158. two fathers (2)

“The traitor was here.”

Screams and noises come through the open warehouse door. The sky was still black, but a flashing red light was brightly illuminating the outside.

Emile Bordain looked at In-young, who stood with his back to the light leaking in. Empty eyes staring at oneself. Emile Bordain immediately knew that the man at the head of the party was one of Leon Benning’s puppet knights.

“It’s a betrayal as they like. I’ve never been on Leon Benning’s side from the start.”

Emile Bordain let out his signature fishy laugh. The puppet shrugged and said, “Do whatever you want,” but the knights and soldiers standing behind it seemed impatient with Emile Bordain’s remarks. The knight striding towards Emil, whether it was because of the flames outside or because of his own anger, his face was very red and he foamed at his mouth.

“You filthy traitor bastard! Because of you alone, I know how much we lost!”

The knight grabbed Emile by the collar and pushed him against the wall of the warehouse. With a rattling sound, all the weapons on the tabletop tumbled down, creating a raucous noise. Emile Bordain let out a laugh as if he couldn’t stand it when he saw the knight grabbing him by the collar and shaking him.

“Oh yeah. Come to think of it, I left with a small present. How did you like it?”

Thanks to Emil’s covert maneuvering, the count’s manageable funds were more than half empty. Maybe that’s all, the meal right before the battle was mixed with unknown poison, and not a few soldiers fell into critical condition and could not even participate in the operation to promote the palace. Emile Bordain did it calmly and did not even try to hide the fact that he had done it. On the contrary, as if he was trying to post medicine, he left a letter very proudly and left.

“Oh yeah. The Count liked it very much. You son of a b*tch!”

puck-!

The knight’s fist struck Emile mercilessly. Beaten in the abdomen, Emile coughed and fell forward. The knight grabbed Emil’s head and lifted it up. Emil’s deep blue eyes were still looking at the knight with a sneering light. As soon as the knight met Emil’s eyes, his face twisted and he began beating Emil mercilessly with his fists and kicks.

“I wanted to hit that unfortunate face until the anger went away.”

“Ouch.”

Emile’s face turned bloody in an instant. Even the neatly arranged clothes were rolled around and torn and messed up. The knight who kicked Emil in the chest one last time raised Emil’s face again, as if his anger had eased. Still, that mocking expression hadn’t gone away, but it seemed more intimidated than the first time. The knight glared at Emil with a relaxed sneer.

“I mean, being favored by the count, laughing and arguing around. You son of a bitch.”

Emil let out a hard laugh. Blood spurted from his torn lips as he laughed.

“I didn’t know that telling the truth would lead to an argument. That’s why you can’t get out of the position of a pyeongdan member for the rest of your life. Can I use Aurors? From the looks of it, it seems that he has skills that he could not even dream of. You’re being swayed by me right now, aren’t you?”

The tip of the article turned around with a mocking laugh that seemed to have forgotten the situation he was in now. Under the chin of the knight who rolled his eyes and raised his fist like that, Emil’s hand went up like lightning.

hooked

A sharp sound that pierces flesh. Emil calmly looked at his own dagger that had pierced the knight’s throat. The knight looked down at Emil’s hand as it was in a raised fist, not knowing what had happened to him.

“No way… .”

The knight fell to the side with a heavy sound. It was the failure to think that Emil’s eyes had shrunk. It’s just that he’s been looking for an opportunity all along, and it’s just that he’s changed to the eyes of someone who seized the opportunity. Emil glanced at the fallen knight with a pitiful look, then immediately raised his head. Leon Benning’s puppet was looking down at him.

“So, they won’t kill me here, the Count ordered me to bring them.”

“Yes. The Count has ordered you to be brought back alive.”

Even though the knight who came with him fell down, he did not blink an eye. The other pursuers were glaring at them with ferocity as if they were going to kill themselves at any moment.

“Wake up. If you are familiar with it, you also know that the more you rebel here, the more painful your death will be.”

every know You probably know better than anyone in this room. Emile sighs and exhales. Every time he exhaled, blood sputum boiled and made a grunting sound. The aristocratic demeanor habitually prevented him from spitting out that bloody sputum. Emil looked up at the puppet.

“yes. But now it’s hard to stand up on my own. Even if it’s not, it’s hard because of my age, but it’s because I’ve been beaten so badly.”

“It’s self-employed. What are you doing and behaving like that until you are about to die?”

Saying so, the puppet waved to the pursuers following him.

“Don’t do anything stupid. If anyone lays more hands on Emile Bordain here, I will slit his throat myself.”

The pursuers put on a look of indignation as if they were not very happy, but soon after seeing the puppet’s sharply changed face, they lowered their tails and strode toward Emil.

“Wake up, you bastard rat.”

