“Is there a rat scurrying around underground or something?”
The voice came from directly above the carriage.
The light tapping of his foot against the ground sent vibrations through the carriage—strong enough for even King Pavan inside to feel.
“Please, spare me!!!”
King Pavan screamed, his voice beginning to rasp and crack.
His mind raced with thoughts of revenge, ‘Once I get out of here, that insolent brat won’t be walking away so easily.’
But had the owner of the voice somehow read his mind?
The man chuckled softly and replied.
“Why would I?”
“What? Spare me? Hah!”
“Why would I even consider it?”
“W-what are you saying…?”
Rustle, rustle. The sound of soil being brushed away from the top of the carriage grew louder.
Then, a shaft of light pierced through the doorframe, forcing its way into the once pitch-black interior.
Trapped in darkness for so long, King Pavan squinted and let out a low groan, blinded by the sudden brightness.
“Did you expect someone to come save you, Your Majesty of Pavan?”
“……!”
The man knew exactly who he was—yet pretended otherwise, mocking him with every word.
Realization struck like a blow, and King Pavan’s face turned crimson with humiliation.
“How dare you! You know who I am, and yet you speak to me like this?!”
“Oh? And you knew full well who my granddaughter was—yet you tried to bury her alive in the Carmedan Jungle, didn’t you?”
“……!”
“How dare you.”
With a loud crack, the carriage door—unmoved no matter what King Pavan had tried—was violently torn open.
A flood of light poured in, only to be quickly blocked by the massive frame of Seffield Emblem.
His shadow fell across King Pavan’s face like a veil of darkness.
Crouched inside the carriage, Seffield looked down on him with a gaze so imposing that King Pavan could only move his lips soundlessly, unable to speak a word.
“Well, well, long time no see, Your Majesty.”
A large hand suddenly reached into the carriage.
King Pavan instinctively recoiled, stumbling around inside the carriage to avoid the grasp.
“You’ve really turned into a rat since I last saw you.”
At Seffield’s sneer, the king became painfully aware of how undignified and disgraceful he looked.
But by the time he realized it, it was too late.
Seffield grabbed him by the collar, and King Pavan choked and gasped.
It felt like his throat was being crushed.
“L-Let go of me at once!”
“For someone begging for their life, you sure talk a lot.”
Seffield scoffed and effortlessly lifted the king into the air with just one hand, still holding onto his collar.
The king’s feet flailed helplessly above the ground.
Blood rushed to his head, and he couldn’t breathe.
“Y-You bastard… I’ll kill you, Seffield Emblem! Do you really think you’ll get away with this?!”
“I saved you because you asked me to. If that bothers you, would you prefer to crawl back into that carriage and die instead?”
“L-Let go… I said, let go!”
“As you command, then.”
With a nonchalant shrug, Seffield released his grip.
The king, who had been struggling in the air, was flung backward and tumbled unceremoniously back into the broken carriage.
“Aaaagh!”
A pained scream rang out as he slammed into the carriage floor. Seffield chuckled at the sound.
“You told me to let go, so I did.”
“You… you bastard!”
“Tsk, tsk. Such foul language. Is that any way to speak to someone who might’ve just saved your life?”
“Grrrrgh…”
King Pavan groaned in pain, glaring at Seffield who stood there smirking and mocking him.
He had twisted his ankle when he was thrown back into the carriage, and now every movement sent a jolt of pain through him.
How could such pain even exist?
This situation—so utterly humiliating and foreign—was unlike anything he had ever experienced.
Utterly helpless, the king found himself overwhelmed by Seffield.
Neither royal dignity nor angry threats had any effect on Seffield Emblem.
“What… what is it you want from me? Huh?! Why are you doing this? Why?!”
“What’s the point of having a sharp mind if you never use it?”
Even though King Pavan had already lowered himself, Seffield simply picked his ear with a finger, as if it were all meaningless nonsense.
“Then at least tell me why!”
At this point, none of the king’s authority held any power.
All he could do was beg.
Seffield’s cold, expressionless face looked as if he had made a firm decision.
Even though he was a Swordmaster, Seffield Emblem was still a noble of Lutinas.
He couldn’t completely separate himself from politics.
So for him to behave this recklessly, without a care for the consequences, meant one of two things.
Either he didn’t care about what came after—or he no longer needed to.
“Did the Emperor of Lutinas order you to assassinate me? Is that it?! I don’t know why you’re doing this yourself, but I swear—I won’t make an issue of this incident. Just go back and tell the Emperor of Lutinas that Pavan will cooperate with whatever plans or contracts he has in mind!”
Despite the pain, King Pavan struggled to offer terms, trying desperately to negotiate his way out.
But the more he spoke, the more bored Seffield looked.
‘This isn’t working. Why? Why won’t anything work…?’
King Pavan bit his lip, frantically searching Seffield’s face for an answer.
Then finally, unable to tolerate the boredom any longer, Seffield opened his mouth.
“You still don’t get what’s going on here, do you?”
“……!”
“You tried to kill my granddaughter. How dare you.”
At Seffield’s words, King Pavan finally recalled the conversation he’d had with the Academy’s headmaster.
“H-How do you know about that?!”
The plan to eliminate Cherrya Emblem in the Carmedan Jungle was a secret discussed only between himself and the Academy dean.
And it had barely been a few hours since then—his knights hadn’t even reached the jungle yet.
So how could Seffield already know, and respond this way?
“How do you think I found out, hmm?”
Seffield’s eyes gleamed with a deadly light as he stared directly into Pavan’s widened eyes.
“You begged me to clean up the Carmedan Jungle because innocent Pavan citizens were dying there—and then you send men there to kill my granddaughter?”
“Th-that’s…”
“You took what you wanted with Emblem’s help, then acted like you owed nothing. What choice does that leave me? I might just run a blade across your throat—nice and clean.”
Seffield slowly dragged his thumb across his neck in a slicing motion, smiling coldly.
“I should just cut your head off.”
“Ugh… ah…”
The murderous aura of the Swordmaster overwhelmed King Pavan to the point where he fainted, unable to bear it any longer.
And as he blacked out, he desperately hoped that, when he woke, this would all turn out to be a terrible dream.
“Wow. The bastard pissed himself.”
“……..”
Those were Seffield’s final words before silence fell.
There wasn’t even a shred of sympathy on his face as he looked down at the unconscious king.
“Touch the Emblems, and you pay the price. Even if you’re the king of Pavan, you’re no exception.”
With that, he stomped down hard once more—a loud crash echoed as the carriage was completely destroyed, collapsing in on the king.
The shattered wreckage rained down on Pavan’s unconscious body.
Seffield then pulled out a document from his coat—one that Diana had passed to him from the Emperor of Lutinas.
[…..Not only did he break the contract, but he also repaid Lutinas’s goodwill with attempted murder. We express deep regret over this inhumane decision. From this point forward, Lutinas will honor no oath or promise involving Pavan.]
The Emperor had anticipated the king’s betrayal from the moment news came of Cherrya and Enoch’s disappearance.
He had prepared this statement in case things needed to be settled with finality.
Seffield had been told to keep it close—just in case.
“Even if he survives, he’ll be dethroned. And he’ll live the rest of his life with this terror carved into his soul.”
