Swish!
“Ugh!”
As the knife that had pierced his side was pulled out, blood once again spewed from Victor’s mouth.
“Brother!!”
I approached Victor, my thoughts still frozen.
“Why, why…”
Struggling to maintain his gaze on me with weakening eyes, Victor finally mustered the strength to twist his body. Holding onto the carriage until the end, he aimlessly swung his sword while I watched.
“Get, away…”
“Why, why did you get stabbed by the knife?”
“Captain? What’s going on?”In the midst of misfortune, perhaps there was some luck. The bewildered assailants seemed to have no intention of further attacking Victor.
Nevertheless, I couldn’t calm down.
Victor, standing there, barely holding on amidst the ceaseless flow of blood from his wound…was such a despairing sight.
Drip.
As if trying to wash away this tragedy, raindrops began to fall from the sky.
Amidst the sudden relentless downpour, the assailants’ voices occasionally broke through.
“This is an unexpected situation. Taking her with us could be problematic. We all should…”
“Yes, sir.”
With no thoughts in my mind, I held Victor from behind and asked softly,
<W-Wishit, could it be…?>
<—— —.>
As if waiting for my question, Wishit responded, and I closed my eyes, feeling my strength drain from my body.
***
At the secret hideout within the capital.
Nathan, who had been waiting for Rubette, asked Pose, “I can’t help but think we didn’t need to send that many assailants. In fact, there wasn’t even a reason to ask the assailants to bring her.”
“Better safe than sorry. What if the guards next to her are incredibly strong?”
“Hmm.”
Following Pose’s advice, Nathan had sent over thirty assassins to Rubette. He looked suspiciously at Pose, who wore a consistently playful expression. “You do realize that if anything goes wrong, both you and I will die, right?”
“What could go wrong? I just told them to bring her without hurting a single hair.” …Of course, only Rubetria, that woman.
Pose bit back the rest of his words and chuckled secretly into the empty air.
Pose was aware of the fact that the summoning of Boulder, Victor Diollus’ spirit, had been interrupted.
‘Is he dead?’ he wondered.
No matter how skilled he was, facing over thirty assassins without the protection of Victor’s spirit would be challenging. Pose was hoping that Victor would be eliminated this time.
‘If that stupid girl really tried to work with the wretched Nathan, she’d surely change her mind after this incident.’
If Rubetria decided to help Nathan intentionally, it would be problematic. If Victor were to die this time, Rubetria might hold a grudge against Nathan, which would be a good outcome.
However, it wouldn’t be bad either if Victor were somehow saved through Wishit’s abilities. If Rubetria used up her three wishes and became powerless, it would be advantageous for Pose.
‘Rubetria… Please, just stay quiet, still, and safe.’
She had to. At least until all the nobles of this empire were defeated.
“Your Highness!”
At that moment, five armed assassins swiftly entered the hideout. Nathan’s eyes widened when he saw a large leather sack slung over one of the assassins’ shoulders. It was quite evident that there was a person inside.
“What… What is this?” Nathan approached the sack and removed it instantly.
“…!”
With hands and feet bound and a gag in her mouth, Rubetria emerged from the sack. Her eyes were swollen from crying.
“Are you insane?!” Nathan shouted angrily at the assassins. “Who told you to bring her like this!?” He was genuinely furious. Even if they had to use force to calm her down, it was entirely unnecessary to treat her like this.
“We apologize, Your Highness. But she was resisting too fiercely…”
“Damn it.”
With trembling hands, Nathan untied Rubetria’s bindings. He anxiously looked at her with a worried expression, even breaking into a cold sweat.
“Princess, I’m sorry. I didn’t intend to meet you like this, without proper courtesy. It seems my men made a mistake.”
“…”
Rubette, now free, gingerly touched her wrists and received Nathan’s support to sit up. There were traces of tears in her eyes, and her expression seemed strangely vacant.
Pose, who had been discreetly observing Rubetria’s expression from behind, was curious.
‘Is Victor Diollus dead…?’
***
How much time had passed?
When Victor Diollus struggled to lift his heavy eyelids, what he saw was the unfamiliar ceiling of a room.
“Ruby!!”
He jolted up, and in doing so, felt an intense pain in his side.
“Ugh.”
“Don’t move!”
A worried voice reached his ears.
Only then did Victor notice the others in the room. There was his older brother, Viego, with a concerned expression on his face. On the opposite side, his father, sitting with an indifferent look.
And next to him, Crown Prince Lark, wearing a puzzled expression.
“Where’s Ruby?”
“She’s in her room,” Leonard answered when Victor asked Viego.
With a frown, Viego pushed Victor down against his will. “Your injuries are serious. You’ve been unconscious for two days. Lie down.” The bandages they had wrapped around his bare chest were now stained with fresh blood.
‘Two days…’
Victor muttered silently to himself.
“You were on the brink of death. Your organs were all messed up. His Highness the Crown Prince brought the 4th Prince here urgently to save you.”
