TSSAH 12

Chapter 12

The office where Runnelk Ains had left.

Killian poured a full glass of spirits into a crystal goblet.

*Gurgle.*

As the transparent brown liquid filled the glass, a man revealed himself.

“Your Grace.”

It was DuPont Clansher, who had been hiding in the secret space adjacent to the office.

Killian slightly raised one eyebrow in response to his subordinate’s call.

“Why did you give such an order?”

Having witnessed the entire situation from behind the device that completely concealed his presence, DuPont was confused.

During the Eclipse, his lord would commit all sorts of eccentric acts.

DuPont, who always took charge of cleaning up afterward, was already accustomed to unexpected situations.

There had been a time when Killian stormed into the Imperial Palace and held a sword to the puppet Emperor’s throat.

Because someone had tried to link him with a princess from some kingdom.

Another time, he had personally delivered the head of a baron who had the audacity to repeatedly interfere with Knox’s business.

After having the baron’s family—gathered for breakfast—open the gift box, Killian designated the second son, widely considered the most incompetent of his children, as the successor, and walked out through the main gate of the baronial house with satisfaction.

But never once had his eccentricities been directed inward at Knox.

“If Runnelk Ains is someone who would harm Knox, I will deal with him myself.”

“He’s not someone who would cause harm.”

“Then why…”

“The reason?”

Killian swallowed the spirits like water and answered.

“You heard me. To test his usefulness.”

“But he is…”

DuPont Clansher’s gaze turned to the spot where Runnelk Ains had been lying.

“He will die. That mission was never achievable from the start, was it?”

“Do you think he doesn’t know that?”

Recalling the eyes that had burned blue with fury at his command to uncover the ‘darkest secret,’ Killian raised one corner of his mouth.

“Clear out the underground dungeon, DuPont.”

His interest had waned.

At the words, spoken as if tossing aside a boring toy, DuPont hurriedly bowed his head to hide his expression.

*’Already… is it over?’*

He had expected it to last several more days.

Fully aware of DuPont’s disturbed presence, Killian merely sank deep into the chair by the window.

His golden eyes, gazing at the panoramic view of the Knox mansion bathed in unusually bright moonlight, gradually settled into calm.

Cold water, roughly splashed, dripped down through black hair.

After escaping Killian Knox’s office, I returned to my quarters—not the ward—and locked the door first.

Then I entered the bathroom, locked the door again, and only after loosening my collar did I feel like I could breathe.

“Killian Knox, you son of a bitch.”

Even cursing him with every oath and insult in the world couldn’t quell my rage.

I looked in the mirror and scrubbed roughly at the corner of my mouth stained with the blood he’d forced down my throat.

*Even if I run when the time comes, I’ll make sure to plant a knife in your flank first.*

I gritted my teeth and made the vow, but soon a frustrated sigh escaped.

“Hah, damn it.”

What do I do now?

—

*”So now, no matter where you are, I can sense you. Even if it’s across the sea to the Western Continent. As long as you draw breath, you cannot escape me.”*

—

Dragon’s kin, my ass.

I never dreamed Killian Knox’s blood had such an effect.

I didn’t have the ability to see through others’ lies like he did, but I could tell.

His words were true.

The blood that had glowed with an eerie golden light under the moonlight had, the moment it went down my throat, already healed every wound on my body.

So it wouldn’t be strange if it had some unheard-of tracking function either.

“Just had to have such damn good effects.”

I swore again, looking at the smooth nape of my neck in the mirror—completely unmarked.

Even the lingering aftereffects of Barga’s poison had vanished without a trace.

The vibrant vitality coursing through my body only made my mood worse.

*Splash!*

I took out my anger on the innocent mirror by splashing cold water on it, but nothing changed.

In the streams of water flowing down, my face only appeared more contorted.

This was the price of carelessness.

The price of feeling safe after infiltrating Knox.

Because of that misjudgment, Killian Knox had me on a leash.

“No, it’s a noose.”

He had put a noose around my neck and intended to slowly tighten it until I died.

—

*”Five days until the Day of Earth. Within that time, uncover Knox’s darkest secret.”*

Asking a low-level action team member with no formal training to uncover ‘Knox’s darkest secret.’

It was an absurd order.

A mission already predestined to fail.

And if I don’t succeed, I die.

It was no different from a death sentence.

“Hoo.”

I suppressed the urge to bolt from the Knox mansion—Wickers be damned—with a deep sigh.

The red eyes in the mirror were blazing crimson.

Slowly, I raised my hand and scratched at my white nape.

Instead of an invisible leash, only red nail marks remained.

“I can’t die like this.”

If there’s a way to make someone a dragon’s kin, there must certainly be a way to break that bond.

I have to carry out that bastard Killian Knox’s orders while finding a way to escape his tracking.

And then, I’ll make a show of escaping at my leisure.

Of course, if I could put a hole in his flank beforehand, that would be even better.

“Knox’s darkest secret.”

For now, the first step is extending my five-day lifespan.