Chapter 17
“Your Excellency.”
“I understand. I get it.”
Glancing briefly at Dante, he let out a small sigh, as if he was reluctant to leave his wife behind.
“I’ll be back.”
Theophanes held her hand, stared at the ring on her finger, kissed it, and then left, offering a farewell as he walked out.
Dante gave a short nod and followed him.
“Haa…”
Daphne stood up and walked toward the window.
Looking down, she saw the two men mounting their horses. They quickly disappeared from her sight.
And just as they vanished, the door burst open.
“Daphne Himonas!”
Standing there, face flushed red with anger, was the Marquis of Himonas.
It seemed Theophanes had provoked him quite a bit.
“How dare you disgrace me? Do you enjoy acting as you please?”
Daphne smirked and let out a scoffing laugh. It was pure mockery.
“Oh, I enjoy it very much.”
“I fed you, clothed you, and this is how you repay my kindness?”
“Kindness? I haven’t received a single ounce of kindness from you.”
“Kneel her down!”
At his command, a group of maids rushed in and forced Daphne to her knees. She knew resisting was useless, so she complied without a fight.
“If you give up everything and go back to your rightful place now, I’ll overlook this.”
“That will never happen.”
“If that’s your choice, then I have no other option. Take her to ‘that room.'”
She had expected this.
Seeing her calm expression, the Marquis smirked.
“Let’s see how long you can endure.”
His ominous words made her frown, and she turned to look at him. But before she could say anything, the maids dragged her away.
They led her to a heavy iron door in the underground chamber.
This was “that room”—the place the Marquis used to punish, educate, or experiment on her.
“Ugh—!”
The maids shoved her inside and shut the iron door.
Dust covered the floor from years of neglect. Daphne blinked a few times, adjusting to the darkness.
Once her vision adjusted, she fumbled around until she found a match.
Lighting it, she brought the flame to a candle.
“Haa…”
Blowing out the match, she looked around the dimly lit room and sat on the edge of the bed.
She would have to endure this until he returned.
She was used to waiting here.
Thinking she might be alone for the night, she was about to lie down when—
Click.
The sound of the lock being undone echoed. The door swung open.
The Marquis entered, accompanied by his physician.
Or rather, his mad scientist—Kedel.
“Are you going to inject her, Your Excellency?”
Hearing Kedel’s question, Daphne clenched her trembling hands together.
She had expected this, but now that the moment had come, fear took over her body.
“I will.”
“But she has already received more than the safe dosage. If we go any further, her body won’t withstand it.”
“I don’t care if she dies. As long as I can bring the child back.”
“You mustn’t!”
Daphne’s face twisted in desperation as she screamed.
Her sudden outburst caused the servants outside to rush in. They quickly restrained her arms and legs, tying them to the bed frame.
Then, they gagged her.
“Well, if she survives, all the better. We can proceed with the next step.”
“Yes, yes.”
Kedel opened his bag and pulled out a vial filled with a dark, thick liquid, along with a syringe.
It was contamination.
A toxic substance meant to push a transcendent’s power to react and fight back against the infection.
It was a theory Kedel had come up with one day—a madman’s theory, but not entirely impossible.
After all, Daphne was still alive.
That was why the Marquis trusted him.
Kedel filled the syringe with the dark liquid and examined it before walking toward Daphne.
“Mmph!”
Her heart pounded violently, and cold sweat drenched her body.
Even though her limbs were tied, she twisted and struggled desperately.
By now, logic had vanished, leaving only pure survival instinct.
“If you want to live, endure it.”
He didn’t sound concerned. He sounded excited.
As soon as the needle pierced her left arm, the liquid spread through her veins.
At first, a wave of unbearable nausea swept over her.
Then, the sensation shifted to an unbearable chill—like her bones were freezing solid.
That chill was quickly replaced by a burning heat as if her entire body was on fire.
The pain was so overwhelming that she couldn’t even scream.
She thrashed against her restraints.
“Try to survive.”
Watching her suffer, the Marquis and Kedel left the room.
The moment the door closed, the candle flickered out, plunging the room into darkness.
“…….”
Theophanes sat at a table, tapping his fingers as if deep in thought.
“Then… can you come back as soon as possible?”
He couldn’t shake the image of her pale face from his mind.
He was sitting in an inn, having paused his journey to rest the horses, but he had been lost in thought for a while.
Dante, seeing this, finally broke the silence.
“Is something troubling you?”
“No.”
“You shouldn’t be concerned. This was your plan, after all.”
At Dante’s words, Theophanes stopped tapping the table.
He could have ordered Dante to teleport them straight to the capital today.
But instead, he chose to travel by horseback.
To make himself the only choice she had.
To show her that nowhere was safer than by his side.
So that she would rely on him—fall in love with him.
“The lady—no, the duchess must love you to bring you the Iniphium, correct?”
“Yes. To be precise, she must willingly offer it to me, out of love.”
“Same thing. Either way, the duchess must love you.”
“…….”
“Then what’s the problem?”
“Nothing. It’s just…”
Something about this was bothering him.
He didn’t finish his sentence.
Theophanes knew everything about what Daphne had endured in Himonas.
The experiments, the abuse—it was all information he had gathered through Phantom, an intelligence network unmatched by any other.
Even the royal palace’s secrets weren’t hidden from Phantom.
He wouldn’t have cared about any of it—if not for the Iniphium.
At first, he had only sensed a faint trace of it in her.
But once he placed the ring on her finger, it became clear.
The ring, made from a fragment of his own Iniphium, had reacted to hers.
Everything was going according to plan.
And yet, for some reason, he felt uneasy.
“I’ll have to speed up the journey back.”
“I can’t. I’ve already used too much magic—my mana is depleted…”
“I didn’t train you to be this weak.”
“No matter what you say, I can’t do it!”
Dante, looking exhausted, rubbed his forehead.
“Let’s move out.”
Theophanes stood up and walked outside. Dante quickly paid the innkeeper and followed.
“We’ll travel as planned, but on the way back, we’ll use teleportation and portals.”
“Excuse me?”
Before Dante could protest, Theophanes was already on his horse, riding off.
Dante sighed in despair and hurried to catch up.
“I’m so dead… Seriously.”
