CHAPTER 86……………………………
I didn’t even know what state of mind I was in when I ran all the way to the mansion.
The servants I passed along the way must have sensed the uproar to come, for they lowered their heads and couldn’t even meet my eyes.
“No way… How could something like this happen!”
Adele’s steps didn’t falter. She couldn’t even bear to wait for someone to open the door politely, so she kicked the front gate open herself.
“Where’s Kayden! Where is he!”
“Just now, the Master dragged him down to the basement.”
“The basement?”
Ah…
When Adele closed her eyes, Jacqueline rushed to steady her.
She feared some disaster was about to erupt—but in truth, the real disaster was only just beginning.
There was no time to waste.
Adele immediately descended the stairs leading underground.
“What kind of damned house is this!”
The curse escaped her lips on its own. That Kayden and Noella were not on good terms was obvious, even natural.
Noella was busy building her angelic image, while Kayden despised her for it.
But since childhood, it had been rare for the two to clash directly.
“Then why…?”
She couldn’t understand. But now wasn’t the time to dwell on such things.
Kayden was one matter, but her father was something far more dangerous. A man who would go so far as to shackle his own son’s neck with magic stones… There was no way he would simply sit back and let this pass.
When Adele finally reached the basement, she poked her head in, trying her best to sound sweet, hoping to calm her father.
“Father, are you down he—ah!”
“…”
“K-Kayden!”
Is that really my brother?
The moment the basement door opened, the sight that greeted Adele made her choke on her breath. The atmosphere here was the polar opposite of the splendid upper floors—damp, oppressive, and chilling to the bone.
Kayden’s wrists, ankles, and even his neck were bound to the wall with heavy chains.
When he twisted his muscular body, the stench of blood hit the air.
“Kayden! What on earth is this!”
“Ugh…”
A low groan slipped out through the gag that muzzled his mouth.
Adele’s vision swam red, and she stomped her foot hard.
“Who did this to you!”
“Stand aside, Adele.”
“…Father!”
The Count, seated with his legs crossed on a luxurious chair opposite the wall, answered coldly.
There was no trace of the man who used to joke and smirk so easily.
The moment Adele saw those blood-red eyes—the very eyes she had inherited—she knew with a dreadful certainty. The line had already been crossed.
“There’s no need to pity him. He brought this upon himself.”
“You can’t mean that! Look at him! Is that something a father should do to his own son?”
She couldn’t just watch Kayden like that.
He was a child she had helped raise with her own hands, and now he hung there in tatters—it turned her stomach inside out.
Even Adele, who normally obeyed her father without question, couldn’t back down. She stretched out her arm toward him.
“Look! He’s bleeding all over! Can’t you see? Release him at once!”
“I chained his neck precisely so he wouldn’t bleed, yet he insisted on twisting about until he drew blood. That’s all his own doing. Don’t look at me like that.”
“Father!”
“I said stand down.”
The Count’s frigid gaze pierced his eldest daughter, warning her he would tolerate no more.
Such a look—Adele had received it perhaps once or twice in her entire life. She clenched her jaw tight, her fists curling.
“Adele, this is my house. If you can’t stand my command, the solution is simple. Isn’t that so?”
“…”
“And in my own house, my own children dare cause this uproar?”
Ha!
The Count let out a deadly scoff.
Even as he spoke, Adele’s trembling eyes never left Kayden.
“You too—don’t come any closer.”
“…Father.”
“Noella’s hand was pierced through. There’s a hole in her palm. Did you even see it?”
“…”
“The rumors have already spread. Even the merchant guild is in turmoil. Do you understand? It’s not enough that he refuses to quietly live off the money I provide—he dares stain my business and my family name?”
His breathing grew harsher with every word, rage mounting beyond control. Adele realized she had touched his deepest nerve, and forced herself to meet his eyes.
“Father—did you even ask Kayden why he did it?”
“Has that wretch ever once had a reason for his actions? What matters to me is that he sullied the reputation our family built over decades, and even drove down our stock with a brawl between siblings! That fool dared turn this house into a laughingstock!”
“…”
“You know full well how grave this is, Adele!”
“Ghh…”
As his wrath lashed out at Adele, Kayden, who had been hanging limp, instinctively jerked his hand as if to shield her.
As if that would help.
Hearing his muffled cries spill through clenched teeth, Adele’s fists trembled.
“Do not act rashly. You are no exception, Adele.”
“…Of course not.”
Snatch.
Expressionless, Adele suddenly grabbed the keyring in her father’s hand.
“What do you think you’re doing!”
The Count scowled at her for snatching them away, but she didn’t care.
Click, click.
Without so much as a glance at the chained Kayden, she strode to the fireplace and hurled the keys into the flames.
“Will this be enough?”
It would take a week to reforge them. A punishment period, but also a symbol of submission.
“As for the guild’s trust and reputation, I’ll take responsibility. Just give me one week.”
“Hmph…”
The Count stroked his chin, watching the keys char black.
He had expected her to beg for her brother’s release. But seeing his eldest daughter regain her composure so quickly seemed to satisfy him.
Still, he wasn’t so soft as to simply let her walk away.
“You’d better be certain. I don’t deal in empty words.”
“Then you’d best be certain too, Father. That boy is mine—I raised him myself.”
Turning her back, Adele glanced at Kayden. The sight was unbearable, but if not now, then she would have to wait a whole week.
“No one touches what’s mine. Not without my permission.”
