DBOFS 22

Chapter 22

Crimson eyes glared intensely down at Jade.

“…I.”

Jade hesitated. Of course, her primary goal was to save Adrian and obtain the Bloodstone.

But…

“I just don’t want Lord Harris to live a life where he’s constantly on the run.”

That, too, was her genuine feeling.

In Adrian’s first life, Harris had indeed lived such a life.

After finally escaping from prison, Harris brutally murdered Duke Godwin and was subsequently branded a heinous and depraved murderer across the continent.

From then on, Harris had no choice but to live as a hidden mastermind, cloaked in darkness.

‘Why can’t someone like Harris live in the light? There are worse people living openly just fine!’

The memory resurfaced, sparking a flare of resentment, but Jade took a deep breath to calm herself.

‘He wouldn’t believe me even if I told him.’

No, more accurately, he wouldn’t even care. Because he thought it didn’t matter.

As long as he could kill the father who imprisoned and tormented him for a lifetime, he didn’t care what price he had to pay. He was still blinded by hatred—a vengeful soul.

In that case…

“I want the Emperor’s Crown.”

She had to give him a reason that would matter to him.

“What?”

“Specifically, the ruby embedded at the center of the Emperor’s Crown.”

The Bloodstone was embedded in the Emperor’s Crown to free the past emperors from curses and magical restraints.

“…The Bloodstone, huh.”

As expected, Harris quickly grasped the situation. His expression soon calmed.

‘So, you’re afflicted with a curse or magic that can’t be lifted.’

Until now, Jade had been an incomprehensible presence to him.

It was clear she was his bondmate guide, given how she acted for his sake and even claimed to like him—yet she denied being his bondmate or even his guide.

‘Why?’

He just couldn’t understand. Then what did she want?

And Harris was someone who had once paid the price of ignorance—chained in a dungeon.

His need to understand was like an instinct.

‘So, you were being nice just to use me.’

Of course. How else could a lowly slave-born guide reach the Emperor’s Crown without using him?

That must be why she was pushing him to become the heir of the Duke of Godwin. That must be why she denied being his bondmate—so she wouldn’t feel guilty about using him.

It was easier to rationalize that way.

This wasn’t a perfect explanation for Jade.

But it did make many of her actions easier to understand.

“…Fine.”

And Harris wanted to understand her.

“I’ll become the heir of the Godwin family, just as you said.”

“…!”

Jade’s eyes widened in surprise at his unexpectedly straightforward response.

‘Wait, that easy?’

She thought he’d at least ask something like, What are you going to do with the Bloodstone?

‘Like grandfather, like grandson. So cool—guess being rude runs in the family.’

But Harris’s face remained calm. So calm it was almost uncomfortable.

“T-Then that’s great.”

Jade forced a smile, clenched her fists, and struck a fighting pose.

“I’ll actively support you too!”

“You already shoved me into the heir contest without asking.”

“…Then I’ll support you even more actively!”

Harris gave a small chuckle. The conversation with Jade was finally returning to normal.

‘So it was this easy.’

His smiling lips twisted into a cold grin.

“But once I get it in my hands, I’ll discard it immediately.”

Harris grabbed Jade’s chin and spoke coldly.

“Just like I will discard you.”

“…”

Jade’s eyes widened. Her smiling lips froze.

And Harris, too, hesitated.

He would discard the Godwin family who had abandoned him. That was his revenge, born from long-held hatred.

But Jade…

‘Will I really discard her?’

Even though she wasn’t the one being discarded, Harris’s body tensed like a confused child who didn’t know what to do.

Then—

“…Alright.”

Jade smiled with a slight crinkle in her eyes.

“That’s what it means to make a choice.”

As if to say she wasn’t hurt, that it was okay.

“Because I belong to you, Lord Harris.”

That wasn’t the reaction he’d wanted. Harris gritted his teeth.

Then what had he wanted?

He couldn’t answer that question. But from the question alone, he realized something.

“You don’t call it a ‘choice’ if you never had the option to begin with, right?”

