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Chapter 12

Warning: Some scenes depicted (I think) are gore-ish and vomit-inducing. Read at your own risk!

“Oh dear, why are you like this? It’s time you get tired—stop and give up! Why do you keep on arguing in front of a competent doctor such as myself?”

Two red, bloodshot eyes stared at the priest’s naked body.

“Y-you crazy…! Go away! Go away from me!”

Gamal freaked out and covered his body with both hands.

“Do you want to be executed publicly? Do you want your neck to be decapitated? Then, people would only think of you as despicable and curse you. It would be better to quietly die in my hands.”

“H-heok! Heook—!”

He tried to escape the prison, dragging his blood-stained body, though Glanz stopped him and sat down on his back.

Burn.

A pungent smell spread inside the narrow prison as the heated iron pressed against his bulging back. Glanz chuckled as he heard the sound of burning flesh.

“So… why did you even try to harm the Princess?”

“I-I didn’t do it!”

“Ah, really. Saying the same thing again? Dear, it seems like you’re not really tired yet.”

He wondered at this point if he should just sew the priest’s mouth that was spouting nonsense. The moment Glanz was thinking about doing it, Gamal flipped his body and shouted.

“Really! It’s the truth! That b*tch was the one who tried to kill herself! Why don’t you believe me! I-I saw that with my own two eyes…!”

Hearing his words, Glanz tilted his head as Gamal screamed.

As if understanding the Priest, he tapped Gamal’s shoulder.

“Why would the Princess? What can her reason be, an eleven-year-old princess stabbed herself with a dagger…?”

“I heard it for real…! That she will throw me and the former Duke to the hell together!”

’That little Princess is going to throw the previous Duke into hell…? Then, it’s fine if it would be me instead, then. He’s not that afraid contrary to how you look.’

Glanz thought as he tilted his head again.

’Besides, is there any reason the princess would do that?’

The wondering Glanz heard a cry.

“Because I forced the princess to forgive her grandfather!”

“…Ah.”

At Gamal’s words, he sighed briefly.

Meanwhile, there was a flicker of hope in Gamal’s eyes, hoping that he could finally negotiate with Glanz.

“Right? Even you think so, too! So release me. I’ll give you the bountiful amount of gold coins I received from the former Duke! Contact the Central Church right now—!”

“Hey, is that so? Oh, this. I want to believe you.”

“Ha, haha. I lived! I lived! If you let me go, grace will—keok!”

It was at that moment…

Slash!

Glanz took his family’s sword behind Gamal and cut off his head.

Drip, drip

He smiled with glee as he watched the blood slowly dripping from the Priest’s nape.

“But, what can you do?”

’A commoner like me should not be arbitrarily guessing the will of high-ranking people. I shouldn’t even let him know. Tell Duke Gaian that his own daughter went crazy and stabbed herself…? My head would be decapitated if it was true, and he will cut off my tongue if it was a lie for making fun with him.’

Glanz clicked his tongue at Gamal, who had died.

“Yes, you should’ve done it moderately.”

He stared intently at the cold corpse.

“Baron Momonto. Why would you forgive that horned pig? What are you doing… you would still be killed by the hands of the commoners seeking for your life even if I were to release you.”

Muttering so, he grunted as he patted the dead body with his feet.

’A lot of educated died of being stupid garbage. After all, this was a causal and retribution.’

He thought before getting up from his seat and stretching out his arms as though he was just finished playing.

“Fufu, don’t worry! That scum was punished by the capable Sir Glanz, Princess. So, you can rest assured.”

…Would she be happy if he told her that?

Thinking of himself highly, Glanz grinned as he remembered Leticia.

“We’ll get to the mansion in a little while.”

Gaian looked around at the knight’s words as he was riding on his horse. His gaze soon turned to the south, which was the direction of the mansion. The forest was full of green trees on a hot summer evening, though he didn’t pay attention to them.

“He must have handled it well.”

“Yes. I sent a letter to Glanz to confirm that he took care of it.”

The knight didn’t ask who it was, but answered right away.

Whether he was from the Central Church or the priest whom the previous Duke loved, Gamal was already dead.

“Did the Church contact you?”

“The Duke expressed his displeasure when he was told that priest would be punished, however… he didn’t say anything.”

“That bastard has quite a stinking back.”

Although it would have been difficult to get rid of the Priest who lived a clean life, though Gamal was handled easily because he was full of dirt.

