A Barbaric Proposal Chapter 99

※The Clue※

[Liene] "Ah."

The further she walked, the clearer it became: the labyrinth was a deliberate composition of mechanisms and clearings.

The actual paths were flat, no longer punishing the soles of her feet. If she followed these smooth stretches, she was certain they would lead her back to the castle.

[Liene] "......"

She paused at a point where the path branched.

[Liene] "The mechanisms end here."

Hoping to understand the nature of the traps, she meticulously felt along the floor and walls.

She had been groping through the darkness for so long that her fingernails were cracked and bleeding, yet she was too consumed by her task to feel the pain.

[Liene] "If a key is required because of these mechanisms... then there must be a lock somewhere."

She searched as far as her hands could reach, but she felt nothing resembling a keyhole.

[Liene] "Is this not the place...?"

Though a wave of disappointment washed over her, she gathered her strength.

[Liene] "For now, I must follow the path."

Finding a way out at all was a stroke of luck. She had expected Weroz or Laffit to lung out of the shadows at any moment to seize her, but fortunately, the darkness remained still.

The further she followed the level ground, the more her confidence grew. Eventually, she reached a set of stairs.

[Liene] "This is it. The castle must be just ahead."

Her bare feet were as battered as her hands, but she ignored the ache, racing up the steps until she was breathless.

As she neared the top, she spotted a faint sliver of light bleeding through the end of the passage.

---

At first, she encountered a stone door that smelled strongly of damp earth. She pushed against it, heart hammering with the fear that it might be bolted, but it yielded.

Beyond lay another set of steep, narrow stone steps. Fortunately, the climb was short. After only a few paces, the stairs ended, and she found herself in a cramped space barely wide enough for a single person to stand.

[Liene] "Where am I?"

She couldn't be sure, yet the area didn't feel entirely unfamiliar. She felt that if she had just one more clue, she would recognize her surroundings.

Thump, thump!

She tapped around the small crevice where the light seeped in. It was an iron door, not particularly thick, but it was locked from the outside.

[Liene] "Oh, no."

Thump, thump!

She pounded on the door with more urgency.

[Liene] "Is anyone there?"

Thump, thump!

[Liene] "Please, open this door!"

There was no response. It seemed no one was on the other side.

[Liene] "Haa..."

The crushing weight of futility nearly made her collapse. If she fell here, she would tumble down the steep incline without mercy.

She carefully braced herself against the wall of the narrow stairway.

[Liene] "Someone will come eventually. I'll hear footsteps. They said this passage connects to the King’s Gallery… so, someone must hear the noise. Wait... would anyone even be in our bedroom right now?"

*The King's gallery is a room that connects Liene and Black's bedrooms.

With her missing, there was no reason for Black to be guarding their chambers. And if he weren't there, no one else would have a reason to enter.

[Liene] "Waiting is useless."

She had to find a way to unlatch the door herself.

[Liene] "I need a tool of some kind."

She pressed her eye to the gap, trying to see if there was any way to reach the latch. It was still the dark hours before dawn, making it difficult to see anything clearly.

[Liene] "Wait... what was that sound...?"

A faint sound brushed against her ears—the very footsteps she had been praying for.

[Liene] "Over here!"

Thud!

Just as Liene struck the iron door again, a violent crash—many times louder than her own knocking—echoed through the area.

It didn't come from directly outside her door, but vibrated through the walls from an adjacent room.

[Dieren] "Ugh! Agggh!"

A scream followed.

Thwack. Crash!

The sound was unmistakable: the impact of a human body being hurled against a wall.

[Black] "Speak."

A low, clear voice rang out, distinct from the screams.

Relief and joy surged through Liene like a tidal wave. It was Black. He was in the next room.

[Liene] "Lord Tiwakan!"

Thump, thump!

However, her voice seemed drowned out by the chaos occurring on the other side.

