* * *
He had no intention of giving Karl everything.
This was the last shred of dignity he was keeping for Zeroth.
‘Purity… hah, who knew I’d be so desperate to keep it?’
If this were Hansung, he would’ve just enjoyed it.
But as he watched Karl take his cock again, panting harshly, Sylvian realized—
‘I really have changed.’
When he thought about it, the stability Zeroth gave him felt good.
Sure, he was selfish and rough, but never crossing the line was… comforting.
“Hnngh!”
Trickle—
Tears spilled from his eyes again, overwhelmed by pleasure.
See?
This really wasn’t what he wanted.
He had planned to escape quietly, maybe hide in a monastery or nearby estate, just to see if Zeroth would even come looking for him.
But this kind of event?
Unthinkable. Sylvian panted, already blaming Karl entirely.
“Haah… Are you alright?”
Hesitantly, Sylvian stroked Karl’s flushed face, his own fingers trembling.
“S-sorry… ngh… my fault.”
‘Please tell me you haven’t abandoned me.’
The thought twisted in his chest—fear that Zeroth still hadn’t found him, tangled with the pleasure coursing through him.
“It’s better if we… help each other escape this place.”
Karl’s face looked far too pleased for that sentiment, but Sylvian sniffled and nodded anyway.
“But… why won’t these chains unlock?”
Karl’s muttering snapped him out of his thoughts.
“I-I don’t know.”
Was it because he couldn’t come?
When Karl touched his chest earlier, he’d nearly tipped over the edge.
If he wanted to move forward—
Sylvian clenched his ass in panic.
“It seems you’re not… relaxed enough.”
Karl’s tongue unconsciously flicked over his lips as he watched the movement.
Plop—
“Aah! Nooo!”
Tears spilled from Sylvian’s wide eyes.
Thanks to Zeroth, his body couldn’t come unless his ass was sore.
The intrusion of long, straight fingers sent violent tremors through him.
“Hih—n-no! Nn! Ah!”
Shake, shake.
Sylvian thrashed his head wildly.
Unlike before, his resistance was fierce—enough to make Karl’s gaze turn cold.
‘You were crying and begging for more just now, and now you’re guarding your purity?’
“Don’t worry. I have no intention of going all the way.”
“Sob! Uuugh!”
Karl didn’t stop.
Despite the tears, the hole greedily sucked his fingers in.
When he pushed another finger inside, the tight walls quivered around him.
“Lord Sylvian. Cooperate. I want to escape quickly too.”
His firm tone made the sobs lessen.
Karl couldn’t look away from the hole, forced to take his fingers while Sylvian’s legs remained bound.
“Ngh… d-don’t… put—”
“I won’t. I wouldn’t dare.”
“T-trust… nn… Zero… Zeroth trusts—”
Zeroth trusts him? As if.
At the broken words, Karl shoved his fingers deeper, as if agreeing.
“Haaah—!”
Sylvian’s high-pitched moan shattered the air—and with it, the last chain around his legs snapped open.
“Just grab the valuables!”
“What the hell is going on?!”
At her husband’s urgent voice, the Lady of Nertian screamed as she was dragged into the dressing room.
“Shh! Keep your voice down!”
They didn’t have many servants, but they had to flee before anyone woke up.
“Damn it! There was a reason Sylvian disappeared!”
“What do you mean?!”
The Viscount shoveled jewelry into a magic pouch.
It was said to fit the load of ten carriages — his wife’s expensive dresses would fetch a good price later.
He packed a few of his own clothes and a mountain of hers, then led her toward the kitchen.
Why the hell did every trading company have to collapse?!
“Sylvian wasn’t kidnapped, you mean… he ran away?”
“Exactly! That ungrateful bastard! After all the years I wasted raising that useless thing.”
The Viscount raged as he swept up the groceries his wife had brought.
“He was staying with the Duke, so he probably found out before anyone else that Count Artishan’s ship sank!”
The Count had promised huge returns in exchange for investments backed by the Duke’s name—but then he vanished.
The trading firms that had pushed the Viscount to invest also folded, and now nobles who trusted his name were hounding him every day, demanding their money back.
They had trusted the Duke’s name, and now they were turning on him.
The Viscount was furious, but had nowhere to turn.
One noble he’d grown close with had discreetly arranged an escape route.
“That dog! Is this how he repays the kindness that raised him?!”
“How would Sylvian even manage to escape?”
“You never saw how he was practically dripping pheromones like a rutting omega!”
The Viscount remembered Sylvian at the royal party, releasing those pheromones.
A few alphas had lost their minds that night.
If he’d been sneaking around behind the Duke’s back doing God knows what, it wouldn’t be surprising if he escaped.
“He’ll try to cross the border within days. Guaranteed.”
“If we beg the Duke for mercy…”
“Don’t be naïve! Sylvian’s gone — do you really think the Duke will let us go?”
The Viscount scolded his wife harshly and ran out the back door.
“Marty! What about Martius?!”
After running some distance, the Viscountess suddenly remembered her son.
“He’s with the knights. No one’s going to touch him! Just follow me!”
He wasn’t completely stupid.
When advising others to invest or take on debt, he always built in an exit strategy.
He’d also worked hard to separate their family name from the mess.
The entire Viscount’s house couldn’t be allowed to fall.
Even if he fell, there had to be a way to rise again.
“Huff! Huff!”
Once they got through the back door, they’d make it to the prepared carriage—
BAM!
“Viscount Nertian. Where do you think you’re rushing off to?”
Thud!
The Viscount tripped and fell the moment the door swung open.
Right in front of him stood the one man he’d desperately hoped to avoid.
He looked up with trembling eyes—only to see red irises glowing alone in the night.
“D-Duke Graham!”
“The Duke?”
“Your Grace! Hahaha, I was just stepping out with my wife for a little… errand.”
“Not fleeing, then?”
The Duke glanced at the bag that had flown from the Viscount’s hands, and his lips curled into a smirk.
“Of… of course not.”
“You’re aware my spouse has disappeared, yes?”
“We… we don’t know anything about that, I swear!”
At the Duke’s chilling smile, the Viscount collapsed to his knees, grabbing the Duke’s leg.
“You don’t know?”
“He broke off our meeting and disappeared! How would I—!”
Whack!
“Aaargh!”
“H-Honey! Duke Graham, what is the meaning of this?!”
The Duke’s kick sent the Viscount flying backward.
The Viscountess screamed and rushed to check on her husband.
Blood poured from his crushed nose.
She fumbled to pull out a handkerchief but couldn’t bring herself to touch the blood.
“So, your wife deceived others and tried to flee?”
“O-of course! She found out I went bankrupt and ran off with some other alpha…”
The capital had been in an uproar ever since the Duke’s consort went missing.
But the Viscount hadn’t believed the rumors.
If they were true, the Duke wouldn’t be acting like a man ready to kill.
If he’d truly lost someone dear, he wouldn’t behave like this.
Wham!
“Kyaa!”
* * *
