Chapter 77
<80화>
“Now then, here is a slave fresh off the boat! He’s tall with sturdy shoulders. And with a face this handsome, you’ll find plenty of ways to put him to use!”
Crass lines blared through the speakers, echoing throughout the space.
Calips frowned, his head throbbing. As he lifted his eyelids, he was met with a sea of greedy gazes looking up at him.
He was trapped in a steel cage atop a stage.
Forced into a chair with his wrists bound behind his back, he could easily piece together how things had unfolded.
‘I was looking for a secluded path because I find crowds uncomfortable, but I ended up in quite a mess.’
At twenty-two, Calips had been attending a goodwill banquet intended to foster friendship between the Doctia Kingdom and the Frozen Kingdom.
However, he had been a man far removed from social circles since childhood.
As a member of the Crost Ducal House, his only duty was the subjugation of monsters.
His life consisted of guarding the End of the World to ensure no monsters crossed over, and occasionally repairing the Ice Wall with his Ice Ability whenever it cracked.
Judging that his role was fulfilled by that alone and that he didn’t need to be at some social gathering, he had slipped away.
But he realized the moment he opened his eyes.
He had been kidnapped on that very path.
‘Sigh.’
Was it a mistake to drink the alcohol offered by the two kings because he couldn’t bring himself to refuse?
Still, for someone with his high tolerance, the fact that he had felt dizzy so quickly was strange.
He didn’t know who was behind this, but they had certainly come prepared.
Because of their immense power and influence, the Crost family was always a target of scrutiny and had faced frequent assassination threats.
Since this particular method was a first, it felt novel, but it wasn’t particularly shocking.
“100 gold! I have 100 gold. Oh my, the gentleman in the red mask bids 150 gold!”
Meanwhile, the auction price for Calips was soaring beyond imagination, entirely regardless of his own will.
‘Once the final price is set, they’ll open the door. I’ll make my escape then.’
He could easily shatter the cage with his Ice Ability and escape now, but he chose to wait since he didn’t know the identities of the auction participants.
It would be a headache if a noble happened to die in the process.
Instead, he scanned the room for an exit.
The moment he got out of here, he planned to freeze every single escort knight.
“300 gold! We have 300 gold. As expected, the competition is fierce! The lady over there bids 350 gold!”
To kill time, he decided to see just how high his price would go.
Calips leaned back against the chair, cracking his neck from side to side. As he did, his firm jawline and indifferent gaze were revealed—
“……!”
The crowd stirred, and people began raising their paddles one after another.
“400 gold, 450, 500, 550, 600—oh my, the gentleman over there has called out 1,000 gold! We’ve broken 1,000 gold! 1,100 gold, 1,200 gold!”
The excited auctioneer scanned the room, his jaw dropping as he looked toward one particular spot.
“5,000 gold!”
At the auctioneer’s shout, everyone turned their heads, mouths agape.
5,000 gold was a staggering sum, even for the nobility.
Even Calips, a high-ranking noble himself, slowly raised his half-closed eyes at the mention of 5,000 gold.
Looking toward a far corner, his gaze met a pair of golden eyes staring back at him calmly from behind a white mask.
“…….”
The woman’s gaze was unwavering.
Usually, people who locked eyes with Calips looked away within three seconds, but she stared at him much longer than that.
Intrigued, Calips took a closer look at her features.
Below the mask that covered half her face, he saw a long, slender neck and fair, delicate skin.
Lips curved into a quiet arc, and brilliant golden eyes that brought the sun to mind.
Even with the mask on, he knew.
She was beautiful.
But what was most beautiful of all was the way her eyes never left him.
“5,000 gold. Any more bids? 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Sold to the lovely lady for 5,000 gold!”
However, the intense eye contact ended as Calips lowered his gaze.
In the end, that woman treated people like objects. Even if he felt something different from her, she wasn’t the kind of person he wanted to deal with.
So, he would just freeze them all.
The moment the auction ended, the mercenaries guarding both sides opened the cage.
As he slowly rose from his seat, just as he was about to rip through the ropes binding his wrists—
“This is an illegal raid!”
The woman who had bought him shouted as she threw off her mask. Simultaneously, armed men swarmed in from all directions.
They were knights who had been lying in wait.