[Dieren] "I—I told you... I told you everything I know! I knew nothing until I received that letter! Truly, nothing! It was all Baiyar's doing. He brought the poison, he planned everything... I didn't even know Nauk had a Guard Commander! I swear!"

[Black] "Do I look like a man with time to waste?"

[Dieren] "No, of course not... why are you suddenly—"

Black’s voice was lower and raspier than usual, sounding utterly exhausted.

[Black] "Every second I spend listening to you claim ignorance is a second I should be using to find my wife. Don't waste my time. Who was the person the Princess Consort smuggled in that carriage?"

[Dieren] "I really don't know! I was unconscious from the poison myself and only just woke up! How could I possibly know what's happening...?"

A heavy sigh echoed through the wall.

[Black] "Then it seems you are of no use to me."

A sudden, sharp noise followed, accompanied by a suffocating tension that Liene could feel even through the stone.

[Dieren] "AAAAARGH! AGH!"

Dieren’s long, agonizing scream tore through the air.

[Liene] "Lord Tiwakan!"

Liene hammered on the iron door with all her might.

Thump, thump!

I'm here! You only need to open this one door!

[Dieren] "AAAAAAAUGH! STOP!"

Dieren’s shrieks were deafening. Yet, through the uproar, Black’s tired voice remained sharp.

[Black] "Hold him down. This time..."

His words trailed off. Then, Dieren’s screaming stopped abruptly, as if cut short.

Had he heard her?

Tap, tap-tap.

[Liene] "Lord Tiwakan?"

She tapped the iron door, her heart dangling between hope and doubt.

Thump, thump!

[Liene] "I'm in here!"

BANG!

The door was practically torn from its hinges as it flew open.

[Liene] "Ah..."

In the next instant, she was met by a gaze as deep and surging as a blue tide. Before she could utter a word, she was lifted off her feet.

By the time she gathered her senses, she was being held in an embrace so tight she could barely breathe.

Ah... this feels right.

The sensation of his solid arms wrapping around her felt like the safest place in the world.

The texture of his clothes brushing against her cheek, the fingers gripping her almost painfully, the sound of his ragged breath against her ear—it was all perfect.

[Black] "You are safe."

It took a long moment for Black to speak. His voice trembled like a breaking wave.

[Liene] "Yes... nothing happened to me."

[Black] "Haa..."

Black exhaled a long, shuddering breath before pulling back slightly to inspect every inch of her face.

[Black] "No one will ever know what a gift you have just given me."

It was his way of saying he was just as relieved as she was.

This man... he always talks as if I’m giving him something.

I only returned because I had to. I didn't return just to give him a gift. And yet, he speaks as if I did.

She buried her face in the crook of his neck.

[Liene] "And no one will ever know how truly lovely you are right now."

---

The moments that followed were a blur of chaotic activity.

[Klima] "Your Highness...! Princess...!"

Klima was wailing at the top of his lungs.

Madam Flambard was pale, her mouth working but no sound coming out, while the ailing Madam Henton supported her.

Tiwakan said nothing, but their expressions suggested they wanted to hug each other and cry.

Black, meanwhile, stood as stiff as a statue, inspecting Liene’s hands and feet.

The physician caught between them looked as if he wanted to drop dead from the stress.

Amidst the commotion, Liene noticed droplets of blood splattered across Black’s face and clothes.

[Liene] "You have blood on you."

[Black] "...I do?"

[Liene] "Here, and there. No, over here too. There's quite a lot. Are you hurt?"

[Black] "That is..."

He fell silent, looking troubled.

[Liene] "Let me see."

She tried to pull at his blood-stained tunic, but he stopped her.

[Black] "The blood isn't mine."

[Liene] "Then... ah, Prince Dieren."

[Black] "......"

Black turned his head away awkwardly.

The bloodstains were the result of him nearly severing Dieren’s leg. He had intended to cut them off and send one to Princess Blini and the other to the Grand Duke of Alito.

