Chapter 149
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 149
“Barbara knows we’re in the capital. If she were going to ask for help, she would have done so already.”
“Does His Excellency know?”
The tip of Karl’s cigarette glowed a fierce red. He pictured the icy face of his dependable comrade, a woman he had trusted with his back for a very long time. A sudden puff of smoke stung his eyes.
“...”
Charlotte’s party and the King’s sudden appearance were events no one could have anticipated. Oscar was reportedly already on his way to the capital. Sending a sparrowhawk to a man already en route would change nothing. What could Oscar do while traveling? At most, he would simply send the messenger bird back to Karl with orders to provide backup.
“Since she doesn’t want backup sent to the manor, she has no reason to inform His Excellency, either.”
Barbara Wald was famous for her cold, calculated judgment, even in the most dire emergencies. She was a woman who always made the optimal choice in the most efficient manner.
She had only one goal: Oscar’s safety.
To achieve that, she was more than willing to sacrifice her own life like a pawn on a chessboard.
Karl tossed his cigarette to the ground and mounted his horse. Then, he spurred it forward.
Galloping through the unusually silent capital, Karl urged his mount to go faster. Behind him, two of his direct subordinates—the wolves who acted as his shadows—followed closely on horseback.
Though wolves were bred to sacrifice even a comrade if necessary, the thought of a fellow wolf dying alone was a bitter pill to swallow. Besides, Oscar was the only one who could thwart whatever scheme the King and Charlotte were hatching inside the manor.
Karl rode like a madman along the route Oscar was expected to take. He was just reaching the banks of the Rotten River, the boundary of Vies, when he saw them.
Across the dark, bluish water, an imposing group came into view. As the pack of wolf-like riders drew within visual range, the first person Karl spotted was a man of astonishingly massive build.
“It’s Thebes Venok.”
Across the river, Thebes seemed to spot them as well. One of the Wolves in his pack immediately reined his horse close to the carriage trailing behind them.
“His Excellency is here,” Karl muttered, pulling his horse to a halt.
Led by Thebes, the Wolves crossed the river in an instant, decelerating so rapidly it defied the breakneck speed of their approach.
Karl dismounted and rushed toward the carriage just as the door swung open, revealing Oscar.
“Your Excellency, the task you assigned has been successfully completed.”
“Report.”
Oscar immediately sensed that Karl seeking him out in person boded ill. The other wolves began to gather around them.
“The King’s forces have occupied the manor.”
Karl delivered a swift report on the afternoon’s events. Once he finished, Oscar spoke.
“What is our strength inside?”
A low, simmering rage bled through his quiet voice.
“Only Barbara Wald’s wolves.”
“Any request for backup?”
“None.”
A cold, dangerous smirk flashed across Oscar’s face. Without a backward glance, he strode forward.
Mounting the horse Karl had ridden, Oscar issued no orders. This was not a situation that called for them.
If they had raided the manor in his absence, their objective was one of two things: they had business inside, or they were targeting Barbara, who was guarding it.
Barbara Wald had neither asked for help nor fled.
Maintaining order within the manor was her responsibility. And since she considered her own life entirely expendable, she would have seen no reason to drag anyone else into her fight.
Oscar spurred his horse, which was already foaming at the mouth, to run even faster.
Past the statue of his father, past the riverbank whipped by a biting wind, the manor finally loomed in the distance.
*
“Die by her hand.”
At Peter’s command, the men surrounding Barbara hesitated.
“Whoever dies by her hand today, I’ll make sure your family is handsomely compensated.”
Peering over his men’s shoulders, Peter whispered to Barbara.
“Go on, kill them, Barbara. Show us that legendary skill of yours and slaughter every last one of them.”
“...”
“What’s the matter, Barbara?”
Peter snickered, mocking her silence. From beyond the door where Barbara stood, the warm, jovial laughter of the nobles drifted through.
Peter ran a hand over his face. “Let’s not make a half-hearted mess of this.”
Then, he barked an order to the men surrounding her.
“Take her. If she resists, you have permission to kill her.”
Yet, his men hesitated to rush the solitary figure. An oppressive, untouchable aura radiated from her.
They had absolutely no idea what she was thinking, or how she would strike.
“What are you waiting for?! She’s just one woman! Take her!”
As Peter hissed in a low, furious voice, the man standing closest to Barbara finally drew his rapier and lunged. Panting heavily, pushing down the terrifying dread that he was about to die, he thrust his blade toward Barbara Wald.
He certainly didn't expect the strike to land. It was merely an opening gambit; he fully expected her to block or parry it. Everyone in the room assumed the same. Even Peter.
