Chapter 19
Chapter 19
“Did you say you couldn’t find it?”
“Yes, we couldn’t find it even in the Duke’s territory.”
Marquis Himonas, and Samuel Himonas, frowned deeply upon hearing this.
He thought Daphne wouldn’t be able to hide it, but it was clear that the Duke had intervened.
“If you give us a little more time…”
At Poncho’s words, the Marquis slammed his desk irritably.
“I told you we don’t have time!”
Gritting his teeth, he ran a hand through his hair and gestured toward the butler, Oliver, who was standing behind him.
Oliver handed a small pouch to the man standing in front of them.
“You may leave now.”
“Yes, thank you.”
The man bowed, put on his hat, and quickly left the office.
“What about Daphne? How is she doing?”
“She is still not in her right mind.”
“Anything else?”
“It doesn’t seem like she has awakened any other abilities.”
“That useless girl has caused quite a mess.”
The Marquis recalled his conversation with the Duke a few days ago.
‘My daughter is still lacking in many ways. It would be embarrassing to send her out now.’
‘Lacking? She seemed quite remarkable to me.’
‘Why does it have to be my daughter?’
‘Because I love her.’
‘Excuse me?’
‘I love her very much.’
The Marquis had felt chills at the Duke’s words.
Could those be the eyes of a man in love?
No, they were not eyes of love. They were filled with obsession, maybe even hatred.
The Marquis knew it was useless to argue any further.
Thinking quickly, he put on a pleasant smile.
Daphne was a lost cause now.
He only needed another child for the experiment.
And with the Duke away, there was an opportunity.
‘Then let’s do this. Show me your love. If you go to the capital immediately and sign all the papers, I will hand over my daughter without complaint.’
The Marquis’s greedy eyes glowed with an unsettling light.
“Foolish.”
He slowly stood up and walked toward a painting in his office.
Pressing a hidden button on the frame, a section of the wall moved with a loud noise.
Oliver stood still, unfazed as if he had seen this many times before.
The Marquis stepped into the hidden space and soon returned with a small box in his hands.
“What is that?”
“It’s the core of a psychic beast.”
He opened the box, revealing a pair of eyeballs inside.
Oliver grimaced at the sight.
The Marquis, however, was unbothered. He picked up one of the eyeballs.
“We can’t just let Daphne go like this. Call back the man who just left.”
“Is this some kind of sick game?”
Poncho grumbled, staring at the box in his hands.
The Marquis had suddenly called him back and handed it to him.
‘Feed this to the woman we kidnapped earlier.’
What exactly was inside the box?
Muttering under his breath, Poncho was on his way to the underground chamber when someone suddenly appeared in front of him.
“Hey.”
“R-Reaper…?”
“You got an extra job?”
Reaper eyed the box under Poncho’s arm.
Poncho instinctively turned his body slightly to hide it.
“Well, uh…”
“No secrets between us, right?”
In a swift motion, Reaper snatched the box from Poncho’s hands.
“N-No! Reaper, please…!”
Poncho frantically reached out, but he couldn’t take it back.
Reaper smirked and opened the box.
Inside, he found the eyeballs.
Reaper held one up, turning it in the light curiously.
“What is this?”
“I don’t know! I was just told to feed it to her.”
As Reaper stared at the eyeball, his expression suddenly changed.
The light in his eyes vanished in an instant.
Poncho felt something was very wrong.
“I’ll go.”
“Huh?”
“I said I’ll go.”
Reaper grinned and put the eyeball back in the box.
His expression was even more unsettling than usual.
Poncho swallowed nervously.
“…L-Let me come with you.”
“What?”
“I’ll stay quiet. You can take all the money. Just let me come with you.”
Reaper thought for a moment before nodding.
“Alright. Lead the way.”
“…Yes.”
Poncho turned around hesitantly.
The next moment, Reaper raised the box high and slammed it down on Poncho’s head.
Thud!
Poncho collapsed without a sound.
“How dare you… This is mine.”
Muttering to himself, Reaper watched blood seep from Poncho’s head.
Humming a tune, he walked away.
Everything was darkness, except for fleeting moments of dreams.
Whenever light appeared, pain followed.
Sometimes, Daphne worried about Jacquette and Becky.
She wondered if Theophanes and Dante had returned from the capital safely.
But more than anything, she worried about Jacquette.
Was he crying too much?
Days passed in this endless cycle.
The pain had lessened, which was a relief.
The ropes that once bound her hands and feet were long gone.
They probably thought she was too weak to move now.
Forcing her heavy eyelids open, Daphne’s blurry vision slowly adjusted.
The ceiling came into view.
Just as she was about to dismiss it as a dream, she realized—someone was standing beside her bed.
“…Duke?”
Silence.
A chilling sensation ran down her spine.
“…Theophanes? Is that you?”
Still, no answer.
Then, the man reached out a hand toward her.
Daphne tried to move away, but she was too weak.
A rough hand grabbed her cheek.
“Calling another man’s name is rude. Try calling me Reaper instead.”
Daphne frowned.
Reaper? Wasn’t he one of the men who had kidnapped her?
“I was only told to feed this to you… but maybe I’ll make a little mistake.”
A cold, eerie laugh filled the room, making Daphne tremble.
What exactly was he trying to make her eat?
Her vision was too blurry to tell.
And why was the door locked?
The only person who could have ordered this was—
Marquis Himonas.
Even though she was already married, a scandalous rumor about another man could nullify the marriage.
She had heard that the Marquis had given another order, but it seemed this man was acting on his own.
“Let me go!”
Gathering what little strength she had, she smacked his hand away.
She tried to get off the bed, but her legs gave out, and she collapsed to the floor.
“I didn’t expect you to behave.”
Daphne crawled away, but he grabbed her again.
“It’s fun when they resist, but stay still for now.”
Daphne spit at his face.
Slap!
Her head snapped to the side from the force of his strike.
Her body couldn’t handle the impact, and she crashed into the wall.
“I’ve been patient, but there’s a limit.”
Reaper wiped his sleeve across his face, his voice dark with anger.
His eyes gleamed dangerously as he raised his hand again.
Something inside Daphne snapped.
She clawed at the floor, seething with rage.
Her entire body burned as if she had swallowed fire.
If she didn’t release it, she felt like it would consume her.
“How dare you touch me.”
Her trembling hand stilled.
“How dare you!!!”
With all her fury, she slammed her hand against the floor.
A blinding white light exploded around her.
Her entire body shook with rage.
“Kill him. I have to kill him.”
As she muttered, the door suddenly burst open with a loud bang.
“Daphne!”
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