EWGEW 07

Chapter 07

Camilla walked down the dark corridor.

Yet there was not even the slightest hesitation in her steps. Despite the thick darkness, she could see the path ahead perfectly clearly.

Because of that, the darkness that filled the corridor even felt somewhat familiar. The flames of the torches hanging intermittently along the walls flickered.

As Camilla walked, the shadow beneath the torchlight clung to her feet.

“Hmm-.”

Looking down at the shadow beneath her, Camilla smiled with satisfaction. Then she suddenly slipped a hand into the pocket of the robe she was wearing.

Click.

Camilla pulled out a small pouch from her pocket.

It was the pouch she had hurriedly taken from the cabinet earlier.

When she rummaged through it, a small piece of glass and a ruby came out.

The piece of glass was small, but it looked quite sharp. If she accidentally cut herself on it, blood would probably immediately bead on the wound.

But the glass was not what mattered.

Camilla held the ruby up to the torchlight.

A red glow flickered inside the ruby.

The ruby had black spots embedded in it and was not transparent. It even looked as though it were covered in countless dirty stains.

It looked like nothing more than an ordinary stone that might be rolling around on the roadside.

But Camilla smiled with satisfaction.

Maya was the one who had obtained the ruby for her.

Even when Maya handed it over, she had looked puzzled. It was not something a noble young lady would normally take an interest in.

Camilla had simply smiled and brushed off her question.

Even if it appeared worthless to others, it was something Camilla desperately needed.

It was an excellent bargaining chip that could help her successfully negotiate with Madam Desti.

Clutching the ruby, Camilla continued fearlessly toward the end of the secret passage.

Camilla finally reached the end of the secret passage.

There was nothing at the end.

Only a firmly constructed wall stood before her.

“Well made.”

But Camilla traced her fingers along the wall and smiled gently, her eyes narrowing.

She knew that it merely looked like a dead end.

Without hesitation, Camilla firmly pulled down the candlestick mounted beside the wall.

It had not been used for a long time, so it felt stiff and resistant, but she was able to pull it down without much difficulty.

Rumble—, rumble—.

A faint vibration and mechanical sound could be heard, as though some kind of mechanism were turning.

And shortly afterward—

The wall rotated, and faint light began to spill into the dark passage.

Cold night air surrounded her skin.

It was dark outside as well because it was nighttime, but the passage had been so dark that Camilla found even the night outside somewhat bright.

Camilla was just about to take a step outside.

Boom-!

Something exploded.

‘What now?’

Camilla instinctively pulled her foot back.

It seemed she had safely arrived at an alley.

But what on earth was happening now?

Why did trouble and incidents never seem to end?

She had heard that all kinds of disturbances occurred in the back alleys because they were crowded with all sorts of lowlifes.

It was probably just one of those minor disturbances.

Thinking that, Camilla sighed and moved forward again.

Or rather, she was about to move forward.

If she had not smelled blood.

Her face immediately hardened.

The smell of burning and blood.

Warning signals filled her mind, as though someone had sounded an alarm.

‘What is this?’

How could the smell of blood be this strong?

Since this was a back alley, she had expected nothing more than some gangsters getting into a fistfight.

But the moment she smelled the blood, she realized that she had been wrong.

If there was enough blood for the smell to be this strong, then something serious had definitely happened.

‘At the very least, they’re fighting with knives.’

Her heart began pounding slightly.

A chilling feeling came over her, and Camilla stiffened.

She had only just managed to sneak out without Maya knowing, and of all things, she was about to get caught up in something like this.

But she could not turn back either.

If she failed to meet Madam Desti quickly, her future would certainly not be smooth.

Camilla gripped the crack in the wall tightly and cautiously poked her head out.

Since the entrance to the secret passage had been built in a secluded part of the back alley where no one would normally look, she could not see the situation outside very well.

Camilla carefully moved forward, making sure not to make a sound with her footsteps.

And there—

Camilla covered her mouth with her hand.

She felt as though a scream might burst out.

Although she had prepared herself for what she might see, reality was always different from imagination.

Several men were sprawled across the ground, their bodies covered in wounds that looked as though they had been cut by swords.

Among them, one man’s arm was twisted unnaturally, while another had been deeply slashed by a sword, blood gushing from the wound.

She wanted to immediately turn around and retreat into the secret passage.

‘But there’s no way I can do that.’

She did not know whether she would ever get another opportunity like this.

Once Herain and Yuslia returned to the count’s family, her situation would be over.

She would probably end up lying in bed as though dead, all the way until the day Yuslia came of age.

Camilla’s current situation was no different from walking across thin ice.

If she allowed things to proceed without meeting Madam Desti, the thin ice would soon crack and shatter.

And she would drown in the freezing water.

‘I don’t want that.’

The pain of the death she had experienced last was horrifying.

That feeling of slowly moving toward death while standing at the boundary between life and death—

She never wanted to experience it again.

Camilla forced herself to calm her quickening breath and tightened her grip.

Her hand trembled pitifully.

