Episode 7
Several hours later, the man finally opened his eyes.
But all he could see was darkness—his eyes were blindfolded. On top of that, his hands and feet were bound; he couldn’t move at all.
“Mmph! Mm-mmph!”
Something was shoved into his mouth, gagging him.
As Miley rolled his tongue around inside his mouth to assess the situation, he heard footsteps approaching.
“You’re awake.”
“Mmph!”
It was the voice of the woman he had heard right before losing consciousness.
“Uh-uh, better not move too much. That thing jammed in your mouth? That’s the poison you brought.”
“…Mmph? …MMMPH! MMMPH! UGH! MMMPH!”
Just as she said, the texture of glass could be felt on his tongue.
“Oh, not the syringe. I’m talking about the poison vial in your pocket—the one about the size of your fist. The cork was too tight, so I removed it and stuffed the opening with cloth instead. So try not to drool too much. The wetter it gets, the faster the poison seeps out. Some has probably leaked already.”
“MMMPH! UGH! …Ugh.”
His hair was suddenly yanked upward. The pain in his scalp was unbearable, but the gag in his mouth made it hard to scream.
“Wanna tell me who sent you?”
Still gripped by the hair, the man shook his head furiously.
If he revealed who was behind it, his entire family would surely be killed. He couldn’t give in so easily.
As he hesitated, the hand clutching his hair released him.
The footsteps gradually faded.
“If that’s your decision, then you’ll have to die. No one comes to this warehouse, so it’ll be a while before anyone finds you. Goodbye.”
With a creak, the door opened and her steps receded.
“MMMPH! MMMM!”
Miley flailed like a fish pulled from the sea, but the door had already shut.
Silence fell.
All he could hear were his own muffled, pain-filled groans echoing from within his gagged mouth.
…Was death all that awaited him?
Tears soaked the inside of his blindfold.
If only he had refused the “order” the moment he first heard it.
Regret flooded him.
As he cried, the extremities of his body began to grow numb.
At first, he thought his limbs were asleep, but the sensation was different—it wasn’t just a cramp. It was the poison.
[It’s a slow-acting neurotoxin. Won’t kill in one dose—sprinkle it in the Duke’s food.]
That’s what he was told when he received the order. It wasn’t supposed to be lethal at once. But what if the entire bottle was stuffed into your mouth?
Then your whole body would shut down. Just like now.
Terror gripped him like a crashing wave.
Feeling the drool spill out, the man began thrashing violently.
“MMMPH! MMMPH! UGH!”
He expected to be tortured and interrogated, but not to die without even getting a chance to speak.
At the very least, he deserved a chance!
They should’ve left him a way out before tightening the noose!
He wriggled like an insect, inching toward where he heard the door earlier. His limbs were numb, but he could still move.
He had to escape before the poison spread completely.
Then, someone kicked the door open.
“Hey! Are you alright?!”
It was the voice of Duke Londenes.
The man writhed like a bug in welcome. The woman’s voice rang out again.
“Your Grace, don’t touch him. He’s the one who poisoned your food.”
“Still, how could you tie up a person like an animal?!”
“He deserves it!”
“He must have had his reasons! This is Miley. He’s been working for my family for over ten years. He wouldn’t do this unless he was blackmailed or threatened. He’s someone who thought of me like a son—someone I owe deeply. …Miley, are you okay? I’ll remove the gag.”
Once the gag was out, Miley couldn’t immediately speak, overwhelmed with guilt.
He really had watched Yulician since he was a child.
Tears and drool streamed down his face, and his paralyzed tongue wouldn’t move properly.
The Duke’s large, warm hand cupped his face.
“Miley… did you really poison my food?”
Miley, barely moving his limp tongue, wept as he confessed.
“I’m s-sorry. I’m so sorry, Your Grace. They offered me money. A lot of money… I needed it. My family—my kids—they needed so much… They said it wasn’t a deadly poison, so… I did it. I’m really sorry.”
The guilt of betraying a kind and noble Duke who still trusted him, even after catching him red-handed, was unbearable.
“I’m so sorry! Your Grace!”
“…Miley.”
Even someone as insignificant as him… the Duke remembered his name.
“He confessed. See? Let’s just let him die. The poison’s spreading anyway.”
“…I’ll get the antidote.”
“What?”
“Miley isn’t to blame. He just couldn’t resist temptation… That’s my fault—for being born into this household. So you go find the antidote.”
Overwhelmed by the Duke’s generosity, Miley cried even harder.
Moved by Yulician’s warm heart, he desperately hoped this kind Duke would stay away from “that person.”
“‘Mongke-ne-dando!’”
“What?”
“‘Mongke-ne-aldo! Count! Ba, back, back! Agh! Ong-ak-ag-ok!’”
His tongue felt like it was disappearing. But he couldn’t let it end like this.
If this was the end, he had to at least help the Duke who had trusted him.
