“Why don’t we just kill that woman?”
“Calm down, Noah. If you break a vessel filled with water, where will the water go?”
Murmurs reached Ciello’s ears. Consciousness returned along with a headache.
‘Where is this…’
She had left the mansion and taken a detour, then someone called her, and her mouth was covered with a handkerchief. And now, here she was, tied to a chair.
Ciello slightly opened her eyes without getting caught. For now, pretending to be unconscious seemed to be the best way to gather information.
Flags adorned with a beast that looked like a snake, but more majestic, were hung everywhere. Ciello could immediately infer.
‘…Peregrine independence force.’
The Atuna Empire revered winged lizards as dragons from legends. However, the dragon passed down orally in Peregrine had a long body similar to a snake.
Ciello secretly observed the people gathered there. Among them was the old woman information merchant who entrusted her informations, and the owner of the restaurant she visited every day when she roamed the back alleys. Ciello was surprised internally at their extraordinary appearance, so ordinary and familiar.
(t/n: information merchant-a person who provides information desired by a client in exchange for compensation, that is, a person whose job is to buy and sell information)
“That’s right. So far, it’s the same as the prophecy.”
“The spirit returns to its place through the body of the lowest being, doesn’t it?”
“Yes. That means that kid can be on our side if persuaded.…Isn’t that right, Ciello?”
At the words of the information merchant, Ciello flinched slightly. About half a dozen people who had gathered looked at Ciello all at once.
“I know you are awake. Open your eyes.”
Ciello slowly opened her eyes and looked at them. The others looked back and forth between the information merchant and Ciello, seemingly flustered.
“You, since when have you been eavesdropping?”
A young man with a bright hair color, unusual for a Peregrine, glared at Ciello with a mixed expression. Ciello retorted.
“If you didn’t want me to eavesdrop, you shouldn’t have brought me here in the first place, right? And in this way?”
“How dare you…!”
The information merchant reached out to stop the young man.
“That’s enough. Stop it. This is a story that the kid needs to hear anyway.”
The information merchant spoke in a serious voice.
“Ciello, as you know, the Kingdom of Peregrine was originally a loyal ally of the Atuna Empire. After being colonized due to Atuna’s sudden betrayal 300 years ago, the spirit of Peregrine has been passed down to us through generations.”
“We have never even set foot on Peregrine’s land, but we have never forgotten the existence of Peregrine for a single moment.”
The other executives spoke with a melancholic expression at the words of the information merchant, but Ciello didn’t quite get it. The information merchant seemed to feel this and changed the subject.
“Let me ask you straight. Are you the host of Serpiente?”
“That’s…”
“You can’t hide it. Otherwise, why would the duke keep you?”
‘No, he just fell for me?’
…They wouldn’t believe it if she said that. Ciello thought to herself and kept her mouth shut.
“Return Serpiente to where it should be. If you do that, we’ll let you go. Of course, along with the promised 30 million gold.”
Of course, Ciello had been promised a huge sum of money that couldn’t be compared to 30 million gold. But the first thing that came to Ciello’s mind at the words of the information merchant was not 600 million.
[When my last mission is over…I can quit being the foolish duke.]
Ciello subtly changed the subject.
“But I can’t do it right now. A procedure is needed to separate the spirit.”
“Is that a method taught by your lover, the duke?”
Ciello flinched. At the words of the information merchant, the gazes of several people turned fierce.
“There is no value in negotiating with a traitor who has defected to the empire!”
“That’s right. Leniency only delays independence!”
The atmosphere became tense. Ciello quickly racked her brain.
“Wait. Do you think I fell for that foolish duke?”
Ciello looked at the information merchant brazenly.
“Granny. I’m Ciello. I stick to wherever there’s money. So I stuck to the most expensive place. I fell for money!”
“The independence of Peregrine is worth more than anything. You traitor!”
At the young man’s outcry, Ciello chuckled and asked back.
“Hey. If we gain independence, will my debt worth a fortune disappear?”
“How can you say such a thing…”
People looked at Ciello with a dumbfounded expression. The wrinkled face of the information merchant was also distorted.
“…Ciello. I know how hard you’ve been working. But.”
The information merchant’s eyes coldly scanned Ciello.
“Do you think he will really make you a duchess?”
Duchess. At that word, everyone around laughed. Ciello’s face turned red with embarrassment.
“Ciello. He may look stupid, but he is a confidant of the emperor. He must be doing something stupid for something of the royal family.”
Ciello couldn’t answer. Because she knew the true nature of Duke Trepe the best.
“That foolish act includes a scandal with a maid. Don’t delude yourself into thinking you’re controlling him. You’re being used by him.”
Ciello bit her lip hard. They were right, of course. But there was something that only Ciello could feel. No one would believe it if she said it, but maybe Ciello…
“Right. You might have felt a shred of sincerity from him.”
Ciello, who felt as if her mind had been read, looked up at the information merchant in surprise.
