Sardin was taken aback by the unexpected support, and even the enemies were momentarily flustered.
The scorpion-tattooed man snarled.
“What are you doing? Hurry up and kill him!”
At that command, two aura users moved quickly.
Bang!
Parakel fired his gun, but it narrowly missed.
Since it was a close-range shot and the direction of the gun was clear, it was easy to dodge.
As the enemies drew closer, Sardin quickly launched his attacks.
However, with Parakel and his assistant behind him, he felt considerable pressure.
‘I need to create an opportunity to escape somehow…’
At that moment, Sardin’s eyes widened.
The scorpion-tattooed man pulled out a bomb.
“Everyone, stop!”
The power of that bomb was enough to blow away the hotel restaurant, but the problem was that there was another bomb in the workshop.
‘If that goes off, this entire area will be obliterated!’
As everyone, including Sardin, froze, the scorpion-tattooed man spoke to his subordinates.
“I’ll handle this, so you go inform our lord about that barbarian’s betrayal!”
“Yes, brother!”
Sardin tried to move but had no choice but to freeze.
“Don’t do anything foolish.”
The scorpion-tattooed man acted as if he were about to throw the bomb.
‘I have to somehow prevent that bomb from detonating…’
As he was thinking, the scorpion-tattooed man sneered.
“Barbarian, how dare you betray our lord? Especially after he helped you take revenge on your father’s enemy!”
Sardin opened his mouth in response.
“And you, of all people, are showing useless loyalty to someone who has no sense of honor. A master who could discard you at any moment.”
“Stop talking nonsense! That person has recognized my brother’s efforts in infiltrating the Duke’s residence for a long time.”
At those words, Sardin was taken aback.
“Wait, …Xenon is your brother?”
“Ha, yes. That was his name there, right? My sworn brother’s real name is Evan.”
For a moment, the scorpion-tattooed man smirked, but then his teeth ground together.
“If that damned crown prince hadn’t killed my brother while on a mission, he wouldn’t have died so easily!”
“What are you talking about? The crown prince has nothing to do with Xenon. In fact, Xenon’s disappearance is…”
It was after Duke Blant’s departure, specifically when Duke Blant left for Count of Herde’s territory.
This strongly suggested that Xenon had been assigned a covert mission related to Duke Blant.
But…
“Shut up! I don’t want to hear anything from a traitor like you!”
It seemed that the red scorpion’s faith in Reinhardt was deeper than expected.
Or perhaps his intelligence was lacking.
“Still, it must be worthwhile to follow my brother. To take revenge on the crown prince and deal with a traitor like you.”
At that moment, the bomb slipped from the scorpion-tattooed man’s palm.
‘Damn it!’
Sardin quickly wrapped himself around the two others and dove away from the bomb.
He braced himself, imagining the pain that was about to come.
However, the expected explosion never occurred.
“What is this?”
The assistant murmured, echoing Sardin’s thoughts.
Sardin, too, turned around in confusion.
‘Huh?’
He had heard that the bomb would explode with even a slight shock. Yet someone was holding it calmly.
And whether it was intentional or not, his hood had come off.
The scorpion-tattooed man immediately recognized the handsome face and spoke.
“You… Duke Blant!”
For a moment, the scorpion-tattooed man was stunned.
“Why isn’t the bomb exploding?!”
Erich replied nonchalantly.
“Oh, I wrapped it in my aura to create a barrier and prevent it from detonating.”
As everyone stood there, stunned by the unexpected use of aura, Erich continued.
“Duck.”
Before the words were even finished, Erich hurled the bomb into the air.
Boom!
A searing shockwave rippled over their heads, but the bomb had been thrown so far that the surrounding area remained largely unscathed.
Just when everyone was standing there with blank expressions—
“So, Xenon was your sworn brother?”
‘Mission failed! I have to escape!’
The scorpion-tattooed man quickly drew his sword and charged at Erich.
However, his resistance was futile as the sword was effortlessly blocked by the Duke’s bare hands.
“Your brother was better. When Xenon was discovered, he chose to die by my hand rather than flee.”
The scorpion tattooed man’s eyes widened at Erich’s words.
“What? You… did you really… Ugh!”
With a gasp, the scorpion-tattooed man lost consciousness as the duke’s knee struck his abdomen.
