Chapter 032
Harold stepped right up to Vincent, who was covered head to toe in filth. He slowly looked him over, from top to bottom, with a mocking gaze.
“If I threw you into the garbage dump right now, no one would know. You reek, and you’re filthy—anyone would think you’re trash.”
“Stop insulting me and let me go!” Vincent begged.
“Think, Vincent. If I was going to let you go, would I have brought you here?” Harold tilted his head and let out a cold laugh.
“Then tell me what you want! I’ll speak to my father and make sure he listens to you!” Vincent bit his lower lip, desperate to negotiate. Surely Harold had a reason for sparing him and would use him for something related to his father.
“Vincent, do you really think your life is still that valuable?”
“I’m the only legitimate heir of Viscount Garcia!”
“But your father abandoned you.”
“If he calms down, he will surely—!”
“Surely, he’ll take you back? Maybe, but by then, you won’t even be alive. Too bad.”
“…!”
Vincent’s eyes widened in terror.
Not alive? Does he mean…?
“Are you saying you’re going to kill me? After bringing me all the way here?” Vincent turned pale, and fear overtook him. He began to beg for his life.
“Please spare me! If you let me live, my father will give you whatever you want!”
“But what I want is your life.”
“Your Grace!”
“Don’t worry. You won’t die easily.”
Harold signaled to Anais, the guild leader.
With a grimace, the guild leader grabbed Vincent’s jaw and forced his mouth open.
“Ah! No! Stop it!”
Despite Vincent’s struggles, the guild leader poured a thick purple liquid into his mouth and made him swallow it.
“Ugh, disgusting. Your Grace, don’t make me do things like this. I’ve got a weak stomach,” the guild leader complained before stepping back.
“Gah!”
Vincent gagged and tried to throw up, but nothing came out. His stomach churned, and tears streamed down his face.
Am I really going to die? Because of that idiot Diana?
“I… I don’t want to die… not like this…”
He had once dreamed of becoming the next Viscount Garcia, but now his future was slipping away from his hands.
“Please…”
But Harold showed no intention of sparing him, no matter what Vincent offered.
“Am I really going to die like this?”
Vincent raised his head, his bloodshot eyes glaring at Harold. His despair and fear twisted into anger and malice, erupting from his lips.
“You’ll regret marrying Diana! Do you know how wicked she is? On the day of my mother’s funeral, that lunatic was laughing by herself! You’re living with a bastard woman! She’s called a villain for a reason!”
Harold, who had been about to leave, suddenly froze.
‘Even Harold Vissen is shaken by this,’ Vincent thought with a cruel smile. But that smile disappeared when Harold turned to look at him, his gaze steady and cold.
“Why… why are you looking at me like that?” Vincent stammered.
“You think I wouldn’t have looked into her past? Diana’s mother didn’t die by chance—she was murdered by none other than your own mother, the Viscountess of Garcia. Isn’t it insane to mourn at the death of the killer?”
Vincent scrambled to find another argument.
“But surely you know about all the other terrible things she’s done!”
“I do. And I love her anyway.”
Harold smirked as if he’d just remembered something.
“Oh, I forgot to tell you what you drank. Have you heard of Fallen Angel’s Tears?”
“…!”
Vincent froze. Fallen Angel’s Tears was infamous—a poison that killed slowly, starting with the feet and gradually rotting the entire body over a month. The pain was so unbearable that most victims begged to be killed quickly instead.
“I told you, you wouldn’t die easily.”
“Your Grace! Your Grace!” Vincent’s desperate cries echoed as Harold walked out, shutting the heavy metal door behind him. The door creaked shut, swallowing Vincent’s screams.
At the same time
As the sky turned golden at dusk, the bread we had been distributing ran out.
“Thank you all for your hard work!”
As we packed up, most of the people who had been lingering nearby walked away, disappointed. But a few stayed behind, unwilling to leave yet. Among them were some young beggars, who entertained themselves by singing a little song:
“Hide, hide, the night is near,
Hide, hide, away from the witch,
Hide, hide, who will disappear by morning?”
The eerie melody made me pause as I stopped cleaning and watched the children as they sang and played.
‘This song… I haven’t heard it in such a long time.’
“The song is very lively, but the lyrics are scary,” Dante said with a frown beside me.
“It’s a song warning people not to get abducted by witches,” I explained.
After wizards disappeared, centuries later, witches began to spread the belief that magic was the power of demons. They claimed that offering sacrifices to demons allowed them to use magic, and they sold mystical items like crystal balls to predict the future.
‘Although in reality, they were just ordinary people who were either perceptive or good with words,’ I thought.
However, witches continued to crave special power. Their sacrifices escalated from animals to humans. Five years ago, it was revealed that witches had secretly kidnapped people for rituals.
“Weren’t most of the witches, including their leader Reina, executed five years ago?”
I nodded.
As Dante said, Reina, who had first suggested using humans as sacrifices, and the seven witches who supported her, were all executed. Ordinary people who followed them received severe punishments as well.
It was the first time that Reina and the other witches, who had always concealed their faces, were publicly revealed.
I shifted my gaze from the children to Dante.
“To those children, there’s not much difference between then and now.”
They were still exposed to hunger and dangers, uncertain of when they would die.
“Is that so… Haha…” Dante laughed awkwardly and adjusted his glasses.
“When I was younger, the capital didn’t have songs like that,” he continued. “Seeing it with my own eyes now, it’s different than I imagined.”
“Did you visit the capital before?”
“Yes, briefly. Back then, life was much easier. His Majesty the Emperor cared for the people, and the security of the capital was good.”
As Dante gazed at the setting sun, his face seemed tinged with bitterness. The contrast between how he smiled at the people when distributing bread and his current expression was different.
“Do you think things will get better?”
“It will, for sure.”
“Duchess, you truly believed things would get better?”
“Yes.”
I said firmly.
“It’s like when the sun sets; it’ll rise again eventually.”
In a side story, it was mentioned that once the new Emperor ascended, they would strengthen public safety and take care of the people.
In other words, it meant that public safety wasn’t great at the moment, but still, the important thing was that there was hope.
“By then, I believe that song will no longer be heard.”
Dante stared at me blankly. Was I too direct?
“It’s just my hope. Anyway, I’ll go finish up the cleaning.”
“Ah! Let me go with you! We need to hurry and finish so we can head back!”
I turned to the voice and saw Dante hurriedly approaching.
Is he going to trip again? He’s already fallen three times today; I was worried his knees wouldn’t hold up.
“Watch out for the stone ahead… Dante!”
Before I could finish my warning, Dante tripped over a stone.
I quickly grabbed him to support him without thinking, and while my body was pushed back, I managed to regain my balance.
“Phew… I’m glad we didn’t both fall.”
I inwardly sighed in relief, realizing how close I was to falling myself.
“Are you okay, Dante?”
“Yes, yes. Thank you for catching me.”
Dante, who hadn’t expected me to catch him, looked up at me with wide eyes, his face turning bright red.
At that moment, I heard a ‘thud’ sound.
“Huh?”
I looked in the direction of the sound and saw a bouquet of flowers and… Harold.
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