Chapter 54
‘Huh, but….’
Why is my body so weak? My head feels strangely hazy too.
“Do you know why this room doesn’t have windows?”
At the marquis’s question, Liet’s brow furrowed.
‘How the hell would I know, you bastard!’
Harsh words filled her head, but her voice wouldn’t come out. Her body drooped like wet cotton. Even the hand holding the dagger went limp.
“It’s so I can do things in secret that no one must know about.”
When the marquis struck Liet’s hand,
Clang—
The dagger slipped helplessly to the floor.
“Did you enjoy the food? It must have tasted a little bitter, since it had a sleeping drug in it.”
“…You son of a—”
As expected, the curse never made it to the end. Her body swayed. He must have planned this from the very beginning.
“You should agree while I’m still asking nicely.”
The marquis clicked his tongue as he looked at Liet.
“By the time you wake up from a nice long sleep, the marriage contract will already have your signature on it. Not even your father will be able to deny it then.”
Even through the haze, the word marriage contract rang loud and clear.
‘Damn it.’
Liet forced her eyes open, fighting against the drowsiness. She couldn’t lose consciousness now.
Knock knock—
At that moment, a knock came from outside.
“Who is it?! I told you no one is allowed up to the second floor!”
The marquis’s voice was sharp—he was moments away from sealing the deal.
But then—
Bang bang!
What came back was an even bolder pounding.
‘That’s not knocking… it sounds like they’re trying to break down the door.’
In her groggy state, Liet thought the maid was awfully violent.
“If you don’t want to get fired, get out right now!”
Maybe his threat worked, because it grew quiet outside.
But then—
Crash!
The silence had only been to gather strength for one big blow. The door shattered with a deafening sound.
“It looked like there was a fire in here.”
It wasn’t a maid who appeared with that ridiculous excuse, but Evan. Even through her blurred vision, his black hair and tall silhouette were clear.
Evan cracked his knuckles as he approached.
“You… you! You should be fast asleep right now!”
“I have insomnia.”
Evan’s voice was cold.
Wham!
In an instant, he punched the marquis in the face.
“Forgive me for putting out the fire on your head, Marquis.”
With that, he looked down at the marquis, now unconscious on the floor, before turning his gaze to Liet.
‘Evan….’
Liet’s lips moved toward his approaching silhouette, but her vision went black.
‘Ugh, my head hurts….’
When Liet regained consciousness, she clutched her head against a terrible headache—likely the aftereffect of the drug.
Struggling to open her eyes, she saw an unfamiliar place.
‘Ah… I fainted in the marquis’s room, didn’t I?’
Her body was slowly regaining strength, following her cleared mind. Beneath her hands, she felt the softness of a bed.
As her vision sharpened, Evan came into view.
Seeing her awake, Evan rose from his seat and approached at once.
“You’re awake?”
“…What happened?”
She was still lying in the marquis’s room.
“Where’s the marquis?”
She remembered seeing him collapse after Evan hit him.
“There.”
Following Evan’s pointing finger, she saw the marquis lying tied up on the cold floor. He still hadn’t woken up.
“Are you hurt anywhere? Anything feel wrong?”
“Mm… just a bit of a headache.”
But that wasn’t what mattered now.
“Evan, did you find anything downstairs?”
“I searched again while you were asleep, but found nothing.”
“No locked places? Nothing you couldn’t check?”
Evan shook his head, looking grim.
“This room on the second floor seemed the most suspicious, so I searched carefully. Still, nothing.”
Liet’s mouth went dry. Her father was convinced the documents had been forged, but that was only his intuition.
‘Could he have been mistaken…?’
She quickly shook her head.
No. Her father had observed the marquis for a long time. He wouldn’t make such a rash assumption. Liet trusted his judgment and scanned the room again.
Her gaze stopped on the sunflower painting that had caught her eye earlier.
‘When I looked at that painting, the marquis reacted suspiciously.’
She got out of bed and approached the painting.
A windowless room where even servants weren’t allowed… It was clearly meant for secret dealings or storing something important.
Liet pushed the frame aside with force.
‘As I thought.’
Behind it was a suspicious-looking iron door.
“Evan! Help me move this painting.”
Evan quickly came over, and together they moved it aside with ease.
