Chapter 003
The information Anna brought was, unfortunately, limited to what a mercenary could know.
However, even that proved quite useful, so it had to be considered a not-too-bad result.
“The person named Knox appeared about seven years ago. He grew by systematically wiping out slave traders and illegal auction houses one by one, and consuming major organizations… that seems too righteous for someone who governs the Empire’s underworld, doesn’t it?”
It was hard to consider it merely an effort to weaken the power of large organizations.
After Knox began dominating the backstreets, slave traders and illegal auction houses had reportedly disappeared completely, at least within the capital.
Up to this point, Knox’s identity remained tantalizingly out of reach.
Fortunately, Anna’s father had once met Knox directly, and after urging him to rack his brain, she got a key detail.
“He said his hands were too clean for a commoner…”
Evgenia lightly rubbed the back of her own hand, muttering softly.
In this world, the easiest way to discern someone’s class was by looking at their hands.
Even if he had been active in the underworld for seven years, that wouldn’t erase the years accumulated before that.
“I thought he wasn’t an ordinary human since he got involved with Stella, but a nobleman?”
Knox’s identity was never revealed in the original story, but usually, the rulers of the Romance Fantasy underworld were commoners.
‘Well, sometimes they are the Crown Prince or a member of the Imperial Family… But there are only three male Imperial Family members in the Empire, and besides the Emperor and the Crown Prince, there is only that sickly Second Prince, so that’s impossible.’
…However, wasn’t there also a common trope where the ‘sickly’ Second Prince was actually an unstoppable force behind the scenes?
Coincidentally, it had also been about seven years since the Atrox Empire’s Second Prince stopped attending banquets, citing illness.
‘No way, right?’
An ominous feeling slowly crept up on her.
Could she be jumping into an even bigger fire just to ditch that bastard Raimund?
Evgenia hesitated, then shook her head dismissively.
“No? Marrying that bastard is definitely like a naked dive into the fires of hell, of course.”
It might even be easier to deal with Knox if he turned out to be the Second Prince.
Touching her chin lightly, she forced a smile.
“First, I’ll meet him and poke around. To see if the original secondary male lead is a commoner or a Prince.”
* * *
The room was filled with a soft, pleasant scent, enough to lift one’s mood.
Furnished only with suspiciously luxurious furniture, this was Knox’s reception room, located in the deepest part of the underworld.
Having never been to such a place in both her past and current life combined, even breathing felt awkward.
‘When is he coming, seriously. In the original story, Knox came out immediately after she gave the password…!’
Was this the difference between the original female lead and the villainess?
Just as despair was about to set in, the door to the reception room finally opened, and a black-haired man appeared.
“Ah, dear. There really was a guest.”
…Dragging something, whether it was a lump of blood or a person, by one hand.
“…!”
“Excuse me. I had something to finish up.”
On the face that shone particularly brightly, even in the dimly lit room, spots of red blood were visible.
Blood that clearly didn’t look like his own.
“I’d better finish quickly before my precious guest runs away.”
This was the first time she’d felt such dissonance from a voice that contained such honeyed tenderness.
‘Did I come to the right place…?’
“Now, sign here with a thumbprint, and sign here. Good boy.”
A trembling hand pressed down firmly onto the paper Knox offered.
Although weak and smeared with blood, the person was at least moving on their own, suggesting Knox hadn’t dragged in a corpse.
‘Should I call this a good thing or not?’
It was impossible to tell.
The corpse… no, the person moved their hands this way and that as Knox instructed.
Only after ten or so pages were thoroughly stained with blood did Knox release the person’s hair.
The gesture, as if tossing out an object, sent a small chill down her spine.
Seeing the staff member quickly collecting the person who was groaning and crawling out, this seemed to happen quite often.
Thump—
With the door closed, they were truly alone now.
The splashing sound of hands being washed echoed through the room.
“Now… So, what brings our guest here?”
The voice that asked, with his back to Evgenia, was surprisingly gentle.
