TMOWM~76

Chapter 76

Karte paced nervously around the room, biting his nails with a worried look.

“What happened? Did they find out? Aaaargh!”

Why was nothing ever going his way? Hyder and Lani were still together.

He had thought he could make that pretty maid his own, but in the end, he gained nothing.

How could he make Lani his?

“I’ll just have to kill that guy after all.”

“And just how do you think you’ll do that?”

The low, heavy voice made Karte flinch in shock.

“G-Grandfather!”

Tyburn stared coldly at Karte. He had thought keeping watch over the rats inside the house would be enough, but he never imagined his own descendant—one carrying his blood—would commit such an atrocious deed.

“Do you even understand what you’ve done?”

“I-I don’t know anything! Hiccup!”

Karte hiccupped and quickly covered his mouth.

“I-It wasn’t me, hic! Really!”

Tyburn had thought that, with strict discipline and guidance, Karte could at least be shaped into a usable human being.

Even if half of Karte’s blood came from Kiera, the other half was still Catieiron’s.

But Karte had become hopelessly rotten. His words were vile, his temper unbearable, and he treated people as if they were nothing.

Tyburn no longer had any confidence that Karte could be taught.

In truth, there was a quicker way than finding material evidence. That was to use the little devil himself.

Tyburn’s gaze grew icy.

When Lani collapsed before his eyes, it felt as if the world itself was crumbling. And when he held her in his arms, he realized something.

The fairy who had come to Catieiron was so small and fragile.

With that tiny body, she had been doing her best all along to protect people.

“Listen carefully, Karte. Nothing in this world comes without a price. You will pay dearly for what you’ve done.”

“I-I didn’t do anything! Hic! It’s true!”

Karte rolled his eyes and snapped back, looking utterly pathetic.

How could he ever dream of wielding a sword when he didn’t even grasp the weight of a human life? Tyburn seized him by the back of the neck.

“Aaagh! Let me go! Dad! Mom! Daaaaad!”

Karte flailed and screamed.

“I’ll tell Mom everything! You wicked old man! Damn old geezer! Why didn’t you just die when you got old, instead of coming back?!”

“Now I see very clearly what your mother thinks of me.”

Tyburn’s retort was cold. Not a single word from Karte could wound him.

He ordered the knights waiting outside the manor:

“We depart for Aites immediately!”

“Let go of me!!”

The little devil shrieked as he was shoved into the carriage. Tyburn climbed in after him.

Karte glared at him with teary, furious eyes.

“Why are you doing this to me?! What did I do wrong?!”

“A maid has gone missing. She was abducted in Lani’s place.”

“What’s that got to do with me?! Who cares if some maid dies! What’s she to me! You’re doing this over a maid? I’ll tell my mother everything!”

Karte thrashed and screamed. Tyburn looked down at him with a frozen gaze.

How could someone wearing the face of a human act this way? Clearly, Kiera had been raising a monster like a precious jewel.

And Tyburn resolved to drive those monsters out of his house once and for all. Even if Herden opposed him, he would see it through.

“Silence, Karte!”

At Tyburn’s thunderous rebuke, Karte clamped his mouth shut and burst into tears.

“Who are you to yell at me! You damned old man! Just die already! Die, die!”

It was almost laughable. Tyburn grabbed the sobbing boy by the collar and yanked him upright. Karte sniffled and glared back at him.

“Listen carefully, you wretched brat. What vanished wasn’t just some maid—it was a precious life. You’d best never again take up a sword with such filthy intent.”

That was Tyburn’s final warning to Karte. He shoved the boy back onto the carriage seat.

For the first time, Karte looked frightened, curling up with a pale face.

“It hurts… I’m going to die… You wicked old man. If I die, I’ll curse you!”

Pathetic—he couldn’t even endure this much.

Tyburn let out a dry laugh, wondering where exactly things had gone wrong.

Meanwhile, at the Aites Marquisate—

“That wench isn’t the one, is she!”

The Marquis of Aites had realized through various tests that the girl wasn’t Lani.

She knew nothing—neither about the Del Merchant Guild nor about the fairies.

On top of that, the maid abducted in Lani’s place wasn’t even close to Karte’s aesthetic standards.

Worse still, it was as if she’d wrestled a bear—she possessed terrifying strength.

She had freed herself from the gag and ropes, and when she became too violent and attacked her guards, they’d had no choice but to lock her in a cell.

“Are all Catieiron’s people like this?!”

The Marquis of Aites clicked his tongue.

“What shall we do with her?”

“Kill her. She’s just a maid. Better to eliminate the evidence.”

The marquis spoke without the slightest hesitation.

By this point, Catieiron would surely have tightened their security. Abducting Lani would no longer be easy.

‘Perhaps I’ll need to use Karte again.’

The marquis stroked his chin.

How could he effectively get his hands on Lani?

‘Indeed, rare treasures like fairies are never easy to obtain.’

A lieutenant offered:

“They say this maid Lani often goes out. Perhaps you could target her then?”

“Tch. That sly fox would never let Lani go out alone. That won’t be easy either.”

At the mention of Lani’s name, the maid inside the cell began thrashing wildly.

“Don’t you dare touch Lani! If you do, you’ll pay for it!”

It was Dania—who had inherited the skills Self-Healing and Maiden’s Love from Lani.

She stomped her foot, and the solid stone floor cracked in the shape of her footprint.

For some reason, power she couldn’t control was overflowing in her body. With just a bit more force, she could probably break the iron bars.

Dania hurled herself at the bars.

“S-she’s insane!”

Guards rushed in and dragged her away from the bending bars. While chaos erupted, word came that a guest had arrived.

The Marquis of Aites gave orders.

“Handle it before I return.”

“Yes, my lord. We’ll try our best.”

But slaying a maid who rampaged like a wild boar wouldn’t be easy. The knights shook their heads.

Tyburn hurled Karte forward, nearly into the arms of the Marquis of Aites, who instinctively caught the child and toppled to the floor.

“What is the meaning of this?! Even for you, Lord Tyburn, there are lines that must never be crossed!”

“Well said.”

Tyburn gave a cold smile.

“Tell me, have you so carefully respected those lines while trespassing over my walls?”

Tyburn strode closer, yanking Karte up by the collar and pulling him away from the Marquis.

“Now—return to me the maid you stole from inside my walls.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about! A maid? Release Karte at once! This is madness!”

Tyburn’s face went expressionless. He had known all along the marquis would deny it—that was why he had brought Karte here.

Gripping Karte’s arm, Tyburn lifted him high into the air.

“Aaagh! My arm!”

“Lord Tyburn! Put that child down immediately!”

The Marquis of Aites looked at him as though Tyburn were some terrible villain.

“Bring me that maid at once.”