WDHTMU| CHAPTER 11

Chapter 11

The man frowned, and his head tilted.

Marsha, worried he might act aggressively like before, felt a little relieved by his questioning gesture, as if asking, “What is going on?”

“Are you awake?”

“… Who are you?”

“I’m the one who saved you.”

Marsha frowned and answered. 

The man’s eyes grew wider instead.

“You saved me?”

“Don’t pretend you don’t know anything.”

‘What is this woman talking about…?’

The man tried to sit up.

 But wait, his hands didn’t move to the floor.

‘What’s this?’

He looked at his wrists with pain.

 They were tied to the headboard with thick ropes.

‘Huh.’

The man looked at Marsha with a shocked face.

“Did you do this?”

“How shameless of you to ask. Don’t you remember?”

Marsha sighed deeply and said,

“A week ago, I found you hurt in the forest.”

The man’s eyes grew serious as he tried to remember. 

He slowly recalled why he came to this area in the first place.

[My Duke, it’s been a while since you came.]

[Yes. It’s been four years.]

The biggest forest in the Duchy of Gloria is called Tora.

 Four years ago, after catching smugglers, they strengthened the guards on the border with the Domique Duchy. 

Maybe because of that, the forest felt quieter than before.

[It would be fun to meet those kinds of people again.]

[Please don’t say things like that…]

He arrived at the villa before the official documents arrived.

 In order to assess the typical ambience of the village, he always arrived early for inspections.

 He checked to see what the locals anticipated after the official notice arrived. 

His strict rules would occasionally be easier to follow without complaints if he gave his favourite prey.

However, the inspection was too early this time. 

Well, staying in Golem or the capital, Delua, was boring and full of annoying tasks, but here it was especially quiet…

[So you wanted to walk alone in the forest? That’s not allowed.]

[Why? Do you think I might get lost?]

[Of course not. You don’t come here often, but you’re smart, so you know the area well. But Sean is different.]

Sean was a horse the duke got a year ago.

 It was a purebred with a perfect build but still young and inexperienced.

[That’s why you should go with Sean. He’s smart and remembers any path he has seen once. I want to teach him how to run on rough land.]

[If you really must go, then I will go with you…]

[Urian, you have things to do. And just being with you alone was enough the moment I arrived here.]

He coldly left his assistant behind and headed into the forest.

It was impossible to cover this big forest in one day, but he planned to run fast to see as much as possible.

‘Better than staying stuck in one place.’

But after a few hours, the cool wind messing up his hair and dodging uneven ground and trees became very boring.

‘Damn, so boring.’

Still, this silence was better than the busy noise of Delua or Gloem.

[My Duke, please don’t abandon me. You know I don’t want to fight with you!]

The weak king, who frequently displayed nervousness and pleaded for confidence.

[My Duke Gloria, you look amazing today. I’ve wanted to say this for a while… May I introduce my brother to you? Oh no, I don’t mean to take your place. For us, it would only be a small pleasure, and our family would be very grateful.

He hated the people who tried to flatter him just to get something in return.

But the thing he hated most was—

[My Duke. I think about you every day. We would be perfect for each other.]

The crazy woman who forgot her place and hovered around Claudio.

If the duke had been even a little more active, he might have wiped them all out by now.

 In a way, his laziness had kept peace in the country.

But some don’t need mercy from his laziness.

‘…Someone is following me.’

His early inspection was a secret known only to close aides.

That meant someone had either arrived earlier and waited for the duke or had been following him since the very beginning.

‘Anyway, they’re probably not from this region’s powers.’

For example, the reckless Marquis Hermes, groups making a living from illegal smuggling, and the Western forces opposed to the current king—all likely held big grudges against Claudio.

“Hey!”

The duke urged his horse to go faster. 

The man who he had found rode quickly as well, but he was unable to catch up. 

Finally, muttering curses, the man took out a pistol hidden inside his coat.

“Damn you, Duke of Gloria!”

Bang! Bang! The chilling sounds echoed through the forest.

 The duke felt bullets whiz past his side but didn’t flinch and kept riding.

“Ugh!”

The attacker fired again.

“Ugh!” This time, the bullet passed through the duke’s side. He felt a sharp burning pain unlike anything before, but he did not let go of the reins.

