Episode 52

“Peter?”

Peter was standing on a tree branch.

It was baffling why he was here when he had said he was heading back to his hometown.

“Miss, please step back!”

Peter jumped down from the tree and stood protectively in front of me.

The assassins seemed momentarily taken aback by Peter’s sudden appearance.

I didn’t know why Peter was here, but he had faced high-level monsters alone before.

‘There’s a chance.’

No, if Peter helped Desar, they would definitely win.

My prediction was spot on.

Desar and Peter, without hesitation, started attacking the assassins.

The assassins, momentarily overwhelmed, fought back with dark magic, but the tide had already turned.

 

* * *

Watching Sierra head towards the terrace, Orzen smirked.

Sierra would never return alive from this.

‘Our unfortunate connection ends here, you fool.’

Silla, who had lured Sierra to the terrace, was under hypnosis.

She stared blankly at Sierra’s direction.

Orzen signaled the assassin who was waiting somewhere in the banquet hall.

As soon as Sierra stepped onto the terrace, she would be instantly teleported to the distant forest.

‘And she will die without a trace by the assassin’s hand.’

“What are you thinking so deeply about?”

Beth nudged him and asked.

She, too, looked slightly flushed with excitement, anticipating their planned scheme.

“Thinking about killing Sierra and driving my brother mad.”

Orzen blurted out his thoughts, causing Beth to gasp and smack his back loudly.

She then glanced around cautiously and whispered,

“Are you crazy? What if someone heard that?”

Honestly, he was such a reckless man. Beth glared at her husband as if she wanted to kill him.

“Oh, maybe I drank too much wine earlier…?”

Orzen scratched his head, mumbling as if he didn’t understand why he had said that.

He had been so startled when he met Sierra’s suspicious gaze while they drank the wine.

Even though they had done nothing to the wine, he was terrified the plan might fail.

So, he had deliberately gulped down the wine to show her, and now he felt the alcohol kicking in.

“Anyway, this time there won’t be any failure.”

He spoke with a grim expression, recalling Marquis Crea’s menacing warning.

The Marquis was likely still somewhere in the banquet hall, but Orzen wouldn’t dare approach him until the job was done.

Last time, Marquis Crea introduced him to a secretive group known as “Twilight.”

Twilight operated like a guild, taking on assignments, but their base fee started at a whopping 10 million gold.

Typically, they were hired for assassinations of high-ranking nobles or royalty, with no record of failure.

The only unsettling part was,

‘Those markings on their faces….’

The leader of Twilight, whom I met when paying, had his face half-covered by a black robe.

However, in the brief moment I saw his face, more than half of it was covered in grotesque markings.

I had heard rumors that dark mages had such markings on their faces, but seeing it in person was far more chilling.

The attempts to poison Dr. Cesar during the Dregerus poisoning incident, and hypnotizing the maid Hilda into a false confession.

These were all actions orchestrated by Twilight at the behest of Marquis Crea.

The Crea family, having recently risen to wealth, had many dark connections, one of which was with Twilight.

I had thought Beth handled things well back then, but now I realize it was a very dangerous act.

Dark magic was forbidden not just in the empire but worldwide, and being caught would mean extermination for the entire family.

Using dark magic to mentally dominate a doctor or a maid was one thing, but attempting to assassinate the daughter of the Drenihan Duke was a different matter.

Since the request was so high-risk, Marquis Crea didn’t step in directly.

Ultimately, he pushed Orzen to the front lines….

‘Will it be okay?’

Suddenly, Orzen started to feel a pang of fear.

Twilight’s missions were said to be foolproof.

Taking care of a single bodyguard wouldn’t be a problem for them.

‘That young, naive boy who stayed by my father’s side.’

As Orzen remembered, Desar was just a lowly knight of common birth.

He had never even set foot in the training grounds, so how much skill could that naive boy have?

He would just be another companion for Sierra on her way to the afterlife.

‘It’ll be fine. It has to be.’

Thinking that, his previously anxious heart calmed down.

Once Sierra was gone, Serkhan would surely crumble.

The useless young duke would be cast aside, and Thergon would have no choice but to call upon Orzen.

‘Yes, I am not meant to be satisfied with the title of a viscount.’

Being born a duke’s son, living as a rural lord was unacceptable.

“You seem to be in a good mood today. Made some money?”

Count Zeld, Orzen’s gambling buddy, nudged him and asked.

“Haha, I got something more valuable than money.”

Imagining himself in the seat of power of the Drenihan Dukedom, Orzen laughed heartily.

“D-Dear….”

“Huh, what is it, Beth?”

“Look, over there. Quickly!”

Beth’s voice was trembling like a leaf, urging Orzen.

“What’s the matter… What?”

Orzen looked in the direction Beth was pointing and couldn’t believe his eyes.

There she was….

“Why is she here?”

Sierra, who should have been sent to her death, calmly stepped into the banquet hall.

Even after rubbing his eyes, it was unmistakably Sierra.

The only difference was that her dress was soaked with blood, indicating she had been through something terrible.

People were buzzing, staring at Sierra’s terrifying appearance.

“Sierra!”

Arzen pushed through the crowd and rushed to her.

“What on earth happened?”

He supported the staggering Sierra, his face pale.

“Arzen….”

“All this blood, what happened?”

“Assassins attacked me.”

The crowd gasped at Sierra’s strained voice.

“Assassins?”

“Who would dare send assassins in the imperial palace!”

“First during the awakening celebration, now this. There are many who want Lady Drenihan dead.”

“What grudge could they have against that poor young lady…”

“Who could be behind this?”

The banquet hall was in chaos around Sierra.

“Thanks to the knights, I barely escaped with my life. We even identified the mastermind behind the assassins.”

“Who is it?”

Arzen shouted, his voice filled with rage.

People held their breath, waiting for Sierra to speak.

Orzen and Beth looked like they were about to faint.

Sierra staggered out of Arzen’s arms and walked towards them.

Standing in front of Orzen and Beth, Sierra cried pitifully.

“Why do you hate me so much, both of you?”

The surrounding crowd gasped.

The culprit was none other than her own uncle and aunt.

“W-What?!”

Orzen’s voice shook with confusion.

“Uncle, you hired the assassins to kill me, didn’t you?!”

“Th-That…! Yes!”

“……?”

Beth looked at Orzen, bewildered as he confessed without hesitation.

Orzen, with his eyes wide open, seemed more shocked than anyone.

“Why would you do that to me? We’re family!”

“You… You had to die so that my brother would fall, and I would become the duke!”

Orzen couldn’t control his mouth.

He himself didn’t know why he was blabbering.

“Are you mad? What are you saying!”

Beth glared at him with contempt.

“He’s just drunk too much, everyone! Don’t misunderstand!”

“Aunt!”

“……”

Sierra’s desperate cry made Beth fall silent.

“Do you know who put Dregerus poison in my tea during the awakening celebration?”

Beth tried to refute, asking what she was talking about, but her voice failed her.

In her panic, her mouth moved on its own.

“I-I did.”

“……!”

Sierra, who had been crying, suddenly smirked.