A Barbaric Proposal Chapter 53

※21 Years Ago (1)※

The fires had been scattered, none of them large enough to threaten the structure of the castle, but the sheer scale of Nauk made the cleanup an ordeal.

Embers hid in the shadows, requiring hours of tedious vigilance.

[Fermos] "Whew. I think that’s the last of it, My Lord. You should head back inside."

It was only as dawn began to bleed into the sky that Fermos dared to nudge Black toward the living quarters.

Truthfully, Fermos had wanted to speak up hours ago, but the atmosphere around his commander had been suffocating.

It was one thing for Black to lead the bucket brigade, his presence driving the men to work until their lungs burned; it was another to do so with an expression so murderous it seemed he was looking for someone to decapitate.

That the damage was limited to scorched carpets and singed upholstery was eighty percent due to Black’s relentless pace.

[Black] "Are you certain? I want no chance of it spreading."

[Fermos] "Of course, My Lord..."

[Black] "Stake your life on it."

[Fermos] "P-pardon?"

[Black] "She seemed... quite terrified of fire."

Black’s parting remark left Fermos with a lot to chew on.

The fire... right... the Princess is afraid of it. So, of course, my head has to be on the chopping block. Naturally, I see how it is.

[Black] "And the rat who crawled in under the cover of the smoke?"

[Fermos] "We’re still hunting him, My Lord."

[Black] "Until you find him, the fire isn't truly out."

[Fermos] "Understood. It’s almost certainly the work of the bastards in the dungeon. May I have permission to go down and... ask them a few polite questions?"

[Black] "Granted. And you don't need to be polite."

[Fermos] "Yes, My Lord."

Fermos hadn't quite adjusted to their new life in Nauk yet, but one thing was becoming clear: tormenting Kleinfelter and his cronies was becoming a very satisfying hobby.

He turned toward the dungeons with a grin that didn't reach his eyes.

[Fermos] "Are you heading to the Princess now?"

[Black] "Not yet. Not until the arsonist is in chains."

He seemed loath to face Liene again, only to tell her the threat was still at large.

[Fermos] "Very well. I’ll head below."

But Black should have gone back to her. Had he returned at that moment, he would have realized much sooner why the arsonist was nowhere to be found within the castle walls.

---

Inside the dark, cramped space, Liene fought to keep her voice steady.

[Liene] "I don't believe you are a monster like Kleinfelter, Klima."

His eyes widened, and he shook his head frantically.

[Klima] "No... no. I am a sinner. I have committed crimes that can never be washed away..."

[Liene] "Crimes you committed because Kleinfelter held the leash."

He couldn't bring himself to agree, nor could he deny it.

[Liene] "If you want penance, then stop committing the sins. Whipping your own back until you bleed is meaningless if you’re still doing his dirty work."

[Klima] "I... I have no choice..."

[Liene] "Why do you keep saying that? You know what he’s asking is wrong. You are a man of God. You’ve killed two Cardinals. You’ve silenced the very voices of the heavens."

[Klima] "I... I never wanted to be a servant of God..."

Every word he spoke seemed to be dragged out of a well of agony.

[Liene] "Then why?"

[Klima] "Because I was told to..."

[Liene] "By who? Kleinfelter? Why? So it would be easier for you to get close to the Cardinal?"

[Klima] "...So it would be easier to hide."

[Liene] "Hide what?"

[Klima] "Me. The man I am."

[Liene] "Why did you have to hide? From whom?"

Klima fell silent. He rose slowly and stepped toward Liene.

Even if he didn't look like a killer, the memory of his earlier words—of his intent to defile her—sent a jolt of primal terror through her.

[Liene] "Don't come any closer. Answer me."

[Klima] "I’m sorry."

Tears tracked through the soot on his face as he reached out.

[Liene] "No! Don't touch me!"

[Klima] "I’m sorry. I’m so sorry."

[Liene] "Get a hold of yourself! How long do you plan to live like this?"

She was terrified, her heart hammering against her ribs like a trapped bird. But she realized that "no" wasn't a word Klima recognized.

She had to find the lever that moved him. If Kleinfelter’s command was his absolute law, she had to strike at the foundation of that power.

[Liene] "You said you were going to leave me alive, didn't you? Then listen to me. I swear on my life—I will survive this, and I will kill Kleinfelter."

The effect was instantaneous. Klima flinched at the mention of Kleinfelter’s death.

[Klima] "K-kill Kleinfelter...? But... how...?"

His voice was thick with disbelief. Liene understood the feeling.

Until recently, the idea of executing Kleinfelter was unthinkable—the political fallout would have been a death sentence for Nauk, and the Treaty of Risebury held the six families in a suffocating grip.

But she was done. Kleinfelter’s actions had proven that the peace she had been desperately maintaining was a fragile lie.

He would stop at nothing to seize Nauk. If this failed, he would simply find another way, another shadow, another pawn.

Even from a dungeon cell, he could reach out and touch her. He could poison the temple and the council.

He was a root that had to be excised, no matter how deep the roots went. If she didn't cut him out now, he would swallow Nauk whole.

Before, she wouldn't have dared. But now? Now she had Tiwakan. The most savage mercenary corps on the continent was now the shield of Arsak.

[Liene] "Do you think my betrothed will leave me just because I’ve been defiled? Not a chance. Only a filthy creature like Kleinfelter would dream of that."

A sob threatened to break through her voice.

That man said he would forget his revenge for me. He said he would accept even an enemy's child. Because I am home to him.

