FBS - 10

Constanta was a country far removed from the Empire, situated to the west.

The path leading there was fraught with rugged mountain ranges, so it was usually reached by sea rather than land. Ergel and I took the same route. Before dawn, we boarded a large ship at the port.

I had never been on a ship before. In the first place, deciding to leave the Empire, let alone my mother’s embrace, was a first for me. So, on top of the unavoidable unfamiliarity, the constantly rocking deck was truly the worst.

My already terrible physical condition was compounded by seasickness, and I spent almost a week languishing in bed in the cabin.

Seeing me like that, Ergel was beside himself with worry. Every time he offered to find a doctor among the passengers, I shook my head. Not yet, not yet could I tell him the truth of my pregnancy.

He assumed my symptoms, which were morning sickness, were just seasickness. In that way, I even began to think it was fortunate that we had taken a ship.

A week passed slowly and arduously. When I finally escaped the endlessly surging waves, I was so overcome with emotion that tears welled up in my eyes. Ergel thankfully had arranged a place to stay near the port.

Pale and wan, I was carried in a carriage and finally reached our destination.

I forgot all about my nausea and could only gape in astonishment.

“You secured this place...?”

Living with Ergel, I occasionally felt like I was incredibly narrow-minded. This time was no different.

The place he had simply called a ‘place to stay’ was a luxurious mansion that could easily rival the villas of nobles. Right below was a market street, making it easy to obtain groceries and daily necessities, and perched atop a깎인 cliff, the view from the window overlooking the sea was absolutely stunning.

“Why? Don’t you like it much?”

“No. It’s too wonderful...”

“I always find places like this whenever I travel.”

It struck me anew that he was a member of a Marquis family. My awe-struck admiration was brief, and soon a wave of exhaustion like a deep sleep washed over me. Ergel, packing my luggage, told me to choose any room I wanted. I chose a bedroom on the third floor with a good view of the sea.

“I’m sorry...”

“For what?”

“For being a burden to you.”

Ergel smiled, stroking my hair as I lay weakly on the bed.

“What kind of talk is that between friends?”

“...Thank you, Ergel.”

“I should look around the neighborhood. Get some rest.”

After he left, alone in the bedroom, I slowly turned over. Unlike the Empire draped in winter, here the weather was like walking the boundary between spring and summer. A breeze that was neither cold nor hot blew in through the slightly open window. Looking at the sea spread out below, tears welled up for no reason.

No, there was a clear reason.

I blankly held my stomach. It was natural that I should see a doctor for an examination. My pregnancy was still just my own conjecture. Of course, it was leaning heavily towards ‘yes’ because there were too many undeniable symptoms to simply call it a guess...

‘What should I do now?’

For now, I had run away.

If I had stayed there any longer, I felt like I would suffocate and die from my guilt. I could no longer maintain my composure living beside my parents, who loved me in their own different ways.

Clutching my stomach, I curled up. Looking at the sea as deep as the abyss, the man with eyes of that color came to mind. Half of me wanted to never see him again, and the other half wanted to see him right away. Now, I couldn’t even understand my own heart.

My head throbbed. I deliberately closed my eyes and tried to fall asleep.

________________________________________

Didn’t they say that the time given to those who choose to flee is usually very short? Perhaps it feels even more so because the end of that time is not fixed.

Life with Ergel was leisurely and enjoyable. Was it because it was so cozy? Time flowed by relentlessly, like the currents of the sea visible through the window.

Ergel, with consideration and kindness ingrained in him, rarely did anything to make me uncomfortable. Above all, I no longer had to be constantly aware of others’ moods, which was a great relief.

In the Marquis’s residence where my mother lived before her marriage, I was always hiding, afraid of my grandfather’s frosty reprimands. And after her marriage... I was constantly on edge, afraid of my sinful actions being discovered. My mother’s side was where I should be, yet those places always felt like a bed of thorns to me.

Early one morning, leaning against the window and endlessly gazing at the emerald waves rolling in, there was a knock on the bedroom door.

There was only one person who would knock like that.

“What is it?”

“It’s time to eat.”

“Okay. I’ll be down.”

The day we arrived in Constanta, Ergel hired a few servants. They lived here like shadows, helping us without disturbing Ergel’s and my life. The meal he was talking about was probably prepared by them with fresh ingredients since the early hours of the morning.

When I arrived at the first-floor dining room, a lavish spread was laid out. Ergel had been preparing such grand meals for me every time, saying that I had lost a lot of weight lately. Nevertheless, I had no appetite and barely touched my food.

