A Barbaric Proposal Chapter 56

※The Nine Waterfalls※

Black pressed Madam Henton, his voice a low, emotionless rasp.

To any outsider, he sounded cold, but the Tiwakan mercenaries standing guard felt the serrated edge of desperation hidden in his tone.

[Black] "Speak quickly. Your son’s life—and the life of the Princess he took—depends on how fast you find your tongue."

[Henton] "P-Princess... Liene...?"

[Black] "If the Princess lives, I will spare him."

[Henton] "But why... why go so far...?"

[Black] "I don't have time for your questions."

[Henton] "Ah..."

The reality finally shattered her silence. Her eldest son had taken the Princess.

[Henton] "They aren't here... I truly know nothing. He was in my room for a moment, but he vanished. I haven't heard a whisper since."

[Black] "Where would he go? Think."

[Henton] "There is nowhere else... unless..."

A memory flickered to life—the words her husband had whispered over their second son’s cold body.

It was his final testament, a secret born of twisted love and loyalty. It was the reason she could never curse the man who had sacrificed their child on the altar of the Gainer dynasty.

[Henton] "There is a path no one knows. A road granted only to those with Gainer blood."

Her husband had broken his knight’s vow to give her a way out—a singular place of sanctuary.

In that moment, his soul must have splintered into a thousand jagged pieces, much like her own heart had when their son died.

[Sir Henton] —You can survive there.

Then, he was gone.

Their eldest son had followed his father’s last, grim request: to mar the second son's body beyond recognition. That gruesome image was the last thing she remembered.

[Henton] "The Nine Waterfalls."

She spoke the words—a code that only a Gainer would understand.

[Henton] "That is all I know. Please... I’ve given you the answer, so spare the boy. Do not kill him. No matter what he has done... if you kill him..."

The dam of her emotions finally broke. She bit her lip, her shoulders heaving with silent, violent sobs.

[Henton] "Not a second time. I cannot lose another... not again..."

[Black] "As I said: if the Princess is unharmed."

Black pried her hands away and stood, his gaze already fixed on the distance.

[Fermos] "What are your orders, My Lord?"

Fermos asked immediately, his eyes darting to Madam Henton. It was clear the two shared a history—a piece of Black’s past he hadn't yet tried to bury or burn.

If he had wanted to erase that part of his life, he wouldn't have bothered negotiating for her life.

[Black] "Take her. Find a place for her to stay, away from the rest of this filth."

[Fermos] "Understood."

[Black] "Clear this place and return to the castle. Hold the line. There may be those foolish enough to seek vengeance while I’m gone. Guard the castle above all else."

[Fermos] "Just guard it?"

[Black] "Use your discretion. If it’s not too much trouble, eliminate any threats as you see fit. But the castle is your priority. It’s a place of many backdoors; lose focus for a second, and you’ll find a blade between your ribs."

[Fermos] "I won’t forget. And you, My Lord? Will you be moving alone?"

[Black] "I'm the only one who can go there."

Fermos stepped back. He had a mountain of questions about the "Nine Waterfalls," but he knew better than to push.

Black wasn't the type to offer explanations; if Fermos needed to know, he would have been told already.

[Fermos] "Don't be late, My Lord."

Without a word, Black turned and vanished into the shadows, his speed blurring the air.

---

[Liene] "...It’s wrong. This isn't the way either."

Liene bit her lip until it bled. Exhaustion had settled into her bones like lead.

She had lost her way more times than she could count, and she finally understood why Klima had been so terrified for her.

The darkness was no longer just an absence of light; it was a physical weight.

She knelt, her fingers grazing the cold, grit-covered floor. She traced the faint impressions of her own footsteps to find her bearings.

[Liene] "Just go back as far as I came. I left a mark there."

The subterranean world was a cruel labyrinth. Many of the passages felt as though they weren't meant for human feet at all.

[Liene] "I must have taken the wrong turn back there... where the path split."

She suppressed a sob, coaxing her aching feet to move once more.

A dark thought began to take root: she might actually die here, forgotten in the belly of the earth.

If I die, what will he do?

Without me to hold him back, will he burn the six families to the ground?

What will become of Nauk?

So much blood...

Why did he wait?

Was it truly because of me...?

The more she thought, the less it made sense.

The Arsak family had likely been at the heart of the treason. They had taken the crown—the sweetest fruit of betrayal.

For Black to seek her hand in marriage, knowing that... it was a paradox she couldn't solve.

There must be something else. The marriage isn't the end; he’s looking past it.

I would do the same in his position.

Even if he turns on me after the vows, I have no right to resent him. I have to accept it.

Liene stopped and closed her eyes. Her legs refused to obey her mind. The strength she had been squeezing from her soul had finally run dry.

[Liene] "...!"

Her balance gave way. She didn't just trip; she collapsed.

[Liene] "Then... maybe... maybe it’s better this way."

[Liene] "Maybe it’s better to just... stay here."

I'm terrified.

The thought of him changing after the wedding... it haunts me.

