“Why are you angry?”

“Because I feel wronged and frustrated. While you treated me so badly… You easily pointed your sword at that half-witted half-brother, Noah or whatever. But why can’t you do anything to Marquis Ingrion and just let him beat you!”

Cordelia’s voice trembled. As she spoke, tears welled up in her eyes.

“You could just throw a fit like Beluce usually does. Why are you holding back? Why are you stupidly letting yourself get beaten? What’s so scary about that old marquis?”

Now she understood. Why she was so angry.

The sight of Beluce being helplessly beaten was so similar to Cordelia’s own situation just a few years ago. It was as if she was watching herself as a third person, seeing that foolish and stupid figure lying pale-faced at her father’s feet, begging for his mercy.

“Marquis Ingrion is a cruel man.”

Beluce, who had been staring at Cordelia’s face for a while, finally opened his mouth.

“He can’t stand when things don’t go his way.”

“What does that matter? Beluce, you’re Atilei’s man, the master’s man, aren’t you?”

At this, Beluce smiled faintly for the first time.

“Ever since he found out that I was officially knighted and joined Atilei, the marquis has been looking for excuses to attack Atilei.”

“…”

“At first, he took issue with my birth, and then he started nitpicking over more and more ridiculous things. Even though my lord told me not to worry about it.”

He let out a short sigh before continuing.

“Ingrion gradually started bringing in other families to pressure Atilei. Until I would crawl back under his leg like a dog and bow my head again.”

“Does the master know?”

“He has many other things to worry about besides such trivial matters.”

Beluce spoke dismissively as he wiped the blood flowing down his forehead with the back of his hand.

“Trivial matters? Do you think Atilei would crumble because of someone like Ingrion?”

“He won’t crumble, but it will leave scars. And I absolutely hate that.”

Now she could understand why he had silently endured the marquis’s violence without guilt. Beluce couldn’t bear the thought of tarnishing Atilei’s honor because of his existence. To the point where he would choose to be beaten like a dog by his own father.

“He just needs someone to take out his anger on.”

“Whatever the reason, stop groveling to the marquis now. It doesn’t suit you at all, Beluce. Promise me. Quickly.”

“Good grief.”

Cordelia urged him with wide eyes. Beluce let out an incredulous laugh between his lips, but it wasn’t as sharp or sarcastic as before.

“I passed the intermediate mage test in one go. I’ll soon become an advanced mage too. The master said he’d leave everything to me, so I can protect you from whatever the Marquis Ingrion does.”

“Pretending to know it all when you didn’t even know what a mage was.”

Beluce just snorted at Cordelia’s clumsy boast.

At that moment, Gasil approached the two standing in the corridor. After confirming Beluce’s terrible condition up close, he asked.

“What happened?”

“It was Marquis Ingrion’s doing.”

Cordelia quickly spoke before Beluce could stop her. Gasil let out a short sigh with an expressionless face.

“The marquis did it again?”

“Again? Sir Gasil, you knew about this too?”

“It would be stranger not to know, given that Sir Beluce comes back looking like this every time he meets Marquis Ingrion. Fortunately, it seems the master hasn’t noticed yet.”

“You knew?”

Beluce asked Gasil, slightly surprised. Gasil’s expression remained unchanged.

“Did you think I was blind?”

“You didn’t say anything.”

“I thought you didn’t want to talk about it.”

Beluce’s lips twisted into a sneer. Cordelia spoke up.

“I’ve threatened the marquis, so this won’t happen again. Beluce has also promised me not to stupidly get beaten up anymore.”

“When did I promise you anything?”

“Threatened?”

Cordelia completely ignored Beluce’s words and only answered Gasil’s question. She revealed everything about how she discovered the cruel scene of violence and what conversation she had with the marquis.

“Hmm.”

After listening to the story, Gasil thought briefly and then looked at both of them alternately as he spoke.

“We should pack our bags. Knowing Marquis Ingrion’s personality, he surely won’t let this slide.”

“Of course, I was thinking of not going with Marquis Ingrion anymore, but… Is the marquis that dangerous?”

“You don’t know because it’s been several years since the incident. There was a Baron Usher who was close to Marquis Ingrion. He killed the baron by shooting hundreds of arrows at him for the reason that he shot the marquis’s fox first during a hunt. Then he dragged the baron’s corpse back instead of the fox and scored it as game.”

“…Good heavens.”

“That’s not all. He has a second son named Renald Ingrion, and he once crippled the daughter of Count Ardonne for rejecting Renald’s proposal. In the end, the count’s daughter threw herself into the river.”

The string of incidents were all horrifying. Now she could understand why Gasil had bowed so excessively when he first met Marquis Ingrion.

“So it would be better to leave quickly.”