Emil let out a painful moan at the rough hand that lifted her up. The soldier who was holding onto Emil’s right arm looked at him and cursed.

“They pretend to be strong like that.

Emile glanced at the soldier.

Kaak, two.

Then he generously poured the blood he had saved over his face. Looking at the soldier’s face covered in his own blood, Emile Bordain let out another chuckle. The soldier’s face turned red, and he roughly pushed Emil and slapped him in the face.

“Keuk!”

“Spit it out again, you f*cking bastard!”

squeak.

With a chilling sound cutting through the air, the soldier who was about to hit Emile’s face fell obliquely to the ground. The puppet knight glanced down at the soldier who had fallen to the ground, then kicked it away and approached Emile Bordain.

“I never thought I’d roll my head even in this situation.”

The puppet narrowed its eyes and looked at the staggering Emil. Then he grabbed Emile’s arm. Unlike the soldiers before, Emil hardened his mouth at the power he had no will to resist.

“Please follow me quietly.”

Emil’s right arm was soon grabbed by the puppet. The knight who was holding onto Emil’s left arm now looked at Emil with a sad expression on his face. Blood was dripping from his mouth, and dark red blood was dripping from his nose. There was no trace of the handsome old man’s face left, only a man stained with blood and bruises.

“Why are you like that? Why did you betray the Count?”

Emile Bordain looked at the knight holding his left arm. Breathing hard, he looked at the knight.

“… Hey, are you married?”

The knight frowned at Emile Bordain’s unexpected question. How many times did he lose his mind after being hit?

“marriage… You mean?”

Emile glanced at the puppet holding his right arm. The driver kept tilting his head as if he didn’t know what he was asking.

“Not yet.”

“When you say still, do you mean there is a partner?”

To the sudden census, the knight shook his head as if he didn’t know what to say. Emile Bordain laughed in a sultry voice as if he found the knight’s flustered appearance amusing.

“Nope… There is no opponent.”

“Then, even if I tried to explain why I turned away from the Count, you wouldn’t understand. I wonder if someone who is not married and has no children will understand what I am saying.”

The puppet tightened his left arm. Emile frowned at the pain in his joints.

“Please refrain from unnecessary words.”

“It is not a useless word. You don’t even know if you have a family or not.”

The puppet’s expression hardened at Emil’s words. Emile Bordain faced the puppet looking back at him head on. The puppet looked into Emile’s eyes as he looked at him. Emil’s blue eyes harbored emotions that the puppet did not know. remorse. The puppet did not know why.

“… On the subject of taking advantage of your daughter. Now you’re pretending to be a parent.”

Emile laughed at the words that came out of the puppet’s mouth.

“Well, rather than not pretending to be a father until the day I close my eyes, wouldn’t it be better to act like a father now?”

Emil’s lips softened and he spat out words that the knight and puppet did not understand.

“What are you-!”

The puppet opened its eyes wide and turned Emile around. In the meantime, Emil held on tightly to the puppet’s arm to prevent it from escaping. Emil’s smile was reflected in the puppet’s eyes. It wasn’t the usual fishy smile, but a smile mixed with longing, sadness, and an unknown emotion, as if looking at some kind of heartwarming scene.

“… I’m sorry.”

The puppet opened its eyes to the huge energy amplifying from Emil’s chest. The Count’s order not to kill Emile and the instinctive whisper that he must now cut down that ominous energy collided and froze the puppet. Looking at the puppet with his sword high in the sky, Emil smiled lowly.

“late.”

The light exploded along with Emil’s ridicule.

—

“Your Majesty, why do you stay still when your son greets you?”

Kyle Loire drew his sword and held it. The king twisted his body to resist the soldiers grabbing him and raising him, but it was futile. Kyle faced the King.

“Kyle.”

The king said as if swallowing pain. Kyle looked at the king with cold eyes. The king was unable to speak. It wasn’t that Kyle didn’t know why he was doing this. Because he wasn’t unaware of his faults. Kyle stared at the king’s haggard face for a while. As if looking closely into a mirror, as if trying to find any flaws.

“… I’ve been really waiting for this day to come.”

Kyle finally spoke up. To the king, the voice sounded like an echo coming from far away.

“Now that things are like this, I don’t know what to say.”

Kyle glanced back at Leon Benning. As if to give the second prince some time, the Count generously raised his eyebrows and nodded. The king looked at the action and let out a lamentation.

“Now, even in the state where your long-cherished wish has been fulfilled, do you really think that the action of looking back and paying attention to that count is the right thing for a prince of this country to do, Kyle?”

Kyle turned his head back to his father.

“If you were a king who was so concerned about the royal family, wouldn’t it be a foolish decision to reverse the births of your brother and sister, Your Majesty?”

Kyle’s voice was cold and sharp, like a sword just drawn from its scabbard. On the contrary, in those eyes, there was a light burning with anger.

