If You Leave Without a Word - Chapter 209

‧₊˚ ☁️⋅♡𓂃 ࣪ ִֶָ☾.

Perhaps it was the slight relief that the vague fear of never being able to approach her again had eased. He could never forget the moment when her hand grasped his arm, guiding him.

It was a memory he would carry for a long time.

Cain recalled the vassals he had lost long ago.

He now had a new family. For someone who had only known loss and sorrow, the concept of a new family shook his entire life with profound meaning.

There was a huge difference between knowing intellectually that Agatha was carrying his child and feeling it physically.

‘From now on, I can never lose my family again.’

This one thought filled his mind completely. He would no longer helplessly lose what was precious and be crushed by despair. From the moment he felt the child’s movements, Cain silently repeated this vow thousands of times.

When he first lost everything, he was just a powerless boy. But now, he was different.

He had gained the strength to protect and save what was dear to him. That strength, nurtured to find the lost vassals, had now become a powerful means to protect his new family.

“Commander, the stable keeper said everything is fully prepared.”

According to Lehman’s report, the Kristin party was in the final stages of preparing to leave Pahel. Everyone was diligently fulfilling their duties.

“And the rest?”

“All the necessary supplies have been procured, and the carriages are nearly ready.”

Cain looked away from his palm and turned to Lehman. His expression was completely different from when he thought of the child.

Originally, as a knight, he always had a cold, calculating mask. He had just lowered that mask briefly while searching for his lost wife, but Cain Vernat remained a cold and distant figure.

“And the Count’s movements?”

“There has been no significant activity from Count Schuck.”

“Even without acting directly, one can plot plenty. Has anyone come or gone to the Count’s estate?”

“According to the troops monitoring the estate, the mercenaries’ movements are unusual. And there are people coming and going in a hurry, but their faces are concealed, so their identities couldn’t be confirmed.”

“Concealed faces… That means these people would be in trouble if identified.”

“Yes.”

“Any other suspicious signs?”

“Whenever a stranger moves, they are accompanied by others. They wear black armor with no family crest or insignia, so their identity is unknown. Judging from the state of their weapons, they seem to be trained knights rather than mercenaries.”

“Even the most powerful Count in the south couldn’t manage knights and had to hire mercenaries, yet strangers visiting his home are protected by knights? And those knights conceal their faces…”

Cain’s thoughts quickly connected the dots.

“Keep watching the Count’s estate.”

“Yes, Commander.”

Cain had been monitoring Count Schuck ever since arriving in Pahel. Not only conducting surveillance but watching every living thing entering or leaving the manor.

That man was the enemy of his mother and himself. Cain intended to make the Count pay his blood price. But the plan was accelerating as he was leaving Pahel sooner than expected.

The public justification was to make the Count pay for exploiting people unfairly. Though the true intention was far more sinister…

“And I have brought the servant you requested.”

Lehman nodded, and a knight brought a small man forward.

Ever since Cain saw the woman who resembled his mother in the square, he had ordered Lehman to recruit a servant from the Count’s manor.

Count Schuck’s estate was a massive fortress—one that would be nearly impossible to capture without the imperial knights laying siege.

To defeat such a man required coordinated attacks both inside and out. Cain had his knights monitor the estate’s exterior while trying to recruit servants familiar with its internal affairs.

No matter how powerful a noble is, there will always be servants who harbor resentment. In fact, the stronger the noble, the more rebellious servants they tend to have.

Especially someone like Count Schuck, who cared so little for human lives that he would dispose of a few without remorse, Cain was certain there were servants who despised him deeply.

And his intuition was correct.

When the Kristin party swept up all the food in the area, depriving the Count of his beloved milk, one of the estate’s servants came to plead mercy, saying the Count could only sleep after drinking milk with sugar dissolved in it.

Cain seized the opportunity. In exchange for milk, he demanded the servant report everything related to the Count. The servant, fearing the Count’s merciless punishments more than anything, eagerly agreed.

“There was a visitor at the estate.”

“Yes, but the estate frequently receives guests. Nobles tied by debts, those coming with requests, and women seeking to enjoy a wealthy life under the Count’s favor. Which one do you mean?”