PLMYP 40

Chapter 40 —

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“Hm, so… that’s the thing.”

Bin opened his mouth to try to fix the situation, but quickly realized it was already too late, and grumbled under his breath.

“That petty guy just has to drag us down even here.”

“Bin.”

“Huh?”

“You know why I came to the capital alone, right? I might not trust anyone else, but I trusted you.”

At those words, Bin avoided his gaze, as if wondering why Leonard had chosen to trust him of all people. The others, however, looked at Leonard with eyes full of betrayal, as if asking why he didn’t trust them.

Of course, Leonard quickly averted his gaze when met with their stares.

“I can guess why you followed me to the capital. You were sure the Second Prince would break his promise, right?”

“Of course.”

Bin nodded without hesitation—only to get a hard elbow from Heath.

Heath had meant to hit lightly, but with his brute strength, Bin ended up doubled over the table, clutching his side and groaning for quite some time. His eyes turned red as he looked up at Leonard.

“In all my life, I’ve never seen a person who claimed they couldn’t write a contract despite knowing how to read and wasn’t a scammer.”

“What a coincidence. Same here.”

“I’m not joking. We’d already talked about it among ourselves.”

“Talked about what? Were you planning to report the Second Prince for breaking the contract?”

“Are you crazy? Even if he broke one of the First Emperor’s Seven Commandments, there’s no way the Emperor would let a prince stand trial.”

No matter how unfair it was, they would never dare try to bring the Second Prince down.

Instead—

“We were going to sell that.”

“That?”

“That.”

As Bin nodded, Leonard’s gaze quickly turned to Michelle.

Michelle, however, turned her head away even faster and stabbed her sausage with her fork like it had committed a crime.

Leonard’s expression twisted.

“Are you insane? What if you get caught?”

“Then we just don’t get caught.”

“How? Go ahead, explain to me—how were you planning to sell an item that’s practically a family heirloom without anyone finding out?”

His voice rose and quickened in his frustration.

Michelle let out a small cough to interrupt and calm him down.

“We have a plan—”

“If you really had a plan, you wouldn’t be saying that. You lost your finger over nothing but a baseless accusation.”

Michelle’s hands slipped under the table, hiding from sight. Leonard’s voice rose again, sounding almost pained.

“If it had just been your finger, I wouldn’t say anything. But you went to prison at an age younger than Jenny is now. And if this time they find real evidence you stole something, what then? At best, it’s the death penalty!”

“Do you think I don’t know that?”

Finally, Michelle couldn’t take it anymore and jumped to her feet.

Heath reached out as if to stop her, but she shook him off roughly and glared at Leonard.

“Do you think I decided this lightly? I was the one who spent ten years in prison for something I didn’t do—not you! And if I get caught selling stolen goods and get executed, it’ll be me, not you!”

“That’s why I told you not to come to the capital! If you were going to act like this, why did you promise me you wouldn’t come no matter what?”

“You think I wanted to come? I only followed because some idiot took a job from the Second Prince without even signing a contract!”

At that, Leonard also stood up from his seat.

“You think I wanted to make a contract with him? How could I refuse the Second Prince?”

“You shouldn’t have done anything to draw his attention in the first place! Actually—good that you mentioned it! You ignored us when we told you not to go to Weinberg, so why are you now trying to control us like we’re your captives?”

Michelle panted heavily, unable to calm herself.

“You told me before, ‘This is my problem, so don’t worry about it.’ Well, same here—this is our problem, so don’t stick your nose in.”

“How can I not worry? If something goes wrong because of me, how could I live with that?”

“It’s the same for all of us.”

It was Heath who spoke calmly this time. He glanced at Michelle, who froze at the timing, then turned to Leonard.

“Camilla losing her arm to save you—that was her choice. Feeling guilty over it is your right, fine. But—”

His tone, rarely used but razor-sharp, cut right into Leonard.

“Stop throwing yourself around recklessly just to ease your guilt. That’s not sacrifice—it’s dumping your guilt onto others.”

“I…”

“Ray. Are you worried about us… or are you afraid your guilt will get even heavier?”

Leonard lowered his head deeply.

Everyone there was reminded of the Leonard who had first joined their mercenary group after being sold by his own mother.

Michelle, feeling guilty now despite having yelled at him moments before, told Heath to ease up.

“You… don’t need to talk like that. It hurts to hear.”

“And who was it that— Ow!”

Bin rubbed his shoulder where Michelle had hit him, sighing.

“I don’t know how this conversation got here, but honestly, I’m with Heath on this.”

“Hey, Bin.”

“I’ve always told you—you need to take better care of yourself.”

Maybe it was because Leonard had learned assassination techniques at a young age—he attacked even in situations where most would defend.

Like when he killed the giant black serpent in the Great Forest—

Ironically, that was the only reason he survived back then. Against a beast driven by pure instinct, stepping back would have meant getting his throat torn out.

But giving up flesh to strike bone was a gamble only for life-or-death moments.

Fight like that every time, and you wouldn’t last ten years. In fact, it wouldn’t be strange if you died tomorrow.

That was why Camilla had taught him a defensive style of swordsmanship. She’d beaten it into him until the bad habits faded—at least, until she lost her arm protecting him.

Once, their “Iron-Blooded Mercenary Corps” had been considered the best.

Now, after betrayal and an enemy ambush, most members were dead or retired.

Even Leonard had officially left—leaving only the three sitting here now.

Leonard told them not to worry about him and to live their own lives. But how could they?

They had raised him like their own son, and now he seemed ready to throw his life away.

He must have come to the capital alone, ready to take all the blame if things went wrong.

That’s why he could say—

“If something happens to me, take Jenny and leave the empire. Don’t worry about me—I’ll follow later.”

If he was going to say that, he should have set a meeting place so they could at least pretend to believe him. In reality, he had no intention of following.

“I don’t know how you ended up marrying the Marquis of Blair, but I’m sure you didn’t do it because you loved him. Of course, it’s probably the same for him.”

“But since he treats even mercenaries like us as guests, he must not see you as just a tool.”

Truthfully, Bin didn’t like this marriage.

Five hundred million Lark—it was an enormous sum. If someone offered him that much to marry, he’d walk down the aisle with even the most wrinkled old man without hesitation.

But not Leonard.

Leonard had once seen himself traded for just three gold coins.

Marriages for money were common, even among nobles, but no one sold themselves—only their children. Bin had never seen someone sell themselves… until Leonard.

And the only reason Leonard could even think of doing it was because he’d already been sold once before. If you’ve been sold once, why not twice?

“Ray, if you don’t want us hanging around, then make a real family of your own.”

No matter how much money changed hands, Bin hoped this marriage wouldn’t remain just a transaction for Leonard.

He hoped Leonard would one day have someone who could reassure them he wouldn’t throw himself away even if they were gone—someone who would make him grit his teeth and cling to life no matter what.

Everyone in that room wished it with all their hearts.

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“Your Highness, a messenger from the Matthias County House requests an audience.”

“Send him away.”

“But, Your Highness…”

The attendant hesitated because this wasn’t the first time the Matthias family’s messenger had been turned away.

While Lloyd Matthias was banned from entering the palace, that punishment was aimed at him personally, not the whole family.

For the Second Prince to treat the Matthias messenger so poorly was the same as insulting the Count himself.

If the Second Prince had the kind of power no one could challenge, it might be different—but with the Crown Princess standing strong as the future heir, he needed to stay on good terms with the nobles. The Emperor couldn’t protect him forever.

But the Second Prince had never once in his life cared about pleasing nobles.

Why should he? He was born with the precious blood of royalty.