“But Ciello, you’re from Peregrine. If the commoners of the empire are nothing more than nobles’ shoe polishers, then Peregrine is no different from the ground that those commoners tread on.”
At the words of the information merchant, someone clenched their fist tightly, and someone else gritted their teeth. The information merchant quietly continued her words.
“Why do you think you were the only one named Ciello when your friends at the orphanage were called by proper names? What do you think was the reason why you, a pretty and sturdy child, couldn’t be adopted anywhere?”
“But, Reposa is also from Peregrine. Yet, she became a magician…”
The information merchant shook her head.
“The only case where someone from Peregrine has a decent job. It all depends on innate magic power. At best, they become a freelance magician. The rest are at most street vendors or construction workers. If they’re lucky, they hide their status and become servants of the royal bastards.”
The information merchant paused for a moment and looked at Ciello.
“Ciello. Just like you are now.”
Ciello closed his mouth.
“If he has any thoughts, he’ll abandon you, and if he doesn’t, he’ll be abandoned by the empire.”
Ciello bit her lip. It was such an obvious statement, but Ciello, who had lived such a hard life until now, hadn’t thought of it.
She didn’t know because she was underground. Even if she climbed up a step, that place was still the bottom.
“Even if he really wants you, he’ll have to give up his status as a duke from the moment he chooses you.”
The expression on the information merchant’s face was cold.
“Do you think he’ll give up everything for you? If he gives up, will you accept him?”
Ciello was silent. Ciello knew very well how much poverty can bring a person down. Reposa, who followed her like a sibling, betrayed her because of money. But what could she do with a man, who was suspicious of everything?
The relationship with him was a fantasy built on a contract of 600 million, piled up with pretty clothes and food. It was a luxurious illusion.
If I take away everything from him, and if nothing is left for him in return.
Could you bear such a heart that itches like now?
“I am…”
Bang!
At that moment, the door flew off with a loud noise. Those near the door screamed as they were swept away by the explosion. The startled people grabbed their weapons.
“Stay calm and get ready!”
The people inside and Ciello coughed and glared at the door. The dust slowly began to settle.
“The duke…Did the duke send them?”
But there was only one man standing at the door. People’s gazes wavered.
“I don’t use a proxy.”
“No way…!”
“Is that Duke Trepe? My God!”
People covered their mouths with shocked faces. The information merchant looked at him with a face that seemed to have expected it to some extent.
“I knew you weren’t ordinary…But you’ve finally revealed your identity.”
“No. My identity will not be revealed. You will all die here and keep your mouths shut.”
At Estribal’s cold response, someone else gritted their teeth and shouted.
“You…you, how did you find this place?”
“Did you guys think you kidnapped that woman?”
The duke smirked.
“No. I called you here.”
The duke continued to speak coldly. The atmosphere froze in the heavy chill.
“If we make Ciello’s location public under the guise of a scandal, those who gave the mission will rush in. Thanks to that, there was no need to bother searching.”
Estribal pulled out a bomb from his pocket. Someone shouted loudly.
“If you set off something like that in a place like this, do you think the woman will be safe?”
Ciello, too, seemed to think so, as he looked at him with a pale, sickly face. But the duke sneered.
“I can’t kill that woman. Even if I set off dozens of bombs, that woman will be fine.”
Ah. Ciello understood his words and let out a small sigh. It was a statement that he would use the weakness of not being able to hurt Ciello in reverse.
“And I have a body that doesn’t die easily.”
With his long finger on the pin of the bomb, the duke took a step into the room. Now all he had to do was pull the pin, blow up this place, and take Ciello away.
But for a moment, the duke’s foot hesitated. Severe pain shot through his body.
“What is this…”
Pain was also a kind of sensation, so he didn’t have it. Thus he didn’t need to protect his body when he broke into their hideout.
However.
Estribal looked at Ciello, the very cause of this pain. His bruised legs, his shoulder stabbed by a knife, and the shallow scratches that he hadn’t cared about until now were burning like fire.
‘So I end up feeling this pain again.’
He muttered so that it wouldn’t be heard. But he couldn’t back down for the sake of the plan. Once this plan was over, everything would go back to the right path.
‘To the right path…’
He gritted his teeth and took another step closer to Ciello. Then, the world that had been black and white turned red and crimson. At the same time, he felt the weight of the blood stains he had on his own body.
Colors and scents pricked his body like needles. His finger on the pin trembled.
‘This little thing.’
When he stubbornly took another step, the colors ran wild to the point where they couldn’t distinguish the shape of objects. As if to condemn his sins, as if to mock his foolishness.
Then, the only colorless, ash-colored circle caught his eye.
‘What is this…’
He wiped his blurring vision and closed his eyes deeply and opened them.
The only thing that had dyed his world but was lonely without any returned color. Yet it shone more than any gray he had seen.
It was Ciello’s gray eyes.
He moved his mouth without knowing it.
“…I’ll give you room to negotiate.”