When he was found guilty of helping with tax evasion and illegal employment for years, the Central Church sent him a letter. It only consisted of five sentences. Even the phrase ‘Do what you want with him, Duke’ was written in a very polite way.

The Central Church also surrendered him, so the Priest was dealt without much trouble. In addition, if they already expressed strong dissatisfaction, the Duke has no intention of backing down either.

Knowing that, the Central Church also raised both hands and retreated. He was the most powerful man, and it was not something the poisonous Duke Gaian could be criticized for.

“Stop resting, and let’s leave.”

The knight nodded.

The Duke, who would normally rest like a knife, urged him to go without rest, even if he was to ride a warhorse.

‘Was he worried?’

The knight didn’t ask him hastily, even with that thought. While the Duke asked if the Priest had been taken care of, he didn’t inquire about his daughter Leticia. Instead, the knight looked down at the other folded letters.

The aide next to him looked at him with anxious eyes, precisely talking, to the letter on his hand.

[ You will be surprised when you come to the mansion. ]

It was sent by Glanz.

There was no detail about the incident a few days ago and he also had no idea what was going on, so the aide couldn’t convey the contents of the letter to the Duke recklessly. Originally, he was exchanging letters with Glanz, so the Duke allowed him to use expensive falcons.

To be precise, the Duke allowed his aide to convey the little happenings in the mansion from Glanz by his aide. Most of the details were trivial for the Duke to receive.

Therefore, the aide read the letter addressed to him and conveyed the information he thought was important to the Duke.

Nonetheless, there was no other information in the letter he sent now. It was only a sincere threat.

[ The Princess has a broad heart and knows how to show generosity. Sam, I wish you could see her for yourself, too, but it’s a pity that you couldn’t. ]

The contents of the letter did not end there. It also contained somewhat absurd content.

[ Come to me when you get to the mansion. Then, I will take you, Sam, in front of Princess. Ah, in the past you said, “Her mother was a prostitute, so she can’t do anything but laugh, or else annoyingly cry. What a silly girl,” about Princess Leticia, so please apologize to her for that. ]

Naturally, Sam tore off the end of the letter and kept it inside his chest. He couldn’t show the fact that he had cursed Leticia to the Duke’s Knight.

“Well, there are all these guys…”

The aide grunted and walked closer to the knight’s back.

As a born writer, he did not know how to ride a horse and had to ride on the back of a knight. He so desperately wanted to go back to the mansion from the residence in the capital, though now, he didn’t want to go.

It was because of Glanz’s last warning.

[ If you do not apologize for teasing your tongue, I will turn your tongue into a useless piece of meat. If you don’t apologize to her with your sleazy tongue, I will turn it into a useless chunk of meat. ]

The aide couldn’t help but shiver at the warning of the doctor who was suffering from a personality disorder. With the help of the knight, the plump aide rode the horse and raise his head.

’There was nothing in front of me’.

[ T/N: Literally, ‘my future is bleak’. ]

The Duke that was famous for not being in a hurry, was running from far away with his horse.

’Did he hear that a thief broke into the mansion and stole the relics?’

“D**n it, Duke!”

Seeing the Duke, who left without saying a word, the knight sighed.

“Hold on tight.”

“W-wait… Ugh—!”

Although the sudden departure almost cut off the aide’s tongue, no one cared. Glanz was the only one who cared for his tongue.

Once upon a time, they exchanged letters like friends.

Leticia covered her mouth with her sleeve at the musty smell. Watching the Princess’ reaction like a ghost, Glanz took out a glass bottle from his arms and sprayed the herbal scent.

“Isn’t it a little dirty? It’s one of the dirtiest prisons I’ve ever seen. How the hell do the guards do the cleaning…”

Leticia asked, ignoring the doctor’s words that entered from one ear and exits the other ear.

“Did you say you were good at torture?”

“Ah, I know how to do it, but I’m no expert.”

“Then…?”

“It seemed like a half-blood dwarf mixed within the guards stepped out. I heard that he would somehow feel that he was smaller if a person taller than him was caught as a prisoner. His inferiority complex exploded, that’s why…”

At Glanz’s words, she just stared at him, not smiling.

“….My apologies. I guess the dwarf guard put a lot of effort into it.”

“So, he made people like this?”

Leticia laughed out loud—Haha.

It wasn’t an angry tone, but it was far from a pleasant laugh.

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