IHDOE Ch 103
The moment he realized the truth, his entire body trembled uncontrollably.
[V. Seilum] "My mother….. my mother is different! If you kill me, she will look for me!"
[Satina] "Your other family members will handle her, I am sure."
Her nonchalance sent him into a panic.
[V. Seilum] "Think again! No! I will tell you! I will tell you everything! What Baron Galle is after, what he is scheming! Is this not what you want?!"
[Satina] "It was. But now it doesn't matter anymore. I can ask someone else. Besides, I hold little trust in someone who rejected my offer."
[V. Seilum] "The others know nothing! Do you have any idea how cunning they are, how eagerly they wag their tails for Baron Galle?!"
[Satina] "Does that not apply to you as well, Viscount?"
[V. Seilum] "I am different! Baron Galle used you to swindle Count Bron! Even meeting you at the restaurant today was entirely his scheme!"
[Satina] "An obvious story."
She spoke with a bored expression.
Dirt pressed heavily against his body. His face paled.
If he were buried in this cemetery, who could ever find him? Shouts would never reach the outside, and with his arms bound, he couldn't dig his way out. He would be buried alive.
Viscount Seilum racked his brain desperately. Now was not the time to weigh options.
[V. Seilum] "I remember all the details of that business! If you want, I will write everything down!"
Dirt splattered into his mouth with every scoop of Katan's shovel.
[V. Seilum] "He is the boss of The Dark Grasp! He approached you intentionally! Meeting you, pretending to be attacked by The Dark Grasp—it was all his doing! I saw him rejoice over holding the Grand Duchess' weakness... Oof!"
He spat out the dirt filling his mouth and shouted desperately to change Satina's mind. Although dirt reached his neck, she merely looked down at him with an indifferent expression.
In the end, he had no choice but to spill the most critical secret he possessed.
[V. Seilum] "I will tell you where the Grand Duchess' promissory note is!"
Baron Galle had claimed he lured Satina using the Grand Duchess' promissory note from the very start. The Viscount had expected her to show great interest, yet Satina displayed little reaction, defying his assumptions.
Soon, his entire body was buried under the dirt. In the pitch-black earth, chaos consumed his mind.
Is she really trying to kill me like this? No. Unbelievable.
Dammit, I should have just spilled everything from the start...
How much time had passed? As his breathing grew faint, the image of his deceased father flickered before his eyes.
That dream was right after all...
At that moment, air surged into his lungs as bright light poured down. He gasped for breath and looked up at Satina.
[Satina] "Now that I think about it, I have not heard where the Grand Duchess' promissory note is yet. Where is it?"
Trembling violently, the Viscount spilled every fact he knew.
The Satina standing before his eyes was far more terrifying than Baron Galle and his bags of money. Because he had foolishly dismissed Satina as a young girl swayed by filial affection, he had nearly lost his life.
[V. Seilum] "Th-That should do it. This is everything I know..."
[Satina] "Before sending you home, I have a gift for you."
At her words, Katan forced the viscount's mouth open and poured a bitter liquid inside.
[V. Seilum] "Cough, cough! What is..."
[Satina] "It is poison."
[V. Seilum] "..."
[Satina] "It was crafted through House Bersabet's special secret technique. If you wish to live, you must take the antidote I provide every week."
She spoke with a smile.
[Satina] "So if you acquire useful information in the future, be sure to inform me."
He had never heard of such a poison, yet Satina didn't appear to be lying. A vicious woman who had just tried to bury him alive would hardly hesitate to use poison.
In the end, only one path remained for him.
Satina watched the Viscount's carriage speed away from the cemetery.
Poison, my foot.
It was an extraordinarily bitter medicine for stomach aches. Although he would suffer stomach pains by tomorrow, Viscount Seilum would firmly believe it was the poison taking effect.
She knew he looked down on her. Had she attempted to persuade him through conventional means, like offering to settle his debts. He would have taken her money and run straight to Baron Galle with the information.
Thus, she had orchestrated this spectacle, burying him in a cemetery in the dead of night, to force his cooperation.
Once Viscount Seilum departed, the taut string of tension snapped. Satina tried to walk nonchalantly, but all strength drained from her body. She stumbled, only for Katan to support her from the side.
Father really was deceiving me.
Although she wished to deny it, reality was cold.
