BTSECP 17

Chapter 17

He looked down at me with eyes full of contempt.

His fingertips trembled slightly.

Then, when that trembling finally ceased, he stepped back away from me.

“……”

He picked up the longsword he had dropped on the floor.

I stepped away from the wall, thinking that the warmth lingering on my throat from his touch felt like a burn.

At that moment, his low voice spoke.

“You… did you know I was working at the forge too?”

“Hmm…”

I let out a thoughtful murmur, pretending to hesitate.

In truth, Diana Isla hadn’t tracked Leon Mügin’s movements.

To young Diana Isla, Leon’s escape in that manner remained a horrifying memory.

Just like the scar that marked Leon’s right arm, the incident had left a scar on Diana Isla as well.

Whenever her body felt exhausted, it came to her as a nightmare. And in moments of joy, it returned like a curse—a memory that clung like a scar.

Even so, I decided to fabricate a version where Diana Isla had pursued Leon.

“…Because I, too, once wanted revenge on my father.”

“……”

Leon looked at me upon hearing those words.

The contempt had vanished from his face.

I ran my fingers along the back of my neck and bit my lip.

Then, in a slightly trembling voice, I spoke.

“I saw Simone die. She was also my nursemaid, remember? She bit off her tongue and died in front of me, holding the necklace my father had forced me to wear. That must’ve been her final pride.”

I recalled Diana Isla’s memories.

At such a young age, Diana had to say goodbye to the woman who’d cared for her longer than even her own mother.

There were so many people Diana Isla had to take revenge on.

And ironically, I was the one who could do it all for her.

“I made sure my father could never again lay hands on his body. He can no longer ruin himself, harm himself, or end his own life.”

Leon turned his head at those words.

I could sense the subtle trembling in his back—so slight only the air would notice.

As I looked at him, I felt a very old sense of sympathy stir within me again.

From those childhood days.

When Leon had been less than half his current size.

That sympathy I’d once felt when I saw ten-year-old Leon.

With a deeply choked voice, Leon asked,

“Then, how did you get that dagger?”

“I bought it on a carriage heading to Wilhelm territory. The merchant who sold it said the woman who made it had been from ‘that’ village that burned down long ago. That she was probably dead.”

At my words, Leon rushed toward me like lightning.

“Then… you didn’t confirm the body?”

I couldn’t understand why hope suddenly flickered in Leon’s eyes.

For me, there was a reason to be glad he was alive.

At this point, Leon was someone I absolutely needed.

He had to forge the sword that would someday take revenge on Valther.

And he had to build the sewer system through our forge’s techniques.

Leon could do everything I couldn’t.

‘Of course, I’m pretending to be Diana Isla because I still can’t fully trust Leon Kowalski.’

Leon Kowalski was my rival and once my father’s assistant.

We had lived together for a long time. Sometimes he acted like my older brother. Sometimes like my father’s son.

But that didn’t define him completely.

[“He might have been punished by the lord. Doesn’t matter. If that child doesn’t speak, I won’t ask either.”]

Leon had never fully explained his situation to my father.

The only reason I knew about the feud between Marquis Isla and Leon was because I carried Diana Isla’s memories.

There might even be more secrets Leon was still hiding.

I couldn’t expose my feud with Valther or all of my plans to someone like him.

At this point in time, Valther was the Emperor.

So my plan to kill Valther amounted to treason.

And all secrets, after all, are best kept by saying as little as possible.

“Right. I didn’t confirm the body. But—”

I died.

My body was probably rotting somewhere, never properly buried.

Then, before I could finish speaking, Leon asked in a slightly eager voice,

“What do you want from me, Diana Isla?”

“I go by Diana Wilhelm now.”

“…Fine, then. Lady Wilhelm. You must have a reason for coming to find me.”

At his words, I stared at the longsword in his hand.

Somewhere in my chest, something tickled. My fingers and toes curled involuntarily.

Damn it.

Saying this…

Saying this out loud…

I opened my mouth, feeling like I wanted to rip my own hair out.

“I was looking for a master blacksmith, and your name came up. The moment I saw you, I realized who you were. From what I know, you worked at a reputable forge, and—”

“Looking for a master blacksmith, were you.”

Leon spoke indifferently with a blank face, but even that came off arrogant to me.

I wanted so badly to punch that smug mouth of his.

Having to praise Leon Kowalski’s skill with my own mouth…

It almost made me wish I’d bitten my tongue and died instead.

“Yes! There are no competent blacksmiths in Wilhelm territory right now! So…”

F*ck.

Look at the way his lip twitches.

“Help me. And I’ll help you get your revenge.”

“Revenge?”

His expression subtly stiffened.

I nodded.

“Isn’t your goal to get revenge on my father? You’re hiding here, wandering from place to place, all because of him. I can help you. I can help you get revenge—”

“I’m not wandering, milady.”

“What…?”

“I’m looking for something.”

There was a deep longing in Leon’s eyes as he said that.

Leon Kowalski.

I had long despised him, but I also acknowledged him in certain ways.

He was always as solid as iron.

Maybe I’d even envied that about him a little.

But now I was confused by how someone like him could seem so… unmoored.

Hiding his name, wandering like this—what was it he had been searching for so desperately?

Before I could find the answer, a loud explosion sounded behind us.

It was like a cannon had hit the door.

But the moment I saw the shadow of a large man standing in the doorway, I realized it wasn’t a cannon that had hit—

“Milady. It seems your tastes have changed drastically while I wasn’t looking. A secret tryst in a shack with a man like this?”

Amin Wilhelm.

That lunatic had kicked down the door.

‘How the hell did he even find this place?’

I frowned.

“A lowly blacksmith getting chosen by the Grand Duchess must have gone to his head. But he should’ve known his place. Unless he wants to lose an arm.”

Amin Wilhelm drew his sword at an unbelievable speed and lunged at Leon.

Right at Leon, who was standing there with his sword drawn.

He was the empire’s greatest swordmaster.

No matter what misunderstanding Amin had, Leon would lose both his arms before he could explain.

“Leon! Move!”

I shouted instinctively. Amin’s brow twitched at the sound.

Thanks to that moment of hesitation, Leon managed to block Amin’s sword with the longsword in his hand.

Clang!

It was a result of Amin’s tiny pause and Leon’s expertly forged longsword.

That’s why—

“…!”

Leon barely managed to parry Amin’s sword.