Chapter 108
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 108
The Wolves rushed forward as if they had been waiting. Oscar bounded down the stairs, taking them three or four at a time, and arrived before the Central Hall in an instant. When a woman’s groan drifted from beyond the closed doors, a furnace-like heat blazed through him.
Tick, tock.
The sound of the second hand, which had grated on his nerves with every passing moment, abruptly stopped when he saw the woman standing in the red darkness of his memory.
Oscar squeezed his eyes shut, trying to block out the sensations from moments ago. Though the ticking had ceased, a volatile agitation refused to subside.
He walked past the bedroom and into the study. Stopping dead in front of the woman’s room, a quiet command slipped from the Marquis’s lips.
“Open it.”
The moment the command fell, a presence inside the room drew closer. She didn’t even ask who it was. The door opened immediately, as if she had known he was coming. Oscar stepped into the room without hesitation, and Seo-ah quickly pressed herself flat against the wall to make way. As he strode in, his gaze locked onto the medicine bottles resting neatly on the table.
“Ah, those are…”
Seo-ah, still flattened against the wall, tried to rush toward the table, but Oscar gave her no chance. His tall frame dominated the space as he took a deep breath that expanded his chest, exhaled slowly, and picked up one of the bottles.
It gleamed in his hand, identical to the one he had received from Charlotte, right down to the distinct engraved pattern of the Rioher Empire.
“Then, I’ll leave it to you.”
Seeing the bottle, he finally understood the strange words Charlotte had spoken to Seo-ah.
“Was this a gift?” Oscar asked, his voice a low, raspy probe as he twisted the bottle open. Inside was the medicine, emitting its characteristic scent.
“It looks like medicine.”
Charlotte had given this to Seo-ah.
What kind of favor did she ask of you?
He tilted the bottle, and a single round pill rolled out. Oscar picked up the bead-like pill and let out a hollow laugh. It felt as if his heart, which Charlotte had already stabbed, was now rotting away into blackness.
“It looks good. Can I have one?”
Could that ‘favor’ have been to feed this to him?
The deep-seated distrust ingrained in his very character swelled as if it had been waiting for this exact moment.
One day she tucks me in with a blanket, and the next, she waits for me to let my guard down so she can feed me this? What did you get in return? Money?
Charlotte, his wretched mother, was no fool. She knew he would recognize this medicine, so it couldn't be poison. With that thought, Oscar prepared to toss the pill into his mouth without a second thought.
At that, Seo-ah cried out in a near-panic.
“No, don’t!”
Her voice was so loud and resolute that Oscar froze, the pill halfway to his lips. His cool, glacier-blue eyes widened slightly, but Seo-ah was staring only at the medicine in his hand.
“No.”
“…”
The woman, who had always hesitated and walked on eggshells as if guilty of some crime, was now stopping him with unexpected force. Still frozen in place, Oscar looked down at her—she barely reached his chest—and asked:
“Why?”
Oscar held his breath, waiting. Her chapped lips parted and closed a few times before she spoke in a quieter, yet remarkably firm tone.
“It’s mine.”
A dry laugh escaped him. Turning to face her fully, his expression darkened.
“This is yours?”
“…Yes.”
“Both of them?”
The Outsider, who usually wore a cowed expression, did not back down. Far from it, she snatched the unopened bottle from the table and held out her other hand, demanding the pill he held.
“Give it back, Your Excellency.”
Oscar looked down at her soft, white palm, which was devoid of any calluses.
“Who are you planning to give this to later?”
His gaze traced a path from the pink-tinged tips of her fingers up to her face. Just as their eyes were about to meet, Seo-ah lowered her head slightly. She kept it down as she shook it.
“I-I’m not giving it to anyone. It’s mine.”
“Look up.”
“…”
“Look up, look me in the eye, and say it.”
“I won’t give it to anyone. Please give it back, Your Excellency.”
“Did my mother tell you to feed this to me?”
When Seo-ah hesitated, Oscar’s voice dropped even lower.
“Did she promise you a cut of my inheritance if I die?”
Her round eyes, which had been fixed on his chest, slowly drifted upward. Her golden lashes lifted bit by bit until, finally, her dark pupils locked onto his. Their gazes connected.
A light shimmered across the surface of her eyes. He hadn’t noticed it under the soft lamplight, but here in the intense sunlight, her eyes seemed to possess a resilient texture, like the growth rings of a tree that had weathered harsh sea winds.
“That’s not it.”
“How can I trust you?”
