Chapter 7

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Translator: Harry Potta
Chapter: 7
Chapter Title: A Knight's Duty
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Only then did Aileen remember why she had come here. Her mind, completely captivated by Cesare, slowly began to return to her. The reality of what she had just experienced gradually dawned on her.

“I should get going. Someone is waiting for me.”

Cesare briefly glanced toward the door. Frowning slightly, he slowly caressed Aileen's wrist. He rubbed the bite mark he had left, speaking as if soothing a child.

“Go to bed early, Aileen.”

Aileen nodded again. But she already knew. There was no way she would be falling asleep early tonight.

***

Diego watched the back of the carriage as it disappeared into the distance. Cars were a luxury, so they tended to use carriages when they wanted to remain inconspicuous.

If he had his way, he would have escorted the young lady home himself, but he had work to do. He had no choice but to have his most trusted subordinate see her home.

Diego watched until the carriage was completely out of sight, then let out a long sigh.

“Shit.”

Of all the times to run into the young lady, it had to be while he was working at a place like this. His luck was just rotten.

“Rotan should have gotten this shift.”

No matter how he thought about it, it seemed Rotan always got to play the good guy. Meanwhile, he might as well be scum to the young lady now.

He planned to make up for today by visiting her soon with a stuffed rabbit. Scheming of ways to get back in her good graces, Diego went back inside the building.

He ambled inside and pressed a section of the wall next to the stairs. A rectangular crack appeared on the smooth wall, and a door swung open. Beyond the door was another staircase, one that led to the basement.

A chill hung in the air on the stairs, which were sparsely lit by faint lanterns. It was a gloomy space, repulsive at a glance, but Diego whistled as he descended the steps.

The farther down he went, the more the metallic scent of blood wafted up to meet him. At the bottom of the stairs, a spacious underground area opened up. The high-ceilinged basement was divided into sections by iron bars.

Diego headed for the innermost section, his thoughts turning to Aileen's research. He was the type to avoid books, so he couldn't make heads or tails of the densely packed text. But Senon, after reading through all the research materials confiscated from Aileen's lab, had declared with certainty:

“Morpheus will change history.”

A drug that maximized its effects by extracting only the analgesic components from opium.

Despite the side effect of addiction, its pain-relieving properties were undeniable. For the wounded on the battlefield, as well as for patients suffering in the throes of death, Morpheus would be a final salvation.

Senon had also strongly argued that the very act of extracting a single compound from a plant was incredibly significant, spouting a stream of words Diego couldn't understand before making his case.

“Your Excellency. This drug will bring new glory to the Empire. Please support Lady Aileen's research.”

However, since its primary ingredient was a narcotic, they would have to prove its definitive efficacy to avoid punishment.

If Cesare secretly protected Aileen until her research was complete, then supported it as the Grand Duke by demonstrating the finished product's effects, it was a gamble worth taking.

‘And if she becomes the Grand Duchess, no one would dare touch her.’

No matter how much the Grand Duke cherished her, right now, she was merely the daughter of a minor noble house. Diego and the Grand Duke's other knights fervently wished for Aileen to become the Grand Duchess.

Only then could they protect her completely.

Ever since she was a child, Aileen had a strange knack for getting caught up in incidents. She had a particular talent for attracting dangerous people. Catching Cesare's attention was a prime example. A man who never showed interest in others had taken an interest in Aileen, and had even grown to feel affection for her.

Throughout her youth, Aileen constantly found herself entangled with strange men. If not for the knights who, under Cesare's orders, kept her surroundings clean, she would have likely met with disaster long ago.

Over the long years of watching over Aileen, the Grand Duke's subordinates had come to genuinely care for her. Thus, when Cesare declared he would take Aileen as his Grand Duchess, they were all inwardly delighted.

After all, Aileen would have to marry someone eventually. Marrying Cesare was far better than her getting entangled with another strange man and marrying him.

‘Still… it is a bit sudden.’

Diego's master had doted on Aileen for a long time, but not in a romantic sense. She was, for all intents and purposes, his child.

But on the day he claimed victory in the war against the Kalpen Kingdom.

From that day on, Cesare became strange. The first time Diego felt something was off was when they brought the King of Kalpen to his knees.

Normally, Cesare rarely showed his emotions. He was a cold and rational being in any situation. But that day, Cesare showed a side of himself that Diego had never seen in all his years of service.

He stared down blankly at the kneeling King of Kalpen. After a long silence, he suddenly muttered something incomprehensible.

“Was it seven years ago?”

He slowly closed his eyes, then opened them and burst into laughter. Seeing him laugh like a madman, Diego felt a chilling fear. After laughing maniacally for a long while, Cesare let out a languid breath.

“Ah…”

His crimson eyes gleamed as he smiled.

“Finally.”

Then he drew his sword and cut off the King of Kalpen's head.

It happened before anyone had a chance to stop him. By the time the blade flashed, the king's head was already severed.

The head flew, and a fountain of blood erupted from the severed neck. As they stared at the king's decapitated corpse, the Grand Duke's knights couldn't hide their shock.

It was an act uncharacteristic of Cesare.

The Cesare he knew would have kept the King of Kalpen alive. He would have let him live until his usefulness ran out; it was unbelievable that he would commit such an impulsive slaughter. It was also strange that he had used a sword to sever the neck when he was carrying a gun.

Afterward, Cesare regained his composure. He acted with the utmost calm and rationality, as if the moment he'd laughed like a madman while cutting off the king's head had been a lie.

But everyone could feel it. From the moment he beheaded the king, Cesare had changed.

Objectively speaking, Cesare had become much wiser than before. He had grown more seasoned, as if he had aged years in an instant, and he could even see through to the future. It was as if he had stolen wisdom from the heavens themselves.

However, unlike before, an impulsive side had also emerged. He sometimes acted like a broken man, and it was always in matters related to Aileen Elorde.

“I'm going to marry Aileen.”

Cesare had gathered the knights preparing for their return to the Empire and made the sudden declaration. While everyone was frozen in shock, Rotan spoke the blunt truth.

“Lady Aileen will likely feel burdened by this.”

“It can't be helped, even if she doesn't like it. It's better than having her head chopped off at the guillotine.”

Cesare smiled faintly and once again said something incomprehensible.

“Because I… I won't let it happen a second time.”

What could that have meant? He wasn't one to speak nonsense, so it must have meant something…

Diego, who had been trying to guess Cesare's intentions, quickly shook the thought away.

He pulled open the thick iron door in front of him. The door opened smoothly, without a single rusty creak. As Diego stepped inside, he heard a squelching sound and clicked his tongue.

“Ugh.”

He had stepped right into a pool of blood. He wrinkled his nose and scanned the interior. On a chair in the center of the room, a lump of flesh, its form barely recognizable, was tied down. The blood flowing from it was covering the entire floor.

A man who had been huddled in a corner, not even daring to breathe, hiccuped and scrambled out.

“Hic, hic, Sir D-Diego!”

The man who emerged as if he'd met his savior was Aileen's father, Baron Elorde. The baron's crotch was soaked.

As Diego's eyes narrowed at the acrid smell of urine, Baron Elorde, who had been about to cling to his feet, noticed his expression and quickly backed away.

Diego first saluted his master. Cesare acknowledged the salute with a gesture. The soldiers immediately put down their torture instruments and stood at attention.

Unlike the interior, which reeked of blood, Cesare's attire was immaculate, without a single drop of blood on it. With his arms crossed, he spoke in a leisurely tone.

“Don't let him drink, Diego.”