HDGD 8

Chapter: 8

Before Kador returned, Sia gathered up the bundle of letters hidden in the drawer and slipped out of the lounge.

Back in her dorm room, she locked the door tightly and went through every single item inside the envelopes.

The recipient was Gilliard Rygelrus.

And the sender was… mostly Mrs. Harrington, though occasionally Mr. Harrington as well.

But regardless of who sent them, the contents were always the same.

“We are only asking for what we rightfully deserve…”
“Don’t ignore us—transfer the money immediately…”

Sometimes they raged.
Sometimes they begged.

Faced with the countless variations of demands for money, Sia was left speechless.

Among the dozens of letters that argued endlessly as if the money had been deposited with them in advance, there wasn’t a single line asking about Sia’s well-being.

The red brick house.
The affectionate family.

The warm memories that had lingered in her heart whenever life grew difficult.

Perhaps… all of it…

As doubt began to bloom in her mind, another question naturally followed.

“Don’t delude yourself, Ermodian. You don’t have a family. Cast aside such pointless thoughts at once.”

Gilliard.

Why had he hidden these letters?

What was he trying to show her by being so cold and merciless?

No matter how much she thought about it, she couldn’t find the answer.

With trembling hands, Sia gathered the envelopes and shoved them under her bed.

Carrying those unresolved doubts, Sia went through training again the next day.

As always, she had just finished twenty push-ups and was pushing herself upright.

“I’ll help you.”

Before she could even calm her screaming chest muscles, a voice suddenly cut in, making Sia’s eyes widen.

Noel raised her arms straight upward, signaling her to keep stretching.

“You might’ve forgotten, but my father is the director of the National Bank in the capital. I think I can find the information you want pretty quickly.”

“Ha… Riana, I asked you so many times to keep this a secret…”

This academy really had no one she could trust.

As Sia grumbled, Noel spoke gently.

“Riana’s just worried about you. Don’t worry. I won’t tell anyone else.”

Come to think of it, Noel’s surname…

Right—Tineo.

Sia finally realized where the name Tineo Bank came from.

When Noel moved on to the next training apparatus, Sia naturally picked up the jump rope beside her.

As the rope whirred through the air, Noel asked quietly,

“So we just need to look into the past records of deposits made to the Harrington couple, right?”

“That’s true, but… we’re not close enough for me to ask something like that…”

The Sia of the past had never intended to build relationships anywhere.

Not at the academy.
Not during her time in the knight order.

Riana was the only person she had ever really spoken to, and even then, she had cut off contact unilaterally after joining the order.

She believed that caring about personal relationships was nothing but a waste of time.

Taking the emperor’s head.

Breathing and swinging her sword—those actions were meant to exist for that purpose alone.

Sia had restrained and bound herself to that belief with ruthless discipline.

And even now, still trapped in that mindset, Noel’s offer felt awkward and burdensome.

“Oh, don’t say that. We’re classmates. The kind that lasts a lifetime.”

“Even so…”

“And honestly? I want to get closer to you. You’re so hard to approach that if it weren’t for something like this, it’d be tough just to talk to you.”

Someone this kind wanting to be friends with her.

Hearing a sincerity she never would’ve known without regressing, Sia felt a strange tickle at the tips of her ears.

In the past, she would’ve rejected the offer sharply right there.

But this time, for some reason, she found herself wanting to owe someone instead.

After a long moment of hesitation, Sia finally nodded.

“…All right. I’ll let you look into it. Just give me about a week.”

“Cadet Ermodian. Cadet Tineo. No chatting during training.”

At the stern words of a tall instructor who had approached without them noticing, both girls immediately fell silent.

Gilliard fixed them with his golden gaze for a moment before walking away.

His tone was as cold and cutting as ever.

But now, Sia could no longer curse him as easily as she once had.

What on earth was he hiding behind that frigid face?

Not knowing was what frustrated her most.

One week later.

Late at night, after the day’s schedule had ended, three classmates gathered in the academy garden.

The moment Sia sat down on the bench, Noel spread what she’d brought across the table.

“I found the records of regular payments from House Rygelrus to the Harrington couple. Roughly… from nine years ago to six years ago—about three years total.”

