65. Is Kidnapping Really The Only Option?
“Is kidnapping really the only option?”
Bianca couldn’t comprehend what she had just heard.
“What… did you say?”
“I will take you away.”
Come with me.
The man had already lifted his upper body and was now sitting up straight, reaching his hand out toward Bianca. His fingers were long, straight, and strikingly large.
The realization that he was, undeniably, a man hit her in that moment. Instinctively, she took a step back.
He was just a feverish merchant, yet she felt an inexplicable pressure from him. It was as if she had been dragged before the emperor and forced to kneel.
It had been a long time since she felt this kind of helplessness.
“What kind of place is this…”
His tone suddenly changed.
Click.
He clicked his tongue and slowly ran his fingers through his disheveled hair.
Not because he was weak.
He was simply at ease.
At ease?
The moment she sensed something was off, his deep black eyes met hers and overwhelmed her.
A familiar helplessness crashed over her like a tidal wave, making her knees shake, threatening to buckle beneath her.
‘Rappin is right outside the door!’
She bit down on her cheek, forcing herself to stand upright, but she couldn’t stop the cold sweat from spreading across her body.
“You are not someone who should be treated like this.”
“Watch your words.”
It was just a short sentence, yet Bianca had to clench her teeth to keep them from chattering.
How could she even begin to describe this?
Fear?
Dread?
Helplessness?
It had been so long since she felt this way that no single word could capture it.
“Even more…”
As Bianca watched him rise slowly and step toward her, she finally understood.
This feeling—this sensation—was the very same one she had endured in the imperial palace all her life.
She had been born into a noble lineage, yet as a person, she did not exist.
That wretched despair.
And now, this man was looking at her with that same gaze.
“You saved me, didn’t you?”
His voice was excessively polite, his eyes lowered.
Yet despite that lowered gaze, he did not appear to be someone who had received a favor.
If anything, he looked like an arrogant ruler bestowing one.
Instinctively, she recoiled.
“I will take you away.”
“I refuse.”
“You don’t need to be mindful of others. You didn’t come here by choice, did you?”
“Not by choice?”
Something inside her snapped.
The suffocating pressure he exuded vanished in an instant, drowned out by her rage.
“Not by choice?”
They had cast her aside to die, and now he dared to tell her this?
When Sylas Baloch died and the emperor, like a coward, threw her away under the guise of a political marriage…who had stood up for her then?
And now, now, he wanted to take her away because she hadn’t come here by choice?
Her fury reached its limit and exploded like a volcano.
Her thoughts fractured, forming no coherent sentences.
She had never been this angry in her entire life.
“How dare you!”
At her shrill outburst, the man’s face stiffened for a moment. Then, slowly, he raised both hands.
“I’ve angered you again, haven’t I?”
“Madam!”
Before he could finish his words, the door burst open, and Rappin and Julie rushed in.
Rappin immediately drew his sword, pointing it at the man.
“What is going on?”
Both were visibly shocked.
The supposedly unconscious patient was standing, while Bianca was furious.
To them, Bianca was as soft as swan.
She always wore a gentle expression, spoke in an even softer voice, and tolerated the nagging of impertinent maids with a smile.
She even nodded understandingly at the insufferable lectures of the six fortresses’ commanders.
And yet now, she was furious.
Julie tensed as well, scanning Bianca for any signs of distress.
“Shall we remove him?”
Do it Immediately!
But before the words could leave her lips, Bianca found herself unable to speak.
Her eyes remained locked on the man, who stood there unsteady, both hands raised in surrender.
She wanted to punish him for his insolence.
Yet, despite everything, she couldn’t look away from his sickly appearance.
How ironic.
Was this hypocrisy?
What would Jillian do?
What would the true master of Baloch do?
A flood of thoughts surged through her, only to disappear just as quickly.
After a long silence, Bianca raised her hand and pointed at the man.
“Make sure he doesn’t appear before me again. His lack of manners is insufferable.”
“…I will be careful.”
Bianca did not respond to him, her expression icy.
As she stepped out of the room, Julie and Rappin swiftly followed behind.
“Are you all right?”
“…”
No, I’m not.
But punishing that man would feel like losing and she refused to lose.
‘You didn’t come here by choice, did you?’
‘Can you endure this cold?’
Maybe she was this angry because he had struck a nerve.
His words had been rude, but not entirely false.
She hadn’t come here by choice.
And she wasn’t fully accustomed to the cold.
From the outside, her situation was exactly as he had described.
No more, no less.
If anything, his belated offer of kindness could be seen as goodwill.
But kindness delayed too long turns into poison.
‘I will take you away.’
‘Come with me.’
Those words…
They should have been said in the summer.
Before Bianca met Jillian.
Before Bianca had to endure her fears alone.
