Episode 8
“Wasn’t there a rumor he liked hiring young women as bed partners?”
The thought alone made Asterion’s face twist in disgust.
He wanted to snap that pig’s neck right there and then.
But the street was crowded, and he was supposed to be undercover.
He had to fight hard to suppress the killing intent boiling inside him.
“Viscount, you can’t just touch one of the Duke’s servants like that! Especially someone from House Kailani! Who knows what kind of mess that could cause?”
“Hah! You think a nobleman like me would get in trouble over some maid? They’re nothing more than dogs in aprons.”
Viscount Niko’s greasy eyes roamed over Roxana’s body from afar, full of lust and arrogance.
Heh… As expected from one of Kailani’s maids. She’s got class.
He licked his lips with his fat, wet tongue. Her spotless skin and delicate frame were driving his filthy desires wild.
“You useless idiot! Why are you just standing there? Go bring her to me!”
“But… but, my lord, please… Maybe it’s better to be careful. Kailani Duke is known to treat his servants well. It might be dangerous.”
The young servant trembled as he spoke, his voice shaking.
He was terrified of Niko’s beatings, but he couldn’t ignore his conscience — he kept thinking of his little sister back home.
“Hmph! You’re new to this, so let me teach you how the noble world really works.”
Instead of yelling again, Niko suddenly put on an elegant face — a group of young noble ladies was walking by nearby.
But the second they passed, his expression twisted back into that of a demon.
“The Kailani Duke only moves when it’s about his wife! So stop whining and bring her here, unless you’d rather die by my hand!”
He raised his walking cane and swung it at the trembling servant.
The boy barely dodged, stumbling backward in fear.
“You little— hurry up!”
His cane struck empty air. Enraged, Niko’s voice grew louder.
“I– I understand!”
Despite his words, the servant’s feet moved painfully slow — like a crab scuttling sideways.
Then, suddenly.
“Guh!”
Before anyone could blink, a massive shadow swooped in.
Asterion grabbed both men and yanked them into the shadows of a nearby alley.
The bustling main street remained peaceful, completely unaware.
But inside that dark alley, fear settled like a thick fog.
Thud!
“Ugh—!”
Niko’s bloated body hit the wall and rolled onto the ground like a sack of meat.
He passed out instantly.
“Ugh…”
The servant choked and gasped as Asterion’s hand gripped the back of his neck. When Asterion finally let go, the man collapsed, coughing and shaking violently.
He was too terrified to even look up and see who had grabbed him.
“P–Please, spare me,” he begged, pressing his forehead against the dirty cobblestone.
Thud.
A heavy pouch landed in front of him.
“Take it… and disappear.”
Asterion’s voice was deep and menacing — the kind that could slice through bone.
But instead of killing him, he gave the man a chance — one single chance to start over.
He’d seen how the servant hesitated to obey, how he’d tried to stop his corrupt master. That hesitation had saved his life.
The servant instinctively knew this was his only shot.
“Y–Yes! Thank you! Thank you!”
With trembling hands, he snatched up the pouch and staggered to his feet.
Barely holding himself up, he bowed once and bolted out of the alley.
He didn’t even think about who his savior might be — survival was all that mattered.
The alley fell silent again, thick with the smell of fear.
Asterion turned toward the unconscious viscount and crushed his thick fingers underfoot.
“Ughhh!”
Niko woke with a strangled scream.
“W–Who the hell are you?! I’m Viscount Niko! You dare attack a noble?! Do you want to die for this?!”
He tried to stand, but the sight of the massive man looming over him made him freeze against the wall.
The stranger’s hood concealed his face, and the aura radiating off him made Niko’s stomach churn.
Crack.
The sound of Asterion clenching his jaw filled the alley.
Niko flinched, trembling.
“If… if you want money, I’ll give you money! Here!”
He fumbled with his belt, pulling out a pouch with bloody, shaking hands and offering it desperately.
The hooded man reached out — not for the pouch, but for Niko’s collar.
He lifted the fat noble like he weighed nothing.
“Urrgh—!!”
“You won’t be doing your filthy little hobby ever again.”
Asterion’s voice was a low growl.
Thud. Thud. Crack. Bam.
“AAAAHH—!”
The alley echoed with the sound of fists meeting flesh.
The screams dragged on and on until they turned into sobbing — and then, finally, silence.