[Liene] "If you follow your orders, Kleinfelter dies. If you don't, he still dies. I will make sure of it. If the result is the same either way, what will you choose?"

[Klima] "If Kleinfelter... is gone..."

His pupils trembled violently.

[Klima] "Then no more... Ah, but I would still have to live in the shadows... no, then what about my mother...?"

[Liene] "What? Did you say your mother?"

His incoherent mumbling was hard to follow, but the core of it was clear: Kleinfelter held a blade to Klima’s throat through his mother.

[Liene] "Is your mother his prisoner?"

[Klima] "Yes... No! No! I—I shouldn't have said that!"

He realized his mistake a second too late and began to shake his head in a panic.

[Liene] "It’s alright. You can tell me."

Liene felt a spark of hope. She softened her voice, making it as gentle and soothing as possible.

[Liene] "Even if you are a sinner, I know Kleinfelter’s sins are a thousand times heavier. If you are worried about your mother’s safety, I will help you. I will not hold her responsible for your actions."

[Klima] "It’s not... It’s not that. It isn't that simple... it can't be."

Klima balled his fists and curled into a ball on the floor, his shoulders shaking with silent sobs.

[Liene] "It can be. I promise you. If you stop this now, both you and your mother will be safe."

Klima lifted his tear-streaked face.

[Klima] "Is that... is that the truth? You truly won't kill my mother?"

[Liene] "I gave you my word."

[Klima] "If I let you go... if I do nothing to you... You will let her live?"

[Liene] "I have already sworn it on the name of Arsak. I will spare you both."

Klima wasn't asking out of confusion. The web connecting him to the Kleinfelters was far darker than Liene imagined.

Kleinfelter wasn't actually threatening his mother. Instead, Kleinfelter was keeping his mother and himself hidden from the world.

Working for Kleinfelter and committing those crimes was the 'rent' Klima had to pay for their safety. He was protecting a secret tied to his family name.

[Klima] "Even if... even if my mother’s name is Henton?"

[Liene] "...What did you say?"

The name struck Liene like a physical blow. For a moment, she felt like a statue, her breath hitching, her limbs turning to lead.

Henton?

"Henton. That was my name when I left Nauk," Black had told her.

"Henton’s second son," the Old Man had said.

She had been certain that the name belonged to Black alone.

[Liene] "How do you know that name...? No, then... are you... Could you be?"

She stared at him, her eyes wide with shock.

His tear-stained face looked youthful, yet strangely ageless.

[Liene] "Did you have... a brother? Long ago? Twenty-one years ago?"

Terror flooded his expression.

[Klima] "So you haven't... You haven't forgotten. You knew... then the others must know too—"

[Liene] "Calm down! I don't know what you think, but I haven't forgotten. I only know someone else with that name. Answer me. Did you have a brother? How many?"

[Klima] "...One."

Black had said he was the second son. That would make Klima the elder.

What on earth happened? 

Black had witnessed Kleinfelter’s private soldiers murder his father. He had fled alone and never touched the name Henton again. But his mother and brother had stayed in Nauk, living under assumed identities. Black didn't even know they were alive.

But why was Kleinfelter hiding them? It made no sense.

[Liene] "What happened to the Henton family? Do you remember?"

Klima squeezed his eyes shut and nodded.

[Liene] "Tell me."

[Klima] "No... I can't. I was told never to tell anyone..."

[Liene] "You have to."

[Klima] "I can't... if I do... my mother will die."

He was a vault that wouldn't open easily. She changed her approach.

[Liene] "Then tell me about your father. Did Kleinfelter kill him?"

[Klima] "...Yes. Yes, he did."

His eyes remained shut. He seemed to have lost track of where he was, wandering back into the ghosts of twenty-one years ago, to the day his father died and his brother vanished.

[Liene] "Why?"

[Klima] "Because he helped him escape."

[Liene] "Helped who?"

[Klima] "Fe—Fernand."

[Liene] "Fernand?"

The name was entirely foreign to her.

She tilted her head.

[Liene] "Who is that?"

[Klima] "Prince Fernand."

[Liene] "A prince?"

He nodded weakly, as if the mere act of remembering was draining his life force.

[Liene] "From which kingdom? Who was Prince Fernand?"

[Klima] "...Nauk."

[Liene] "What?"

Her mind stalled.

A prince of Nauk? Before her father?

Her father, the late King, hadn't taken the throne until well into his adulthood. It wasn't impossible.

She vaguely remembered that the former royal family was related to the Arsaks, though they belonged to a different noble house.

[Liene] "Why did Prince Fernand have to run? What did he do?"

[Klima] "Because the King of Gainers... was dead. They killed him."

The pieces finally clicked.

Gainers. 

That was the surname of the dynasty before the Arsaks.

The King had supposedly died without an heir, which was why the throne had passed to the Arsak line as the closest kin. That was the history recorded in the Royal Archives.

[Liene] "Killed the King? Prince Fernand killed him?"

[Klima] "No."

[Liene] "Then who?"

[Klima] "The Seven Families of Nauk. That’s what my father said..."

[Liene] "What? ...The Seven Families?"

Her jaw dropped, the shock so profound it was almost painful. She gasped for air, her world tilting on its axis.

[Liene] "What you’re describing... that’s treason. You’re saying there was a rebellion in Nauk?"

[Klima] "...Yes. That’s what my father told us."

Henton had been a knight—a member of the sovereign guard of House Gainers.

When the Seven Families of Nauk conspired to murder their King, he had smuggled the royal blood out of the city. A young prince named Fernand.

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