a mage notice? My situation!

Meia narrowed her eyes and looked at Luinz’s outstretched tongue.

What could the meaning he was trying to convey be?

After showing his tongue, Luinz made a gesture of slicing his neck with his thumb from left to right.

Theodore, watching this, looked at him curiously. He began to feel angry, thinking that sticking out his tongue and slicing his neck was an insult to her.

“Luinz…”

“Wait a moment, Grand Duke.”

“Yes.”

“He seems to have something he wants to say to me.”

Luinz, who had collapsed, suddenly stood up and nodded vigorously.

“If I go to a wine shop, will I find the wine I’m looking for?”

He couldn’t hide his agitation at the mention of a wine shop.

“I like wine, so I often visit.”

Meia’s lips began to curve into a smile as she looked at Luinz. She sensed a faint, dark, and sticky magic on his tongue that she hadn’t noticed before.

In that case, the only option was to ask questions indirectly.

“Recently, a fabric shop went bankrupt. Roman sold fake fabric to the Grand Ducal house. It’s upsetting, but could the wine shop be deceiving like the fabric shop?”

Is the wine shop also a den for human trafficking like the fabric shop?

Meia’s intent was well conveyed to him. Luinz nodded with wide eyes.

‘How did she know?’

The fabric shop and wine shop were also dens for human trafficking hidden in the Florence territory.

“Want to show your tongue?”

Tears began to form in Luinz’s eyes as he nodded.

He felt relieved, thinking he might live since he answered well.

And if he used his head a little, he might be able to erase his crimes!

If they realized he was under a spell, they would surely break it for him.

And they would surely ask who was behind it! Then he could just cry and act.

‘I was also a slave. They forcibly engraved a magic circle on my tongue. Sob, sob, I was also a victim. I had no choice. Sob, sob.’

Seeing a glimmer of hope, Luinz eagerly stuck out his tongue further.

Seeing him stick out his tongue, Meia frowned slightly.

“Grand Duke Theodore, I have something to discuss with you outside.”

Once outside, Meia spoke to him.

“Baron Lakia managed trade goods like wine and fabric, right?”

“Yes.”

“I only mentioned wine, but Luinz was extremely agitated.”

First, they needed to determine how many human trafficking dens existed in the Florence territory.

But there was something more concerning. It was the magical energy felt on Luinz’s tongue.

“There’s something on his tongue.”

“What do you mean by ‘something’?”

Luinz had indeed kept sticking out his tongue, pointing at it, and crying. Dark and ominous magic was emanating from his tongue.

It became clear that there was a reason he couldn’t speak. That’s why he couldn’t open his mouth even under Theodore’s torture. Perhaps he was waiting for a mage like her.

And it made her think there was a mage within the human trafficking group.

“I need to ask for Master Puring’s help.”

“Is he under a spell?”

“It’s dark to call it magic. It feels dirty and sticky.”

She remembered stories about dark mages that Puring had once told her.

<Lady Meia. If you ever encounter a dark mage.>

<Yes, Master.>

<You must run away. They specialize in using dark magic and casting curses.>

<Curses?>

<They resurrect corpses or cast curses to kill people.>

<But I don’t want to run away. I’m learning magic to become stronger.>

<Dark mages aren’t those who learn magic to become stronger.>

<Then what are they?>

<They enjoy experimenting on people and casting curses, which is why they become dark mages.>

<How can I avoid dark mages?>

<Mages borrow the power of the four elements: fire, water, earth, and wind, but they borrow the power of darkness. So they give a dark feeling. Like a dirty swamp.>

Puring had warned her to avoid them at all costs because they were cruel and enjoyed slaughter, and to run if she ever met one.

‘I should have asked Master more questions back then.’

“Grand Duke Theodore, please stop torturing Luinz from today and provide him with proper meals.”

“Understood.”

“Aren’t you going to ask why?”

“As I said before, I will do as you instruct, Lady Meia.”

Meia’s lips curled up at Theodore’s words.

“There must be more information. To get that information, it’s good to give him a little breathing room.”

“I will follow your orders, Lady Meia.”

Physical pain isn’t the only form of torture. If it’s a criminal who can be tortured to death, it doesn’t matter, but now they needed various pieces of information that Luinz had, so they had to keep him alive.

They needed to give him a little breathing room.

Anyway, once the hunt is over, it’s ‘execution.’ There’s no need to spare him then, so just until then…

They would give him hope to escape the miserable reality temporarily.

They would give him the ‘expectation’ of ‘being able to live.’ ‘Expectation’ becomes ‘hope.’

Hope torture is the most terrible punishment.

He can live. And he can get out of prison. Giving him expectations and filling him with hope, Luinz will suffer as much as he has hope and expectations.

A criminal must be punished according to their crime.

They found a maggot and tried to stomp it to death.

But the maggot said,

“There are many maggots like me over there.”

Following the maggot, they found many maggots on a corpse.

In that case, there is no one who thanks the maggot that helped them find it and spares it. They just clean it all up. Completely.

“Make sure to give him a proper breathing hole, Grand Duke.”

He gently kissed her hand and smiled brightly as he said,

“I will follow your orders.”

Theodore went into the dungeon and told Luinz that they would no longer torture him.

And he instructed the guards and soldiers not to touch him at all.

“Don’t torture him, and provide food similar to other prisoners.”

“Understood.”

The faces of the torturers guarding him turned sour at Theodore’s words.

And Theodore spoke loudly enough for Luinz to hear clearly.

“Perhaps he is also a victim.”

Theodore spoke in a kind tone.

“Even if your tongue feels stuffy, endure it.”

“Thank you for understanding.”

“You know you have to be helpful to us if you want to live, right?”

“Of course!”

At his words, Luinz began to have hope.

*

“Stella.”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

“So what are the rats talking about?”

At Theodore’s question, Stella, the secret informant, broke into a cold sweat and looked troubled.

It was an unavoidable situation. She had been eavesdropping on the conversations of Lady Nordic, Young Master Ash, and Young Lady Diana, following Theodore’s orders.

“Recreate it, Stella.”

Stella’s face grew increasingly somber.

She was upset at the thought of recreating such a dirty conversation in front of the Grand Duke she served and the prospective Grand Duchess. Especially if she recreated Young Master Ash’s words, who thought of the prospective Grand Duchess as a plaything, it would cause a big problem.

Gulp.

She swallowed dryly. Even though she hadn’t done anything wrong, she was nervous.

Stella, from the shadow clan, had a specialty in ‘eavesdropping.’ It wasn’t the kind of ‘eavesdropping’ where she hid and listened.

Stella had the ability to ‘recreate’ the conversations she heard even if she forgot them.

When she used her recreation ability, all the conversations between the people she eavesdropped on would start coming out of Stella’s mouth.

There was not a single lie in the recreation ability. That’s why Theodore trusted Stella’s recreation 100%.

“I must tell you before I recreate it. It is by no means a pleasant conversation.”

“Stella.”

“Yes, Lady Meia.”

“It’s okay.”

“Then I will recreate it.”

Stella sat in a chair. And from her toes, a black energy began to envelop her.

The focus in her eyes started to disappear. It looked just like a doll’s face.

And the conversations she had eavesdropped on began to flow from her mouth.