“It is truly pitiful, Your Majesty, to see the foundation and well-being of the royal family and the kingdom overthrown with a single word of your own, and only now to try to rectify the situation.”

Kyle raised his sword and aimed it at the king. The words that I couldn’t bear to say were coming up from the lungs. The king listened to Kyle’s words with a devastated expression.

“I hate you. No, I hate it because I hate it. Ever since I knew the truth, I’ve hated you, Father.”

Eyes with a deep sense of betrayal. Kyle’s voice started to tremble a little. Kyle’s words brought out the whole king’s guilt and he was mercilessly hacking it up.

“The place I deserve to be, the person I deserve to be by my side, the treatment I deserve. Do you know what it feels like to realize that all this was a lie, and that it was your father who caused it?”

The king could not hear the answer. Kyle didn’t ask the question hoping for an answer either. A chilly silence hung over the cellar. No one stopped Kyle’s passionate words. Kyle looked at the king again for a long time without uttering another word.

“now… Please tell me right now. I am your only heir, your mother’s only son. I should be the Crown Prince of this country.”

The King looked at Kyle’s trembling sword. Like his angry voice, the knife was shaking out of control.

“father!”

was using a herd. As far as Kyle can remember, this was the first time he’d yelled at his father, and it would be the last. The King looked blankly at Kyle, as if he had lost his soul.

“… That’s right.”

Kyle pricked up his ears, trying to hear the king’s feeble voice.

“I’m sorry, Kyle.”

In those words, all the will of the king was implied. Saying that he couldn’t be recognized as the only mother’s son, and that he couldn’t be recognized as the crown prince. Kyle let his sword hang limp, betraying his last, very last hope.

“is that so.”

everything is over The only thing left for the king now was the blade that fell down his neck. The King looked at Kyle as he slowly raised his sword. His son fixed his painful eyes on the king as he raised his sword again. It was a trick not to slit his throat. Kyle raised his sword and slowly, very slowly, approached the king.

hooked

The chest was heavy. The king could feel the texture of the metal penetrating him and coming out of his back. Kuck. Breathing suffocates and leaks out. His broken lungs were forcing him to spit bloody foam from his lips.

“card… Work… .”

The king fell forward. In front of his blurred eyes, he saw Count Leon Benning patting Kyle on the shoulder. Kyle had his back to him and was walking towards the door of the secret passage. The king’s eyes caught a glowing scar on the nape of Kyle’s neck. A grotesque scar in the form of a glowing, magical, or some kind of curse. hopefully, hopefully

“your majesty.”

Leon Benning’s voice came through the fading consciousness.

“Yeah… bloke… .”

Blood in the king’s voice. The king could faintly hear Leon Benning’s laugh.

“So, why did you doubt your son so much?”

Wormwood.

A sword was pulled from the king’s chest. A fountain of blood splattered the floor of the cellar, and the king collapsed to the floor.

“Of course, it is true that he truly hated you.”

Leon Bening left that one word as if mocking the king. The pouring blood soaks the floor. No hatred left. Only remorse remained in the king’s head. Consciousness is gradually clouded. The king was engulfed in the helplessly approaching darkness and closed his eyes.

—

“under.”

Emil drew a low breath. I would say it’s a miracle that he’s still alive. The explosion completely blew the area around. There was no sensation down the torso. His right arm was also cut off, and when he glanced down, his left leg was also gone.

There was no pain. There was only a feeling of lightness in the body. The body of the puppet he had been holding onto until the end lay beneath the rubble. It seemed that all the pursuers who were chasing Émile Bordain lost their lives in the aftermath of the explosion.

“… It ends like this.”

Emile Bordain smiled bitterly. In the end, I pretended to be cool. Emile Bordain looked up at the sky. Black smoke is rising in the black sky.

It wasn’t that I was dreaming of such a death. However, considering the pain he had to give to his daughter, it seemed that he had returned as a worthy karma. Emile Bordain heard footsteps slowly approaching him. One eye, damn it, can’t see. Maybe half of his face was blown off. The other side of the field of vision focused on the light brown-haired knight. Emile looked at his son-in-law and asked in a broken voice.

“Is your daughter all right?”

Maxime looked down at Emile Bordain. The man whom he had considered his enemy for years was lying on the rubble in a rather miserable state.

“All right.”

“… yes.”

The last delusion that remained in Emil’s heart was gone. Emil quickly realized that the darkness was beginning to consume him. Emile had a hunch that the next words he would utter would become his will. I chose a horse. But I didn’t think too long, but I thought of what to say.

“Make Marion happy.”

After a moment of silence, Maxim’s answer came.

“Of course, I will.”

Hearing the answer, Emile Bordain closed his eyes and smiled. It was not fishy, it was a comfortable and natural smile.