Ergel, who had been watching me with his usual gentle gaze, suddenly made a startling remark.

“Rosen.”

“Hmm?”

“A doctor will be coming today.”

Even the little appetite I had seemed to vanish completely.

My heart sank, and I put down the fork I was holding to face him.

“The doctor... said I was fine, though.”

I had planned to see a doctor as soon as we arrived here to confirm if I was pregnant. But strangely, I kept feeling scared. I realized faster than I thought what was causing that fear.

If it was really true, if that being I had only imagined was planted in my womb, then I would have to make a decision.

Whether to give birth to the baby or to have it removed.

My head was already throbbing like this, and I felt like I wouldn’t be able to bear facing that dilemma. The time I was spending with Ergel now was peaceful. I just wanted to enjoy this peace a little longer, this tranquility that I might never experience again if not now.

“It doesn’t look okay to me. Your condition has been bad ever since you came here... I’m worried if something might have happened.”

And in a corner of my mind, there was also fear about Ergel’s reaction. If it turned out I was pregnant and Ergel found out, what kind of reaction would he show?

Ergel harbored a deep, unusual affection for me. The same kind that I had felt for Barque... That was why he was taking such meticulous care of me in every little thing.

But what if I had reached out to him because I was carrying another man’s baby?

Having not yet established any proper future plans, I would immediately fall into destitution without Ergel’s help. I couldn’t deny that I was quite afraid of that as well.

But Ergel ended up doing even the thing I was too scared to decide on. In fact, I understood his position. After all, seeing my still pale face and the way I was growing thinner even after coming here, he probably couldn’t bear it any longer. In a way, it was surprising that he hadn’t called a doctor until now.

I stared blankly at the fork on my plate.

“...Ergel.”

Ergel, who had picked up an apple and taken a crisp bite, turned to look at me. Tenderness welled up in his eyes. An obvious emotion that he didn’t even bother to hide.

I hoped that the situation where he would be disappointed in me and turn his back on me would never come. Despite our less-than-ideal first meeting, he had become quite a special person in my heart. That was why I also felt uneasy, constantly deceiving Ergel unintentionally.

He had never once asked me why I had to run away during all this time. To me, Ergel had become more than a dear friend; he was like a benefactor. Holding a secret from him felt like driving a stake into my own heart.

“I’m actually pregnant.”

The secret I had kept so tightly concealed finally slipped out. It seemed to be shocking news for Ergel, so much so that he dropped the apple he was holding and didn’t even think to pick it up.

“No... I think I am.”

“What, no, Rosen. Just a moment.”

He, who had been eating with noble, refined movements, suddenly became flustered. I could feel his gaze going from my face to his chin, which he was touching, and finally flicking down to my stomach. I felt strangely exposed and fidgeted with my clasped hands.

“Is that true?”

“I haven’t seen a doctor yet, so I don’t know. But based on my own guess, I think so.”

“Huh...”

“I’m sorry. For not telling you until now.”

Ergel seemed unable to gather his thoughts and remained frozen for a moment. It looked like my words had completely blanked his mind.

After a long while, he came to his senses and suggested we move somewhere else.

We moved to the open terrace. Even in the setting with the sea as a backdrop, a deep silence settled in, perhaps due to the sensitive information that had just been revealed and heard. Then, Ergel suddenly stood up. I tilted my head, wondering what was wrong, and he went back inside. He returned with a thick blanket in his hands.

“Just in case.”

He draped it over my shoulders. Today, I was wearing a thin dress that felt a bit chilly if the wind blew. Perhaps it was because he had heard about my possible pregnancy, but his suddenly more solicitous attitude made a lump rise in my throat.

Ergel sat down opposite me and carefully began to speak.

“So, um, then the reason you had to run away... was it because you might be pregnant?”

“Yes.”

“The Count and Countess don’t know at all?”

Well, I could say for sure about my mother, but I didn’t know about my father. If I really was pregnant, he would be the baby’s biological father. I swallowed the words of incest that rose to the tip of my tongue and nodded.

Ergel seemed speechless again, scratching his forehead and closing his mouth. I stared blankly at the sea, giving him time to organize his thoughts.

“...Do you know who the biological father is?”

While I was gazing at the waves that rose into cloudy foam, crashed on the shore, and turned back into clear water, Ergel’s careful and private voice reached my ears. I unconsciously held my stomach and nodded heavily in affirmation.