No matter what the situation, discarding Jade had never been one of his choices.

It had never been on the table for him in the first place.

And at the same time, Harris realized—

‘But the opposite must be true for you.’

His red eyes grew even redder. His emotions swelled beyond his control.

Knock knock—

A knock at the door. Jade ran over and opened it immediately.

“A problem has arisen.”

Standing at the door was the ever-smiling aide who had served the previous Duke—but today, his face bore no smile.

“Duros has been murdered.”

“…!”

It hadn’t even been a full day since he was imprisoned.

And the one who killed him was…

* * *

“He—he was a lunatic!”

Anella, the injured vice-merchant who had witnessed Duros’s death, shouted.

“A madman, I tell you!”

Though technically second-in-command, Anella had practically been leading the merchant group in Duros’s stead. She was known for her courage and composure.

‘But that scene…’

It was Duros who had acquired the holy relic, “Tears of the Black Mermaid.” Or more precisely, Duros and a man of unclear background.

With hazy gray hair and gray eyes.

He was tall and good-looking, yet oddly forgettable. Not impressive—just comfortably average.

‘Call me Dewey.’

Of course, she hadn’t trusted him entirely.

But his kind, friendly demeanor, his constant smile, and encyclopedic knowledge helped him quickly blend into the merchant group.

What caught Duros’s attention was when Dewey, red-faced and drunk one night, carelessly let slip that he knew the whereabouts of the Tears of the Black Mermaid.

‘Dewey! Are you serious—the Tears really exist?!’

‘S-Sir, I have no idea what you’re talking—’

‘Come now, no need to hide among family, eh? Just whisper it to me, hmm?’

After persistent coaxing and persuasion, Dewey finally revealed it: the relic was secretly kept in an old temple in a remote region.

‘The temple fears the royal family would seize it if word got out. So they’ve hidden it far away.’

‘My God, no one would ever think to look there.’

Sharing a secret like that brought them close quickly.

Their relationship deepened further when Duros used Dewey’s contacts to secretly confirm the relic’s authenticity.

And eventually, the two concocted a mad scheme: to steal the Tears and sell them to the former Duke of Godwin.

‘Sir, it’s too dangerous. Do you even know what that artifact is?!’

Anella, as the vice-merchant, opposed them.

‘Exactly! That’s why we need it! With this, our merchant group’s financial troubles are over!’

‘…’

But she was slapped and kicked out.

The Rostu Merchant Group had a long, storied history. But Duros, having inherited it, wanted recognition and tried to expand too aggressively.

As a result, the group was on the verge of bankruptcy.

‘Sir, this is all going too smoothly. It’s suspicious. We need to double-check—’

‘Shut up! What do you know?! Can you fix this? Can you bring in enough funds to save us?!’

If he didn’t fix this, even his position as head merchant would be at risk.

Duros was desperate and unwilling to miss this stroke of luck.

Anella couldn’t stop him. One night, Duros and Dewey disappeared—and returned with the Tears of the Black Mermaid.

‘Dear God… It’s exactly like the one in Empress Ayaeus’s portrait.’

Unbelievably, they’d succeeded.

Even to Anella’s experienced eye, it looked genuine.

Especially since the black pearl, rare and sacred, emitted a divine glow.

‘Stupid woman. This is why you’ll never lead.’

‘…’

‘A merchant must seize opportunity even at great risk.’

Duros, smug and triumphant, brought the Tears to the former Duke of Godwin.

And then—

“I—I didn’t know! I didn’t know it was a fake—!”

By the time he came to his senses, he was in a prison cell.

Duros had been dragged in first and was screaming, clutching the bars.

“You!”

Before anyone could ask what happened, Duros spotted Dewey, who had been brought in with Anella.

“What the hell is going on?!”

He charged like a man possessed.

Dewey, in the opposite cell, was grabbed by the collar through the bars and shaken violently.

“You said it was real! So why did the pearl in the Tears break?!”

“…Black pearl?”

That was when Dewey, who had been limp like a ragdoll, lifted his head.

“You were able to identify it?”