DBOFS 61

Chapter 61

So, Jade.

Don’t betray me.

Don’t make me kill you.

A whisper like a curse. The dreamy moonlight that had bathed the terrace gradually vanished, replaced by a writhing darkness that engulfed everything.

A chill ran down her spine.

And in the very center of that strange and terrifying space…

“…Harris.”

Black hair that seemed to flow like gathered shadows. Crimson eyes, sharp and vivid even in the darkness, and skin so white and flawless it looked more like sculpted plaster than human flesh.

Beautiful. Dangerously beautiful, like a blade that could cut and draw blood if approached too closely.

Jade couldn’t blink. She never could. From the moment she first fell into this world and laid eyes on him, she could never look away.

So overwhelmingly beautiful, so frightening… and yet…

“Why… do you say that?”

Jade moved her lips. Her rational mind, dulled and dazed by a near-mental assault of his appearance, sought an explanation.

“Say that?”

“Why do you speak as if you were going to kill me for real? You’ve tried to kill me almost every day!”

“…”

From the first day she possessed her body, almost dying at Harris’s hands, and living through near-death situations daily thereafter, threats like “If you betray me, you die” had become almost like a routine greeting.

‘Thinking about it, it’s unfair.’

But familiar or not, a threat is still a threat. Jade frowned in frustration.

What had she done to deserve such words? Especially on a day like today, when she had wholeheartedly sided with Harris? What more could she possibly do?!

“Really… seriously… it’s just too much!”

She choked back tears; her blue eyes glistened as they overflowed, rolling down her reddened cheeks.

“…”

Harris quietly observed her.

He had expected fear.

Yet he intended to make betrayal impossible in her mind.

He had planned it clearly, yet…

“It’s sooooo unfair!!”

Harris stared, stunned, at Jade’s face, colored with a mix of injustice and sorrow.

And watched as that sorrow turned into rage.

“You bastard! Trash! Son of a—Are you even human?!”

Damn… he hadn’t expected that fear would flip 180 degrees into a feral, cat-like fury.

“Are you human?!”

“…I don’t think so.”

Harris replied calmly to Jade’s enraged face. Considering his abilities, he had long surpassed the limits of ordinary human categorization.

“Not human, huh?!”

Jade clenched her fist tightly, clearly unsatisfied with his answer, and swung it toward his chest.

“…!”

Harris’s eyes widened. Her solid fist landed squarely on his solar plexus.

It wasn’t the pain that shocked him—it was that he hadn’t even thought to block it.

“I’m done with you, you bastard!!”

And today too, after spewing her fury, Jade collapsed immediately.

“Jade?!”

Harris hurriedly caught her, freezing for a moment at the soft “cool—” sound.

“…Sleeping?”

Surely, she wasn’t actually going to sleep after all that?

Harris, incredulous, looked down and noticed several champagne glasses toppled next to her.

“…Ah.”

Of course, she was drunk.

And he, Harris, was just a fool listening to the ramblings of someone intoxicated.

Reality hit him, and he sighed, realizing one thing.

The only person who could shake him so completely—and also calm him—was always just one.

“Hmm, Harris…”

Jade. Only you.

“Why?”

Even knowing it was the drunken mumbling of a sleeping person, Harris answered.

“I’m sleepy…”

“I can tell.”

“Bed… blanket… pillow…”

“You weren’t really drunk, were you?”

Jade, resting against him, whining about the hard surface, struggled a few times before collapsing again, clutching him like a squirrel with an acorn.

‘Is this her drunk behavior?’

Kicking, whining, being difficult?

Harris shook his head in disbelief. He hadn’t even received a proper answer, yet his earlier suspicion and unease had dissipated on their own.

Truly, Jade…

Harris smirked and straightened her in his arms.

“Remember who the master is.”

Her soft murmur drifted into the terrace, fading into the secret passage of the eastern wing.

Count Artu was not in a prison.

More precisely, he was held in a private detention room for nobles, not the underground prison.

