TMME 11

Chapter – 11. 

The Reason She Still Had to Save Him

“Henrius!”

Josephine was horrified. It had all happened so suddenly that she had no time to stop it.

“Kyaaa!”

Elisabeth curled up in terror, overwhelmed by a side of Henrius she had never seen before.

Thud— Thump—

Henrius’s kicks showed not a trace of mercy.

Every time the toe of his boot flew forward, Siegfried’s large body was lifted like a fallen leaf and flung back again.

“You, right? You tried to kill me, didn’t you?”

Thud, thud—each of Henrius’s words was punctuated by the sickening sound of flesh being crushed.

“Not answering? You put poison in there to screw with me, didn’t you, you devil.”

Each time, Siegfried’s rough breaths leaked out as he endured the blows.

Still, his body, forged by the harsh wars and training of the northern royal line, was built like iron.

Any ordinary man would’ve had his ribs shattered after just a few kicks from Henrius.

“Ugh… kh…”

Through it all, Siegfried neither resisted nor begged even once.

He only protected himself enough to allow Henrius to beat him to satisfaction.

Cowardly bastard.

Forced to watch the whole thing, Josephine’s expression grew queasy.

Henrius’s cruelty—so bold only in front of the weak—sickened her, but the submissive look on the man’s face disgusted her even more.

The northern sea raiders… descendants of the red-eyed beasts who were savage but brave above all.

And yet why was he letting himself be beaten so helplessly?

He could have at least shown some anger, some resistance—anything.

Josephine knew exactly what that expression meant.

It was the deadened resignation and defeat that came from being exposed to violence and injustice for too long.

Henrius’s sudden decision to pin all blame solely on Siegfried was pathetically transparent.

Even after all this, Henrius still wants to believe Elisabeth.

Josephine felt a petty bitterness realizing just how deeply her husband felt for his mistress.

More than anything, he simply didn’t want to be the man who suspected the woman he cherished.

Siegfried had just happened to be nearby—an unlucky target.

A convenient receptacle for Henrius’s temper, something he could break anytime without consequence.

“Henri, I—I’m so scared. Please stop. Okay?”

Even Elisabeth’s trembling pleas didn’t reach him. Once he started beating, nothing could interrupt him.

At this moment, no voice in the world could reach Henrius.

He moved only with malice—directed solely at Siegfried.

“Ha. Look at him. Still holding out? You really want to die today, don’t you?”

Henrius bared his teeth in a twisted grin. Wiping the sweat running down his cheek, he issued an order.

“Hold him down. And bring the whip.”

As Siegfried cowered, two knights of similar stature stepped behind him.

They forced him upright and pinned his arms.

Another knight, wearing the same uniform as Siegfried, approached with a whip.

That’s the kind used for breaking wild horses…

Josephine stared, unable to believe Henrius’s brutality.

Using that on a person was the same as beating them to death.

It was a disciplinary weapon regulated by law, but he was the emperor—utterly unrestrained.

“Strip him.”

At Henrius’s breathless command, the knights holding Siegfried began tearing at his clothing.

One knight stepped behind him and ripped open the fabric along his back.

The bare back revealed beneath—broad and muscular—was covered with old whip scars.

“You brought this on yourself. If you pass out, I’ll send you to the West Tower. You can die listening to the worms eat your wounds… unless you speak the truth. It’s your choice.”

The West Tower.

The word jolted Josephine.

If he was beaten to the brink of death now, he would be imprisoned in the West Tower—just like in her previous life.

And there, without proper treatment, he would die.

Henrius would absolutely do that.

But…

Still, Josephine hesitated again.

If I defend Siegfried here, won’t Henrius start suspecting me again?

She had barely managed to redirect suspicion toward Elisabeth.

If she saved Siegfried now and Henrius turned on her, everything she’d worked for would collapse.

No. I can’t let that happen.

There was still time before Siegfried would be dragged away to the West Tower.

She could ignore this now and help him secretly later.

She had that option now in this new life.

Crack! CRACK!

But Josephine didn’t have long to hesitate.

The whip fell across the exposed flesh of his back.

“Hhh…”

Trapped and unable to resist, Siegfried endured the merciless blows.

Only a few strikes, and blood splattered onto the white marble columns of the banquet hall.

Across the blue tiles, across the monstera leaves Josephine had placed by each window—Siegfried’s blood spread everywhere.

No.

Josephine’s vision spun.

Her fingers trembled—for a different reason this time.

“If you don’t talk until the end, you really will die today.”

Even as Henrius shouted, Siegfried hung limp in the knights’ grasp like an animal caught in a trap.

At this rate, he truly might die. Yet his eyes were eerily calm, as if he had long awaited this death.

If I leave him, he’ll really die.

Josephine’s instincts screamed it.

Siegfried had no intention of begging for his life.

Even if he did beg now, Henrius might not spare him.

If she kept hesitating like this, Siegfried could die right here today.

He had risked his life to warn her of Elisabeth’s plot. How could she ignore him?

And she remembered—when they met alone, when she glimpsed him through the cracked door—what his red eyes had silently begged.

That he wanted to live.

That he didn’t want to die such a senseless death.

That she shouldn’t look away anymore.

He had pleaded like a frightened young beast.

Josephine remembered that clearly.

“Henrius!”

And so Josephine acted.

If Siegfried died in front of her like this, she knew she wouldn’t find peace even in her next life.

“You’re calling me now?”

Henrius paused mid-swing, though his face twisted with displeasure.

Of course it was. He had been enjoying himself destroying a hated toy—how dare she interrupt him at the height of his frenzy?

“Yes. I’m calling you.”

Josephine strode right up to him—close enough that no one else would have dared approach.

And she called him by the name she used only when they were alone.

“Regardless of him being a hostage, he’s still a direct royal of another nation. Even as emperor, you cannot simply decide Siegfried’s death on a whim.”

It was a just argument. Even an emperor had no authority over the life of another nation’s direct royal heir.

“What?”

The problem was how this logic would sound in the ears of an enraged Henrius.

He had probably already planned to label Siegfried’s death as illness to avoid diplomatic trouble.

After all, Siegfried’s treatment was poor in both nations—no one would investigate too deeply.

But that wasn’t what mattered now.

What mattered was stopping Siegfried from reaching the West Tower at all costs.

“That name. Did the empress just speak his name in front of me?”

But Henrius seemed angered for an entirely different reason than she had expected..