A Barbaric Proposal Chapter 30

※Secret Rendezvous※

[Black] "Look out!"

He shoved her away. Thanks to his swift action, Liene narrowly scrambled back as the heavy, thundering cargo crashed into him.

[Liene] "Lord Tiwakan!"

She shrieked.

The street instantly erupted into chaos. Thick dust billowed up, and the wooden barrels rolled loudly. Everyone screamed and scattered, desperate to avoid the barrels that felt like they could shatter bones if they hit.

[Liene] "Lord Tiwakan... Ugh!"

Amidst the commotion, someone approached her from behind and brutally clamped a hand over her mouth.

[Laffit] "Don't make a sound."

[Liene] "..."

She recognized the voice.

[Laffit] "We mustn't be discovered."

The familiar voice forcibly dragged her body away.

In the next moment, Liene vanished without a trace.

---

[Liene] "...Are you insane?"

The hand covering her mouth disappeared. The moment she gasped for the breath that had been held back, she spat out her fury.

She wanted to say something worse.

[Liene] "Do you realize what you just did? Why would you commit such a cruel act..."

[Laffit] "Liene."

The perpetrator was Laffit.

Laffit took her hand and placed it against his own forehead. His manner was utterly polite and affectionate, despite having just committed an act of public madness, leaving her momentarily speechless.

[Laffit] "I wanted to talk, somewhere where it was just the two of us. A place where we wouldn't have to worry about anyone listening."

[Liene] "...You're completely mad."

She looked genuinely disgusted.

They were now inside a windowless cargo carriage. She knew Laffit had orchestrated significant preparations for this abduction.

[Liene] "Stop this carriage immediately!"

She pulled her hand away coldly, but he gripped it stubbornly.

[Laffit] "Liene. Can you not stop worrying about him, even for a moment?"

[Liene] "What in the hell are you talking about!"

[Laffit] "By now, he should be dead. Therefore..."

[Liene] "Then let me out!"

A massive wave of sudden fear crashed over her.

The image of the scattered wooden barrels flashed in her mind. The last thing she heard was Black's voice telling her to dodge.

And that man...

Her pale hands began to tremble violently.

Was he dead?

No, impossible.

He didn't die after ten years on the battlefield. A man like him wouldn't suddenly die on the street.

He's not dead. He won't die.

[Liene] "He's... not dead."

Her vision blurred. When tears collected without flowing, her vision distorted so completely that Laffit, who held her, looked like Black.

It was then she realized: She was desperately hoping, praying, that he was alive.

[Liene] "I told you he's not dead!"

She gasped for breath.

Only when the tears streamed down did Laffit look like Laffit again.

[Liene] "Let me off. And you, run away right now."

She tried to yank her hand free again.

[Liene] "Never set foot on Nauk's soil again. This is the last time I warn you."

[Laffit] "Do you think I don't know the truth in your heart just because you said that?"

He was still deluding himself about Liene's intentions.

[Laffit] "It's useless trying to push me away with cruel words. I won't be swayed by them anymore. Liene, please... You can be honest now. That man is dead! Even if he isn't, he will be soon! Do you believe I would undertake this so carelessly?"

[Liene] "What... what are you talking about?"

[Laffit] "I wouldn't miss such a golden opportunity when he was alone and unescorted. Although initially I only planned to meet you, I changed my mind when I heard he had shown up. The Kleinfelter knights will finish off the wounded man..."

THUD!

His words scattered in the air.

The cargo carriage carrying her, which was speeding along, lurched violently after crashing into something.

Unfortunately, inside the windowless carriage, there was no way to know what was happening outside. The door was closed and locked from the outside, so they couldn't open it from within.

[Laffit] "What is it!"

He shouted, banging on the coachman's section.

The only reply was a high-pitched scream.

[Coachmen] "Aaaargh!"

CRASH!

The scream faded away.

Liene instantly envisioned someone forcibly yanking the coachman from the moving carriage and throwing him to the ground.

It seemed to be more than just imagination, as Laffit leaped to his feet.

Neeeeeigh!

The carriage lurched to a halt the next moment.

The abrupt stop caused the carriage to rock violently, and Laffit, who had been standing, stumbled and fell, covering Liene's body.

BANG!

In that position, the carriage door flew open.

[Liene] "..."

She blinked because of the sudden rush of light.

It was the same feeling as that other time.

Her eyes were dazzled by the sudden sunlight, and reflected in her stinging eyes was the dark silhouette of someone.

Seeing him as a mass of darkness due to the backlighting, her immediate thought was:

He's immensely huge, like a ferocious beast.

It was the same now.

[Liene] "..."

His pale blue eyes, like a predator's, glinted toward them.

As if he were about to tear out their throats at any moment.

---

[Black] "Get out."

His voice, though human, sounded to her like a savage growl rumbling in a beast's throat.

She realized the command was directed at her only when he violently hurled Laffit, who was covering her.

SMACK!

Laffit, whose ankle had been snatched, flew several feet and slammed into the street.

[Liene] "..."

Liene clamped her hands over her mouth, unable to even gasp in surprise.

[Black] "Get out."

The same word came again.

[Liene] "..."

Only then did she regain her senses.

She was facing Black.

The first feeling was relief.

See. He's not dead.

Why did you say he was? Thank goodness... Truly a relief.

[Liene] "Lord..."

But the relief vanished quickly.

[Black] "Or I will drag you out."

[Liene] "..."

There was no tenderness left in his voice. Nor in his gaze or expression.