That period perfectly matched the time Sia had lived with the Harringtons.

Seeing that a sum equivalent to three months’ salary of an average civil servant had been deposited every single month, Sia’s thoughts grew tangled.

“So, to sum it up… while Sia was living with them, the Rygelrus ducal house was paying a pretty generous ‘caretaker fee,’ right? Did you know about this, Sia?”

“No. Not at all.”

“Then how did you end up leaving that house? With that kind of money just for taking care of one kid, it was a great deal. And you must’ve been a good, quiet child.”

Sia closed her mouth and let her memories drift back.

After the traumatic incident, she had grown quiet—but by nature, she had always been gentle and obedient.

Her adoptive parents had loved and cherished her deeply.

Until news arrived that the long war had ended, Sia truly believed she would grow up as the adopted daughter of a farming family.

Raising cattle and livestock.
Occasionally going to the market to sell milk.

Perhaps she might even fall in love and marry the son of another farmer.

It was while she was slowly healing her grief, painting such vague visions of the future, that it happened.

“Sia, there’s a market in town today. Let’s go together.”

At Mrs. Harrington’s words, Sia’s face lit up.

Excited by the thought of eating candied apples again, she eagerly ran outside and sat in front of the brick house, waiting for the Harringtons to come out.

A moment later, she looked up at the shadow that fell over her.

A large man—utterly out of place in the peaceful rural scenery—was smiling down at her.

A thick scar across his face.
An eyepatch covering one eye.

He didn’t look like a vagrant at all.

“W-Who… are you…?”

“Heh heh… So it’s true? This eye… it’s unusual. It’ll sell well.”

Before she could even cry for help, her mouth was covered.

A thick hand clamped around her throat, leaving her unable to scream.

As her breathing was cut off, the world began to fade white, a strange ringing filling her ears.

She clawed desperately at the man’s thick arm, but nothing changed.

Fighting until her nails broke, she finally went limp—

Thud!

With a dull impact, air suddenly rushed back into her throat.

Thrown to the ground, Sia clutched her neck and coughed violently, gasping for breath.

Through her hazy vision, she saw someone.

From the raised position of his leg, she realized he had kicked the attacker in the head.

Under the blazing sunlight, black hair fluttered in the wind.

The assailant lay foaming at the mouth in the corner, completely knocked out.

The young man glanced sideways at Sia once—then, without asking if she was all right, kicked the door open and went inside.

The sounds of things breaking, dishes shattering, filled the air.

By the time Sia finally managed to stand, the young man had come back outside and stopped in front of her.

He was still wearing a mesh coat of armor, hinting at where he had come from.

“Come.”

“What? Why—why?”

Instead of answering, he roughly grabbed her hand and dragged her along.

As Sia was forcibly pulled toward the carriage, Mrs. Harrington came running out of the house.

In her hands was a white teddy bear.

“Young Duke, please—at least take this… please, just this much…!”

The only thing Sia had been able to bring from the island.

Before Sia could reach out, Gilliard snatched the bear away.

And right before her eyes, she watched her most precious possession torn to shreds.

Rip. Riiip—

The teddy bear became scraps of cloth scattered in all directions.

Struck by one shock after another, Sia couldn’t speak.

As if shoving her in, Gilliard forced her into the carriage and immediately set it in motion.

From inside the moving carriage, Sia stared blankly as Mrs. Harrington picked up the torn pieces of fabric.

When her senses finally returned, she suddenly turned and glared at the man sitting opposite her.

“Why—why… why did you take me?! Why?!”

Her words stumbled in her agitation.

She wanted to demand why he’d dragged her away, why he’d torn apart innocent Gomsuni—but her throat kept tightening.

Meanwhile, Gilliard stared ahead with an indifferent expression.

It was the same feeling as their first meeting.

Eyes devoid of emotion—almost mocking.

As Sia trembled violently, Gilliard suddenly grabbed the back of her neck.

Unable to resist his strength, she felt his face come frighteningly close.

“Did you just ask… ‘why’?”

The corners of eyes holding golden irises curved slightly.

It was the gaze of someone savoring prey before them.

“You have no right to choose, Sia Ermodian. You will obey me—unconditionally.”