IESKC | Chapter 001

Prologue – Episode 01

The man was like a wounded beast.

A sharp blade grazed the delicate skin of a slender neck, drawing a bead of blood.

Eyes as red as that bead of blood calmly met the man’s gaze, Cassius.

“You asked what my purpose is?”

A serene voice, unshaken even with a sword pressed against her throat.

Unlike the fearless woman, Rosalyn, the deep blue eyes, reminiscent of the ocean, sank coldly.

To Rosalyn, those eyes seemed like those of a wary beast.

A beast, bloodied yet vigilant of intruders encroaching on its territory…

How pitiful.

But Rosalyn hadn’t stepped in front of that sword out of mere clumsy sympathy.

“If I said I wanted to help, would you believe me?”

The blue eyes sank deeper.

“Nonsense.”

Contempt.

Amusingly, Rosalyn thought it was a perfectly reasonable reaction.

No matter how much this man kept catching her eye, helping him was a foolish endeavor.

If she knew the man’s secret.

Yet, knowing it, she couldn’t turn away and had ended up standing here.

Even in a situation where her neck might be sliced by his sword at any moment, she was here to help.

“You know what I do, don’t you?”

The bead of blood that had formed on her skin rolled down the blade. A brazen attitude.

But Rosalyn didn’t so much as flinch.

She was too renowned to be intimidated by such danger.

The unprecedented grand information guild in the history of the empire.

‘Hyde.’

From street rumors to the clandestine secrets of nobles, even classified information that was dangerous to utter.

Known for handling every kind of information, Hyde had been built from the ground up into a massive guild in an instant by a genius strategist.

Rosalyn Hayes.

A lawless figure who held the weaknesses of nobles so tightly that even the haughtiest among them dared not touch her.

All these titles referred to her.

Cassius’s eyes sank deeply.

Like a beast weighing whether to tear into an intruder’s throat or retreat.

Silently gazing into Rosalyn’s red eyes, Cassius slowly opened his mouth.

“What do you plan to demand in exchange for this?”

Rosalyn’s gaze fell on the gap in Cassius’s disheveled shirt.

An old silver necklace.

The reason a sword was pressed against her throat, and the purpose of Rosalyn’s visit to Cassius’s bedroom tonight.

“Well, it’s not like it doesn’t tempt me.”

Rosalyn, staring at the necklace, smacked her lips as if regretful.

Not using Cassius’s fatal weakness, which wouldn’t yield even a speck of dust no matter how much it was shaken, went against her business instincts.

But even Rosalyn, who held the weaknesses of nearly every noble, didn’t want to exploit this man’s weakness.

Why?

“The truth you’re searching for.”

The blade dug a little deeper into her pale skin.

But what surfaced on Rosalyn’s face wasn’t fear.

Her red eyes, usually devoid of any seriousness, sank deeply, as if she were another person entirely.

Like molten lava flowing silently beneath the earth.

A voice imbued with long-dormant heat spread through the air.

“I’ll make sure you hold it in your hands.”

Her delicate fingers gently wrapped around the cold blade.

Even as the sharp edge cut into her skin, Rosalyn didn’t flinch.

The sword slowly withdrew from her neck.

“Take my hand.”

The tip of the sword finally dropped toward the floor.

A hand, just beginning to bleed, was extended to the man.

“Cassius Eindehart. No.”

The silver necklace, catching the moonlight streaming through the window, glinted faintly.

An ancient locket hung at the end of the chain.

Yet the marks of time couldn’t conceal the dignity of a great tree, its countless branches stretching as if to uphold the heavens.

Only one family in the empire bore that crest.

“The sole survivor of the Lebron Archduchy.”

The name of a treasonous family, forbidden to even mention, slipped from Rosalyn’s lips.

“Cassius Lebron.”

Veins bulged on the hand gripping the sword’s hilt, ready to swing at any moment.

“The only one who can help you is me.”

The reason she didn’t feel like exploiting a weakness that could determine life or death was simple.

Rosalyn Hayes, or rather…

Park Sohyun, too, had once fought alone to uncover the truth, only to meet a wretched end.

It was time to admit it.

This man, who irritated and frustrated her every time she saw him.

In truth, he was far too similar to her past self.

* * *

Cassius Lebron.

Or rather, the man she thought was Cassius Eindehart, their first meeting was the worst.

A late summer day at a provincial courthouse, the sun blazing fiercely.

Yes.

How does one end up meeting someone for the first time at a courthouse?

A judge in a curly white wig solemnly read the verdict.

“…The defendant has defiled the sacred laws of the empire by impersonating a noble…”

Noble, my foot.

All she did was mess with a lecherous noble who’d been harassing a maid.

Rosalyn, seated in the defendant’s dock, crossed her legs defiantly.

‘At least the payout was decent.’

She was, after all, the head of a major guild.

Her time was valuable, every minute and second worth money.

