The nearby gunshot echoed, momentarily numbing the ears. The acrid gunpowder smoke rose, filling the room in an instant and pricking the nose.

“What’s happening!”

Those outside, who had been watching the mansion, rushed to the door at the sudden sound of gunshots. Those who roughly knew what the Second Prince was up to hesitated to open the door.

“Your Highness, are you alright?”

“…I’m fine, all of you, step back!”

“Yes, understood.”

Upon hearing the Second Prince’s rough voice from inside, his subordinates returned to their previous positions. As the footsteps of the subordinates faded away, the Second Prince lightly slapped his numb cheek with one hand.

“Ugh…!”

The place where the bullet had passed felt hot as if it were burned by fire. With an angry face, he glared at the one who had fired the gun.

“How dare you… shoot at me for real…!”

As he pulled the trigger, or perhaps due to releasing the tension, Adel, leaning against the bedhead, could only close her eyes and take a shallow breath. Her hands, weakly hanging down, seemed to have no strength left to lift the gun any longer.

“I tried not to be violent, but you managed to anger me…”

The Second Prince, having taken the pistol from the Grand Duchess’s hand that had barely reached him, threw it towards the door as if discarding it. Approaching the Grand Duchess, who couldn’t open her eyes properly, he struck her cheek hard.

“Snap out of it! This is just the beginning; do you want to lose consciousness now? You should smartly feel the pleasure in pain…”

With widened eyes revealing white pupils, the Second Prince grabbed Adel’s hair and was about to strike her cheek again when a faint voice came from behind.

“Stop… it…”

Turning his head in surprise at the faint voice from behind, the Second Prince found that Rainian, who had collapsed on the table, had somehow opened his eyes and was struggling to speak.

“Sto…p…”

Although he woke up from the sound of gunshots, Rainian, still under anesthesia, couldn’t move properly. He tried to move his muscles to sit up, but his body, not listening to him, just twitched in place.

“Get up, ayya.”

Seeing the awakened Rainian, the Second Prince chuckled as if finding it amusing. His eyes, flickering like a madman, suggested that he wasn’t in his right mind. His originally forgotten purpose was overshadowed by the perverse impulse filling his eye sockets.

“Don’t… touch…”

“Don’t touch the Grand Duchess? Why? Now that I can freely covet the Grand Duchess’s body!”

As if showing off to Rainian, the Second Prince forcefully tore apart Adel’s half-open shirt, spreading it to the sides like trampling on a road. Simultaneously, her riding jacket and shirt, barely worn, were stripped off, revealing her upper body in just a corset.

Rainian’s lake-like eyes burned with rage at the Second Prince’s outrage. Despite the pain, he tried to sit up, but soon lost his balance and fell forward. With a loud noise, he collapsed onto the floor.

“If you don’t stay still, what will happen? It’s about you, who foolishly wriggles like a bug due to the effects of the anesthesia.”

Laughing at the fallen Rainian, the Second Prince, with a lascivious look, swept Adel’s body from shoulders to wrists, moving from top to bottom.

“Let go…!”
Rainian screamed in pain, filled with rage. Blood trickled down from his mouth, bitten severely. It seemed unbearable to witness Adel being humiliated in front of his eyes. Soon, his eye area swelled up and reddened as if blood tears were about to flow.

“Isn’t this body like a work of art, truly tempting? I’ll show you personally, so watch and enjoy.”

With an excited expression, the Second Prince confidently reached for the hooks of the corset. It was a moment when he was about to completely strip her down, even removing her underwear.

“Bang!”

The roughly closed entrance door suddenly swung open. Only the light of the lamp had illuminated the dim room, and now the sunlight shone brightly. Someone stood at the door, silhouetted against the light.

“Who’s there! I told you to step back!”

In the critical moment, the Second Prince, who had been interrupted, yelled in frustration. The uninvited guest who barged in stood tall, and although only his silhouette was visible, he was a robust man with a well-built body.

“Why are you dawdling? Close the door and get out!”

Even with the Second Prince’s command, the man who entered silently closed the door.

“I told you to get out!”

Perceiving a strange aura, the Second Prince, now panicked, ordered the man again. The face of the man, standing in the dark where the lamp’s light had not reached, was not clearly visible.

However, the man’s appearance made the onlooker’s chest tighten just by the silhouette. The air surrounding him instantly chilled, and an overpowering force could be felt in the atmosphere alone.

“W-Who… who are you!”