No one could have anticipated that the blade would sink deep into Barbara Wald’s abdomen.
“...”
“...”
Barbara looked down at the steel protruding from her stomach. When she raised her head again, her face was entirely devoid of emotion.
Ironically, it was the man who had stabbed her who momentarily lost his strength, paralyzed by shock.
As his grip on the hilt faltered, Barbara turned, the rapier still impaling her. She began to walk toward the door, from beyond which a faint, elegant melody drifted. She looked as if she intended to open the door and walk right out.
Peter recoiled as if doused with freezing water.
“No! Stop her!”
If Oscar’s head maid stumbled out in front of the high society guests with a Royal Guard’s rapier protruding from her stomach, it would be an unmitigated disaster. The King would be the one backed into a corner.
Peter shoved his frozen men aside and lunged for Barbara. But she had already grasped the doorknob. The faint music swelled, flooding the room along with a sliver of bright light.
We're ruined.
The thought flashed through his mind in a panic, but the door, which should have swung wide open, caught on something.
Someone was holding it shut from the outside.
“...!”
Through the narrow crack, just wide enough to reveal a face, Sabine von Jerome’s smooth, elegant features appeared.
Barbara glared at Sabine through the gap with eyes like boiling oil. No matter how tightly Sabine gripped the handle, a healthy Barbara would have flung the door open with ease. But with a blade of cold steel driven through her abdomen, the precious seconds Sabine bought were more than enough for Peter to close the distance.
“Mmph!”
Sabine slammed the door shut, terrified that someone might witness Barbara being dragged backward with her mouth gagged.
Thud.
The sound of the door shutting echoed in her ears like a gunshot. Clutching the doorknob, her chest heaving, Sabine spun around and pressed her back flat against the wood.
Earlier, when Charlotte had opened this door, Sabine had been standing right behind her mother. She had immediately realized that a silent war was unfolding within Oscar’s private quarters. Even as Charlotte was ushered toward the terrace with the Dowager Marchioness, her mother had cast anxious glances back at the door. Though no one had asked her to, Sabine had quietly slipped away to stand guard like a sentry.
What a brilliant decision that had been.
A shiver ran down her spine at the mere thought of the catastrophe that would have unfolded had she not been there to block the exit.
Standing firm to keep Barbara trapped inside, Sabine flashed elegant, social smiles at the passing nobles. Once the coast was clear, she cracked the door open a fraction of an inch and pressed her ear to the gap. From the dim darkness within, she heard the muffled groans of a gagged woman.
“Mmph, nnh!”
Then, a low voice murmured.
“Thank you, Your Highness. You may close the door now.”
Sabine pulled the door shut with practiced ease, acting as if nothing had happened.
Her heart hammered wildly against her ribs, yet an inexplicable, giddy laughter bubbled up inside her. Pressing her forehead against the door, Sabine forced herself to swallow the giggles that threatened to shake her shoulders. Once she regained her composure, she turned around, only to find her mother watching her.
Sabine glided gracefully toward her mother. Strikingly alike, the two drew close, almost leaning into one another. Charlotte’s expression was tense, shadowed by a lingering unease, but Sabine offered her a bright, reassuring smile and whispered, “It’s a good thing I was standing guard, Mother. It could have been a disaster.”
“...”
“Don’t worry. I believe it has been taken care of.”
Charlotte merely blinked, acting as though she hadn't heard a word. Yet, the slight tension in her brow melted away in relief. She gently stroked her daughter’s back and whispered, “I am sorry you had to witness such ugliness.”
“I’m all grown up now, Mother. Don’t worry about that, and feel free to confide in me from now on.”
Charlotte smiled warmly, fussing over her daughter’s dress to smooth down a non-existent wrinkle.
“Just looking at them must satisfy you more than any feast, Count Jerome.”
Dietrich chuckled at the nearby nobleman’s remark.
“Excuse me for a moment.”
“Of course.”
Dietrich excused himself from the crowd and walked over to Charlotte and Sabine.
“Father!”
As Sabine greeted him with a lovely smile, Dietrich wrapped his left arm affectionately around her shoulders. Then, he offered his right hand to Charlotte with a tender gaze.
“Charlotte.”
A perfect family. Though they bore different surnames, standing together like this, they looked like the happily-ever-after of a fairy tale. A future where, even after many years, the lovers remained devoted only to each other, and their daughter, the spitting image of her mother, radiated pure happiness—a flawless, brilliant future untouched by even a shadow of misfortune.