“I told you before, didn’t I? Even if we started as friends, we could never be the kind of relationship you wanted.”

I opened my mouth, wanting to cut him off early because I was worried about the pity he might feel.

“This was why.”

“...”

“Because... there’s someone I love.”

At those words, a look of relief quickly spread across Ergel’s face.

He must have been worried. Worried that I might have gotten pregnant due to unwanted sexual relations. Judging from the flow of the conversation, he had easily understood that the baby in my womb was the seed of the person I loved.

His unwavering kindness seemed to crumble the resolve I had firmly set within me.

“I’m sorry... for not telling you sooner.”

“Rosen. Why do you keep apologizing? I’m fine.”

He gently tucked my hair behind my ear. A touch filled with affection that went beyond friendship. But my heart didn’t flutter even once. The fact that I didn’t feel any romantic stirrings for him was bittersweet at this moment.

“Let’s get you examined by the doctor first, and then we can talk again.”

I looked at Ergel once and then nodded.

An hour later, a doctor from this village visited the mansion. I told Ergel that I wanted to be examined alone first. The female doctor carefully checked my pulse and examined me thoroughly.

“You are pregnant.”

Just as I thought. I thought I had already made up my mind, but the moment I heard those words, my heart sank. In the end, traces remained. The acts that the man who became my stepfather and I had committed every night. They remained clearly and vividly, impossible to erase.

“There are no major issues otherwise, but you seem weak, so it’s important to eat well.”

“...How far along am I?”

“Judging by your pulse, I would guess about eight weeks.”

Eight weeks, just as I thought.

The baby was conceived long before the day Barque had given me the aphrodisiac.

“Then...”

My lips felt parched, and I quickly moistened them with my tongue. I felt cold sweat trickling down my back. At this moment, I wished someone would cover the baby’s ears. No, it probably didn’t even have ears yet, being so small and tiny. Rationalizing like this, I stubbornly tried to erase the guilt that was taking root.

“If I want to... have an abortion...”

The doctor’s face turned bewildered. She rolled her eyes and said,

“Was this an unwanted pregnancy?”

I remained silent, but the doctor seemed to take that silence as affirmation.

“If you use medication, it’s possible up to twelve weeks. That period is also when the fetus is settling in the uterus. If you take medication after that stable period, it probably won’t result in an abortion and will only harm the baby in your womb.”

“Harm... as in?”

“It means there’s a high possibility of the baby being disabled.”

Her voice was monotonous, but strangely, I felt a chilling sensation as if my flesh was falling away.

The doctor left the mansion, telling me to call her again if I decided to get the medication. Alone in the bedroom, I slowly stroked my stomach. Strangely, the inside, which had only felt flat, now felt full, as if filled by the single word of the expert who acknowledged its existence.

“Rosen.”

Ergel, who had been waiting the whole time I was being examined, was leaning against the door. I looked at him and nodded. He slowly approached and sat on the edge of the bed where I was lying.

“...What are you going to do?”

I didn’t need to ask back what he meant; I could fully guess. He had probably heard all of my conversation with the doctor. Lowering my hand that had been stroking my stomach, I cast my eyes down. Even though the doctor had already left, my heart was pounding as if I was still being examined by her.

Perhaps, that wasn’t my heart.

“I don’t know.”

Finally, the time had come. The time to decide. Whether to give birth to this baby conceived in a relationship that the world simply defined as father and daughter. Whether to continue carrying the seed of the man who had become my mother’s husband.

Suddenly, my mother’s image flickered in my mind. It had been quite some time since I had disappeared; how was she doing? It was something I didn’t even need to ask. My mother sincerely loved and cherished me.

<You are a blessing God sent me, Rosen.>

My mother would say that to me whenever I felt endlessly disheartened by my grandfather’s scolding and contempt. She thanked me for coming into her life, saying I was a precious gift she had from the fruit of her love. The most precious and beautiful thing in her life. The words she whispered into my ear every day echoed vividly in my mind as if I had just heard them yesterday.

As I pondered those words, I found my eyes welling up with tears.

“Sob...”

“Rosen?”

I couldn’t hide the emotions that surged from within. Ergel, taken aback, looked at me, but I curled up into a ball for a long while and sobbed.

My mother was in a position where she could have had everything with a flick of her wrist, but she chose my father and gave birth to me, prepared to give up all of it. I couldn’t be certain that she hadn’t had as much concern in that process as I did now. Even if it was a choice she made herself, the result would inevitably contain its own hardships and difficulties for everyone involved.