“Stay calm, Sean… we can go further…”

Sean hesitated for a second, seeing his master was hurt. 

The Duke reassured him. 

The attacker was surprised.

 Even though he had shot the duke, how could he still hold the reins?

At that moment, the duke looked back and smirked sharply.

The attacker’s face turned red and pale with anger.

“Damn, damn it!”

The duke didn’t just look back to mock him.

‘I think it’s a .45 calibre revolver.’

Because of distance and pain-blurred vision, he wasn’t sure, but if he was right, the attacker had at least two shots left.

The duke hoped the attacker would waste bullets in his excitement.

 But realising his mistake, the attacker saved bullets and only chased behind the duke.

‘Not completely stupid after all.’

After running for a while, the duke’s already pained face twisted even more. 

The path ahead turned into a steep uphill slope. 

He was concerned about Sean’s ability to make it across this hill in time.

Sean climbed the hill as best he could.

His efforts proved the duke’s worries wrong.

 When the duke finally reached flat ground—

Bang! A louder gunshot echoed.

A bullet whizzed past Sean’s rear.

Startled, Sean raised his front legs high.

The duke’s eyes turned to the sky. 

The blue sky was darkened by unknown birds flying together.

‘…What a sight.’

The duke’s hands suddenly lost their strength, and he collapsed gently onto the grass.

 His body was already severely injured, but fortunately his bones were unbroken.

“Ugh!”

A fierce, indescribable pain spread all over. 

Before the pain eased, the duke thought, ‘Is this the end?’

Ah, to die so bitterly. 

He gave a bitter smile and looked at his confused black horse. 

He hoped this young horse would live, but he would die.

 Maybe the clever but inexperienced Sean would find Urian and bring him here. 

Then at least someone could find his body. 

 If the funeral was handled quickly, the after-death matters would also finish faster.

“…Go.”

With strength in his eyes, he ordered Sean to do something. 

The horse hesitated, reluctant to leave its master. 

The duke repeated firmly,

“Go…!”

Only then did Sean start running. 

Ahead of him, down the slope, in the direction of the assailant.

“What? What is this?!”

The man shouted in shock as the horse suddenly charged down at him.

The duke smiled faintly, holding his wound, and struggled to stand.

 His legs shook so much that standing straight was hard.

Thanks to Sean, he had a brief chance to escape, but his body wouldn’t cooperate. 

 Still, he didn’t want to just lie down and wait to be killed.

“Ugh…!”

Blood poured fiercely from his wound.

‘It’s a miracle I’m not losing consciousness.’

He had always complained how boring and dull his life was without knowing how precious it was.

Was this God’s way of telling him to die painfully?

“Life still doesn’t feel lovely.” I suppose I’m worthy of this penalty.

At that moment, a sour smile appeared on his lips.

“Duke of Gloria…!”

The voice was closer than before, filled with excitement.

“This time, I’ll finish you for good……!”

The attacker smiled with joy and pulled the trigger.

But strangely… nothing happened.

“…What?!”

No bullet came out.

The duke burst into laughter.

The very last and most important bullet misfired!

‘Looks like God doesn’t want to punish only me.’

That guy must have lived a pretty bad life, too. 

So this kind of shame happens.

The attacker grumbled and threw the gun on the wet ground with a thud.

His confused, shaking eyes looked at the duke.

The duke thought the attacker’s trembling hands might choke him, but…

“Cursed Duke of Gloria. I hope you die a miserable and horrible death.”

The attacker sneered through trembling lips, cursed him, and then left.

‘He’s just leaving?’

After chasing me so far, he didn’t finish me off. 

Does he only kill if he has bullets?

 To lose to such a useless and stupid man…

‘This is humiliating.’

The duke sighed weakly.

‘If I stay here, wolves smelling blood will come…’

He had to get away no matter what. 

But his legs were completely weak.

He collapsed heavily and tried hard to stand, but even lifting his eyelids was difficult.

‘…Maybe I will die a horrible and miserable death just like that curse said.’

Then he heard a sound.

Rustle, rustle… footsteps moving slowly across grass and parched leaves.

Did the wolves arrive already?

The sound is too faint for that, though.

If only he could see who was coming right in front of him, he wanted to see their face, no matter what. 

And in the end… even his thoughts began to fade.