[Satina] "Ha ha ha."
A hollow laugh escaped her lips. It was all a scheme to exploit and manipulate her at his whim.
Right, no wonder he suddenly claimed to be searching for me now.
Had he been someone who genuinely cherished his child, he wouldn't have acted so cold toward young Satina. When she suffered treatment worse than trash at House Bersabet, he would have tried to bring her back by any means necessary.
Looking at it dispassionately, the truth was obvious, yet she had been foolishly blinded by something as trivial as blood ties.
Satina turned her gaze toward Katan.
At least one person remains.
In the past, she would have swallowed the pain alone, but now at least one person stood by her side.
Satina pushed gently against his chest and stood on her own feet. Looking at him, she spoke in a dry voice.
[Satina] "If you intend to leave too, leave now. I am sick of getting hurt over things like this."
[Katan] "..."
[Satina] "If you tell me honestly right now that you wish to leave, I shall release the spell around your neck and let you go. I will grant you a hefty sum of money, a title, whatever you desire. But if you refuse..."
She brushed her fingers against the mark etched into his neck and whispered.
[Satina] "I will never release your leash for the rest of my life."
What a petty and despicable act. It was no different from holding his life hostage. Yet as she was now, Satina could trust no one without such constraints.
Katan lowered his eyes submissively as he answered.
[Katan] "If doing so allows you to trust me, My Lady, do as you wish."
The moment she heard his answer, something hot surged from deep within her. She steadied her trembling voice and spoke.
[Satina] "This is your last chance. If you speak now, I will let you go. I mean it."
[Katan] "It is unnecessary."
[Satina] "Think carefully. If you betray me later, if you say you want to leave, I will blow your head off."
[Katan] "It matters not. You are the master of my leash."
He offered a faint smile as he caressed her cheek.
[Katan] "So you may cry now."
Those words acted like a switch, unlocking the flood of tears she had held back.
Satina buried her face in Katan's chest once more, and he embraced her as she sobbed soundlessly.
Exhausted by the ordeal at the cemetery, Satina fell asleep on the journey back.
Katan lifted her carefully so as not to wake her and laid her on the bed. He sat beside her, gazing down at her sleeping form.
Because she had poured out tears suppressed for so long, the corners of her eyes were flushed red. As he stroked her eyelid with his thumb, Satina knitted her brow slightly, as if the touch stung even in her sleep. He would need to apply ointment tomorrow morning.
Satina had finally begun trusting him completely. One of the most crucial puzzle pieces for his plan was now secured.
As he recalled how Satina had relied on him while pouring out her suppressed emotions, a tingling surge of pleasure coursed through his gut.
He gazed at the sleeping Satina without blinking, then lifted her hand and bit her finger gently. Although he knew it differed little from ordinary human skin, it tasted sweet and soft. It felt as though swallowing it whole wouldn't even catch on bone.
Foul desire swirled in his dark eyes. Unaware of his thoughts, Satina remained fast asleep. As he stared at her sleeping face, he could barely contain the impulse surging from his gut.
No, I must not.
He couldn't wake her when she was sleeping so peacefully at last. The cogs had barely begun turning; he couldn't derail things now.
He rose from his seat and approached Satina's desk. From the stack of letters neatly organized by the maid, he picked up a single envelope. It was from Serpens in the west.
With dry eyes, he quickly scanned the letter filled with ardent devotion toward Satina, expressing a desire to rush to the capital to see her.
Although Katan wanted to rush to the west immediately and bury Serpens in a grave just as he had done today, he forced himself to endure for Satina's sake.
Finally, his gaze reached the last page of the letter.
[I have pondered long and deemed it necessary to inform you, though conveying these words is difficult.
Please don't take offense and hear me out. The black-haired slave beside you….. I feel it would be wise to keep your distance from him.]
[Katan] "Letters go missing all the time."
Without another glance, Katan tore the letter to shreds and scattered the pieces across the floor.
His shadow stretched long across the floor, opening its maw wide to swallow the fragments of the letter.
He had felt something when they crossed paths in the west. He would need to tread carefully whenever he encountered him in the future.
After disposing of the letter effortlessly, he returned to the bed.
[Katan] "You don't need to know anything about me yet."
He kissed the sleeping Satina's forehead and whispered in an enraptured voice.
[Katan] "Because I shall protect you."
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