With Liene’s whereabouts unknown, he had intended it as a warning to ensure they didn't try anything further.

Fortunately for Dieren, Black had heard Liene’s voice at that exact moment, so the axe had only embedded itself in the flesh of his thigh.

Of course, to someone who hadn't spent their life on a battlefield, it was a barbaric and horrifying sight. Black didn't want Liene to see that side of him.

[Black] "He isn't badly hurt. His life isn't in danger. I only frightened him."

Had Dieren heard that, he would have been bedridden for three days out of sheer indignation.

[Liene] "But if that’s the case, then the Sharka Kingdom... Oh, that’s right! They said Sharka is sending an army! I’m a fool—how could I have forgotten? The Sharka forces will be at the border soon..."

[Black] "No. They never reached the border."

Liene, who had been speaking frantically, lost her momentum when she saw his expression.

[Liene] "You... you knew?"

[Black] "I suspected as much, so I sent the Nauk forces ahead. I just received word—the Vasheyd army retreated before they could even set foot on the border."

The word "retreated" wasn't entirely accurate. To be precise, the Vasheyd army had been reduced to a pile of neatly decapitated corpses, save for one survivor. That survivor was expected to return to Sharka to arrange for the collection of the bodies.

[Liene] "Ah... thank goodness."

Exhaling a sigh of relief, Liene pulled Black into another embrace.

[Liene] "I thought something terrible was going to happen."

She was safe because he was here. Weroz’s words had been lies. It wasn't that a Gainers shouldn't be on this land—he had to be here.

[Liene] "I'm so glad. Deeply."

Because you are here.

Black hesitated for a moment before asking.

[Black] "Then... are you alright with it?"

[Liene] "With what?"

[Black] "That I harmed Prince Dieren."

[Liene] "Well... I trust that you did what was necessary."

[Black] "It was. It was necessary."

He felt immensely relieved that Dieren was not in the room to hear that.

[Black] "Now, let me go."

He gently took hold of the arms wrapped around him.

[Liene] "Can't we stay like this a little longer?"

[Black] "My heart wants to, but we must tend to your wounds. You’re badly hurt."

Madam Flambard, who had been waiting for an opening to speak, finally interjected loudly.

[Flambard] "He is right! I am overjoyed that the Princess has returned safely, but those hands and feet must be cleaned immediately!"

[Liene] "Oh..."

In her state of shock, she hadn't realized. Her hands and feet were filthy and covered in cuts. She was practically staining the white bedsheets.

[Liene] "Then I’ll go to the bath."

[Flambard] "Yes, Your Highness! Wait just a moment, I will go warm the water!"

Madam Flambard scurried toward the bathroom. By then, Klima had finally managed to stop crying, comforted by a Tiwakan patting his head.

[Black] "How did you lose your shoes?"

Black asked, gently holding her exposed foot.

Liene had no idea that he was secretly thinking that if someone had stolen her shoes, he would have to cut off their feet.

[Liene] "I took them off myself."

[Black] "And ended up injured like this?"

[Liene] "I thought it would be easier to find the path that way."

[Black] "...So you found the way."

She nodded.

[Liene] "I know it’s supposed to be a secret... is it a problem that I found it?"

[Black] "Of course not. I’m simply impressed. To think the Princess found her way back through that place barefoot."

He leaned in to kiss her forehead, but she gently pushed him back.

[Liene] "Stay back for a moment. I have something to tell you."

[Black] "Tell me like this. Your mouth isn't blocked."

[Liene] "I want to, but this is a serious conversation."

Realizing they were both being equally stubborn, they looked at each other and shared a quiet laugh.

[Black] "Go ahead, then."

Black pulled his lips away as if making a great sacrifice.

Liene gazed into his face from a breath away, looking her fill.

They said all of Gainers blood goes mad and dies young.

Will this man end up like that, too?

If so, what am I supposed to do?

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