The next day, the royal guards stormed Viscount Niko’s mansion.
He was arrested on the spot and dragged straight to prison — no one cared that his body was half-broken.
One by one, his crimes came to light.
Illegal trades, embezzlement, torture, and abuse of his servants, even twisted sexual acts that made the nobles whisper in disgust.
His creditors swarmed his estate, and within a single day, Viscount Niko lost everything.
He barely escaped the death sentence — but he was doomed to rot in prison for life.
Social circles buzzed with gossip for weeks about the anonymous tip that had exposed him.
Niko’s vile acts became the scandal of the year.
Maybe I should’ve killed him after all…’
Asterion frowned.
Just ruining his life felt too light a punishment for the way that man had looked at Roxana — with those filthy eyes and that disgusting mouth.
No… death would’ve been too merciful.’
Niko deserved to live long enough to suffer for every one of his sins.
Asterion exhaled a long sigh, finally burying the memory.
“Haah…”
“The Duke would only move if it concerned his wife,” Niko had said.
That line had echoed in Asterion’s head ever since.
He’d been lucky that time — lucky to have caught that disgusting worm before anything happened.
But what if, next time, someone else went after her? When he wasn’t there?
The thought alone made him sick. Rage flickered in his eyes like flames.
He spent days trying to find a way — any way — to keep her safe.
The answer, in truth, was simple.
If Roxana Avelio became Roxana Kailani, no one would dare lay a hand on her.
Still, even with such an easy solution, Asterion couldn’t act right away.
He had too many enemies — too many vultures waiting for him to make a move.
I can’t let things end up like they did with Nathan…’
The memory of his old friend — the former Crown Prince — hit him like ice water.
He would never let history repeat itself.
So he hesitated.
He thought.
He planned.
And yet, all that hesitation vanished the moment he met her eyes in the garden —those bright peridot-green eyes shining under the sunlight.
Before he even realized it, Asterion Kailani was proposing to Roxana Avelio.
‘Unlike you, I’ll protect her — no matter what.’
He made that silent vow to his long-lost friend.
That night, after finishing his paperwork close to midnight, Asterion finally returned to his private chambers.
He lay down, but his head wouldn’t quiet.
Thoughts churned endlessly — strategy, danger, regret, longing — all tangled together.
Then suddenly, something changed.
His eyes snapped open.
He sat up and looked out the window, every muscle in his body sharpening like a drawn sword.
“A guest has come… so I should greet them properly.”
He could’ve let his knights handle it like usual — but tonight, he felt like stretching his legs.
The sky was pitch black. Clouds hid the moon.
And just like every night lately, shadows crept into the Kailani estate.
Silent as ghosts, they moved through the darkness — over walls, through gardens, past guards.
They blended into the night itself.
Then— thud!
Screams rang out from all directions of the garden.
Moments later, armored knights emerged from the darkness, dragging limp bodies behind them.
“Report.”
The voice came from Hector, the vice-captain of the Kailani Knights.
“Seven intruders,” reported Mark, the leader of the 3rd squad.
“Five dead, two captured alive.”
“Well done. Take them to the underground prison.”
“Yes, sir!”
The knights moved swiftly, carrying the corpses away like a tide receding from shore.
Hector turned to glance at the unlit main mansion.
Their lord — Duke Asterion Kailani — had already predicted this.
Ever since the wedding announcement, he and the intelligence division had been preparing.
They knew the enemy would grow desperate.
Just as expected, the infiltration attempts had increased — spies, assassins, infiltrators — almost every night someone tried to get in.
They’d already exposed and eliminated more than ten who had tried to bribe or trick the household servants.
This attack, at least, was the first in a week — a small relief.
‘Maybe things will quiet down for a while.’
But still, he couldn’t let his guard down.
Hector headed straight for the underground prison to report to his master.
When he entered the warden’s office, Asterion was already there, seated in the dim light.
After Hector’s report, the two men moved to the interrogation chamber.
Two captured assassins were already waiting — bound, bruised, and trembling.
The interrogation began.
One of them didn’t last long — his screams stopped, his head slumped forward, dead.
“Looks like you’re the only one left.”
It was the first thing Asterion had said since entering the room.
His tone was calm, almost bored.
But the aura rolling off his body was sharp enough to slice through the air.
It pressed down on the remaining assassin like a mountain.