If he had said them then, she might have truly wept and reached for his hand.
She might have been moved.
She might have clung to him as if he were her only hope.
But not anymore.
She wasn’t trapped in “this place,” as he sneered. This was not somewhere she needed to flee.
This place…was her home.
No one had ever offered her a home before.
But Jillian Baloch had.
She knew this land was harsh and unforgiving.
She knew it was a dreadful place where monsters surged in like relentless waves.
But that didn’t change the truth.
This was her home. The place where the person she loved resided.
Now, it was Bianca herself who desperately wished to live here, no one else.
Even if others saw it as shabby and dreadful, she did not care. But how dare he?
Even if it was the truth, the more she dwelled on it, the angrier she became.
Yet, in the end, Bianca did not tell Rappin to dispose of him; he was an outsider who knew nothing of her circumstances.
He was also someone who owed her his life. She knew this was just a forced act of goodwill nothing more. And so, there would be no second act of kindness.
Tap, tap.
The ducal castle, stripped of its giant rabbit fur, was cold and frigid. Bianca trembled lightly as she walked.
Suddenly, she found herself longing to see someone who endured even colder and harsher places than she did.
The one who carried the burning sun in his eyes.
If he were here, this place would feel like spring.
***
“What could it be?”
The man’s staggering form had vanished. Now, he stood straight, arms crossed, lost in thought.
“What’s the issue?”
He asked himself, but there was no answer.
The once-boisterous crowd had now pressed their faces to the floor in silence.
“…May I speak, my lord?”
“Speak.”
“Elephants are trained from birth. They are shackled at the ankles as soon as they are born and fed milk instead of their mother’s.”
The man continued speaking as he lay flat against the cold ground.
“And they are disciplined accordingly, taught obedience through restrictions.”
“Later, even without the shackles, they do not run away.”
The man standing above him chuckled, lowering his gaze.
“Are you saying the princess is the same? That even without chains, she submits due to habits ingrained in childhood?”
“If I may be so bold, that seems to be the case.”
Though he scoffed, there were too many things that fit for him to deny it outright.
The man scraped a white scab from his lip with slow deliberation as he walked. Though his boots had thick soles, the cold still seeped through, numbing his toes.
What a truly dreadful place.
Each breath he took felt like swallowing ice, freezing him from the inside out.
Who in their right mind would like such a place?
He absentmindedly scratched at his lips, tearing off the remnants of the scab.
Within moments, the previously marred surface was smooth once again. His lips, full and red, were sensual—almost indecently so.
The man moved his hand from his lips to his jaw. Running his fingers along the seemingly ordinary curve, he suddenly applied pressure at the meeting point beneath his ear.
His knuckles whitened from the force, and in an instant, the skin on his jaw peeled away.
And that was just the beginning.
Without a word, he continued to strip his own face. His nose, eyelids, forehead…everything came off.
What remained underneath was a strikingly handsome man with jet-black hair and obsidian-like eyes.
“So, coaxing won’t work?”
The man lying on the ground hurriedly nodded.
“It seems unlikely, Lord Izar.”
“What a shame. I thought we’d have a reasonable conversation. I even went to the trouble of preparing a seat for her, yet she plans to walk away.”
“Perhaps we could have that conversation later?”
“Hm…”
“When one spends too long in the cold, everything feels bland. It’s not the same as enjoying sweet tea in a sunlit garden.”
The subordinate, who had been lying flat, carefully gathered the discarded pieces of Izar’s fake face.
Another man, middle-aged yet agile, also rose to his feet. Without hesitation, he peeled off his own face, revealing a youthful countenance beneath.
He was Salvar, Izar’s lieutenant.
“What about the transportation circle?”
“It’s unusable. The snow is falling so heavily that it covers the circle faster than we can clear it. Without an exposed sigil, activation is impossible.”
“They should’ve built a pavilion ahead of time.”
“It’s said that waves of monsters erupt during heavy snowfall. They didn’t want to risk creatures crossing over, so they refrained from building one.”
“Amazing. Truly amazing…this level of devotion.”
Though his tone was sarcastic, Izar was genuinely envious.
A knight who would go to such lengths to protect the imperial family…
What emperor wouldn’t want such a warrior?
Killing such a man only made the emperor seem even more insane.
“In any case, this won’t be easy. I wanted to bring her willingly, but the situation isn’t cooperating.”
“For now, given the circumstances, we should take her as soon as the snow lets up.”
“And if persuasion fails?”
“Then do as you see fit. I will follow your lead.”
Izar ran a hand through his long black hair, his voice laced with lazy amusement.
“So, kidnapping is our only option?”
She’s going to hate me for this.
Despite his words, Izar grinned as if thoroughly entertained by what was to come.
