The Escort Knight Who Is Obsessed by the Villainess Wants to Escape - Chapter 46.1

“……”

Barak narrowed his eyes slightly.

The spacious bedroom was filled with the smell of charcoal.

Beside him, some object was burning.

In front of him, something was divided into several pieces.

He habitually took out a cigarette, lit it with the fire burning next to him, and held it to his lips.

He took a drag and exhaled.

Smoke rose into the air.

As he blankly watched the smoke, the door opened.

A figure clad in black armor entered.

On the chest of the armor, a blazing emblem: the symbol of the sun.

It was a member of the Bevel family’s secret corps, the Black Spot.

Blood was dripping over the armor.

“Everything has been taken care of, my lord,”

The knight said, bowing with precision.

Barak flicked the ash from his cigarette onto the object in front of him and asked,

“Did you take care of everything without exception?”

His eyes glowed a flickering crimson, a symbol of the Bevel family wizards who inherited the power of fire.

When using magic, their eyes would change.

“Yes. I checked multiple times. There are no survivors.”

“Good.”

Barak took another long drag of his cigarette.

He exhaled and flicked the ash onto the object in front of him again.

It was the dismembered corpse of a person.

The body in front of him was the father of Marquis Sardis.

The burning object beside him was the mother.

As of today, everyone bearing the name Sardis in this world had been eliminated.

After weeks of pursuit, they left no seed behind.

They showed no mercy to women, the elderly, or children.

The family was annihilated.

However, the Marquisate of Sardis was not gone.

A confidant selected by Barak would bear the name and maintain the presence of the Marquisate.

So that Eliza would not know of this fact.

The dismembered corpse of Sardis’s father was charred black.

Except for the face.

Despite his neck being cut, he was still alive.

Barak had kept him alive forcibly using healing magic.

He could not speak, only barely gasping for air.

His cooked eyes could see nothing, staring into the void.

Barak looked down at him and gestured to the Black Spot.

The Black Spot immediately brought a sack.

A sack they had been carrying for today.

Barak rummaged through the sack and took out something round, placing it in front of the father’s face.

It was the head of a person.

The head of Marquis Sardis, who had dared to commit a heinous act against Eliza.

It had been preserved by freezing.

The father, with his cooked eyes, did not even recognize that his son was in front of him.

Barak extinguished his cigarette on the head of Marquis Sardis.

Then he spoke indifferently.

“Let’s go back.”

“Yes, sir!”

***

Barak’s carriage left the burning mansion behind.

Around it, Black Spot knights on horseback formed a formation and rode.

Barak, seated in his single-person carriage, exhaled deeply.

He sank into the soft seat.

Under his closed eyes, dark traces were evident.

I haven’t been able to sleep properly for weeks.

It wasn’t just because of the destruction of the Sardis Marquis family and other official duties.

Since sending Narcissa into exile, I have received countless letters from her.

Asking how I could do such a thing.

Barak couldn’t blame anyone.

He never imagined Narcissa would hit Eliza.

But if he had paid a little more attention, such a thing wouldn’t have happened.

He bore a significant share of the blame.

The children’s petitions were equally persistent.

Especially the fifth daughter, who grew up showered with Narcissa’s love.

Except for Eliza, the youngest daughter, Sarah, whined every day.

But Narcissa violated the family’s internal regulations.

No matter how precious family was, it couldn’t stand above the rules.

Moreover, Narcissa’s exile was a considerate measure.

The place she was sent to was more of a resort than an exile.

Knowing her personality, just being exiled would infuriate her.

But that wasn’t all.

Judas.

An arrogant brat.

He wanted to get rid of him, but he couldn’t because of Eliza.

Judas was the child Eliza chose.

He remembered the look in his daughter’s eyes when she looked at Judas.

A tender look he had never seen before.

An unadorned bare face.

Though he was undoubtedly a lousy father, seeing Eliza in that way was not just unfamiliar but shocking.

So he wanted to confirm it.

To see how great of a guy he really was.

To see if he was worthy.

He couldn’t go himself, so he sent a few others, but they overstepped their orders.

No, they already had.

What on earth did they do for Eliza to personally instruct the mayor of Selene to take administrative action?

Dallant and Gaston.

There are two reasons for doing things not ordered.

Overzealous loyalty.

Or, a smokescreen of overzealous loyalty.

He was too busy to verify it himself.

All these issues were trivial.

