7
==
Only then did Aileen recall the purpose of her visit here. Her mind, which had been completely captivated by Cesare, slowly began to return. She gradually began to realize what she had gone through.
"I should get going. Someone is waiting for me."
Cesare briefly shifted his gaze towards the door. With a slight frown, he slowly rubbed Aileen's wrist. He rubbed the bite mark he had left, speaking as if coaxing a child.
"Go to bed early, Aileen."
Aileen nodded again. But she already knew. She would never be able to fall asleep early tonight.
Diego watched the departing carriage disappear into the distance. Since carriages were something of a luxury, he preferred to use them when he didn't want to attract attention.
He would have liked to escort the young lady home himself, but he had things to do. He had no choice but to have his most trusted subordinate take her home.
Diego stared until the carriage had completely disappeared, then let out a long sigh.
"Fuck."
To run into the young lady while working in a place like this, of all times. His luck was just too bad.
"Rohan should have been the one to get stuck with it."
No matter how he thought about it, it seemed like only Rohan got to play the nice guy. He might already be seen as trash by the young lady.
He was planning to visit her soon with a stuffed rabbit to make up for what happened today. As he plotted how to score points, Diego re-entered the building.
He strolled inside and pressed on the wall next to the stairs. A square crack appeared on the smooth wall, and a door opened. Beyond the door was another staircase. It led to the basement.
The staircase, dimly lit by scattered lamps, was filled with a chilling air. It was a dark and gloomy space that was repulsive to even look at, but Diego whistled as he descended the stairs.
The further down he went, the more the stench of blood wafted up. At the bottom of the stairs, a wide underground space unfolded. The high-ceilinged basement was divided into sections by iron bars.
Diego headed towards the innermost part, thinking about Aileen's research. He was the type who avoided books, so he couldn't understand what the dense writing meant. But Senon had thoroughly read all the research materials confiscated from Aileen's lab and declared.
"Morpheus will change history."
A drug that extracted only the analgesic components from opium to maximize its effect.
Despite the side effect of addiction, its pain-relieving effect was clear. Morpheus would be the ultimate salvation not only for the wounded on the battlefield but also for patients suffering from the agony of impending death.
Senon also said that the fact that only a single component was extracted from the plant was of great significance, and he strongly insisted, rattling off a lot of things that Diego couldn't understand.
"Your Highness. This is a drug that will bring new glory to the Empire. Please support Lady Aileen's research."
However, since it was based on narcotics, it would be necessary to prove its efficacy to avoid punishment.
It was worth doing if Cesare secretly protected Aileen until her research was completed, and then supported her as Grand Duke, showing the effectiveness of the finished product.
'And if she becomes the Grand Duchess, no one will dare to touch her carelessly.'
No matter how much the Grand Duke cherished her, she was currently just a young lady from an insignificant family. Diego and the Grand Duke's knights desperately hoped that Aileen would become the Grand Duchess.
That way, they could protect her completely.
From a young age, Aileen had been strangely prone to getting caught up in incidents and accidents. In particular, she had a knack for attracting dangerous people. The fact that she had caught Cesare's attention was one such example. He, who never took an interest in others, showed interest in Aileen, and even developed affection for her.
Throughout her growth, Aileen kept getting involved with strange guys. If it weren't for the knights who followed Cesare's orders to clean up her surroundings, something terrible would have happened long ago.
The Grand Duke's subordinates, who had been watching Aileen for a long time, had come to genuinely care for her. So when Cesare declared that he would take Aileen as his Grand Duchess, everyone was secretly delighted.
Aileen would have to marry someone someday anyway. It was much better for her to marry Cesare than to get involved with another strange guy and marry him.
'But… it is a bit sudden.'
Diego's master had cherished Aileen for a long time, but it wasn't a romantic feeling. She was just his child, after all.
But on the day of victory in the war against the Calpen Kingdom.
From that day on, Cesare had become strange. The first moment Diego felt a sense of unease was when the King of Calpen was brought to his knees.
Cesare rarely showed his emotions. He was a cold and rational being in any situation. But that day, Cesare showed a side that Diego had never seen in all his years of serving him.
He stared silently at the kneeling King of Calpen. After a long silence, he suddenly muttered something incomprehensible.
"Seven years ago, was it?"
He slowly closed and opened his eyes, then suddenly burst out laughing. Diego felt a chilling fear at the sight of him laughing like a madman. After laughing wildly for a while, Cesare exhaled languidly.
"Ah……."
He smiled, his red eyes gleaming.
"Finally."
Then he drew his sword and cut off the King of Calpen's head.
It happened too quickly to stop. By the time the blade flashed, the king's head had already been severed. The Grand Duke's knights couldn't hide their astonishment at the sight of the King of Calpen cut in two.
It was an unlike Cesare act.
If it had been the original Cesare, he would have kept the King of Calpen alive. He would have kept him alive until he had exhausted his usefulness, but it was unbelievable that he had committed such an impulsive slaughter. It was also strange that he had cut off his head with a sword when he had a gun.
Afterward, Cesare regained his composure. As if the incident of laughing like a madman and cutting off the King of Calpen's head had been a lie, he acted with the utmost calm and rationality.
But everyone felt it. That Cesare had changed from the moment he beheaded the king.
Objectively speaking, Cesare had become much wiser than before. He had become more seasoned, as if he had aged all at once, and he could even see through the future. It was as if he had stolen the wisdom of the heavens.
However, he also developed a more impulsive side than before. He sometimes acted like someone who was broken somewhere, and it was all related to Aileen Elrod.
"I must marry Aileen."
Cesare gathered the knights who were preparing to return to the Empire and suddenly declared. While everyone was frozen in shock, Rohan spoke up with the right words.
"I think Lady Aileen would find it burdensome."
"Even if she doesn't like it, it can't be helped. It's better than having her head cut off on the Guillotine."
Cesare smiled and said something incomprehensible again.
"I… can't do it twice."
What did that mean? He wasn't one to make empty remarks, so there must be some meaning behind it…….
Diego, who had been trying to guess Cesare's intentions, shook off his thoughts.
He pulled open the thick iron door in front of him. The iron door opened smoothly without a rusty sound. As Diego stepped inside, he clicked his tongue briefly at the sound of a squelch.
"Ugh."
He had stepped right into a puddle of blood. He frowned and scanned the interior. In the center, a lump of flesh that was difficult to recognize was tied to a chair. The blood that flowed from it was covering the entire floor.
A man huddled in the corner, unable to even breathe, scurried out in a fluster.
"Hic, hic, Sir, Sir Diego!"
The one who came out as if he had met a savior was Aileen's father, Lord Elrod. The Baron's crotch was wet.
Diego frowned at the sour smell of urine, and Lord Elrod, who had been about to cling to Diego's feet, quickly backed away, sensing his displeasure.
Diego first saluted his master. Cesare, who received the greeting, gestured, and the soldiers immediately put down the torture tools and stood at attention.
Unlike the interior, which reeked of blood, Cesare was dressed in a neat outfit without a single drop of blood on him. He crossed his arms and said in a leisurely voice.
"Don't give him alcohol, Diego."
