Chapter 15
At Barkan’s low voice, Matilda frantically shook her head.
“N-No, it’s unfair! I never did anything to Lady Bianca! I only wanted everything to work out for her. I don’t know what Diena told you, but it’s all lies—!”
“How long are we going to keep having this tiresome conversation?” Barkan cut in. “Even you have to realize how ridiculous you sound.”
“…”
“Who would believe that? Honestly. Why are you acting so stupid?”
His tone was casual.
The pressure behind it was anything but.
Matilda felt as though she might faint.
“I… I’m innocent—”
Before she could finish, Barkan seized her by the throat.
His shadow shimmered beneath the torchlight.
Darkness, thick enough to swallow even the flames themselves, spread from beneath his feet, writhing across the stone floor like a living creature.
The moment Matilda saw that grotesque shadow, terror flooded her eyes.
“If you tell me the truth before I lose what’s left of my patience…” Barkan said quietly, tightening his grip. “…I might let you live.”
His fingers dug deeper into her neck.
Matilda trembled violently, every inch of her body shaking like a leaf. Her eyes darted wildly, unable to settle anywhere.
What do I do?
If she betrayed Duke Rothwell…
Death awaited her.
But if she fell victim to Barkan’s supernatural power…
That would be a fate worse than death.
He was a shadow wielder.
Everyone knew the horrifying rumors. Anyone touched by his shadows experienced the agony of having their very soul torn apart.
“I-I’ll tell you… The truth is… I’m Duke Ro—!”
She had only just begun to confess that she served Duke Rothwell—
“Ghk…!”
Before she could finish the sentence, a mouthful of black-red blood burst from her lips.
She collapsed to the floor without even managing a scream.
Her convulsing body soon grew cold.
The knight standing beside her examined the corpse before speaking in a grim voice.
“They’re thorough, whoever they are. They must have placed a curse on her that activates the moment she tries to confess.”
Barkan flicked the blood from his hand, his expression hardening.
“Keep the head maid’s death a secret. Spread word only that she’s been imprisoned.”
“Yes, my lord.”
“Investigate her background again.”
“Understood.”
“And replace every servant assigned to Bianca.”
His voice left no room for objection.
“Assign Diena as her personal maid. The rest of the maids will answer to her.”
“At once.”
As Barkan left the underground prison, his shadow stretched long behind him.
He grabbed his head with one hand.
He felt terrible.
So irritated that he wanted to destroy everything in sight.
He had gone far too long without taking the inhibitor that suppressed the side effects of his ability, yet he had still forced himself to use his power.
The moment I get back… I need another inhibitor.
At the same time, Diena’s unconscious face surfaced in his mind.
“…Damn.”
A bitter mutter escaped his lips.
“So annoying.”
Without realizing it, his feet carried him toward the room where Diena lay.
When Barkan returned to his room—
Hasen was already waiting outside, looking flustered.
“What? Why are you back so quickly?”
“Didn’t you tell me to hurry? I was worried, so I rushed.”
“You didn’t just grab whatever was lying around, did you?”
“Of course not. I told the shopkeeper, ‘I’ll take everything from here to here.'”
“…You bought every dress in the store?”
“Yes. So technically, I didn’t buy just anything.”
“…Fine. Well done.”
Hasen blinked.
Only after answering did he seem to realize what he had just accepted.
“W-Wait, that’s not the point! What on earth happened? Why is the mansion in such an uproar? And why is Miss Diena in your room?”
…
Without answering, Barkan opened the door and walked inside.
Hasen followed behind him with a puzzled look.
Running a hand irritably through his hair, Barkan looked down at the sleeping Diena.
She looked peaceful.
Fast asleep, she appeared utterly harmless.
“I heard Miss Diena collapsed…” Hasen said carefully.
His expression suddenly changed.
“…Surely… Lord Barkan, you didn’t…?”
He stared at Barkan as though looking at the worst kind of scoundrel.
“I knew you could be ruthless, but this is too much! Even if Miss Diena made some terrible mistake, what could she possibly have done to deserve this? She’s so frail!”
“I didn’t do it.”
“…Right.”
Hasen immediately relaxed.
“No matter how ruthless you are, you wouldn’t do something that disgusting.”
As Barkan frowned, Hasen dropped his teasing tone.
Instead, concern filled his face.
Normally, by now he would have been glaring coldly at Barkan.
But today…
Barkan looked genuinely exhausted.
“Your complexion is awful.”
Hasen studied him closely.
“You didn’t sleep again last night, did you? Come to think of it, I haven’t seen you sleep at all these past few days.”
Barkan nodded stiffly.
Hasen was right.
He hadn’t slept properly for days.
Occasionally he managed to close his eyes for a few moments, but it never lasted.
The relentless pain always dragged him back into endless insomnia.
“The Magic Tower’s side-effect suppressants are working less and less. Even after injecting dozens of those awful things…”
“It can’t be helped.”
Barkan dismissed it indifferently.
“Don’t worry about it.”
“How can I not worry? You can’t even sleep anymore. Do you manage to sleep even once or twice a week?”
A crooked smile tugged at one corner of Barkan’s mouth.
“I sleep just fine.”
Hasen could only look at him with quiet pity.
No matter how powerful an ability user Barkan was…
He was still just a boy.
The trial forced upon someone so young was unimaginably cruel.
Then—
An unbearable pain exploded through his skull.
It felt as though his head were being split apart.
A familiar agony.
One that was just as horrific every single time.
“Hasen.”
Barkan’s voice came out low and strained.
“Bring me the inhibitor.”
“R-Right away!”
Hasen’s face drained of color as he sprinted from the room.
The pain Barkan had endured since childhood was enough to make an ordinary person scream themselves unconscious.
To keep his fading mind from slipping away, Barkan drew the sword at his waist.
Without hesitation—
He drove the blade across his own arm.
A deep gash opened.
Blood poured from the wound.
But compared to the torment inflicted by the darkness inside him…
The cut was nothing more than a faint sting.
I’m not at the point of losing control.
He had already experienced one rampage before.
He knew his own limits.
This level of pain wasn’t enough to send him berserk.
And yet…
Fear still crept into his heart.
Maybe not…
But what if…?
His gaze drifted toward Diena.
The instant his power erupted…
Her fragile body would be torn apart.
A memory flashed before his eyes.
The day he had failed to reach Bianca.
That day, he had lost control.
Unable to restrain himself, he had unleashed his darkness—
And Bianca had fallen into a state of dark corruption.
It had all happened because of him.
Grinding his teeth, Barkan forced his sluggish body toward the door.
He had to leave.
Right then—
A warm hand suddenly wrapped tightly around his.
His eyes widened.
Turning back, he saw Diena looking at him.
She was awake.
“What?”
He stared at her.
“Since when were you awake?”
“Since the moment you came into the room.”
“…Then why were you pretending to be asleep?”
“…I missed the right moment to wake up.”
One of Barkan’s eyebrows lifted.
But that wasn’t what mattered now.
“Let go.”
He tried to pull away.
“I have to leave.”
“To take another Magic Tower side-effect inhibitor?” Diena asked quietly.