The real problem lay elsewhere.

His grand ambition.

The long-cherished goal that he had to partly neglect Eliza’s feelings for.

Knowing it was an excuse, Barak had no choice.

The matter was too great and grand.

One of the reasons he placed Lia by Eliza’s side.

The most critical contact for achieving that grand ambition had lost contact.

Claiming to be on a pilgrimage.

“If only that task succeeded, everyone would be rewarded…. Why at this point….”

Anggra.

Barak was searching for him.

***

“Do you think Barak is targeting Dylan and Richard? As a means to pressure you?”

Shylock said.

I didn’t answer immediately.

I had considered that possibility.

However, it didn’t quite add up. Not enough to affirm it.

“That might be the case, but I think…. there’s another purpose.”

“Like what?”

“…I don’t know?”

“……”

“I said there might be another purpose, not that I knew what it was.”

“There must be a reason you think that way.”

“It just…. feels a bit off, doesn’t it?”

Shylock and Hermes were silent for a moment, seemingly contemplating my words.

“Actually, at first, I also thought that the Grand Duke was targeting Dylan and Richard. It wasn’t just Gaston this time; a similar incident happened once more. I went on a commission last weekend…”

I told Shylock about what had happened over the weekend.

Richard lying collapsed in an alley.

The adult men assaulting him.

It overlapped with the scene of Dylan being beaten.

“At that time, those men recognized Lady Eliza instantly.”

“It’s suspicious. Until I was assigned here, I had no idea what the young lady looked like either.”

“Someone must have informed them, right?”

“Probably. Where did you go then?”

“Sel…”

…Thump!

Selene.

The name of the city we visited to assist the Aquines priest.

I was about to say the name of that city.

I remembered it.

But for some reason, my heart felt heavy.

My heart pounded so hard it hurt.

It was like this last time too.

When I checked the mission from that place, a part of my heart felt strange.

“Judas? Why all of a sudden… Damn. The place where you got hit earlier hurts, doesn’t it? I should have taken you to the infirmary first…”

“Judas? Are you okay?”

I shook my head at the two who were looking at me with concern.

The emblem of the Bevel family on Shylock and Hermes’s clothes.

The sun pattern.

Seeing that made me feel even more twisted inside.

“No, it’s nothing. I’m fine.”

I forced out the words.

It didn’t sound convincing at all.

‘What’s wrong with me…?’

I felt suffocated but couldn’t waste any more time.

“I wasn’t even hit. I’ll check it out later. Anyway, it’s the city of Selene.”

“Selene? Are you sure?”

“Yes. Why do you ask?”

“I didn’t tell you, but I’ve been keeping an eye on Dallant and Gaston.”

Since the time Shylock decided to confide in me and be on my side, he had been closely observing the two.

To report to me if anything suspicious happened.

“But in the past few days, Dallant has been frequently going to Selene. At first, I didn’t think much of it, but now, hearing what you said…”

“Dallant must be involved in the matter with Richard.”

“Very likely.”

Then it all makes sense.

The reason why the protection fee paid by Richard’s orphanage suddenly increased in the past few weeks.

The reason why those thugs recognized Eliza.

It all points to one cause.

Dallant’s intervention orchestrated by Barak.

‘Did they really need to inform them of Eliza’s appearance?’

Shylock solved that question for me.

“Dallant seems more thorough than I thought.”

“Excuse me?”

“Right after finding out you were going to Selene for a commission, he informed them immediately. He didn’t ignore the slightest chance that they might run into you and even hinted about Lady Eliza.”

Shylock said he wasn’t particularly concerned about my movements.

Since Hermes was following me, he had no reason to worry.

The other two were different.

They were always keeping an eye on my movements.

Looking for any opportunity to strike.

It makes sense.

Barak is trying to pressure me by any means necessary.

Using close individuals like Dylan and Richard as tools.

It’s a petty and common tactic.

“It makes sense, but that’s why it feels so strange.”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t know the Duke very well, but is he the kind of person to use such roundabout methods?”

“Hmm… That’s true. The Duke of Barak is known for his thorough handling. Once he targets someone, he makes sure to eradicate them completely.”

Shylock agreed with my suspicion.

“He might implement guilt-by-association and kill the family too, but this is somewhat… ambiguous. By the way, what did you do wrong to the Duke?”

Being in the same bed as Eliza….

No, is that my fault?

