Chapter 210
‧₊˚ ☁️⋅♡𓂃 ࣪ ִֶָ☾.
“When the visitor left the estate escorted by knights, they covered their face. Tell me their name.”
The servant paled.
“Did the Count address that person as ‘Your Grace’?”
The servant’s face turned ashen and he did not answer. He could not answer.
Cain was convinced of his suspicion.
Grand Duke Norfolk. He was here.
Before leaving on the long journey, they needed to identify and eliminate all threats. Especially since he had the grave duty to protect the pregnant Agatha. He had to find the dangers and had it removed.
Cain vaguely knew of the connection between the Grand Duke and the Count, but the timing of the Grand Duke’s arrival was suspicious.
It was unsettling that the Grand Duke came to the south just after Cain and Agatha had encountered the Count.
Even the lowliest servant would understand the weight of royal status and the Grand Duke’s rank. Perhaps for that reason, the servant remained mostly silent about the Grand Duke.
This was not out of loyalty to the Count or Grand Duke but fear of getting caught up in the affairs of the powerful and bringing danger upon himself.
Cain knew how to handle such people. Knights were trained in dozens of methods to make captured enemies talk, including persuasion and threats as well as brute force.
For a servant forced to work due to lack of options to make a living, a small carrot is enough to get what you want.
“Tell me everything you know. For every useful piece of information, you will receive a silver coin.”
Cain’s approach worked immediately. The servant’s eyes doubled in size at the sight of the silver coins and he soon began spilling information he hadn’t even been asked about.
From the Count’s every move to the state of the estate, Cain learned everything about Count Schuck through the servant. He heard what time the Count woke, what he ate, when he used the bathroom, the days he received guests, and even his bizarre nocturnal hobbies.
When he heard the Count’s obsession with a brown-haired slave woman, Cain clenched his hand.
“You said brown-haired?”
“Yes, a slave woman given as a gift from somewhere. The Count usually would quickly grow bored after one night, but strangely kept her close in his chambers.”
Cain ground his teeth. Trying to stay calm was impossible as thoughts of the disgusting Count and his connection to his mother boiled inside him.
“…Where is that slave now?”
“She is dead and gone. He kept her close but suddenly, for some unknown reason, he dragged her out one morning and killed her.”
His mother was dead. Confirmed once again through the servant’s words, Cain ironically regained his composure at that moment.
The woman he saw in the square was likely just someone who happened to resemble his mother.
Cain slowly breathed in and out, coldly plotting how to bring down the Count.
Count Schuck—an utterly ruthless enemy who drained the blood of countless people, ruined lives, and brutally violated and murdered Cain’s mother. There would be no mercy for him.
There were five days left before leaving Pahel, and Cain intended to make the Count pay dearly in that time.
Considering the years of torment his mother endured, even hastening that wretched life’s end could be seen as mercy. At the very least, Cain thought, the despicable Count should suffer as much as his mother suffered….
A conflict raged within Cain. Part of him wanted to plunge the Count into unbearable agony so terrible that he begged for death, while his mind had already decided to finish the revenge swiftly and focus entirely on Agatha.
Though his head had settled on the latter, his heart was reluctant to follow.
“…What happened to the body?”
“The body was burned and destroyed. He said, ‘No trace of that slave must remain here,’ or something to that effect.”
As the servant’s voice trailed off while trying to remember, an eerie coldness filled the room. The servant quickly retraced his words, fearing he might have said too much.
“So no trace of the body remains?”
Cain silently muttered to himself and made his decision. You will leave no trace of your existence in this world either..
“…By the way, when will I be allowed to leave? I have left the estate for too long, and the Count is bound to get furious…”
The servant, who had eagerly spilled information in exchange for silver coins, now looked timid, shoulders hunched, watching the knights nervously.
“You said you wanted to leave the estate.”
“Yes?”
“I will ensure you can return to your homeland.”
“R-really? What is this all of a sudden?”
“I will also make sure your family don’t go hungry.”
“R-really?”
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