Even so, Camilla narrowed her eyes and looked around, trying to understand what had happened.

She could barely stand looking at the men without feeling sick.

One thing was certain.

These men had apparently tried to attack someone and had ended up being defeated instead.

Swords and daggers were scattered around them, making it easy to reach that conclusion.

“Ugh—. Ugh!”

“Grr—, urrgh…. Aaaagh—!”

“Ahh—ugh, ugh!”

They writhed on the ground, groaning and screaming.

They tried to muster their strength and get back up, but even that seemed difficult.

Hiding behind the stone wall, Camilla engraved the scene into her memory.

Yet even though her shoulders trembled, she could not step forward.

The situation did not seem to be over yet.

In the middle of the chaotic scene, where the fallen men lay scattered about, one man stood proudly.

A man with thick black hair, dark as though night itself had settled upon it.

Perhaps because of his short hairstyle, his jawline appeared even sharper.

With eyes as sharp as his jawline, he stared down at the men writhing on the ground.

But Camilla’s gaze was drawn to the sword in his hand.

It looked as though that man had slaughtered every one of the men lying on the ground.

His sword was soaked in dark blood.

Even in the dim light of the moonlit night, dark-red blood could clearly be seen dripping from the blade.

Because of that, the upper part of the blade where there was no blood stood out even more clearly.

There was a distinct engraved emblem there.

A dragon with its wings folded.

It was an emblem Camilla knew very well.

‘The emblem of the Caliet Grand Ducal family….’

Seeing it, her gaze naturally returned to the man’s face.

Black hair that made his pale skin look even whiter.

Golden eyes that gleamed coldly against that pale skin.

There was an unmistakably frigid light in those eyes.

There was only one person in this world who could have that emblem engraved on his sword.

The one person whom the Emperor had exclusively permitted to use that emblem.

Grand Duke Caliet.

‘That man is the one Yuslia was so obsessed with?’

Camilla tightened the hand gripping the stone wall.

Her hand trembled.

She remembered how cruel he had been in the original story.

And she remembered just how captivating he had been despite—or perhaps because of—that cruelty.

She also remembered how desperately Yuslia had desired him.

But could any praise from the novel compare to what she was seeing now?

Even standing with his feet soaked in blood, he was unbelievably beautiful.

His red lips stood out alluringly against his pale face, while the corners of his cold eyes carried a faint reddish hue, making him look strangely sensual.

His sleeves were rolled up, revealing his firm arms.

His large hand gripping the sword was crossed with prominent veins.

The strange expression on his face, combined with his solidly trained body visible beneath his shirt, created an even more dangerous atmosphere.

Yet despite his endlessly beautiful face, there was not the slightest trace of mercy in the Grand Duke’s eyes toward the men writhing on the ground.

His cruelty was exactly as it had been described in the novel.

The Grand Duke showed no change in expression as he looked at the men lying on the ground.

He walked toward the man closest to him.

And then—

“Aaargh!”

He raised his foot and firmly stepped on the man’s stab wound.

“Talk.”

His voice was low and cold.

His voice suited the chilly night air surrounding him perfectly.

Cold like the night air, yet carrying a dangerously tense atmosphere.

‘Did the Grand Duke do this to them?’

An alarm sounded in Camilla’s mind.

The Grand Duke was as beautiful as the night sky, but he was dangerous.

He had been dangerous in the original story as well.

And wasn’t the scene before her proof of just how dangerous he was now?

A man who was endlessly cruel.

The Grand Duke twisted his foot against the man’s wound.

“Ugh—, urrghhh!”

“Who hired you?”

“Ugh—. Urrgh….”

Even though the man lying on the ground writhed and his eyes rolled back, he did not answer.

The Grand Duke pressed down harder with his foot.

The man struggling beneath him twisted his body and screamed.

Blood streamed from his torn-open wound.

“Aaargh!”

Camilla covered her mouth even more tightly.

The night air seemed to grow even more tense.

She felt that she could no longer simply stand there and watch.

What if the Grand Duke discovered her?

Just imagining it made her head spin.

Camilla hurriedly tried to step backward.

But then—

He raised his head.

Before Camilla could even look away, the Grand Duke’s gaze met hers.

How could the cold night air suddenly feel this cold?

An unbearable chill seemed to pierce her entire body.

But Camilla could not even take a step backward.

She could not tear her eyes away from his gaze.

It felt as though the moment she looked away from a beast’s eyes, that beast would immediately pounce on her.

His red lips curled upward as he looked at Camilla.

His firmly set lips slowly relaxed, and his red lips gradually parted.

Camilla could only watch the scene unfold clearly before her.

“Are you the mastermind?”

‘The mastermind?’

Camilla narrowed her eyes.

Confusion made her grip the wall even tighter.

Could he really think that she was working together with these men?

In an instant, Camilla’s face went pale.

Dizziness washed over her, and her heart seemed to drop with a heavy thud.

If that man thought she was the mastermind, what would happen to her?

Blood dripped from the sharp blade of the sword.