Yet, my mother never showed any hint of it to me my entire life. She never once regarded me as the seed of her misfortune. Even though she had to endure my grandfather’s displeasure and the stigma of being an unwed mother because of me.

Listening to her constant whispers, she embraced me warmly, as if I were her whole world, not the other way around.

Having grown up receiving such devoted and beautiful love, how could I even think of erasing the baby growing inside me? Knowing the heart with which my mother raised me, I, who had felt that love more keenly than anyone.

“I, I don’t think... I can erase this baby.”

I gasped for breath, wiping away the tears that flowed like a burst dam. Ergel, as if understanding the reason for my sudden outburst of tears, closed his mouth.

Just as I had been a gift to my mother, this baby might also be a gift that had come to me. Knowing that the baby could clearly hear, how could I have uttered such ominous words like abortion and disability? I should be cherishing this baby with all the warmth my mother had given me, yet I had even considered such things.

“...I said I would help you.”

I was crying so hard I could barely breathe when suddenly I felt a hand brushing my hair back. Ergel was looking down at me with a smile that I couldn’t quite decipher.

“Trust me, Rosen.”

It was a little later that I realized that his words contained a somewhat painful and somewhat tender affection.

At this moment, there was no denying that both he and I were struggling in a mire of love.

________________________________________

Time flowed by swiftly, like an arrow shot from a bow, without a moment to be caught.

Deeply cherishing my mother’s love in my heart, I withdrew my intention to have an abortion. Now that I was past the stable period of pregnancy, it was an irreversible decision. Of course, I had no intention of reversing it anyway.

I hadn’t counted exactly, but the calendar I glanced at on a whim reminded me that two months had already passed.

Two months... Recalling that precise period naturally sent a chill down my spine. It was because Barque’s scheduled expedition was for two months. He would have returned by now. To the mansion.

“Rosen. Is this alright?”

Sitting blankly, a sweet scent brushed against my nose. Unconsciously, my stomach twisted tightly. It was hunger.

Ergel had brought me some refreshments that he had gone out to buy early in the morning. Since finding out about my pregnancy, he had paid even more attention to my diet and desserts. As if he were the father of the baby in my womb. In fact, the doctor who had visited the mansion last month had mistaken us for a married couple.

“Yes.”

As the morning sickness became quite intense, the range of foods I could eat narrowed considerably. Fortunately, the plum tart Ergel had brought today was perfect for my taste. He watched me intently as I nibbled on it, eating it in place of a meal.

I had told Ergel that he didn’t need to be so devoted to me, but he said he was doing it because he wanted to and that I could rely on him as much as I liked. Perhaps because I felt sorry and awkward, I couldn’t treat him as comfortably as before.

An awkwardness grew between us, as if our relationship had regressed. No, Ergel still talked to me often, so perhaps I was the only one who felt that way.

“Is something wrong?”

“Huh? Why?”

“You keep looking at the calendar.”

It was an unconscious action. Once I was aware of the date, a cold anxiety would creep in from time to time.

“I was just thinking if it’s already been two months.”

“...”

“Father... he must have returned by now.”

“Count Estellan? Ah, he went on an expedition.”

Ergel slowly rolled his eyes as if he had heard something unexpected. He tapped his fingers on his knee and then carefully began to speak.

“Don’t you plan to tell your parents?”

The dessert that had been going down so smoothly suddenly felt like it was rising back up my esophagus. Now that it was a given that my stepfather was the father of my baby, it was an inevitable reaction. I shook my head vehemently, my face pale.

At my almost terrified reaction, he gave a faint smile as if understanding. Then, Ergel’s gaze moved to my mouth.

“You have some here.”

“Huh? Where?”

“Here.”

The moment Ergel’s finger touched my lips. Both he and I were surprised. He might not have felt it, but for me, it wasn’t a flutter, but just something very unfamiliar. So, both of us froze like statues.

Ergel was the first to break the stillness. He tilted his head slightly. If he had leaned in just a little more, our lips would have met. Just before our breaths could mingle, I barely managed to turn my chin away.

At my rejection, the tense atmosphere that had been tightly intertwined instantly cooled down. I was more surprised than anyone by my unexpected reaction.

“I, I’m sorry.”

I quickly stood up from the sofa. But before I could even take a step, my wrist was grabbed.

“Rosen.”

