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“Still not eating anything?”

“……”

Lina kept her head down and remained silent. The food in front of her remained untouched. Since arriving at the castle, she had refused to eat or drink.

Conwell clicked his tongue.

“I’m not into women who are too skinny.”

“……”

“You don’t have to be so guarded. I’m a gentleman, you know.”

“……What about Isaac?”

Lina weakly opened her mouth.

“Is Isaac okay?”

“Haha… That’s the first thing you say after opening your mouth? Are you that worried about that criminal?”

A few days ago, Conwell had visited Teas Village with soldiers. Their goal was to arrest Isaac, the prime suspect in the murder of Lord Strix.

Shortly after Isaac left for Teas Village, Lord Strix was found dead in his bedroom. The cause of death was poisoning. The wine he had been drinking was laced with poison, and it was Isaac, the butler, who had brought it.

Conwell, now the de facto lord after his father’s death, was convinced of Isaac’s guilt and had him arrested. He also brought Lina, the hero who happened to be there, to the castle. Marrying her was his second priority after arresting Isaac.

“He’s fine. I won’t kill him until the interrogation is over.”

“Does that mean… you’ll kill Isaac after the interrogation…?”

“What? Don’t tell me you’ve fallen for that guy at first sight?”

“……I don’t know.”

Lina couldn’t understand her own feelings. Isaac was a man she had met just a few days ago. The moment she saw him, she felt an uncontrollable emotion. Longing, yearning, desperation… Could this feeling be called love?

Lina didn’t know. But one thing she was sure of:

“But I don’t want Isaac to get hurt. I don’t want him to die… Please, don’t harm Isaac…”

“If you’re going to go that far, I’d like to grant your wish. But that’s not something I can decide on my own. He’s the prime suspect in the murder of the lord. If he’s really the culprit, I’ll have no choice but to execute him.”

“Isaac is…”

She wanted to say he wasn’t that kind of person, but she stopped herself. Even she knew it sounded ridiculous. She had only known Isaac for a few days, so her words would carry no weight. Yet, why did she feel so strongly that he wasn’t the culprit? Why did she want to defend him so badly?

“Do you really want to save Isaac that much?”

Conwell scrutinized Lina from head to toe. His lecherous gaze made her flinch involuntarily.

“A beauty like you is rare. If you marry me, I’ll consider sparing Isaac.”

“What?!”

“Didn’t Isaac tell you? Our family has decided to ‘specially’ take you in as a daughter-in-law.”

“I heard. But…”

“What? You should feel honored. I’m taking a country bumpkin like you as my official wife, not a concubine.”

The late Lord Strix had been so enamored with the hero’s family that he wanted his son, Conwell, to marry Lina. Conwell, too, was excited about marrying a woman from the hero’s family, especially one chosen as the current hero. And on top of that, she was a stunning beauty.

After meeting Lina in person, Conwell thought to himself that even if she weren’t a hero, he would make her his. She was more beautiful than any woman he had ever seen. Her snow-white skin, delicate frame, and mysterious golden eyes made her look like the reincarnation of a fairy.

“Of course, it’s good for you too, right? Marrying a noble like me…”

“N-no! I don’t want to!”

“…What?”

“I’m… a hero! I have the right to choose who I marry…!”

Lina was aware of her status as a hero. Heroes were great beings who saved the world. She knew she deserved respect. That was her only means of resisting Conwell now.

“If His Majesty the Emperor finds out about this, he won’t stay silent…”

“Oh? Then go ahead and try.”

“Huh?”

“Go ahead and tell His Majesty or the other nobles. If you don’t value your father’s and your friends’ lives, that is.”

“…!”

“Sigh… Living in the countryside must have made you ignorant.”

Conwell sneered.

“You’re seriously mistaken about something, aren’t you? With a single word from me, the fate of Isaac, your father, and your friends will be decided. Do you understand what that means?”

Conwell roughly grabbed Lina’s hair and threatened her.

“You’re my property. I can do whatever I want with you. So behave. If you want to keep being treated as a hero, marry me quietly. Don’t make me angry.”

