Chapter 10
‘It seems they’ve locked them in the garden inside the maze.’
I followed behind the maid, thinking to myself.
There were quite a few places in my castle that outsiders found difficult to access, and one of them was the garden within the maze. A massive labyrinth where anyone inexperienced would easily lose their way.
However, if you managed to push through the maze and reach the center, a garden so beautiful you’d never forget it awaited you.
Petals fluttered in the breeze, occasionally settling onto my dress.
When I arrived at the garden, I saw people related to <Blood Osbldarun>.
‘It’d be good if there are people Ahak recognizes.’
I planned to weed out spies and later assign only his genuine people back to him.
His entire family had been wiped out—how lonely must he be?
I’d never gone this far for someone I wasn’t even close to, but…
“So, you’re saying these are the survivors of the <Blood Osbldarun> massacre?”
Two maids, one servant, and four knights.
All of them were badly injured, and the lone servant kept shedding tears. The knights bore clear signs of barely escaping with their lives.
“Yes, my lord.”
Ellitnet bowed and stepped back.
Perhaps because of the situation, the people related to <Blood Osbldarun> kept their mouths tightly shut and clearly regarded me with suspicion.
They were all kneeling, their arms tied behind their backs.
Ignoring the fact that my dress would get dirty, I knelt on one knee to meet their eye level.
“……”
The two maids trembled violently, as if seized by chills.
I could understand. I had heard just how brutally <Mist Catobletta> had slaughtered an entire family.
‘They said a single day was enough for complete annihilation.’
The castle that held the family’s traditions had been utterly destroyed, and every visible person had been killed without exception.
These people must have lost their masters and companions in an instant.
The maid I met eyes with had a gaze frozen with deep despair and fear.
Yes, this was the normal reaction of someone who survived a massacre.
“I had you brought here because I have something to ask.”
“……”
“What kind of master was Ahak to you?”
At that moment, one of the knights flinched and bared his teeth, but upon meeting my gaze, he clenched his jaw and endured it.
‘Ahak’s knight.’
I didn’t think it was a difficult question, yet no one answered.
Well, Ahak was someone they wanted to protect, and to them, I must look like someone chasing him for a bounty.
Only a cold silence lingered in the beautiful garden.
‘People may find it bothersome to explain things, but they don’t like being told they’re wrong.’
Using human nature, I changed my question.
“Judging by how Ahak ran away alone and went missing, he must be quite cunning, right? Or perhaps he’s been the type to look down on his servants?”
“That’s not true!”
An immediate response came.
The knight who had flinched earlier shouted impulsively, then lowered his head deeply at my gaze.
His voice trembled with emotion.
“Our lord cared for us more than anyone. Even if he wasn’t affectionate, you could always feel his sincerity…!”
“Young Master Ahak would never look down on his servants. He is a very moral person.”
Even while trembling, one of the maids added her voice.
The method worked well.
“Is Ahak weak?”
“Absolutely not! Our lord is strong. A strength that never breaks his will in any situation—”
“Not that. Skill.”
“…In terms of swordsmanship, he is among the finest on this continent.”
Again, it was the knight who immediately refuted me.
It was a satisfactory amount of information, but that last statement somehow irritated me.
“Unless you’re a frog in a well, it’s not something you’d claim so easily—that someone is the best on the continent.”
Yet at my doubtful gaze, all four knights straightened proudly, as if in agreement.
Only then did I roughly grasp what kind of reputation Ahak had among his subordinates.
“……”
“My lord.”
“Yes.”
“He has awakened.”
Just as I was lost in thought, my knight brought news of Ahak.
In this castle, Ahak was the only one whose report would be concluded with just that one sentence.
‘Given his condition, perhaps I should postpone sorting out possible spies.’
I stood up and turned without delay.
The hem of my dress spread out neatly again and fell gracefully.
“My lord, what shall we do with them?”
“Keep them confined in the garden. Secretly assign a physician to treat them.”
“As you command.”
From behind, I heard the servant sobbing.
I made my way to the bedroom.
‘Even in broad daylight, entering a bedroom still feels strange.’
It was also quite a peculiar experience to see a strange man wearing a shackle around his neck.
“Everyone, leave.”
At my command, the Ellitnets disappeared in an instant with expressionless faces.
Judging by the soup splattered on some of them, Ahak must have suspected poisoning and thrown the bowl.
“What exactly are you doing to me right now?”
“You need to eat well to recover.”
Ignoring his question, I held out a fresh bowl of soup.
“What kind of trick—!”
Crackle!
As Ahak stepped too far forward, the starting point of the chain fixed to the wall sparked.
Like one of those anti-barking collars for dogs.
Ahak trembled briefly from the shock and bent forward.
“…Release me.”
“You’d do well to listen quietly first.”