Yulician interrupted.
“Stop talking. I’ll get the antidote and make sure you take it before your heart stops. So when you open your eyes again, gather your family and leave the territory.”
“‘Ong-ag-ag-ok!’”
“Stop making weird noises. Miley, I understand.”
“‘Ag! Ong-ag-ag-ok ag! Ong! Ag!’”
That was Miley’s last moment.
If he had been just a bit smarter, he might have questioned why the kind Duke didn’t remove his blindfold, or why he never called the woman by name despite using her like a bodyguard. But Miley was a fool.
Maddy stuffed the unconscious Miley into a sack and loosely tied the opening.
A few shakes and the knot would come undone easily.
“I’ll go dump this now. But why didn’t you poison him? He tried to kill you. I’d have killed him already.”
“Just do it. …By the way, you ate that sweet potato. Are you okay after ingesting the poison?”
“I’m fine. I’ve always been like this. Are you worried about me? Oh my, how sweet. My heart’s fluttering.”
“Quit joking and just get rid of him. I don’t like him much either.”
“Exactly! Why let him go? If that ‘Ong-ag-ag-ok’ guy finds out he’s still alive, he’ll come to kill him.”
Despite grumbling, Maddy left the sack among the trash.
She stayed until a garbage cart arrived five minutes later and hauled all the trash away.
The sedative wasn’t that strong—he’d probably wake in two hours.
By then, he’d be far enough outside the capital to make his escape.
Whether he took his family or ran alone was up to him.
Maddy still didn’t understand the Duke’s decision to spare Miley. As she watched the cart disappear, she fiddled with the real poison she had tucked into her coat.
‘Was I not supposed to kill him? But why? He tried to kill me. Isn’t that enough reason? What’s so pitiful about him? …What does pitiful even mean?’
She didn’t get it.
“Sigh. Well, if that’s what the client wants, I’ll obey. Not like I have a choice.”
Scratching her head, Maddy returned to the warehouse.
“But hey, what was ‘Ong-ag-ag-ok ag’?”
“Probably Count Montenezzando… My uncle.”
“Oh, really? Should I go kill him now?”
“Maddy!”
“Jeez, calm down. You just looked so depressed. If he’s your uncle, I guess you’ll invite him to the wedding, right? I only get my 1 billion if you survive three years.”
“…Don’t worry. I won’t die. And today… thank you. The plan was… ingenious. He probably wouldn’t have talked if we had gone the usual route.”
He only tweaked the cruel part about smashing the poison vial in the man’s mouth after beating him—but the whole plan was Maddy’s idea from the start.
[No poison!]
[Why not?]
[Miley… he used to give me piggyback rides as a kid… took me to the market secretly…]
[So if he feeds you poison now, you’ll say “Yum, thanks”? Then I’ll give you piggyback rides after we get married. Give me your inheritance.]
[Are you crazy?!]
[Maybe a little?]
[Anyway, no poison. That’s final. Got any other ideas? Do we have to shove something in his mouth?]
[Then how about a sedative instead? I can lie, right? Lying’s my specialty.]
[Do what you want.]
[Got it. Just act the way I tell you, sweetie.]
[Hey. Do you have to call me sweetie when no one else is around?]
[You’re using informal speech too.]
[…You really are crazy.]
[That’s right! Hooray!]
Yulician remembered Maddy’s ridiculous tongue-wagging antics as she tried to provoke him.
He shut his eyes tightly to erase the mental image.
Still, it was thanks to her that he survived today.
The two rode out of the remote warehouse together on horseback.
It was quite a distance from the Duke’s private warehouse to the main estate.
Maddy naturally climbed onto the saddle in front of Yulician.
Flustered, Yulician stammered.
“Y-You climb horses just fine—so how come you can’t ride one?”
“Never learned. But I’m a fast learner. Teach me and I’ll be great.”
Her mix of formal and informal speech still threw him off, but he was glad.
He hadn’t died today.
Maddy leaned comfortably against Yulician’s chest as the horse moved.
“By the way, sweetie… why don’t you have a personal guard? You seem like someone who should have a full escort.”
“…I used to. They all died or ran off. No one takes my requests anymore.”
“Oh.”
Her brown hair bounced under his chin as she let out a short sigh.
Yulician suddenly imagined her leaving too—scared of death, maybe even before three months, let alone three years.
But then, Maddy turned and grinned brightly at him.
“Then I’ll be your first guard who doesn’t run away!”
Moonlight sparkled on her cheerful face.
Yulician was momentarily speechless. He turned his gaze forward and swallowed hard before replying.
“…If you don’t die, that is.”
“Oh, I won’t. Trust me! Ten billion, here we come!”
Yulician gripped the reins tighter to steady her.
Even though it was a day he nearly died, he found himself laughing.
Maybe he really was going crazy.
Or maybe he was just being infected by Maddy.
