Acidity of Regret Ch 9
- Dec 15, 2025
- 7 min read
Updated: Dec 16, 2025
The rhythmic thunder of hooves tore through the silence.
A squadron of warhorses galloped furiously along the edge of the deep river. A haze of sand rose in their wake, swirling like a storm before vanishing into the dark abyss of the landscape.
As if forewarned of their arrival, a massive black flag snapped violently atop the towering gate, welcoming the group. Adorned in its center was a long sword entwined with vines—the official crest of the House of Vinkart.
From atop his speeding black steed, Declan looked down at the woman cradled in his arms.
Her complexion was ashen, a testament to the suffering she had endured over the past few days. It was a face vastly different from the flawless, pristine perfection he had seen at the banquet.
He tightened his arm around her waist, pulling her closer. Even in her sleep, she instinctively burrowed into him, seeking the warmth radiating from his chest.
Adjusting his grip on her back, Declan kicked the horse’s flanks. The stallion surged forward with renewed speed, passing swiftly through the gate.
[Declan] "Summon the physician."
Dismounting and striding into the castle’s main hall, he barked the order to the butler trailing behind him.
He entered the bedroom and laid her upon a bed vast enough to accommodate three men. Almost simultaneously, the doors burst open, and the physician arrived, breathless and flustered.
As the physician examined Vanessa, he stood behind him, arms crossed, watching like a hawk.
The Grand Duke exuded a suffocating pressure even when standing still, causing cold sweat to bead on the physician’s forehead. Yet, despite his fear, he couldn't tear his eyes away from the woman.
In all his life, he had never seen a woman so ravishing. Her face was haggard from whatever ordeal she had survived, yet her brilliant beauty could not be dimmed.
Her blonde hair spilled over the white pillow like spun gold, and the pale skin exposed by her tattered negligee looked so soft it seemed it would adhere to his palm if he touched it.
But more than her figure, her delicate features stirred something intense within him. It was a beauty that made his mouth go dry and his hands itch, even knowing she was brought here by the master of this land.
[Physician] "Aside from the scratch on her calves, there is no cause for major concern. She is simply suffering from extreme exhaustion. If you allow her to rest for a while, she will recover."
After a lengthy examination, the physician stammered as he straightened up to explain.
Declan’s gaze, still fixed on him with arms crossed, was utterly frigid.
He offered no verbal reply, merely scratching his brow before crooking a finger. It was a gesture to come closer. The physician obeyed silently.
[Physician] "Is there something you wish to say..."
The Grand Duke possessed a peculiar power to make others feel infinitesimally small when face-to-face. His towering height was part of it, but more than that, it was those desolate eyes—eyes with depths no one could fathom.
[Declan] "Good work."
[Physician] "Thank you, Your Grace."
Did he call me this close only to say that?
Just as the physician felt a wave of relief wash over him—
[Declan] "And."
In a flash, his wrist was seized.
Thud!
His upper body was slammed onto the table.
Blinking in confusion, he gasped as he saw the tip of a sharp dagger pressed right against the back of his hand. It was positioned with terrifying precision; a fraction of an inch deeper, and it would draw blood.
[Declan] "If these hands move for any reason other than medical treatment, expect no mercy."
Declan’s voice growled low, like an enraged wolf.
The physician trembled violently, realizing his inner thoughts had been laid bare. He hadn't dared to act on them because of the terrifying surveillance, but his master had undoubtedly caught that fleeting moment of hesitation in his fingertips.
[Declan] "Watch your hands. You make a living with them; what will you do if they get chopped off?"
His tone was flat, which made it all the more terrifying. It sounded as if he would commit such an atrocity without blinking an eye.
The blade, poised to pierce the hand at any moment, suddenly shifted direction and pointed toward his eyes.
A strangled gasp—Hic!—escaped his throat at the chilling sensation. Declan tapped his cheek with the cold flat of the blade.
[Declan] "Manage your eyes properly, too."
[Physician] "..."
[Declan] "If you keep rolling them around without knowing your place, you’ll go blind in an instant."
The casual remark was as biting as the sword in his hand. The unnecessary glances and hesitation directed at the woman had invited this brutal interrogation.
Anyone who had served the Grand Duke knew he did not make idle threats.
[Physician] "I-I apologize!"
The physician threw himself at Declan’s feet, begging for forgiveness. Declan looked down at him with eyes like frost before issuing a dismissal.
As soon as the physician scrambled out of the room, Declan pulled the bell cord to summon the butler.
[Butler] "You called, Master."