Watching this, Sardin asked in a trembling voice, “You… you knew Xenon’s true identity?”
“Yes.”
As Erich nodded in affirmation, Sardin recalled what he had said earlier.
‘That means the duke dealt with him…’
The reason he could no longer sense the presence that had been bothering him was because he was dead.
A chill ran down his spine.
‘Just how much does the duke know?’
At that moment, Erich spoke again.
“And I know your identity too.”
At those words, Sardin involuntarily trembled and stared at the duke.
The duke’s gaze toward him was chillingly cold.
Sardin’s legs gave way, and he sank to the ground.
‘It’s all over.’
Until now, no matter how much Duke Blant had lingered around, Cornelia had remained unshaken because he was there to protect her.
However, if his identity were revealed, Cornelia would easily open her heart to Erich, feeling betrayed.
‘If I had truly become a loyal servant instead of a spy… no, if I had mustered the courage earlier…’
Then he wouldn’t have had to face this situation.
But it was already too late to regret.
The duke already knew his identity, and there were two witnesses to back up the duke’s words.
At that moment, the duke aimed his sword at Sardin.
“Do you have anything to say?”
Sardin shook his head instead of answering.
In the end, no matter what he said, he was just a foreign spy harboring a desire for revenge against her.
“Kill me.”
As he spoke with resignation, Erich raised his sword.
“If that’s your wish.”
Before the words were even finished, Erich’s sword descended.
Sardin sensed the end and closed his eyes.
☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓 ☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓
Thud!
“Ahh! My Mont Blanc!”
Landon had gone through so much to save the Mont Blanc, but Demian had dropped it on the floor and burst into tears.
I quickly tried to hand my plate to Demian.
“Here, eat mom’s…”
At that moment, Landon quickly placed a new Mont Blanc on the plate.
“I anticipated this, so I bought an extra. Little ones are often clumsy with their utensils.”
At his words, I let out a small laugh and nodded.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
Looking at Landon’s kind face, I was overwhelmed by a strange feeling.
Yes, it felt comfortable, as if he were still my butler.
‘What a ridiculous thought; after all, Landon is just a servant of the Blant family.’
I snapped back to reality and said to Demian, “Demi, eat this carefully and don’t spill it.”
“Yes!”
Demian seemed excited about the new Mont Blanc and tried to poke it with his fork.
I quickly said, “Use a teaspoon instead of a fork.”
At that, my little one became calm and started to scoop the dessert with a spoon.
It was cute, but I couldn’t help but think that I needed to control his eating habits.
‘Right, he’ll be four soon, so I need to start teaching him to eat a balanced diet then.’
After a moment, I glanced at the clock.
My brows furrowed involuntarily.
‘No, but what kind of long-winded conversation is he having with my subordinate for over an hour?’
I had waited because he said he would be back soon, but Sardin still hadn’t returned.
“Landon, do you know where Sardin is?”
“No, I haven’t seen him.”
As expected, Landon seemed unaware of their whereabouts.
‘I’m already irritated by Fritz’s issue.’
As I felt a growing sense of unease, I unconsciously clenched my fist.
Knock, knock.
“Sir, someone from the capital security unit is here.”
At those words from outside the door, Landon quickly bowed his head to me.
“Excuse me for a moment.”
I stared blankly at Landon’s retreating figure for a moment.
‘What on earth could the capital security unit want?’
I felt my inner anxiety expand and rise from my seat.
“Demi, keep eating for a bit.”
After speaking to my child, I headed straight toward the slightly ajar door.
As I walked towards the room at the end of the hallway, which was used as a lounge, I could hear their voices intermittently.
“There seems to be a traitor in this mansion.”
Soon, I heard Landon’s shocked voice.
“What? Are you saying he truly betrayed us?”
I quickly approached and flung the door open.
Landon and the guard looked at me, startled.
“What’s going on?”
Landon sighed and began to speak.
“Madam, please don’t be alarmed and listen carefully. It seems Sir Sardin…”
Not Xenon, but Sardin?
As I wore a puzzled expression, I noticed Erich entering alone.
With a strange feeling, I immediately approached Erich.
“Where is Sardin?”
He looked at me with a strange gaze, as if he pitied me.
Feeling annoyed, I pressed again.
“Where is Sardin?!”
Finally, his tightly shut mouth opened.
“He’s at the capital security headquarters.”