“Damn it! Run! Everyone run! Take that item with you, quickly! He’s worth a fortune!”
The panicked auctioneer pointed at the standing Calips, but naturally, Calips had no intention of moving.
“Move! Move, you slave… Gack!”
“Shut up.”
When Calips ignored the knights trying to drag him from both sides, the auctioneer himself rushed over and struggled to pull him.
Finally, Calips gripped the man’s throat with his massive hand. The auctioneer gasped for air and promptly fainted.
‘The auctioneer is likely the ringleader, so I should secure him.’
Calips quickly subdued the others nearby. As he turned back while holding the auctioneer by the neck, he locked eyes with the woman from before.
“You’re quite useful, aren’t you? I really could have put you to good use if I’d actually bought you.”
The face behind the mask approached him with a bright smile.
Calips remembered that face vividly, even to this day.
“I am Ariena Crystal. The eldest daughter of the Crystal Marquisate. We were introduced briefly at the banquet earlier—I wonder if you remember?”
He also remembered the fair, delicate hand she had confidently extended toward him.
Ariena had captivated him in an instant.
And so, Calips found himself speaking without thinking.
“I am useful.”
“Pardon?”
“Just like you said. I really am quite useful.”
The way her eyes widened like a startled rabbit at his clumsy attempt to show interest had been truly adorable.
That was who Ariena was.
She was strong, yet she made him want to protect her.
Her convictions and actions were sometimes a nuisance, but even so, he had been more than willing to join her.
‘I certainly raised a wonderful daughter, didn’t I? To complete her mission so magnificently.’
Until he found out she was a spy.
‘To think both mother and daughter were spies. Your life truly is tragic, Calips. It was only for the mission; there were no hard feelings.’
Until she gouged his heart with words as cold and sharp as a blade.
He had loved her dearly.
“Your Grace?”
“…Oh.”
At Knox’s question, Calips finally snapped out of his reverie.
“You look tired. Are you alright?”
“I’m fine.”
Shaking off the stray thoughts, Calips composed himself.
Knox watched his stoic, unreadable face with a trace of bitterness before continuing.
“Fortunately, Her Majesty Grace says she can break the black magic placed on Lady Aisha.”
“That is a relief.”
According to Knox’s report, much had happened immediately after Calips collapsed.
First, bodies were discovered throughout the royal castle. They were all spies sent by the Pose Duchy to kidnap Aisha, whom Kyle had killed.
This was something Calips had prepared in advance.
He had kept the bodies of the spies Kyle killed frozen to prevent decay rather than incinerating them.
It might have been a bit macabre, but he wanted certainty.
As expected, the royal family discovered the Madness Amplifier potions planted on the bodies, along with the snake insignia—the symbol of the Pose Duchy.
For the royals and nobles, it served as evidence that the Duke of Pose had intended to harm them under the guise of a banquet.
Upon hearing the full story, King Arzen reportedly reacted like this:
‘I invited him to a sacred royal banquet, and he dares try to assassinate royalty?! Sentence the Duke of Pose to death for attempted regicide and fraud!’
It was only natural.
King Arzen had always been a man who hated even the presence of other noble families’ knights in his palace.
But to find out spies had been planted?
And nine of them at that?
Attempted regicide was the only crime for which a death sentence could be handed down immediately without a trial.
That was exactly what Calips had aimed for.
The other nobles, realizing their own lives had been at risk, were also said to be in an uproar against the Duke of Pose.
‘It’s over.’
Crossing his arms, he stared at the closed door.
Beyond that door was Aisha, currently receiving treatment from Grace.
‘Everything is finished.’
It was then.
He had expected a long wait, but the door opened cautiously, and Grace appeared.
“Duke Calips.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Thinking Aisha’s treatment might be finished, Calips took a long stride toward the door.
Grace hesitated before slowly speaking.
“The black magic forcing her to obey the Duke of Pose has been broken. However…”
Her expression was grave.
“There is another layer of black magic on her.”
“…Pardon?”
“And it’s quite old. It seems it was cast immediately after she was born.”
Calips’s face turned to stone.
To cast black magic on a newborn… just how wicked was the Duke of Pose?!
“It seems to be related to you.”
“……?”
His brow furrowed instantly at her following words.