Victor remembered that the 4th Prince had an intermediate-level healer spirit.
“But you still can’t relax. They said we must watch over you for a few more days.”
“…”
“…And don’t worry about Rubette. Nothing happened to her. It was quite a shock when she returned on the day you returned half-dead.”
Viego sighed, “An hour after you, Ruby came home, too. She said she was with you and got attacked by the assassins.”
“Is she injured?”
Viego shook his head. “She’s fine, really. She’s sleeping right now. When she wakes up later, you two can talk.”
Only then did Victor close his eyes firmly.
Viego, pulling his chair closer and leaning in, asked, “Victor.”
“…”
“Why did you get hurt so badly? What happened?”
It was Victor, after all.
It was inconceivable that someone of Victor’s caliber and possessing his spirit would sustain wounds severe enough from an attack to teeter on the brink of life and death.
Seeing Victor’s silent response, Viego leaned in further, concerned. “Does it hurt?”
“…up.”
“What?”
“Shut up.” Victor, who had been pressing his forehead with his raised arm, suddenly glared fiercely. “Don’t ever bring your damn face in front of me again. I want to tear it apart.”
Viego was momentarily stunned into silence by Victor’s outburst.
Leonard, who had been listening, furrowed his brow in disapproval. “His Highness the Crown Prince is here as well. Mind your words.”
Victor, who had abruptly sat up, shouted with frustration, “Father’s the same!!” Despite the overwhelming pain, he couldn’t care less. Driven by anger, he clenched his teeth and scowled as he erupted in rage. “Do you think it’s done after you gave birth to us? You’re the most pitiable one in the world, aren’t you? The protagonist of misery, right?”
“…You.”
“You were holed up in your room, drinking and whining about missing Mom; in that dream you were shown, did she thank you for it?”
“…”
“You close your ears and mouth. You didn’t even know what your daughter was going through under the same roof. You have no right to be a father to Ruby.”
Lark quickly intervened, taken aback by Victor’s blunt words, “Sir Victor, please stop.”
However, Victor continued without any regard, “That girl’s so patient. You can’t even care for her; but you call yourself her parent.”
“Victor, I know you’re angry, but your words to Father are too harsh. Just calm down for a moment.”
When Viego grabbed his shoulders, Victor shook his hand off. “Shut up!”
“Victor.”
“You’re not even worth mentioning. Just get lost, seriously.” Victor roughly grabbed Viego by the collar. “When that girl asked for your help, what did you say?”
Viego remained silent.
“She openly said grandma hated her; and what did you reply with? You bastard.”
“…”
“You’re the same. No, you’re the worst.”
Victor’s fierce eyes welled up with tears.
Viego remained speechless, his lips trembling.
“I am, too.” With a deep sigh, Victor’s strength drained from his hand. His face, now turned to the front slowly, was contorted agonizingly. “I’m garbage too…” Amidst the silence that enveloped everyone, only Victor’s sobbing voice continued, “A coward…”
Suddenly, he jolted up. Despite the intense pain from his wounds, Victor gritted his teeth and endured it. “I’m taking Ruby and leaving this place. Don’t ever think about seeing her again in your life.”
“Sir Victor.”
Lark quickly blocked Victor’s path and stood in front of him.
“Brother Victor knew everything.”
“Everything? From where to where?”
“Everything. Really everything. I’m not sure, but he even mentioned something about spirits to me at the end. I don’t know how he found out…”
Two days ago.
Rubette had met with Nathan. Everything had gone as smoothly as planned, except for one thing.
The variable named Victor had emerged. It was like a bolt from the blue.
Lark had feared the explosive reaction from Victor and had been waiting for him to wake up, guarding his side.
“Calm down and let’s have a private conversation. Could the duke and the young duke please give us some space—”
Lark halted mid-sentence as he tried to speak to Leonard and Viego as Victor harshly grabbed his collar.
“…Sir.”
“Victor, please! Please calm down!”
No matter how out of his mind he was, grabbing the prince’s collar was…
Amidst the chaos, Viego, flustered by the unexpected turn of events, tried intervening, but Victor didn’t even blink.
With his face inches from Lark’s, Victor muttered, “I’m disappointed, Your Highness.”
“…”
“A dirty family feud should be your problem to deal with. Why are you using my sister?”
Lark’s eyes narrowed. “You’re misunderstanding. Please, calm down and listen to me.”
“No. There’s no need to listen. You used my sister, didn’t you? Even if she offered to help, you should have refused. Weren’t you, as His Highness, supposed to foresee the danger of Ruby getting involved in your affairs?”
“…”
Victor ridiculed Lark’s frozen expression and added, “You knew everything. You knew, but you kept quiet and continued to use her for your benefit.”
“Sir.”
“My sister is a summoner!”
In an instant, as if admitting defeat, Lark pursed his lower lip and tightly closed his eyes.
Viego and Leonard fell silent.
“You knew. Right?”
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