Chapter 15

Translator and Editor: Effe and Yonnee

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“Why did the Marchioness, towards me…”

Tessa had seen the Marchioness only once.

It was not long after she had just come to the castle. In order to escape all that she suffered in this place, Tessa recklessly avoided people and headed to a secluded place. Then, she ran into the Marchioness, who was alone in the annex that she entered by chance.

She didn’t know who she was at the time as she left right away, startled by the fact that someone was there. However, she was surprised when she later realized that the woman was the Marchioness.

“Well, maybe Tessa will find out when you meet the Marchioness? She said what time you come doesn’t matter, so I think Tessa should go find her whenever you’re comfortable.”

Tessa didn’t know why the Marchioness wanted to see her, but she nodded to indicate that she would go for now. It was, as Janet said, something she would know if she met her.

Then she suddenly became curious. Why was Janet relaying the words of the Marchioness? The Marchioness didn’t meet anyone except the maids who attended to her. How was Janet with her?

“Excuse me, Janet. Janet is…”

Then at that moment, the door swung open and Mani came in. She hurriedly approached Tessa with a slow pace and gave the news.

Hert has returned.

* * *

A meandering curve followed the ridgeline. The man had been clenching his chin from before her and only staring out of the window.

‘Damn woman.’

Hert had a headache. The trip for nearly 15 days was to meet the Marquis of Borwen.

‘Will you give me your notebook?’

After travelling for over a week to the royal capital, he reached halfway through the road, and Marquis Borwen, who was disguised as a man, was waiting for him. It was a sudden meeting because they had not promised to meet here. She had a calm face unlike any other.

‘So, did you like my present?’

Her eyes pierced through people and her curved, cold lips were still clear.

People often refer to Hert as the faithful dog of Marquis Borwen. But in fact, it was Hert who hated the Marquis more than anyone and wanted to stay away from her.

There were many reasons for this, but the Marquis was typically a person who deviated from the category of normal people for a long time.

The Marquis, when looked closely, possessed an arrogant disposition that could not be hidden like a person who had many things from birth, and often looked at things under her with eyes as if they were inferior to worms.

Was that the only thing? The woman liked to use people as though they were mere chess pieces, and she sometimes enjoyed extreme choices that Hert couldn’t comprehend.

In particular, there was the case where a servant accidentally interrupted her at a banquet where the young king and his servants were gathered, and so she pulled out all of his teeth and chucked his tongue in a pig’s pen. It was still being talked about even after a long time.

And then, without a single blink of an eye, she muttered, ‘It’s quiet now.’

In short, the Marquis of Borwen was a psychopath.

‘I thought from the beginning that she was a crazy woman, but…’

That was five years ago. Hert, who had been rolling through the dirt and dying as a gladiator slave, met Marquis Borwen for the first time in the arena. At the time, the woman was looking for a dog—a faithful dog that would hunt down her targets brilliantly. Or, a dog that wouldn’t get hurt even if she threw it away.

By her command, the master of the arena brought Hert and several of the remarkable gladiator slaves before her. On the spot, she stopped for a moment in front of Hert and she said,

‘Aren’t your eyes cheeky?’

And then she suddenly put a sword in Hert’s hand. It was a general rule not to give weapons to slaves except when there were matches, so the arena master seemed surprised, but no one stood against her marquis.

‘Kill the person you want to kill the most here. I won’t look behind you. I promise.’

At that, Hert raised his head and looked at the arena master. Most gladiator slaves hated their arena masters. It was because they had treated gladiators rudely when they made money using them.

As Hert’s gaze turned to his master, he could be seen trembling. He himself knew his sin.

At that time, Hert had lost his will, despairing his unchangeable life. He luckily survived his first few matches and learned the sword from a skilled mercenary. He had since climbed up the ranks, but he was soon fed up with the seemingly endless drivel in his future.

But what if he were to kill the arena master? Could he get out of here?

Hert didn’t hesitate. He immediately took up his sword and killed the arena master. The other gladiator slaves roared with cheers, and the Marquis did not blink a single eye as a person was dying in blood splattered before her eyes. She looked genuinely happy.

But Hert didn’t notice that hell had just begun.

‘Young Man, let’s try your luck.’

Hert was taken to the infamous prison for murdering the arena master. Because the Marquis had instructed so. The Marquis said to Hert, who rebelled wildly, saying, ’Isn’t this different from what you promised?!’

‘If you survive there without dying and if you meet me again, I will give you what you want the most as a gift.’

Thus, Hert was half-forced to become a prisoner of Bastechen.

‘You’re lucky. I didn’t know we’d meet here.’

Hert’s second meeting with the Marquis was on the battlefield.