[Declan] "Fire him before the day is out."
Realizing the ruthless order referred to the physician, the butler hesitated for a moment.
The physician had served the household since the time of the previous Grand Duke and Grand Duchess. He was skilled and had never caused trouble before.
What on earth had happened to offend the master so deeply?
But there was no time for deep contemplation. The butler feared the master in front of him far more than he cared for a mere physician.
[Butler] "Yes. It shall be done."
[Declan] "And for the new physician, find a woman."
This, too, was a puzzling command, but the butler agreed without question.
Only after the butler disappeared did Declan walk deliberately toward the bed.
Vanessa was sound asleep, blissfully unaware of the violence that had just transpired.
Sitting on the edge of the bed, he gently caressed her pale cheek.
He expected her to be cold and clammy, but her skin was surprisingly warm. The sensation reminded him of the heat inside her mouth that he had tasted so thoroughly at the banquet.
Like a magnet, his upper body leaned naturally toward her.
As his face drew near, he felt her faint breath. He gripped her slender chin and licked her lips, which remained flushed despite her sickly complexion. An urge rose within him to push his tongue through the slight parting of her lips.
Before long, a self-deprecating question floated in his mind:
How am I any different from that physician just now?
With a dry smirk, he stopped himself and lifted his head.
Indeed, her face was so bewilderingly seductive that it made sense that both the Auction Master and the physician had been bewitched.
She’s beautiful even when pale as death. He marveled inwardly.
If before she was simply beautiful, now, with tear tracks dried on her white cheeks, she possessed a tragic, haunting quality.
The memory of her nodding frantically at his proposal to leave together surfaced. It was a reaction that satisfied him deeply. It was enough to justify his own madness—the way he had heard the news and raced to Ingzella like a lunatic.
He pressed a kiss to her disheveled blonde hair and stood up. Yet, his gaze remained fixed on her, unable to tear itself away for a long time.
Eventually, a considerable amount of time passed before he finally left the bedroom.
Vanessa opened her eyes two days after arriving in the Grand Duchy. As consciousness returned, a groan escaped her lips; her body throbbed in various places as if she were covered in bruises.
Slowly blinking her eyes open, she sat up urgently, finding the view before her utterly unfamiliar.
The sudden movement triggered a dull headache. Clutching her head, she rolled her eyes to scan her surroundings.
It was an incredibly spacious bedroom. And oddly gloomy.
Most of the furniture filling the room was achromatic, devoid of color. Even the tapestries hanging on the walls were woven only in dark threads, despite such decorations usually being bright and colorful.
She struggled to recall her last fragmented memory. She had definitely been trapped in an underground dungeon, dragged to a slave auction, and then some obese man had come and...
The image of blood dripping from his chest onto her wrapped around her retinas like an afterimage. The memory was so gruesome that she shuddered.
Then, she remembered the man who had dispatched that brute and appeared before her.
Declan. Declan had come.
Only then did she recall that her final memory was of being in his arms.
Then this place is...
His bedroom?
If so, there was a high probability that this was the Grand Duchy of Vinkart.
If she was truly in the Grand Duchy, how on earth had she gotten here?
Even riding non-stop from Ingzella to the Grand Duchy took a solid three days.
Had she been asleep for that long?
Just as she was fumbling through her hazy memories as if repainting a blurred picture, a knock sounded.
Startled, Vanessa shrank back, pulling the duvet up as if to hide her body.
The door opened without permission, and the very person who had been vividly occupying her mind revealed himself.
[Declan] "You’re awake."
Declan entered the bedroom, dressed in casual attire, unlike the formal wear she usually saw him in at banquets.
Realizing the intruder was him, she finally released the tension that had constricted her entire body.
[Declan] "How is your body?"
[Vanessa] "..."
[Declan] "Your fever didn't break for several nights."
She stared blankly at him as he sat on the edge of the bed.
Even though she had vaguely guessed this was his domain from her last memory, she couldn't believe he was right in front of her eyes.
Because his presence confirmed that all those terrible memories—which she had hoped were just a nightmare—were undeniably real.
Everything was real.
The slave auction, the treason, and her father’s death...
She meant to ask how he had found her. But strangely, what escaped her mouth was a sob. Her eyes grew hot without warning, and then tears began to flow uncontrollably.
Faced with a world that had turned upside down overnight, she burst into tears like a child.
From the moment the commotion started at the Count’s estate in the early dawn until her confinement in the slave auction, she had held on, standing on the edge of a cliff.
Now, everything she had been suppressing came crashing down.
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