“……”

Lina couldn’t say anything in the face of such injustice. She felt utterly powerless against the tyranny of the nobility.

‘What would the first hero do in this situation?’

If it were her, the bravest of all, she would have found a way out of this. But no matter how much she thought, Lina couldn’t figure it out. She didn’t even know what the best course of action was.

Lina felt a sense of helplessness. At the same time, she began to question this unjust world. The world she was supposed to save was so ugly, chaotic, and cruel. It was so miserable that she wanted to turn away, even though the Demon Lord hadn’t appeared yet.

‘Is this world really worth saving…?’

[??’s ? feels ?? in ??’s heart.]

Huh?

Suddenly, words flashed before her eyes. But when she tried to check, they had already disappeared.

“Did you hear me?”

“Y-yes… I’ll… obey your words, Conwell…”

“Heh. Good. I like that attitude.”

“But before that, let me see Isaac…”

“What? I told you he’s fine. Don’t you trust me?”

“I want to see him with my own eyes…”

“Sigh…”

On the way to the castle, Isaac had warned Lina. Conwell was a fool, but a cunning and cruel man. She shouldn’t trust his words. That’s why she wanted to see Isaac’s condition with her own eyes.

Despite Conwell’s terrifying gaze, Lina stared back firmly.

“You’re quite the bold one.”

“Please, Conwell…”

“……Fine. I’ll grant that request. I’m generous, after all.”

“Th-thank you…”

“Stay quiet and eat until I call you. Don’t do anything stupid.”

Conwell sneered and left Lina alone.

Silence filled the room.

Only then did Lina hug her knees and tremble.

“I was scared…”

It took immense courage for a commoner like her to speak like that in front of a noble like Conwell. Especially at the end, she didn’t know how she managed to glare at him.

*Knock knock.*

A tapping sound made her look toward the window. There, she met the eyes of a cuckoo sitting on the windowsill.

—

“Disappointing, Isaac. Father trusted you completely… you know!”

*Crack!*

In the dark interrogation room, Conwell swung his whip with all his might.

The sharp sound of the whip tearing through flesh echoed.

“Is this how you repay the kindness our family showed you? You ungrateful wretch.”

The whip was aimed at Isaac, who hung in the middle of the room like a piece of meat… that is, me.

“Kindness? What kindness did you ever show me?”

“Still acting tough even when you’re about to die…!”

*Crack!*

The so-called interrogation had been more like torture for the past few days. The relentless beatings continued day and night. My skin was torn to shreds by the whip. Yet, I endured.

It wasn’t ‘Patience’ that I was using. This was pure willpower. My patience, honed through enduring horrific pain with ‘Patience,’ had reached a level where I didn’t need to use it anymore. Even under brutal torture, I wouldn’t break.

Conwell, who had been relentlessly swinging the whip, was drenched in sweat. He was closer to exhaustion than I was.

“Huff… huff… you stubborn bastard…”

“Young master, that’s enough.”

“Enough? What’s enough?”

“If you kill him before getting a confession, what will you do?”

The magician Serhan, who had been watching from the side, stopped Conwell. Even to him, I must have looked pitiful. Though I endured with patience, my body was a wreck.

My bare upper body was covered in torn and bruised flesh. The floor of the interrogation room was soaked with blood and pieces of flesh.

Finally noticing the gruesome traces of torture, Conwell put down the whip.

“Tch… Serhan, clean this up later.”

“Yes.”

“Isaac. Just confess already. It’s tiring to keep swinging this whip.”

“……What happened to Lina?”

I was more worried about her than myself. Though she didn’t realize it, Lina’s role was being played by Wendy. I was more concerned about what might have happened to the young girl.

“Lina has agreed to marry me. But what’s it to you?”

“Did you threaten her?”

“Threaten? Hah… this guy never runs out of things to say. This is an act of charity. A noble like me marrying a lowborn woman. It’s an honor…”

“Listening to you is worse than a thousand lashes. You should’ve tortured me like this from the start.”

“You… you bastard!”

“Young master!”

Enraged, Conwell drew his rapier and pointed it at my throat.

“Just confess already, Isaac. If you tell me why you killed Father, I’ll make your death quick.”

