Chapter 52
‘Those two never had bad blood with each other, even in the Reverse Harem Route, though?’
Even in the route where they both shared Charlotte, Zion and Karl had always been indifferent toward each other, each respecting the other’s boundaries just enough.
“You sure have peculiar taste. No money, no power. You actually like some guy who can only survive by clinging to you?”
What, did his mouth get rabies or something?
“What’s so good about trash like that? Because he’s a beggar?”
“Your Excellency.”
“Come on, tell me, hm?”
‘What the hell is he doing? We agreed during the deal, didn’t we? That after sending Karl, he’d get out of here as soon as possible!’
There could only be one reason he was provoking me like this.
‘I should have realized when his hostility dropped right after I cried last time. This disgusting pervert. The memory of tormenting me and making me cry must’ve been so thrilling for him, huh?’
There was only one way to deal with a pervert—maintain complete indifference.
And with Father glaring daggers at me from across the way, talking to Zion wouldn’t do me any good.
I ignored Zion entirely and fixed my gaze on Karl.
“I’m glad you’re mine now, Karl.”
I used the voice Father had drilled into me to perfect—just loud enough for even him to hear from a distance.
But then Zion suddenly kicked Karl’s knee, deliberately making him fall.
“Kh—!”
As Karl collapsed and knelt, Zion grabbed a fistful of his hair, yanking his head up to face me.
“For a count’s daughter, you sure have shabby taste… Even if he’s a deposed crown prince, he’s still a slave, isn’t he?”
His smile was soft—so soft it was all the more menacing.
‘Is he insane? Why is he acting like this?’
I couldn’t even guess at the motive behind such bizarre behavior. Against a madman, I had little choice but to…
‘Check the hostility level.’
It was a shame to waste a necklace opportunity on trash like this, but here we go.
[ Hostility: 40 ]
‘Huh? What? It went down?’
That was unexpected. I thought provoking me like this would’ve made it spike upward…
Just then, maybe noticing I was looking at empty air, Zion kicked Karl’s shoulder hard enough to make a thump! sound.
“If you get so distracted by your slave that you forget your manners, that’s a problem. Where exactly are you looking when your superior is speaking to you?”
Then he seized my arm.
“Ow!”
The dull pain made me yelp before I could stop myself.
“Marquis—!”
The moment my father saw me being touched by a transcendent, he looked alarmed and tried to rush over to cut our conversation short.
Zion, however, cracked his whip toward Father’s face with perfect precision.
“Count, don’t you dare come closer. Take even one step and I’ll take your head off where you stand.”
His voice was rough, threatening. Both Father and Fernan froze in place—clearly their own lives mattered more to them.
‘So he knows my situation full well and still decides to escalate it without end?’
Truly, for someone who might as well be a master torturer, his repertoire for torment was impressive.
“What? I didn’t even grab you that hard… Are you hurt?”
Zion pushed back my sleeve as if in surprise.
“…!”
And there it was—the deep bluish bruise on my arm. A mark from the last time he’d cornered me, trying to brainwash me into crying for him, gripping me with that very hand.
“This… you—”
‘Yeah, go ahead. Just be upfront about wanting to torment me, you bastard.’
Zion wouldn’t be satisfied until he’d made me suffer enough.
Even the last time he’d locked me in the torture room and made those threats, the hostility had dropped by 20 once I cried. That fit the pattern perfectly.
“Want to grab me again? Squeeze harder if you want. I won’t scream like I did just now—I only did because I wasn’t expecting it.”
“Which son of a bitch did this to you?”
“Why pretend you don’t know? You made this mark yourself, remember?”
“…I did?”
The gall—Zion actually looked as though he genuinely didn’t know. Putting on an act, huh?
“Go on, squeeze as you please. I’ll endure it.”
“Are you insane? Have you seen your arm? That bruise is deep enough that if I grip any harder, it’ll scar immediately.”
“I don’t care. As long as it relieves your mood, Your Excellency.”
“What?”
“You’re doing this to torment me, right? Especially with my father watching today.”
“What are you—”
Zion’s expression froze instantly. I must’ve hit the mark.
“You knew perfectly well that if you made a scene here, Father would interrogate me to no end. You knew exactly what I’d suffer in this house afterward… and you’re doing it anyway, aren’t you?”
Amusingly, Zion’s face shifted into an expression that said, Oh. Like he’d truly never considered it.
‘As if that clever man wouldn’t have thought of it.’
If I didn’t know the ins and outs of his character, I might’ve believed the act.
“Even if you break my bones, it’s fine. Do whatever you need to feel better. I won’t make a sound.”
For just a moment, something like guilt flickered across his face—but knowing Zion, it sure as hell wasn’t guilt.
[ Hostility decreased by 10. ]
[ Hostility: 30 ]
‘See? Letting him torment me makes him happy enough to lower it.’
“Once you break it, just leave quickly. Even from this short exchange, Father will have me thrown in the underground cells and whipped until I’m half-dead.”
“I—”
“Do whatever you want to torment me, but keep your end of the bargain. Unless you want the Count’s hand to be the one that kills me.”
As Father anxiously watched me whispering to Zion, he seized the chance to butt in.
“Marquis, what could you possibly be talking about with my daughter? Even so, this treatment is too much under my own roof! As an anxious father with an unmarried daughter, I beg you to consider my feelings!”
Zion stepped forward, blocking Father’s view of me.
“I was telling him how utterly repulsive the Count’s daughter is.”
From Father’s perspective, it looked almost as though Zion were shielding me. While his back was turned, he slipped a folded piece of paper between his index and middle fingers and passed it to me. I snatched it quickly and hid it up my sleeve.
“I was saying I could hardly stomach it. You’ve raised your daughter in an appalling way, Count.”
[ Hostility decreased by 5. ]
[ Hostility: 25 ]
“And that’s why I told you not to move. Today, I have things I need to say to your wretched daughter. There’s only so much I can hold back just for the sake of the Count’s face, you understand?”
He spoke with an icy, severe expression—the perfect mask of Marquis Kleist, one no one would dare doubt.
Instead of breaking my arm, Zion exchanged a few more curt words with Father, neatly tying up the situation before leaving immediately.
Fortunately, Father didn’t seem too suspicious.
With a cheerful smile, he yanked hard on Karl’s neck shackle so it clanged loudly and headed for the annex.
“You, get to your room.”
Dragged away by Fernan, I returned to my quarters and watched Father moving between the main house and the annex through the balcony window.
‘It’s fine. Everything’s ready.’
I’d already ordered Damian to swap out all the drugs in the annex basement.
Now all I had to do was wait for Paula to make her move.
‘If Paula acts on time as promised, then the window I’ll have to act will be…’
I checked the second hand of the clock.
“Ten seconds left.”
9, 8, 7, 6…
Let’s see, Paula. Just how useful are you?
3, 2, 1—
Right on cue—
“Master! M-Master! Something terrible’s happened!”
A panicked male voice screamed from outside the annex.