It wasn’t a strong grip, as if he was being considerate of my pregnancy. I stood there and looked at him. Ergel was looking up at me with eyes like a stray puppy abandoned on a rainy day. He bit his red lip and then released it, exhaling as if in a sigh.

“The baby’s biological father, who is he?”

I was a little surprised. It was because since the doctor had confirmed my pregnancy, Ergel had never once mentioned the biological father. I vaguely understood the reason why he was suddenly asking now. The lips that had almost touched a moment ago. Perhaps the emotions he had been carefully suppressing had suddenly burst forth because that attempt had failed.

At his sharp question, this time I couldn’t help but bite my lip.

“...You can’t tell me?”

If I told you, our relationship, which is already like walking a tightrope, would surely break, Ergel. You probably wouldn’t be able to understand me, you would despise me, and you would think of me as cheap, like a prostitute. I don’t want to show such a lowly bottom to someone who is no less than a benefactor to me.

“...Yes.”

I could only put all those excuses into that single answer. For the first time, Ergel furrowed his brow deeply in front of me. He ran a hand through his hair as if frustrated and then slowly stood up.

“I’m going to get some air.”

“Ergel.”

As I called out to him with anxious eyes, Ergel gave a faint smile and touched my wrist before letting go. An action to reassure me that he wasn’t angry. I only felt more guilty because all I could offer him, who was so busy taking care of me, was an apology.

Left alone, I quietly tidied up and went up to the bedroom.

In these days where time stretched endlessly, I felt very sleepy. I had intended to sit on the bed and wait for him to come back, but I couldn’t resist the drowsiness that relentlessly swallowed my reason, and I fell into a deep sleep.

________________________________________

Ergel walked along the shore, letting out a deep sigh.

He knew. He knew everything.

He knew very well that it would be difficult to gain more than friendship from Rosen. Nevertheless, he couldn’t help it. The emotion of love was relentlessly impulsive, making one fall headfirst even when it was obvious that it was a perilous inferno. For him, she was a planless impulse, a raging fire with no room to step.

But what could he do about the desire that kept growing? From the moment he first met her, he had fallen completely, and every aspect of her he saw afterward was nothing but beautiful. He couldn’t understand how such a woman could be driven into a corner, bound by the mere label of ‘illegitimate child,’ so incomprehensible was the cruel reality of this world.

Even when he first heard the news that she was pregnant, he had no intention of presumptuously stepping forward. No, in fact, he had even dreamed a little. Wondering if Rosen might give him even the smallest place beside her. He couldn’t deny that he had taken even more devoted and meticulous care of her, fueled by that hopeful expectation.

That’s how men in love usually are. If there’s even the slightest gap to aim for, they have an indomitable will to immediately wedge themselves in and conquer.

<Sorry.>

Come to think of it, Rosen was not at fault. Whenever her actions were about to cross a line, she would immediately mention apologies and prevent them from continuing. So, even though from afar they might have looked like a newlywed couple, up close, their relationship could never be more than that of close friends. Rosen relied on him, but it never went beyond ‘friendship’.

This was all my fault for having my hopes inflated by vain expectations.

“...Haa, seriously.”

A belated sense of guilt washed over me, wondering if I had taken my anger out on her unnecessarily. Especially since her emotions had become so volatile and rapidly changing due to her pregnancy.

‘Let’s go back, I need to go back and apologize.’

Unrequited love always makes the subject feel like a criminal. Hoping alone and not having those hopes reciprocated leads to disappointment, as if cold water has been thrown on you, and it’s just a repeated cycle. In the end, it’s something that wouldn’t happen if you didn’t harbor expectations, so the one in unrequited love becomes the guilty party.

Having boldly changed his mind, Ergel returned to the mansion. He carefully opened the door and stepped inside. Rosen had been sleeping a lot more since her pregnancy, so these days he would unconsciously hold his breath when entering.

He had just reached the front of her bedroom after climbing the creaky stairs, which seemed a bit old.

‘Huh.’

It was after he had already laid eyes on the unfamiliar visitor that he felt a sense of unease, as if the atmosphere in the house was somehow strange.

A man of enormous build, incomparable to his own, was sitting on the edge of Rosen’s bed. His touch, stroking Rosen’s hair as she seemed to be asleep and gently caressing the line from her forehead to her chin, was imbued with a heavy sense of warm affection.

The man was black from head to toe, like a shadow. He soon leaned his upper body without any unnecessary movement and pressed his lips to Rosen’s cheek as she slept. His actions, as if he didn’t want to wake her from her deep slumber but was impatient to express his affection, resembled a massive beast recognizing its owner and reacting.

