* * *
The moment he opened it, a powerful force slammed him back into the room.
“Couldn’t help yourself, huh?”
Julian—now back in his Rosé disguise—smirked as he watched the marquis hit the floor.
He yanked the artifact from his ear.
Karl might be a skilled swordsman, but he couldn’t defeat both the duke and him at once.
Besides, Karl was more of a paper-pusher than a warrior.
“Ha… Hahaha.”
Flat on his back, Karl burst into laughter at the sight of Zeroth and Julian.
He hadn’t expected the duke to be waiting, leash in hand, ready to catch him.
Where had he been exposed?
Karl spat blood onto the floor as he stood.
“Under charges of colluding with rebels, treason, kidnapping a noble, assault, and coercion, I hereby place you under arrest.”
“When did you become an inspector? And kidnapping? I’ve no idea what you’re talking about.”
Karl smirked, but someone standing behind the duke stepped forward and spoke:
“By order of His Majesty the Emperor, I hereby arrest Karl Rooster on charges caught in the act.”
A royal inspector. Karl raised both hands with a grin.
He hadn’t expected to be cornered this quickly.
Suppressing his smirk, he glanced behind him.
Running now would be the same as admitting guilt.
“Why would I commit such crimes? I only came here after receiving a tip that Sylvian was present.”
“I don’t know either,” Zeroth replied.
“But for someone claiming that, you didn’t hesitate to raise your sword against Sylvian in hiding, did you?”
Zeroth pointed at the sword still in Karl’s hand.
“I think we’ve seen enough, haven’t we?”
With that, Zeroth shut the door in front of the inspector.
Julian stepped back toward the window, away from the grim-faced duke.
His role was to prevent Karl’s escape—or to stop the duke from killing him.
“I’m a little hurt, you know. That’s all I meant to you?”
“You stole what was mine. You should’ve known there’d be a price. You were prepared, weren’t you?”
Zeroth cracked his knuckles as he spoke.
“I won’t kill you. But sometimes a beating is the best medicine.”
Looking into the duke’s twisted face, Karl swallowed dryly.
With the duke’s knight commander Julian blocking the exit, there was nowhere to run.
Tch.
I’ll hold out as long as I can, and then beg the emperor for mercy.
“Just so you know, you’re not leaving this place until morning. You’ll be beaten to within an inch of your life—until the truth is etched into your skull.”
As Zeroth finished speaking, a terrible sound echoed from his hand.
Sylvian was safe in the estate.
Now, there was nothing stopping him.
He would finally do what he should have done all those years ago.
“I’ll make sure you want to die but can’t.”
Zeroth smirked as Karl assumed a defensive stance.
He had no intention of forgiving him.
Once the pain carved through his very bones, maybe then he’d come to his senses.
Wham!
“Don’t underestimate me.”
Karl blocked the duke’s punch and sneered.
Sure, dominant alphas were said to be second to none—but it’s not like he’d been slacking all this time either.
He summoned his aura, matching the duke’s movements.
Fighting in such a small room was inconvenient, but if he tried to escape by busting through a wall, the duke would be right on him, forcing them back into this deadlock.
“What do you think you’re doing—?”
“You’re the one who crossed the line.”
Zeroth’ mocking smile finally disappeared from his face.
Just as Karl noticed the change—
Crash!
A heavy blow smashed into his face.
“Guh!”
“Did Hailey say she liked your face?”
“!?”
Karl, who had tried to rush the duke again, froze.
“Shit.”
From his once-calm lips spilled a long-held, bitter curse.
“Oh? You do know how to swear.”
“And what right do you have to say that?!”
He thought he was holding his own against the duke—but his clothes were torn and bloodied.
Karl, staggering, glared at Zeroth.
He had no right to speak of Hailey after betraying her.
“Me? Hahaha.”
Zeroth let out a dry laugh at the marquis’s words.
“You really don’t know, do you?”
Crash!
“What the hell don’t I know?”
His purple eyes, gripping the duke’s collar, blazed with hatred.
“About Hailey Naruman ’s true identity.”
“Hailey’s last name is Norman!”
Wham!
Karl stumbled, groaning as he pushed himself up after being struck again by Zeroth’ fist.
“Hailey Naruman … He’s the seventh illegitimate child of King Narman.”
Zeroth’ calm voice made Karl’s eyes waver.
No way. Just in case, he had dug into Hailey’s background himself.
But no evidence had ever come up.
If that were true, the independence forces couldn’t possibly have been unaware.
“Did the independence army lie to me?”
“No. Nobody knows. That Hailey Norman is actually Hailey Naruman .”
“Then how the hell do you know?”
Karl scoffed at Zeroth, as if the very idea was laughable—how could Zeroth know something not even the independence army knew?
He was inching closer to the window.
The more he tried to fight, the clearer the difference in strength became.
Better to escape and fight this in court than to be caught like this.
Whack.
Crack!
“Argh!”
“You don’t get to scream over something like that.”
Zeroth grabbed Karl by the neck as he tried to flee and struck him hard.
If he had to crack his skull to get the truth through, so be it.
That foolish brat who thought he was the only one who loved desperately—he needed to taste the bitter truth.
It had always been unfair.
Grabbing Karl by the collar and slamming his head against the wall, Zeroth thought coldly.
“When I killed the King of Naruman , he asked me—’was my son’s body really that good’?”
Chuckling at the memory, Zeroth didn’t stop beating Karl.
Blood spattered up to his own face.
Karl tried to push Zeroth away, grabbing his arm, but was crushed beneath the overwhelming force of Zeroth’ pheromones and aura.
When Karl finally collapsed, face wrecked and body limp, Zeroth nodded toward Julian.
‘That’s brutal.’
It had been a while since he’d seen the Duke like this.
Julian quickly poured healing potion over the injured Marquis Rooster.
Tap, tap.
Zeroth slapped Karl’s unconscious cheek until he came to.
His smile was grim.
“The king asked me—how does it feel to be the noble heir of a duke who fell in love with a royal bastard?”
Remembering the King of Naruman laughing maniacally before the sword, Zeroth struck Karl’s face again.
Smack!
“Ghhk!”
Blood burst again inside Karl’s mouth from the force of the blow.
Coughing, he spat out the blood and laughed.
“Puh! And you expect me to believe that?”
“Doesn’t matter if you believe it or not. It’s still the truth.”
Maybe this was a twisted joy—finding someone else who could suffer like him.
Still holding Karl’s collar, Zeroth let out a coarse laugh.
All the emotions and fury he should’ve let out back then had festered inside.
Regrets and wandering had piled up over twenty years.
“Before he died, the King of Narman gave me the commands he had issued to Hailey.”
‘If you want, I’ll show you,’ he’d said. Then the violent “conversation” of bodies resumed.
Karl learned the secrets of Hailey he had never imagined.
“You thought he was pure?”
Cough.
“Because he was an Omega who dreamed of becoming a knight? Because he always spoke of justice?”
Spit.
Karl spat at Zeroth with effort, but Zeroth turned his head slightly to dodge it and chuckled.
“I heard he sold his body from a young age. His mother was a dancer who died in childbirth. He grew up in the red-light district, became a male courtesan.”
Isn’t that a story you could hear anywhere?
Don’t you think?
* * *
