Chapter 28

As his signature cool scent brushed past her nose, a sense of security washed over her.

Even after he laid her gently down on the soft bed, it still didn’t feel real.

Only one thing remained—his final words, echoing in her ears.

“Think about it carefully while you’re here.”

“…”

“How you’re going to satisfy me.”

“……!”

* * *

Dragged out of the estate, Langston clutched his leg and blinked back tears.

His eyes clung bitterly to the manor, refusing to turn away.

The memory of the Grand Duke’s cane slamming between his legs with a heavy thud was still vivid.

Just recalling the moment made Langston’s knees tremble again.

Cold sweat streamed uncontrollably down his back.

As if handling something filthy, the Grand Duke had used the tip of his cane to lift Langston’s chin, then muttered with deadly precision:

“You’d better remember this day well.”

Then, with that same cane, he struck Langston’s knee.

The swelling whimper turned into a full scream, but no one dared enter the Grand Duke’s reception room.

Even when the sharp crack of bone echoed through the silence, the Grand Duke continued speaking in a calm, almost peaceful tone.

“I never let anyone off the hook for touching what’s mine. Whatever it is, I pay it back tenfold.”

Truthfully, it was a miracle Langston had walked out of that room alive.

But having survived it only made his fury burn hotter.

How dare the Grand Duke, regardless of rank—refuse to return a girl who had been formally adopted through proper legal channels?

‘That girl was one of House Langston’s most valuable assets!’

He had failed to reclaim her, and failed to restore his trade with the Grand Duchy.

Damn that bastard.

With the secret ledger hanging over his head, he couldn’t speak out or threaten him either.

Then, suddenly, a sharp idea streaked through Langston’s mind like a lightning bolt.

‘If the Emperor finds out about this, not even the Grand Duke will be untouchable.’

The Emperor might not lift a finger to save Langston—but for his own goals, he would seize whatever he desired.

And he loved that girl’s bloodline.

Langston’s eyes, bloodshot and wild, blazed with the fire of revenge.

* * *

Kallain sat angled by the window, quietly observing Viscount Langston being helped away in the distance.

Jayden, arriving belatedly, tilted his head and asked with a puzzled tone,
“Why did you let him go alive?”

“Why did you think I’d kill him?” Kallain replied.

As the butler of the Grand Duke’s estate, shouldn’t Jayden have been urging him not to get involved in troublesome affairs?

“But didn’t you say something dramatic just now? ‘I never let anyone off the hook for touching what’s mine. Whatever it is, I pay it back tenfold.’”

Kallain let out a soft laugh at Jayden’s impression of him.

Looking out the window again, he saw that Langston’s carriage had already disappeared from view.

Fixing his gaze on the spot where it had been, Kallain murmured darkly,
“Wouldn’t be any fun if I killed him right away.”

“I’ll let him rot slowly.”

“Brilliant, Your Grace.”

“Surprised you’re not stopping me this time.”

Jayden looked at Kallain’s back and added in a low voice,
“As long as you’re not putting yourself in danger… that’s all I care about.”

Though it sounded casual, there was always weight behind Jayden’s concern.

There was now only one person left in the world who could truly stand against Kallain.

And as expected, that intuition hadn’t been wrong.

“I don’t think it’ll come to that, but… if, by any chance, His Majesty the Emperor decides to move—”

“Then what?”

“You’ll have to let her go.”

“Sir Jayden. Didn’t you used to preach ‘strong against the strong, soft with the weak’? I’m disappointed.”

“That doesn’t apply in this case, does it?”

‘Doesn’t apply, huh…’

Well, the only kind of relationship where people put everything on the line… is love.

Parental love. Romantic love.

And that woman… she didn’t fall into either of those.

So meddling like this was nothing more than overreaching.

But still—what now?

‘Damned if it doesn’t feel disgusting.’

The way she trembled just from looking at him.
The way she begged, pale and desperate.

‘When did watching shadows in the window become my idea of entertainment?’

Kallain silently stared at the opposite window, now still and unmoving.

* * *

“How did I get here?”

The maid who had been tidying the bedding paused and turned to look at me.

“You really don’t remember?”

That phrase—satisfy me—kept echoing through my mind like an auditory hallucination the entire time I lay in bed.

Thankfully, when I looked around, it was clear I was no longer in that awful underground cellar.
Sunlight streamed in warmly through the windows of the Grand Duke’s estate.

But was it all a nightmare, or was it reality? I could no longer tell.

The maid, tilting her head, calmly explained.

“His Grace the Grand Duke brought you here.”

After saying that, she went silent for the rest of her chore.

Only when she had finished dusting off the sheets and slung the fabric over her wrist did she turn and speak again—like a warning.

“It’s fine now, but you’d better not pull something like that again.”

“What do you mean, ‘something like that’?”

“Trying to sway the Grand Duke with some act or whatever it was.”

Sway him? I stared at her, dumbfounded, and she sighed before continuing.

“When Lady Lilyrose returns, she won’t sit back quietly.”

Without clarifying whether it was concern or just nosiness, the maid left.

Her words weren’t exactly pleasant, but her expression told me she wasn’t just making things up.

‘Lilyrose… That must be the other healer Monet mentioned.’

On top of already needing to prove my worth, now there was another healer to contend with. My head throbbed as if it would split.

After her little warning, the maid returned briefly to bring me soup.

A warm bowl of soup and a piece of soft bread, still steaming, were placed neatly before me, looking entirely too inviting.

‘Why is the Grand Duke being kind to me?’

I wasn’t naive enough to believe in kindness for its own sake.

I no longer trusted anyone.

That was something I’d repeated and relearned dozens of times in that underground prison.

Only I could save myself.

The Grand Duke wouldn’t show me any favor unless he had a reason—unless he had a use for me.

Which meant, in the end, it had to do with that last condition he gave me: satisfy me.

Showing me this much generosity probably meant little to him.
Whether I stayed or was thrown out would depend entirely on how much value I could offer.

Despite the fragrant aroma, nothing passed my lips.

As the bread hardened with time, my thoughts solidified just as sharply.

A way to satisfy the Grand Duke.

Since I hadn’t touched the plate, the maid who came back inside paused for a moment, then quietly picked it up and left.

When I turned my head again, night had already fallen outside the window. Darkness settled thick over everything.

* * *

After finishing his daily report, Sir Jayden lingered, refusing to leave.

Not long ago, he’d been fretting that the woman might get in the Grand Duke’s way.
But now, after a stretch of silence from the Emperor, the old man had clearly softened.

Or maybe… that woman really was that dangerously charming.
Even Sir Jayden seemed to be on her side these days.

Given everything lately, the latter seemed far more likely.

“Did you make her cry again?”

“Was she crying?”

Kallain’s casual reply made Jayden clutch his chest, like his heart was being worn down by worry.

“At a time like this, you’re cracking jokes?!”

Judging by his reaction, she must have cried.

And here Kallain had promised not to make her cry again.

“She didn’t cry. Supposedly. The head chef said she didn’t touch her food.”

“Well, I’d lose my appetite too—after seeing that bastard’s face.”

Langston’s greasy mug was the polar opposite of the thin, delicate woman.

The moment she saw him, she’d gone pale and started trembling.

There was no mistaking it.

Anyone could tell what that man had done to her.

Yet there he was, shamelessly calling her his beloved daughter, his voice as steady as ever.
As it always was—just like all the frauds.