“Alright. Let’s meet at the back door of the inn in ten minutes.”

Cordelia nodded her head several times with a determined look. Gasil disappeared first, and instead, Beluce lingered, not moving. She lightly tapped his arm and said.

“What are you doing? Don’t just stand there blankly, go get the horses.”

“Now, ah. Alright.”

After pushing the dawdling Beluce’s back, Cordelia half-ran back to her room. There wasn’t much luggage to pack. She stuffed the clothes she had taken out to wear tomorrow back into her travel bag, gathered the magic books she had been studying in her spare time, and all preparations were complete.

The inn was quiet, as Marquis Ingrion hadn’t taken any action yet. She walked stealthily towards the back door. However, even though ten minutes had clearly passed, the two men hadn’t appeared.

“Did something happen?”

She stretched her neck like a deer coming down to drink water, looking around, but the inn was quiet in the middle of the night.

“What are you doing?”

“Aaah!”

Someone lightly tapped her shoulder in the darkness. Cordelia shuddered as if struck by lightning, but then relaxed when she realized the hand belonged to Beluce.

“You startled me.”

“Startled? You were talking back so boldly in front of Marquis Ingrion earlier.”

“I didn’t know he was that crazy.”

“It’s not too late now. Just pretend you don’t know and cover it up. You’re the master’s disciple, so he won’t openly harm you.”

Uncharacteristically, Beluce’s tone was as fragile as a dandelion seed. His eyes, which had shown no fear even in the face of numerous beasts, were filled with undisguisable resignation.

“So you’re going to go and get beaten up instead of me?”

“Anyway, that man is getting old now, so his punches aren’t that great anymore.”

“No.”

She looked straight into Beluce’s eyes as she spoke. They were the same as the marquis’s eyes, but different.

“I don’t want to see Beluce stupidly getting beaten up by that man.”

“What’s it to you? Whether I get beaten or not.”

“It reminds me of myself.”

“…”

“It annoys me, reminding me of when I begged my father to spare my life. So, so…”

Cordelia couldn’t finish her words. Various emotions welled up, and she felt like she might cry at any moment. Fearing that tears might spill out, she quickly changed the subject.

“When is Sir Gasil coming?”

Speak of the devil, as soon as she mentioned him, Gasil appeared from the darkness. His body smelled of oil.

“Let’s depart quickly.”

“Fire!”

Two sentences hit Cordelia’s ears simultaneously. Of course, the latter one caught her attention overwhelmingly.

Along with the urgent voice, the quiet inn began to stir. Gasil didn’t even blink at the commotion. He grabbed the reins of the horse Beluce had brought and came towards Cordelia.

“Do you need help?”

“No. I can mount by myself. But Sir Gasil.”

It was suspicious that a fire broke out right after the man who smelled of oil arrived. She narrowed her eyes as she mounted the horse by herself.

“Did you do this?”

“Yes. I set fire to the carriage where the food was stored, so they won’t have the capacity to pay attention to us.”

He admitted without a moment’s hesitation. She didn’t expect such a bold act from someone with such a quiet and calm personality.

The three of them mounted their horses and quickly left the village. Due to the dark night, they couldn’t ride at full speed, but by dawn, they were able to find a new village.

Their eyelids were heavy from not having slept all day. They found a suitable inn, rested their eyes for a few hours, and set off again.

After two days of riding without proper rest, they finally approached the walls of Yebo Delim.

“It must have been a tiring journey. Thank you for your hard work in following us.”

Gasil said as they passed through the city gates. They had been extremely tense, worried that the marquis might send someone after them, but Gasil’s strategy seemed to have worked well as no one was pursuing them.

“Two days was manageable. You two must be tired too, so let’s go to Atilei’s town house. I’ll go meet my father on my own.”

“That’s alright.”

Not only Gasil but even Beluce, with bloodshot eyes, insisted on not leaving Cordelia’s side. In the end, Cordelia had no choice but to head to the address where the letter had been sent, along with the two men. To be honest, it wasn’t out of consideration for them, but because she didn’t want to reveal her own embarrassing circumstances.

‘I hope he’ll just say a proper final goodbye.’

That was all she wished for.

As they headed to the address written on the envelope, they saw a dilapidated old mansion. Even that wasn’t fully in use, only the room on the top third floor.

When she knocked on the old wooden door, a young servant opened it slightly to greet the guests.

“Who is it?”

“We’ve come to see the former Viscount Vasquez.”

“Ah. J-just a moment!”

The servant rudely left Cordelia standing there without opening the door. There was a crashing sound from inside. The moment she heard that sound, an uneasy premonition passed through Cordelia.

“C-come in.”

The door opened again only after about five minutes. As she entered, the familiar scent of alcohol that always emanated from her father’s body wafted over.