“Who... are you?”

Ergel, who had been standing rooted to the spot watching him, soon recognized the man’s face and became petrified. The owner of the face whose profile had seemed familiar for some reason since earlier was...

“Count Estellan...?”

Rosen’s stepfather.

The fact that he had come all the way here was the first thing that stunned him, and then the touch and actions he had just witnessed paralyzed his mind.

The man was Rosen’s father. Moreover, not a biological father with whom she shared blood, but a stepfather she had come to know through her mother’s marriage. And that man... was showing his daughter an attitude that one would usually reserve for a beloved woman.

“So it was you after all.”

A low, cavernous voice enveloped the bedroom. What was this feeling of being overwhelmed by just the sound of his voice? It was the unique intimidation of a knight, something he could neither aspire to nor imitate.

Ergel, not fully grasping the situation, tried to approach them. He thought that whatever was happening before his eyes was likely against Rosen’s wishes.

But no sooner had he taken a step than two knights, who had been hiding in the shadows, sprang out and bound him.

“What is the meaning of this...!”

“This is why I told you to take care of it properly. Disobedient.”

Ergel, unexpectedly kneeling before him, wore a bewildered expression. He swallowed hard, trying to regain his composure.

But something was strange. The atmosphere was very odd. For a man who had come to find the daughter he had gained through marriage, the aura he exuded was thick with an unusual murderous intent.

“Count. What brings you here...?”

Still, he was the man who was legally Rosen’s father. For that reason, he tried to maintain his politeness. As if that was exactly what he expected, Rosen’s stepfather smiled condescendingly and waved his hand. One of the knights forcefully pressed his back to the floor. It wasn’t enough force to cause injury, but it was an overwhelming power that he wouldn’t be able to shake off even if he struggled.

“I’d like to break a bone or two to make sure you never covet what’s mine again, but Marquis Grophon would make a fuss.”

“Excuse me? Mine, you say...?”

Ergel’s eyes, which had been wide with his foolish question, soon grew even larger, as if they would pop out of their sockets.

It was because the man grabbed Rosen’s slender chin and pressed his lips to hers. The sight of his tongue slithering and deeply penetrating her red lips was clearly visible to Ergel, whose cheek was pressed against the floor.

The intensity and level of the kiss were so deep that it made one frown, especially considering she was just his stepdaughter. The moment he recognized him, a chill ran down his spine as if he had been doused with ice water.

<Help me, Ergel.>

<We have to get out of here.>

The image of Rosen shedding clear tears and pleading with him at the Count’s residence.

<The baby’s biological father, who is he?>

<.......>

<You can’t tell me?>

<......Yes.>

The earlier image of her anxiously rolling her eyes and finally becoming despondent quickly flashed through his mind.

Could it be that the baby in Rosen’s womb was...?

Count Estellan, regardless of who was watching, or rather, as if wanting to be seen, held his stepdaughter’s chin and lavished her with a deep kiss. When Rosen stirred in her sleep, he curved his lips and passionately sucked on hers as if to soothe her.

It was a very familiar display of affection, as if he had done it many times before. Ergel, watching him overpowered by force, felt his mind reeling and his head throbbing.

Finally, with a soft smack, he broke the kiss and made Rosen’s slender arms wrap around his neck. Then, after draping his robe over her shoulders, he lightly lifted her into his arms.

“Don’t even think about doing anything foolish from now on.”

The man’s chilling gaze turned to Ergel, who was prostrate at his feet.

“If I say you kidnapped my daughter, it will be easy to tell who has the better chance of winning.”

“......”

“Considering you spent some time with Rosen, I feel like gouging out one of your eyes, cutting off your tongue, or breaking a finger. But considering your family, I hope you’ll behave yourself if you know to quietly go back.”

The man’s military boots approached Ergel’s fingers, which couldn’t even twitch, and then moved away. Holding Rosen again, he still couldn’t shake off his displeasure and glared fiercely at Ergel’s head.

It was the first time in his life that he felt so intimidated by someone’s gaze alone. His legs were trembling so badly he couldn’t move.

It wasn’t just imagination; he had a terrifying premonition that if he did anything foolish here, one of the body parts the man had mentioned would become permanently disabled.

In short, he was completely cowed.

In the end, Ergel could do nothing as the man took Rosen and left the mansion. An overwhelming sense of defeat and humiliation paralyzed him.