So gentle that it didn’t seem right for someone who had just threatened a dying person into leaving their thumbprint on various documents.
As Evgenia raised her head hesitantly, Knox’s face, now close to her, filled her sight.
“…Oh.”
Hair as black as if a piece of a starless night sky had been cut and placed on his head.
A sharp jawline, smoothly curved lips, and pinkish lips with a hint of sensuality.
From the green eyes visible between the thinly curved eyelids, no emotion could be read.
Momentarily flustered by the appearance that seemed sculpted from the words ‘Dangerous Handsome Man,’ the bloodstain still lingering near his cheek allowed her to regain her composure.
“I, I came to… make a request…”
“What kind of request? I’m quite expensive.”
‘G-good, a more normal conversation is possible than I thought.’
Perhaps because her first impression was so intense.
She felt like she would accept it even if he asked for her life as the fee, thinking, ‘Well, that makes sense.’
Evgenia, regaining her confidence, nodded.
“I can pay any price. If you truly possess the ability I desire.”
“Hmm. I am quite a capable man, but I wonder if that capability can satisfy a noble Duchess-to-be.”
“Well, that would be difficult. But I… wait, what did you say?”
“Hm? That I’m quite a capable man.”
“Not that…”
A flustered Evgenia quickly touched her face.
The thick veil she had wrapped around her face was still there.
‘I haven’t shown my face, and I borrowed Anna’s clothes… How did he know?’
Knox shrugged, answering her unspoken question.
“Surely, you didn’t expect that flimsy scrap of cloth to hide your identity when coming to a place like this?”
“…”
“Ah, was that truly the case? Oh dear. Should I have pretended not to know?”
“…No, it’s easier this way.”
His tone was clearly teasing, so she shook her head.
Evgenia tossed aside the confining veil and quietly looked into his eyes.
His lips were definitely smiling, but his eyes maintained a cold temperature.
‘I was too relaxed because he was described as a benevolent character in the original story. This man is clearly… a dangerous entity.’
But Knox’s level of danger was irrelevant to Evgenia.
What Evgenia needed right now was Knox’s ability, not a friendship with him.
They could simply finish their business cleanly and go back to being strangers forever.
Sighing deeply once more, she leaned forward and looked directly into Knox’s now closer eyes.
“Knox, you… you have the ability to erase the ‘Name,’ don’t you?”
“…”
“Cleanly erase the Name engraved on my body. That is my request.”
Knox, who had been talking so freely just a moment ago, was now silent as if his lips were glued shut.
Even the curve of his lips, which had been turned up all this time, stiffened.
She felt fear for a moment, but she couldn’t back down now.
‘It’s better to act crazy, like the deranged villainess I am. If I get tangled up even a little, things could go seriously wrong…!’
The bloodstain that hadn’t yet dried kept shimmering before her eyes.
If she acted like the overbearing Duchess-to-be, she wouldn’t be killed here, at least.
Evgenia swallowed hard and struck the table with a THUD!
“If you need money, I’ll give you money. If you need land, I’ll give you land. 1 billion gold? 10 billion gold? Or how about an entire village within the Duchy’s territory? I even own a mine.”
“…”
“If you want something else, just name it. There’s nothing in this Empire that I can’t give you.”
It was an arrogant statement, but not entirely untrue.
Evgenia, who was set to inherit everything from the Martyre Duchy, had much to offer.
‘If he doesn’t take the bait easily here, I’ll have no choice but to use his identity as blackmail.’
Before meeting Knox, or even when he was dragging in that person who was practically a corpse, she wasn’t 100% certain.
But the moment she spotted his pupils—specifically, the color of his eyes—she could pinpoint his identity perfectly.
‘Green, like a new leaf (新葉). They say the late Empress’s eyes were exactly that color.’
And that color, only the Second Prince was said to have inherited.
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Notes:
1. New Leaf (新葉 / shin-yeop): This term is used to describe the unique, vivid green color of the Second Prince’s eyes, drawing a link to the late Empress.