She couldn’t take payment from a pitiful maid, so she’d emptied the pockets of that lecherous noble herself as compensation.

The result?

“…Extortion, blackmail, fraud, and various other methods…”

On top of impersonation, a slew of charges had been added.

The judge droned on, listing an endless array of crimes.

Rosalyn, meanwhile, picked at her ear.

A delinquent attitude.

Her attire was as flamboyant as if she were heading to a resort.

A look utterly unacceptable in a courtroom.

But when the defendant was Rosalyn Hayes, things were different.

The judge, the lawyers, the guards.

They all glanced at her but didn’t intervene.

The head of the grand information guild Hyde.

Rumored to hold the weaknesses of even nobles, who would dare touch her and risk ruin?

Even the judge reading the verdict had already had his weakness exposed.

“You climbed to the judge’s seat through your wife’s influence, yet you’re cheating on her, aren’t you?”

“H-How do you know that!”

“I’m Rosalyn Hayes.”

“…What do you want?”

“Let’s settle this with a fine.”

And so, the trial was supposed to end with a trivial fine.

“…Therefore, the defendant is sentenced to 1,000 hours of community service, with Cassius Eindehart, leader of the Black Iron Knights, appointed as the probation supervisor.”

Rosalyn, who had been lounging in her chair, froze.

“What?”

What did he just say?

She must have misheard.

In her shock, she stopped picking at her ear.

At that moment, the courtroom doors opened.

Step, step.

The heavy sound of footsteps echoed.

Turning sharply, she saw a man in a dark blue uniform approaching.

Jet-black hair and a chillingly cold demeanor.

Deep blue eyes that evoked a frozen sea.

His appearance alone revealed his identity.

The distinctive uniform of the Black Iron Knights.

The pitch-black hair and blue eyes were the hallmark of one man.

The leader of the Black Iron Knights.

Cassius Eindehart.

‘Why the hell is he here?’

The Grim Reaper of the battlefield, the War Demon, the youngest knight commander in the empire, the young duke of the prestigious Eindehart ducal family.

Why was a man with such fearsome titles at a backwater provincial courthouse?

Of course, the Black Iron Knights had been the main culprits in dragging Rosalyn, who straddled the line between legal and illegal, to court time and again.

As Rosalyn stood there dumbfounded, the man stopped in front of her.

“Defendant Rosalyn Hayes.”

A voice as cold as his appearance.

“As of this moment, the Black Iron Knights will take custody of the defendant.”

“Me?”

Click.

Before she could process it, handcuffs were snapped onto the hand pointing at herself.

Rosalyn’s gaze naturally dropped to the cold silver metal.

“What the…”

As she raised her other hand to point accusingly—

Click.

Her eyes dropped again.

Now both wrists were neatly bound in handcuffs.

‘Neatly, my foot.’

Who dared treat her like this?

The man who’d cuffed her on their first meeting scanned her up and down.

“Clothing will be provided upon arrival.”

His tone was more polite than before.

But Rosalyn’s expression turned incredulous.

‘Did he just take a dig at my outfit?’

His polite tone nearly fooled her.

Polished words meant nothing when the intent was what mattered…

Rosalyn’s thoughts were cut short.

“We’re moving immediately, so stand.”

A curt command.

Rosalyn shot to her feet.

Not because of the command.

She glared at the judge in his seat.

The culprit behind this bizarre ‘community service’ verdict!

But the judge subtly avoided her gaze.

‘You’re screwing me over, aren’t you?’

At first, she was stunned, but Rosalyn quickly pieced it together.

The cowardly judge couldn’t take direct revenge.

Instead, he’d pulled out a ‘community service’ order, a rule that barely existed in the lawbooks, and appointed the famously principled leader of the Black Iron Knights as her supervisor.

Catching the judge’s evasive glance, Rosalyn cursed him with her eyes.

‘You’re dead meat.’

How should she deal with that guy?

As she pondered, two knights accompanying Cassius grabbed her arms on either side, since she hadn’t moved.

“Ow! Easy, easy! You’re gonna bruise me!”

Rosalyn wailed, milking every ounce of drama.

Her piercing cries echoed through the courtroom, prompting Cassius to gesture lightly.

“Any more delays, and we’ll forcibly escort you.”

The knights stepped back half a pace, and Rosalyn rubbed her arms.

“Fine, fine. Where are we going?”

Unlike her earlier antics, Rosalyn followed Cassius obediently.

She’d lull him into a false sense of security while secretly plotting.

How to escape this absurd situation!

But then, as Cassius stopped at the courtroom doors, he said flatly,

“The Black Iron Knights.”

“What?”

Leaving Rosalyn’s eyes wide with shock, the heavy courtroom doors swung open.

Creak.

Blazing late summer sunlight poured through the gap.

“You’ll be staying at the Knights’ headquarters from now on.”

Rosalyn’s mouth fell open, dumbfounded.

Community service, fine.

But the headquarters?

The den of the War Demon?