“If you don’t believe me, I’ll throw it away right now, in front of you.”
“I could just pick it back up. Or you could just get more of this trash.”
Seo-ah, who had been watching him with the quiet stillness of a sturdy tree, seemed to make up her mind. She opened the bottle she was holding, poured the contents into her palm, and moved to toss the pills into her mouth without warning.
Oscar, who had been testing her with half-unreasonable demands, snatched her hand in a blur of motion.
“What do you think you’re doing?” he growled, his voice sharp and low.
Her eyes trembled slightly, as if just facing him was an ordeal, but she spoke with unwavering resolve.
“Because… I didn’t think you would believe anything I said.”
“…”
“It’s mine. I will never give this to you, Your Excellency.”
It felt as if a fine-grained tree were swaying in a sea breeze. And so, too, did the deep blue sea that watched it.
Oscar snatched the medicine from her hand. He flung the window open and threw both pills as far as he could. A crow from the nearby forest immediately swooped down and snatched them from the air.
He stared at his own reflection in the clear windowpane.
Standing there was an idiot who had tried to vent his anger at his mother on an innocent target.
“I wasn’t asked to do any favors,” she said softly.
He felt his taut nerves go slack, like a stretched rubber band that had finally snapped. Oscar stared at Seo-ah’s reflection in the window for a long moment before turning around. But as he made to leave, he stopped after only a few paces.
“Your Excellency.”
Abel Sting was standing there.
Dressed handsomely, Abel bowed his head with a somewhat flustered expression. Oscar’s gaze dropped, landing on the small pot of ointment in Abel’s hand. An image of Seo-ah’s swollen, bruised cheek flashed through his mind.
Raising his head, Abel stepped aside and stood straight, as if to let him pass.
Oscar took a slow step forward. As he passed Abel, he was suddenly struck by the man’s robust build. Abel’s stylish attire was a stark contrast to Oscar’s own simple, loosely thrown-on shirt. A man handsome enough to belong in high society was standing before this woman’s door.
A polite knock sounded.
“Seo-ah.”
He called her name so gently.
Oscar, who had been about to step into the hallway, froze. He heard the door open. Hidden by the bookshelf, neither of them would be able to see him.
“I brought some ointment. May I come in for a moment?”
Oscar’s jaw clenched. Unable to listen any longer, he stepped out into the hall, stopped in his tracks, and let out a bitter chuckle as he rubbed his face harshly.
Just then, Simon, who had been pacing near the Central Hall, spotted him and rushed over.
“Your Excellency, we’ve received word from the Search Team. They say the cleanup is complete.”
Wiping his face, Oscar exhaled slowly.
“They report that every last rat has been dealt with.”
“By the way, I didn’t know the young lady Sabine personally showed around the exhibition was your guest. She was quite beautiful, wasn’t she?”
Tick, tock.
The damn ticking of the clock, a sound that set his nerves on edge, began to ring out once more. This compulsion to count every second wasn’t something he could stop just because he wanted to.
Oscar’s eyes drifted to his bandaged palm. This foolishness would only end when the wound, engraved on him like fate, finally healed and was forgotten. He clenched his fist tight, feeling the healing flesh tear open once more.
Last night, he had decided to do as he pleased.
Walking toward Barbara as she approached, the expressionless Marquis issued an order no one could have anticipated.
“We are taking the Target.”
“Pardon?” Simon’s face went blank. “Your Excellency?”
Whether they protested in shock or not, Oscar had no intention of reversing a decision once made.
“Have her ready and bring her out as quickly as possible.”
Simon stared blankly at his master’s arrogant back before quickly chasing after him.
“Is this because of the Pelfe Bank face-to-face screening? If so, it would be better to send her straight to the Pelfe Capital with Abel… Your Excellency!”
As Simon’s voice faded into the distance, Barbara called out to one of the wolves who was about to follow.
“Are you certain the path has been cleared?”
“Yes, ma’am. We just received word from the Search Team. As Karl predicted, there was an ambush. They searched the entire surrounding area to ensure not a single rat remains.”
Barbara waved him off and fell into deep thought.
After failing to probe Seo-ah for several hours, Charlotte had closed the doors to the Central Hall and laid a ‘trap.’ She had made it deliberately ambiguous who was receiving the merciless beating, waiting for the news to reach Oscar’s ears.
Charlotte had wanted to see his reaction. The fact that Oscar, who had never kept anyone by his side, now had a woman living in the manor must have been quite a shock to her.