Chapter 145
So, Sebelia thought that forcing Claude to stay and taking care of him while unconscious wasn’t such a bad thing after all.
Men who were normally calm were overly sensitive to specific issues and suddenly lost control needed to have their momentum stopped. Whatever method it took, that was necessary.
“Mr. Claude.”
Claude, his energy deflated, looked up at her with downcast eyes. Sebelia sat in the chair beside the bed and spoke.
“I didn’t want you to avoid going to the valley, Mr. Claude. After all, you’re my teacher. It’s natural to want someone like you, who is important to me, to not rush into danger unprepared, right?”
“…”
Claude opened his mouth slightly and blinked. Sebelia calmly listed the practical constraints, things he hadn’t considered due to his rage.
“Also, do you think the knights would let ‘Karl Appenz’ go into the valley for no reason? Or were you planning to enter as Claude Inverness? No, right? You know it’s impossible for both of them.”
Claude’s eyes trembled slightly at Sebelia’s calm words. But Sebelia wasn’t trying to make him give up. Instead, she showed him a small piece of paper that had been on the side table.
“I asked Mr. Watts to contact the knights and arrange for us to observe the collection of the glass flowers as a healer.”
“What… did you say?”
Claude lifted his head, surprised. His tousled brown hair rippled with astonishment. At his sudden movement, Maya, who had been crouching, jumped up from her spot.
Sebelia calmly held Maya, who was trying to grab his hair, and gently placed the letter in his hands.
“While you were unconscious, Mr. Watts and I insisted that we needed to know the progress from the front, and this is the reply.”
“My goodness… Miss Bella, I…”
Claude looked at her and the letter alternately with disbelief. Then, he bent down, bringing his face close to the small piece of paper and reading each word carefully.
“It’s true.”
Looking up, Claude’s face was full of astonishment and gratitude. Sebelia, still holding back Maya, who was struggling to grab his hair, spoke again.
“Let’s go together, Mr. Claude. And don’t call me ‘Miss Bella’ anymore. Just call me Bella. After all, Mr. Claude is my teacher now.”
Tears welled up in his shining golden eyes. Sebelia sighed inside. Honestly, it seemed like all the men in this family acted the same way.
* * *
“Is this what you call progress? Are all the men under my command so blind they can only read numbers backwards?”
Unable to control his temper, Dehart threw the report aside. It had taken him a while to snap, but he was done waiting. Eli stood by, watching the papers float down like snowflakes, then spoke up.
“But, Duke,… even if you read 0 backwards, it’s still… “
“Shut up.”
Dehart shot him a glare, as if he wanted to tear his lips apart for daring to speak. He stood up abruptly.
It had been more than two weeks since they entered the hidden valley, carved through narrow cliffs, and he could no longer sit idly by.
“I’m going down myself.”
“No, you can’t!”
Eli’s lips, which had been tightly sealed, parted. Despite receiving Dehart’s deadly gaze, Eli stubbornly stood in his way.
“You know even the most skilled herbalists can only make a few dozen steps a day in that place, right? No matter how capable Your Grace is, the place is too treacherous.”
Crack.
At that moment, hundreds of white flames shot up inside the tent with a sharp sound. Eli quickly glanced around in surprise and grabbed Dehart’s arm.
“You can’t. Your body isn’t fully recovered…”
“Does my body matter right now?”
Dehart brushed off Eli’s grip with a cold smile, pushing him aside. Eli stared at him, stunned.
“This is enough. I’ve never been the type to follow orders blindly. It’s a miracle I’ve lasted this long.”
A white line streaked through Dehart’s golden eyes. His gaze, which had been as bright as sunlight, began to fade into a pale white. His eyes slowly filled with a chilling light.
“This is who I’ve always been.”
The inside of the tent grew so bright it was hard to see. The surface of the red gemstone embedded in his earlobe cracked.
With a dull thud, the control device finally broke in two and fell to the ground. Eli’s gaze followed it. As he lowered his head, Dehart passed him by, his voice cold as he issued his orders.
“Get every herbalist who’s already down there to come up immediately. Tell those preparing for the next shift to wait. And then, bring every last one of them who’s been down there and failed to do their job properly… “
Dehart stopped mid-sentence. Just as he was speaking, the blue bird that had been silently sleeping on a cushion suddenly flew up and slammed into his chest.
“…”
“Duke?”
Eli called out to him cautiously. Dehart clenched his teeth, staring into empty space, then spoke again.
“Interrogate them. Don’t use tools—only words!”
With a growl in his voice, Dehart left the tent. The blue bird flapped its wings desperately and followed him.
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