“The reason I killed him? Haha… are you serious?”

I couldn’t help but laugh.

“You know that better than I do, Conwell.”

“…What are you talking about?”

“It’s simple. Do you think I had any reason to kill the lord? None at all. It wouldn’t benefit me. So, think about who benefits from the lord’s death… the culprit becomes obvious.”

I looked straight at Conwell.

“If you’re going to frame someone, do it properly, you idiot.”

“……Do you have proof? Any proof that I did it?”

“You’re framing me based on mere suspicion, aren’t you? There’s no proof that I poisoned the wine.”

“True. We’re even then. But you know…”

Suddenly, Conwell changed his tone. He no longer hid his true colors.

“If you’re so sharp, why not just confess? Huh? It’s exhausting for both of us.”

As expected, it was Conwell’s doing.

“Was the lord’s position that tempting?”

“…Father lived too long. He should’ve stepped down long ago… You ruined everything.”

“…I ruined it?”

“You were too good at your job, Isaac.”

It was Serhan who spoke.

“Under the young master’s orders, I’ve been putting a little poison in the lord’s wine for a while now. But after you became the butler, you started managing everything the lord ate and drank, making it impossible.”

“That’s right! After you became Father’s butler, everything went to hell. You meddled too much, ruining our plans!”

I couldn’t help but laugh. I had thought Serhan was loyal to the lord, but he was actually on Conwell’s side. The fact that they were in cahoots was absurd, but framing me was even more ridiculous.

“If you’re so smart, why didn’t you be more careful? Huh? If you had just known your place and not meddled, things would’ve been fine. Though, I guess you wouldn’t have become our family’s butler if you weren’t smart.”

“It’s not that I’m smart. You’re just stupid.”

“Oh, is that so?”

*Stab!*

Pain shot through me. Conwell had suddenly stabbed my thigh with his rapier. But he didn’t stop there.

“Who’s stupid now?”

Smoke rose from the rapier. It must have been enchanted with fire magic. The excruciating pain and the smell of burning flesh filled the air. An ordinary person would have fainted from the pain.

But I endured. My pride wouldn’t allow me to yield to such a person. Tristan wouldn’t allow it.

“Didn’t you hear? I said you’re stupid.”

“You bastard, all you have is a big mouth!”

“Young master, that’s enough. You’ll really kill him.”

Finally, Serhan intervened, and Conwell sheathed his sword. Still fuming, Conwell warned me.

“You… just wait and see how long I can keep this up. Serhan, clean up and come with me.”

“Yes.”

Serhan followed Conwell’s orders and used magic to clean up the blood and flesh. Without even glancing at me, he hurried out of the interrogation room. Maybe he felt guilty about betraying a former comrade. But there was no way to know.

I hadn’t expected them to frame me like this. No, I hadn’t expected them to frame me in such a crude way.

I didn’t know Isaac’s future. All I knew was that the Demon Lord would soon arrive. I didn’t know what Isaac’s role was supposed to be.

In all the roles I had taken on before, I knew what I needed to do. I could see their futures. That’s why I was able to play the role of a behind-the-scenes supporter for the hero’s family.

But this time, I couldn’t see Isaac’s future. I didn’t know how to help Wendy, the descendant of the hero. That’s why I had tried to escape with Lina, the hero.

The second Demon Lord would be defeated by the hero Alonso Izakhel, not the hero. Knowing that future, I thought it would be fine to let Lina escape.

When Conwell appeared, I thought my plan had been exposed… but it wasn’t. Instead, they had framed me with a ridiculous accusation.

‘What should I do now…?’

I thought for a moment. Maybe I could buy time until the Demon Lord appeared in a few days. Amid the chaos, I could rescue Lina and escape… Not a bad plan.

But my body might give out first. No matter how much I could endure pain with willpower, the body has its limits. After days of beatings and whippings, my body was a wreck. I had lost too much blood. At this rate, even I might…

“Ah, Isaac…?”

A sudden voice made me look up.

There stood Wendy… no, a woman who looked just like Wendy, Lina, covering her mouth.

 

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