Because his charges were not yet fully confirmed, and a proper investigation had not been conducted.

“This can’t be happening… this can’t…”

Even so, Artu’s situation hadn’t changed.

It was normal for retainers to secretly place spies in the duke’s castle. Even the royal family accepted nobles keeping watch over each other.

But being caught was unacceptable.

Especially in a prison that handled the most crucial security information!

“I was promised it would go smoothly.”

The count trembled as he sat.

“Even if that vile bastard was out of the way, I’d be cleared of all charges…”

It had been promised. Norman Godwin had said so.

Knock knock.

A sound came from the firmly shut, unopenable door.

Artu jumped instinctively.

“It’s from His Grace.”

And he froze. Which grace? The late duke? Or…

“Norman Godwin.”

“…!”

Artu felt a wave of relief.

Of course Norman Godwin would not leave him like this.

‘Technically, I wasn’t the one who put someone in the prison.’

This news came from Norman Godwin’s side. He was merely used.

‘And if I tell him this, even the late duke won’t be able to stop it!’

A father unable to act against his son, Norman Godwin, and now cornered.

Norman Godwin wouldn’t let him remain a prisoner if it could be avoided.

“His Grace sent you?”

“Yes.”

Exactly! He was Count Artu, one of the top five retainers in the Godwin household.

With a beautiful daughter, capable son, and wealthy, competent family.

There was no way he would be abandoned. This couldn’t end here…!

“He said not to worry and sent a note explaining the plan and future movements.”

“…!”

A note slid through the door gap.

Artu, still unable to trust the person outside, rushed to grab it.

He didn’t realize that his fear had frozen him in illogical panic, that he had taken it too far.

The late duke wasn’t a tyrant who would randomly kill his retainers. Not even in character or power structure.

Yet Artu’s fear had paralyzed his reasoning.

And when he stepped close to pick up the note—

“-Kuh!”

A shadow loomed above him.

“Ah, this bastard’s slow.”

Dressed like a servant of the prison, the figure rose, holding Artu by the neck.

“Kahak, kuhk…!”

Artu struggled in disbelief, but it was like a raccoon caught by a lion.

Still, he struggled desperately.

“…?!”

Clack. The assassin closed the door and gently set Artu down.

‘Why… did he really let me go?!’

Before he could think, Artu collapsed, coughing, his face flushed with panic.

“Wh-why! I… Norman…!”

“Ah, right.”

The assassin smiled.

“That duke hired me. He said if I couldn’t expose you properly, just kill you.”

“…!”

Better dead than alive, apparently.

Humming, the assassin tied some bedding to the ceiling.

“I don’t usually do chores like this… but might as well while I’m here…”

Despite the grumbling, the assassin smiled.

Terrified, Artu forgot negotiation, shouting:

“Y-you crazy, madman!!”

“Yeah, yeah.”

The whispering assassin casually grabbed Artu by the neck and suspended him from the ceiling.

“Don’t worry, you won’t be alone, so you won’t be lonely.”

“…!”

His wide eyes clouded with confusion and fear.

The assassin, Duke, brushed off his hands and looked around. No major traces of disturbance…

‘Still, they’ll notice.’

He didn’t need to hide meticulously. The contract required it to appear somewhat like a voluntary death.

“Annoying clients are everywhere.”

Yet sometimes, among these annoying jobs, pearl-like encounters made it enjoyable.

“Jade, Lian.”

Duke smiled. A truly worthwhile guide to watch.

“Oh, how did you know I have voyeuristic tendencies?”

Her status as another ability-user’s companion didn’t spoil his enjoyment.

Watching her struggle and fight to survive was immensely entertaining.

He even looked forward to seeing how far she could go.

“Will she survive next time too?”

If so, he’d meet her properly then.

Humming, Duke disappeared into the darkness.

“Kyaaaah!!”

A scream tore through the early morning hours, hours later.

“Ah, Count Artu and the young lady—!”

“I didn’t kill him.”