At that time, as a sudden war broke out with the neighboring country, Viachen, the prisoners of Bastechen were called out. However, the prisoners were not given weapons, helmets, or anything else. They were purely used as human shields. Literally an arrowhead.

The battlefield was a mess. In the chaos of blood and spilled innards, Hert accidentally grabbed a sword and managed to survive. Then he slashed the enemy like crazy.

His head seemed to be pounded. As he was covered in hot blood, he could not think normally. Is the soldier in front of him a human or a piece of meat?

Then one day, Hert accidentally beheaded the enemy captain. No, he thought it was half intentional. Because he knew instinctively that this battle would end only by killing the enemy leader.

He took the blood-dripping enemy’s head and went to the headquarters. And there, he met again with the Marquis of Borwen.

‘Great. You’d be perfect as my dog.’

The Marquis clearly remembered Hert. And so, the creepy woman raised her lips with satisfaction and said to him.

‘What is it that you want?’

What did he say at that moment?

‘I want to find someone.’

After that, the Marquis nodded.

‘Alright, it’s a deal.’

After that, Hert slashed countless enemies until the end of the war. Enemy soldiers begged for their lives, but he did not spare them. The Marquis told him to cut them all down to death. So he cut and killed anyone who stood in the way. On the way back from the battle, the foul smell of blood on his body could be sensed in all directions.

From that point on, everyone started to fear him.

The war ended sooner than expected.

It was through the collaboration between the Marquis of Borwen and Hert. The Marquis pushed Hert into the right place without hesitation, and Hert went around the battlefield like a crazed murderer and decapitated the enemy’s head. As a result, the powers of the two countries, which were similar, gradually tilted to one side, and eventually led to the victory of the Mussieux Kingdom.

Marquis Borwen, who returned to the royal capital announcing the victory, manipulated the young king to bestow Hert the title of a knight and to grant him the surname Shine.

Hert knew that titles and surnames were only good looking collars. But it didn’t matter anyway. If the Marquis would keep her promise, he could be faithful as her dog.

Above all else, if Tessa was truly the concubine of a high noble, the help of the Marquis was absolutely necessary. The Marquis of Borwen, who was called the king’s right arm, was actually a hidden power in this country.

‘After this work, you can rest for a while.’

One day, Hert received a new assignment from the Marquis. He was commanded to capture the Jutert estate and to retrieve certain items. The command of the Marquis to wage a battle for territory with a high-ranking noble for just one thing was a bit absurd, but the thought stopped there. The woman didn’t like it when he would go against her orders.

Even if it was the current head of the Marquis Jutert, whose family contributed to the founding of the kingdom, he could not be a match for Hert. They said he was addicted to alcohol, drugs and women, and the Marquis of Jutert did not wield a single sword, so his neck was cut right away.

Hert carried the Marquis of Jutert’s head and entered the castle. And he found Tessa there.

Only then did he understand the orders of Marquis Borwen.

That bloody woman.

The thing that the Marquis had asked him to bring was a small notebook. There was nothing written in it. Just an unknown name embedded in a notebook. That was it. He was left speechless.

‘Great job.’

The Marquis checked the notebook and put it in her coat pocket as she said this. It was a negligible response to the fact that the head of the family who succeeded in founding the country was decapitated just for a notebook. As if it was Hert who was very interested, she smiled.

‘Tell me. How was my present?’

‘You should have told me in advance.’

‘Gifts are fun when you don’t expect them. Why else would they be covered with wrapping paper? But aren’t you happy? You wanted to meet that girl. She was hard to find, but why is your reaction like that? Not fun.’

‘Are you having fun with this?’

Hert managed to contain his anger. His clenched fists trembled violently.

‘Of course, it’s fun. I wonder what the man will do when he finds the woman who betrayed him. I’m looking forward to it.’

A low laughter pierced his ears. It sounded terrible. It was appalling. That bloody woman. Hert couldn’t stand it and left. Behind him, the Marquis still had more to say, but he didn’t listen.

Anyway, he’s had enough being Marquis’ faithful dog for the time being. He was fortunate enough for that one thing, but it wasn’t as good when he thought about the things he had to do in the future. Hert wrinkled his face. Just thinking of the Marquis, his head throbbed.

“Do you still have a headache?”

Lange, who was sitting across from him, noticed his superior’s distorted expression. Ever since he met the Marquis, he’d been in a bad mood, but now his handsome face was badly distorted.

Hert shrugged as if to brush away the thoughts.

“If you know, don’t ask.”

“As expected, the Sir’s head hurts every time you see Her Grace. Isn’t this almost a reflex?”

“Do you want to die?”

“I’m worried about you, but you’re so cold.”

“Shut up.”

When Hert retorted fiercely, Lange bit the inside of his cheek.

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