“Hah, has the prestige of Osbldarun fallen this low?”
Ahak glared at me with untamed eyes.
Certainly, <Blood Osbldarun> was one of the top three prestigious families in the empire.
Which made its destruction all the more shocking.
‘…Unlike the servants earlier, I don’t sense grief from him.’
Now that he had regained consciousness, Ahak no longer called me a ‘demon.’
Well, he had no choice but to recognize who I was now.
The one who walked a different path alone within <Sun Stelshanin>.
Letiana Stelshanin.
‘Stelshanin and Osbldarun have long been political enemies.’
Osbldarun led the imperial faction.
Stelshanin was one of the noble factions.
The two families had completely opposing political stances for generations.
“I’m the one in a pitiful position—saving you and not even receiving a word of thanks.”
I set the bowl down on the floor and sat on the edge of the bed.
The Ahak who had slept peacefully here before now looked at me with wary eyes.
“Saved me?”
Ahak let out a disbelieving laugh.
“You did it because I had value to you. I know you.”
I stayed silent.
But it seemed the ‘knowing’ he referred to was the version of me rumored in high society.
It didn’t seem like he remembered our first encounter at the Papal State.
“Remember this, Letiana Stelshanin. You rose from the lowest rank in the succession battle to the top in an instant. The you I saw was always someone who moves with hidden intentions.”
I met his gaze calmly.
“What exactly are you plotting? Why did you save me?”
“……”
“Did you covet my background? Or did you hear the legend tied to Osbldarun’s blood?”
‘Is he my kind?’
I thought as I watched Ahak feign anger.
‘That’s the same psychological tactic I used earlier to draw out information.’
It was quite interesting.
Since I already knew it, I maintained my composure.
“If my intentions are dirty, will you kill me? …Can you even kill me?”
Bang!
“What are you doing—!”
I simply returned his provocation in kind.
Kindness for kindness, hostility for hostility.
That was my principle.
But that wasn’t the real issue.
‘Though I did let my guard down.’
At some point, Ahak had gotten close enough to grab my wrist and force me down onto the bed.
Half on top of me, he pinned my legs in place with his firm thighs.
And then—
Humm—
‘Black Blood Sword.’
The famed blade I had only heard of was now hanging just beneath my throat.
The ability to summon a sword out of thin air—this must be a technique passed down in <Blood Osbldarun>.
If Ahak had physically possessed the sword, it would’ve been taken by the servants long ago, so he must have summoned it.
‘When did he summon it?’
His swordsmanship might be far superior to what I expected.
I had underestimated him because he always died in the previous regression, but being subdued like this—it had been a long time.
The razor-sharp blade reflected the chandelier’s light.
The man I saved now looked down at me as if he would cut me apart.
‘I’ve already seen that dream—I can’t believe in a principle of not killing.’
In that dream, Ahak was a tyrant.
He treated human lives as lighter than flies, and cruel blood pooled beneath his feet wherever he went.
The man called the most moral among nobles had such a brutal inner self.
“You must have an intention.”
His eyes burned with suspicion.
Ahak seemed almost certain.
Of course I had intentions…
‘I planned to gather all seven sacred relics and pray to become beyond the law.’
Only those with morality could find the relics, they said.
‘I thought you were moral—someone who upheld principles even at the moment your family was destroyed.’
But at some point, I had stopped caring about my intentions and simply tried to protect Ahak.
Keeping secrets from <Mist Catobletta>, hiding them, fighting against it…
It had been a situation where I could’ve lost my life at any moment, yet I didn’t avert my eyes from Ahak’s gaze.
“Speak.”
There are people who become extremely calm and rational when angry.
Ahak seemed to be that type.
“Seeing that you shackled my neck… were you planning to humiliate me?”
“……”
“Or perhaps… to exterminate the Osbldarun bloodline in the cruelest way?”
“……”
“The blood’s regenerative ability? Is that what you want? What is it?”
“……”
“Speak!”
He shouted, determined to uncover my intentions.
His voice, swallowed as if boiling inside him, wasn’t loud enough to hurt the ears, but it was thick and rough.
His last memory must have been collapsing while fleeing his destroyed family, so his heightened vigilance was understandable.
‘He can’t trust anyone right now.’
The blade glinted sharply.
Holding the hilt in his right hand and the tip with his left, he hovered near my throat, a man threatening life itself.
He acted like a growling beast, but I could see an opening.
“I saved you…”
“What?”
Perhaps because I blurted it out, my voice sounded faint, as if it might fade away at any moment.
I simply looked straight into Ahak’s pink eyes with sincerity.
“To protect you from Catobletta…”
“……”
When dealing with someone suspicious, honesty without pretense works best.
At my unfeigned gaze, Ahak seemed momentarily taken aback.