[Black] "Is that what you want?"

[Liene] "...No, no."

She gathered the hem of her skirt and rose to her feet.

She realized belatedly that her entire body ached. The carriage must have shaken and bumped into things.

[Liene] "How..."

Stepping down from the carriage, she didn't need to ask to know the situation.

Tiwakan mercenaries on horseback encircled the carriage.

The coachman was nowhere to be seen, and Laffit, who had been thrown, was already in Tiwakan's hands.

Laffit’s plan had failed. She didn't know how Tiwakan had chased the carriage so quickly, but she knew they were remarkably swift.

Half of Black's clothes were soaked in blood.

[Liene] "Are you badly hurt?"

Her hand instinctively reached out.

Black pointedly avoided her approaching hand by stepping back.

[Black] "Don't touch me. It's not all my blood. Is that what you're curious about?"

[Liene] "Then that's a relie—What?"

[Black] "You want to know if I was wounded enough to die?"

[Liene] "That... what do you mean..."

[Black] "I told you. I would only let the Kleinfelter bastard off once."

[Liene] "..."

She now understood why his tenderness had vanished.

A sudden accident occurred while they were walking alone, and she disappeared. When he chased her, he found her fleeing inside a carriage with her ex-lover. When the carriage door opened, he saw her and her ex-lover tangled together, as if they were embracing...

In his eyes, this whole affair might have looked like Liene was involved from the start.

She shook her head desperately.

[Liene] "I... was not involved. What happened today..."

[Black] "You claim you didn't know?"

[Liene] "Yes. I didn't get into this carriage willingly. Only after I was forcibly brought in did I realize it wasn't just an accident."

[Black] "...I see."

The phrase, "I see," contained neither the slightest understanding nor emotion.

He clearly did not believe her words.

[Black] "In that case, it seems the Kleinfelter bastard plotted treason alone. Drag him out. Cut his throat here. Discard the body, and send only the head back to his house."

[Tiwakan] "Yes, My Lord."

The command was clear, and their response was chillingly swift.

It was Liene who couldn't accept it.

[Liene] "Lord Tiwakan!"

Liene desperately clutched Black's cloak.

The fingers gripping the fabric were smeared with sticky, metallic blood.

She realized anew that he was badly hurt.

[Black] "I told you not to touch me."

[Liene] "You can't do this."

[Black] "Can't do what?"

She squeezed her eyes shut, then wrenched them open.

Liene herself was likely the person who hated the Kleinfelters the most, and who was the most frustrated and fed up with Laffit's obsession with their ended relationship.

Yet, she couldn't allow the eldest son of Kleinfelter to be killed.

That would mean war.

This small, impoverished kingdom would be torn in half, with people killing and dying for each side.

And she could not choose either side.

[Liene] "Don't... kill him. I... I want to protect Nauk."

[Black] "Is Nauk a place that lets traitors keep their heads attached?"

[Liene] "If his name is Kleinfelter."

Liene swallowed dryly. It felt like swallowing thorns, not saliva.

[Liene] "The cost is too great. Kleinfelter will never accept his execution. I cannot bear the consequences."

[Black] "I will bear them."

[Liene] "No, you can't."

Drip, Drip.

As Liene tightened her grip on the hem of his cloak, the sticky blood oozed out entirely and streamed down to her instep.

[Liene] "In the end, it will be Nauk that sheds blood. Killing Kleinfelter is equivalent to killing half of Nauk."

If Kleinfelter waged war against the palace, all the families belonging to the Grand Council would side with Kleinfelter.

Even if Tiwakan killed them all, that wouldn't be suppressing a rebellion. It would merely shatter and crush the kingdom into pieces.

[Liene] "Nauk has already shed too much blood. My regret is not accepting your proposal sooner, Lord Tiwakan. Had I done so, things wouldn't have come to this."

If I had prevented Laffit from going to the Sharka Kingdom for reinforcements.

If I had ended the forced, half-hearted relationship then and immediately accepted your proposal.

Then a hundred lives wouldn't have died, and I wouldn't have to keep telling precarious lies just to save one Kleinfelter.

The lie about the pregnancy, trembling in fear over the date of my monthly cycle, and searching for ways to hide my inexperience—none of it would have happened.

And you would have done whatever you intended, whether revenge or something else.

Then my head wouldn't feel like it was constantly bursting, with confusion about your true motives.

[Liene] "Please... don't kill him. I... I want to protect Nauk."

The unusually fierce, glinting eyes ruthlessly scrutinized her expression. Each time, she felt she couldn't utter a lie in front of those eyes.

[Liene] "Not just him, but Nauk."

[Black] "...I don't believe you."

His reply was agonizingly slow, a statement that drove her to despair.

[Black] "You've continually offered unbelievable excuses and hollow promises... And I am tired of believing them now."

[Liene] "Please... believe me. Everything I am saying now is the truth."

[Black] "Impossible."

He twisted the corner of his mouth into a sneer.

[Black] "You've lied to me more often so far, haven't you? Is there any reason why what you say now would suddenly become the truth?"

[Liene] "..."

She was speechless.

He was right. Every time she escaped a crisis with a fragile lie, he had only pretended not to know, not genuinely been unaware.

[Liene] "I will... stake anything. If what I'm saying now is a lie, anything..."

She pleaded desperately, but he was unmoved. A distorted laugh escaped him.

[Black] "It seems I've given you a bad habit, Princess."

[Liene] "What do you mean..."

[Black] "Do you think, if you appease me with your body again, I will grant your wish?"

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