Eliza barged in on her own!

“Why is your face suddenly turning red?”

“…It’s not.”

“It’s very red!”

Even Hermes asked, looking at my face.

I hurriedly shook my head.

“Well, anyway. I argued with the Duke at the last lady’s birthday banquet.”

“Why did you do that?”

“There was a reason for it. Do you think I asked him to kill me?”

“It wouldn’t be strange if you did.”

“It’s related to the lady, so I can’t go into details.”

“Hmm, I see. I understand your loyalty to your master who always favors you…”

“Of course…”

“Both of you, be quiet. Anyway. I don’t know if I should use this word, but isn’t this method too childish for someone like the Duke?”

“It’s a fitting expression.”

I felt the same way last time.

The Duke’s actions were too childish and crude.

It’s almost like…

“It feels like I’m being tested in a strange way…”

“…Tested?”

Shylock and Hermes repeated the word with dumbfounded faces.

Then they clutched their stomachs and burst into laughter.

“…Why are you laughing?”

“Ah, hahaha! The Duke? Testing you? Why, as a potential son-in-law for Lady Eliza?”

“Exactly! Of course! A son-in-law must go through a rigorous verification process!”

“When did I ever say that!”

Shylock and Hermes laughed until their faces turned red.

I held my throbbing head in my hands in front of them.

After a long while, Shylock wiped his eyes and composed himself.

Hermes still couldn’t stop laughing and kept grinning at me.

“Ah, it’s been a long time since I laughed this hard. Thank you.”

“……”

“So, a test, huh. Hmm.”

“Of course, if you want to stay by the lady’s side, a test is necessary.”

“Please…”

“But didn’t you say it yourself?”

“Well, yes, but…”

Hermes chuckled.

Still smirking, Shylock came up with a plausible idea.

“Let’s assume what you’re saying is true. Then it would be Gaston and Dallant acting independently?”

“Testing if you’re a legitimate son-in-law…”

I clamped Hermes’ mouth shut.

“Whatever it is! If my hypothesis is correct.”

“Hmm…”

After a brief contemplation, Shylock spoke.

“Maybe they did it to gain favor with the Duke.”

“To gain favor?”

“Yeah. They got the order, but when it came time to execute it, they realized you aren’t an ordinary lunatic, right?”

“……”

“So they found another way to somehow prove their loyalty.”

“There might be another reason.”

Hermes removed my hand.

I gave her the space because she seemed to be trying to say something reasonable.

“Usually, when someone tries to hide a secret, they tend to show excessive loyalty.”

“That makes sense.”

“In the end, nothing is certain.”

I let out a sigh without realizing it.

“Why have we gained so many enemies…?”

“It’s because you’ve managed to capture the attention of Eliza De Bevel. You should be prepared for that, shouldn’t you?”

Shylock said lightly, as if trying to comfort me with a joke.

I responded with a groan.

“If I get noticed twice, I’ll probably die…”

“I’ll have to keep an eye on you at the training center from now on, more carefully than before.”

“Yes. Please take good care of me.”

I also asked him to keep an eye on Gaston and Dallant.

He agreed readily and said he would report anything suspicious, no matter how trivial.

As I was about to leave, Shylock asked casually.

“You know the lady is aware of this, right?”

“Yes, I’ve heard.”

“Why don’t you ask her for help directly?”

“Help?”

“Yes. As you know, I’m on Lady Eliza’s side now. She’ll know about what we discussed today. Honestly, I don’t really understand what that young lady is thinking. So, wouldn’t she do anything if you asked her directly? It’s a request from her favorite young knight, after all.”

I suddenly remembered Eliza’s subtle smile.

The face that laughed innocently like a child while touching foreheads with the moon deer.

Just thinking about it made me feel a little calmer.

I quickly shook off that weak emotion.

I have to solve my own problems.

Eliza must be busy with her own affairs.

Most importantly, it’s not something she is unaware of.

She seemed to have a plan, so she’ll handle it well.

Moreover, there’s no reason for Eliza to go through the trouble and risk of helping me.

I replied to Shylock with a smirk.

“No way, that’s not going to happen. Besides, the lady seemed to have a plan. I can’t intrude and bother her.”

“…Oh.”

Shylock said, as if realizing something.

Hermes, beside him, clapped with a look of enlightenment.

“It wasn’t one-sided affection, but mutual?”

“…Aha!”

“I’m leaving.”