Chapter 004
“What?” Maria asked in a stunned, barely audible whisper, before scrambling to her feet.
She tried to pull her discarded clothes over her wet body. Moira, her nanny who had been waiting by the bathtub, exclaimed, “Oh, Miss! Nothing in this world is so dangerous that you should rush out looking like that!”
As she spoke, Moira grabbed a towel and handed it to her, then shouted to Luca, who was standing outside the door, “What do you mean the President and Ivy are fighting?”
“The President took those drugs again… so Ivy punched him.”
“Ugh, that absolute madman.”
Moira shuddered. It wasn’t clear if she meant Alexander or Benedict. Maria guessed she meant both of them.
Though Luca was prone to exaggeration and over-dramatization, this time it sounded like a genuine disaster. Maria finished dressing and left the bathroom, her body still damp.
In Mon Deplano, which remained open twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, it was difficult to tell whether dawn was breaking or the night was deepening.
On the slope leading to the pier, on the side opposite the casino, the lamp posts were lit. Drunks who had lost their money gambling and couldn’t afford a hotel room slept in dark corners, using their socks as makeshift blindfolds.
As Maria walked down that path, a few figures approached her. Luca followed closely, cursing and shouting as he chased them away.
When she finally reached the pier, the scene was every bit as chaotic as Luca had described.
Alexander and Benedict, who had looked like harmonious brothers until dinner, were now locked in a violent struggle.
As far as Maria knew, Alexander had never lost a fight. His brawls were so frequent that one of Maria’s earliest memories in this world was likely the sound of his punches landing.
Now that he was a man, running a business in a literal landfill and imitating the manners of the nobility, he was still, at his core, a vulgar thug.
Because he was somewhat softer toward his sister, Luca had rushed to find Maria so that his friend, Benedict, wouldn’t be beaten to death.
Sharing Luca’s sentiment, Maria felt that even if Benedict Ivy was “worse than trash,” years of shared history had built an affection that made her refuse to see him die at her brother’s hands.
However, as Maria rushed in to stop what she thought was one-sided violence, she quickly realized the fight was not what she expected.
It was true that Benedict was taking a continuous beating, but the fight was not one-sided.
Benedict was clearly holding back out of consideration for Alexander.
As far as Maria could recall, up until their last fight two years ago—when Benedict was nineteen—he could never have stood his ground against Alexander.
It wasn’t that he was always getting beaten, but there was a clear disparity in strength and skill that meant he would lose a hundred times if they fought a hundred times.
But now, things were different. It looked as though Benedict could win once if they fought twice.
If Maria could sense it, Alexander, who was in the thick of the fight, surely felt it more acutely. For that reason, his punches carried a frustration that went beyond a mere drunken brawl.
Finally, Maria screamed, “Have you both lost your minds? Stop!”
Alexander’s fist, aimed at Benedict’s face, halted at the sound of Maria’s voice. It was Benedict who let out a long sigh.
He shot her an angry glare.
Maria avoided his gaze, pushed Alexander back, and demanded, “Are you going to beat him to death? Do you even know who you’re hitting right now?”
“Maria.”
Alexander looked into his sister’s face.
Under the dim light of the lamp, the bloodstains on the ground looked like shattered pieces of the night.
When he saw his sister, who looked as beautiful and bright as a white moon against that dark night, Alexander’s violent fervor began to cool.
He sighed and cupped Maria’s smooth, white cheek with one hand.
“Did you just come from the bath? Your hair isn’t even dry.”
“…You crazy fool.”
Instead of Moira, Maria directed the insult toward the person Moira had truly wanted to say it to. She then buried her face in Alexander’s chest and hugged him.
Fortunately, Alexander, who was infinitely weak when it came to Maria, embraced his sister.
He held her with one arm as if she were something fragile that might break if squeezed too hard. He kissed her forehead and then told his men, “Treat this bastard and then lock him in the cellar.”
“Ah.”
At the mention of the “cellar,” Benedict tried to get up, but he simply sighed and lay back down on the ground.
There was no one in Mon Deplano who didn’t know that Benedict Ivy suffered from severe claustrophobia. That was why he figured taking a beating was better. That was why he sighed.
But for Maria, it wasn’t that simple.
The residents of Bluegate killed people over trivial anger. Maria feared that despite their power being nearly equal, Alexander might lose his temper and stab Benedict to death.
Alexander took Maria and walked back toward the mansion.
When Maria looked back at Benedict, who was cursing and refusing the help of the men, Alexander gripped her chin, turned her face toward him, and said, “By the end of this year, I won’t be able to defeat him.”
Maria looked at Alexander at those words.
He muttered, “I finally understand why my father became so ambitious for power when he was on the verge of being unable to defeat me.”
Indeed, there had been such a period. At that time, Cohas Chetty didn’t even hide his madness or his desire to kill his own son.
Maria leaned heavily against Alexander as he spoke. He held her and said, “He’s doing things I never asked him to do. I mean Benedict.”
“But he usually listens to you so well.”
“He sent you and mother to White Hill.”
“I asked him to do that. I just wanted to live in a quiet city, even if only for a short while.”
“Don’t lie.”
Alexander muttered, stroking Maria’s head.
“You wouldn’t even dare to dream of such a thing.”
Maria’s body tensed in his arms.
“That’s why Benedict Ivy is dangerous.”
Alexander kissed Maria’s forehead again after saying that, then let her go, escorting her to the mansion.
The drunks and gamblers she had seen when she went down with Luca were no longer there. They were too afraid to step even into his shadow.
* * *
That day, Maria could not sleep soundly.
<I finally understand why my father became so ambitious for power when he was on the verge of being unable to defeat me.>
Alexander’s words kept spinning in her head.
It was a sentence that could lead to any number of outcomes.
Either taking measures against Benedict Ivy to ensure he could never be defeated, or attempting to seize his father’s power for himself.
Or both…
Maria woke from her light sleep drenched in a cold sweat and sat up. She panted, struggling to catch her shallow breath, and scratched at her chest with both hands.
Alexander was deteriorating.
Although he was never a “good” person to begin with, he hadn’t been like this. The drug he had used since he was young, ‘Hoppins,’ was dissolving even what little remained of his humanity.
At least a year ago, when Maria tried to leave Bluegate with her mother, Alexander hadn’t helped them, but he hadn’t stopped them either.
Because he was also trying to quit the drug back then so he wouldn’t worsen, he knew that Benedict’s punch this time was born out of complete loyalty.
It was a task difficult for a family member to perform. And yet, he couldn’t curb his anger toward him.
Maria got out of bed, one step at a time.
She couldn’t just leave Benedict like this.