I tell myself I can accept it, but I don't want to.

I'm afraid of him. I'm afraid that he never truly wanted me from the start.

I don't want to know the truth...

Her eyelids grew heavy, slipping shut as the cold darkness claimed her.

---

The path was not a maze. To those of the Gainer bloodline and the guardians who protected them, the layout held a sacred logic.

The labyrinthine structure was a mask—a deception designed to foil those who did not understand its purpose.

Black had only walked this path once in his life, yet the way was etched into his soul.

Clear paths were for walking; the areas that seemed blocked or impassable were designed for a different purpose entirely, likely as a trick to confuse intruders.

He realized then that Liene must have strayed. To her, this was a tomb.

Panic, sharp and unfamiliar, surged through him. He abandoned the main path, seeking higher ground.

He knew she would be in her nightgown, likely barefoot. The white fabric was his only hope—a beacon in the obsidian dark.

After an hour of frantic searching through the shadows of his own past, he found her.

When he saw her crumpled in the corner, a strange, hollow sensation filled his chest.

His lungs burned from the pace, yet his mind felt strangely detached, as if he were watching a stranger’s nightmare.

She can't be dead.

She was so still, so pale, that she looked like a marble statue in a crypt.

He knew how fragile life was—he had ended enough of it to know—but the idea of Liene being extinguished felt like a fundamental error in the universe.

She isn't dead.

By the time he reached her, his chest felt as though it would burst. He had never known his own breath could sound so ragged, so desperate.

Thud.

He wasn't tired, yet his knees buckled.

He knelt before her, leaning down to catch any sign of life. A faint, thready wisp of breath brushed against him.

She lived.

[Black] "...Thank god."

He moved to lift her, but his arms felt heavy, unresponsive. It was a terrifying loss of control. He meant to look at her face, but his eyes kept drifting to her nightgown.

[Black] "Why..."

The realization hit him like a physical blow. The white fabric was stained—deeply, horribly. Even in the dim light, the marks looked like old, dried blood.

[Black] "Blood?"

His mind went white. The lethargy in his limbs vanished, replaced by a frantic, mechanical precision.

He gathered her in one arm and hiked up the hem of her gown. Her skin was ivory, marred by dark smudges, but he couldn't find a single wound.

[Liene] "So... so cold..."

Without thinking, he cupped her face, forcing her to look at him.

[Black] "Princess? Can you hear me? Where are you hurt?"

[Black] "I can't find the wound. Tell me where it hurts!"

For a fleeting second, her eyes met his.

Her expression wasn't one of relief. It was a messy tangle of hesitation, worry, and profound doubt.

[Black] "Tell me where you're bleeding!"

[Liene] "It doesn't... I’m not hurt. I had... I had to tell you..."

Her voice was a fading whisper, agonizing to hear.

[Black] "Tell me later. If you aren't wounded, I’m taking you out of here."

He stood, cradling her against his chest.

He moved with agonizing care, terrified that she might have a spinal injury he couldn't see.

He couldn't wait for her to fully wake; they had to move.

Every step he took felt wrong. Liene was too light, too frail. Her pallor was the color of bone. It was unbearable.

I didn't come back for this, he thought. This isn't the prize I fought for.

[Liene] "I have to..."

Her hands, cold as ice, clutched at his collar.

[Liene] "I tried to tell you... I had to say it..."

Black stopped. He lowered his head, pressing his ear to her lips. She struggled for air, her lips moving with frantic effort.

[Liene] "You... you have to know... there is no... no child..."

While Black stood there, paralyzed by the weight of those words, Liene’s eyes drifted shut.

Her task was done.

---

Liene wasn't wounded. She was simply starving and spent, her body surrendering to a deep, death-like slumber to recover from the ordeal.

She didn't wake until the grey light of dawn began to bleed into the room. It was that quiet hour when most of the world was still tucked away in dreams.

Madam Flambard was there, though she had fallen into a fitful doze, slumped against the edge of the bed.

[Liene] "Ugh..."

[Flambard] "—Princess! You're awake!"

The woman bolted upright at Liene’s soft moan.

Liene blinked, the world swimming into focus through heavy eyelids.

[Flambard] "How do you feel? Are you in pain?"

[Liene] "I... I think I'm alright."

[Flambard] "Oh, thank the heavens. Thank the heavens."

The Madam wrung her hands, letting out a long, shaky breath.

[Flambard] "That man... he was so terrifying, I truly thought something catastrophic had happened. I nearly forgot to call the physician, I was so rattled."

[Liene] "The physician?"

She tried to piece together her fractured memories.

[Liene] "How did I get back? I remember being lost... and then nothing."

[Flambard] "Don't you remember? He brought you back himself, Your Highness."

[Liene] "Lord Tiwakan did...? ...Ah."

A hazy image clawed its way to the surface. The darkness, the exhaustion, and then—Black.

She had thought it was a dream. In that dream, she had finally said the words she couldn't say in reality.

There was no child.

Prev

Chapters

Next