“How did you know there was a door here?”
“Sharp intuition.”
But her smugness was short-lived—the iron door was firmly locked.
Searching the bound marquis, Liet eventually found a small key in his back pocket.
Click.
The key fit the lock perfectly. The door swung open.
“Nice!”
She hurried inside.
As expected, there were piles of documents, gold bars, and expensive paintings—important valuables stored in secret.
“Evan, I’ll search here. You watch the marquis.”
He nodded and stepped away.
Liet sat down and rapidly skimmed through the documents. Soon, she found a suspicious contract.
‘Employment contract. November 30th, midnight. Two from Meriatoin. Wear the provided outfits and pretend to be merchants. All details must remain strictly confidential. If any clause is broken….’
Liet clenched the paper tightly.
‘Father was right…!’
It hadn’t been a real deal.
That day, the marquis had hired actors to stage a transaction and trap her father.
With this contract alone, her father wouldn’t have to pay any compensation. After all, the “deal” had been fabricated.
But this wasn’t enough.
‘I need something even more damning….’
She flipped through the documents faster and faster.
Deep within, she found another hidden bundle.
‘Transaction records.’
Finally, the most important papers. Liet’s eyes scanned the list.
‘No… not this….’
It was mostly iron, silver, copper, tin—minerals used for tableware.
But then—
‘This…!’
Her eyes widened.
‘They used that as a material for tableware…?’
The marquis hadn’t been making illegal weapons.
‘Something perhaps even deadlier….’
Gathering her thoughts, Liet took a few sheets as evidence. That was enough. Time to go home.
“Evan, I’ve got everything I need.”
From a few steps away, Evan asked,
“What about him?”
The marquis was still unconscious, clueless to everything.
‘When he wakes up, he’ll wish he could stay unconscious forever.’
Liet stared at the damning papers in her hands.
‘Should I just wake him and blackmail him right now?’
Tempting, but not the best move.
“Leave him.”
She returned to the hidden space, carefully putting things back in place—making it seem as if no one had entered at all.
Even if a few papers were missing, the marquis would never suspect she had found his secret vault.
She closed the iron door and rehung the painting.
“How’s it look, Evan? Same as before?”
“What are you doing…?” he asked, puzzled.
“We’re leaving everything as if nothing happened.”
“Wouldn’t it be better to end this now, while he’s unconscious?”
“I’ve got a plan. Just tell me if the room looks the same.”
Though confused, Evan checked carefully. With his sharp memory, they restored the room exactly to its original state.
‘Perfect.’
Finally ready, Liet untied the marquis. Evan, watching, asked again,
“What are you thinking?”
“I can’t enjoy this thrilling moment all by myself.”
Liet smirked, hands on her waist.
“I’m going to publicly execute this old dog.”
They left the villa by carriage. Looking back at the mansion, Liet said,
“He must be furious by now.”
Sure enough, when the marquis awoke and found his guests gone, he would be raging.
His plot to drug her and force her to sign a marriage contract had completely failed. Worse, Evan had knocked him out cold.
‘But that’s not my problem.’
The angrier he got, the better for her.
As she thought about the coming days, a sly smile crept onto her face. Then Evan’s voice cut in.
“What was he trying to do to you back there?”
“He tried to get me to sign a marriage contract while I was drugged.”
Grinding teeth. The sound was terrifying.
“…He proposed to you?”
“It was closer to a business deal. He used the compensation my father was supposed to pay as leverage.”
“I really should have set fire to him,” Evan muttered under his breath. Liet didn’t hear and asked another question.
“By the way, Evan, didn’t you eat the food too? Why was I the only one drugged?”
“I didn’t eat.”
He leaned his elbow against the carriage window, resting his chin. Liet tilted her head.
“Why not?”
The food had looked far too delicious to ignore.
“Bad vibes.”
His cheeky answer made Liet exhale sharply.
“‘Bad vibes,’ seriously….”
Still, he was sharp. Who would have expected a man of the marquis’s stature to drug food like a criminal?
Thanks to Evan’s wariness, he’d avoided the drug and arrived just in time to save her.
“What was the marquis secretly making at the factory?”
At Evan’s question, Liet recalled the records she’d read. Thinking of the marquis’s reckless crimes, she couldn’t help but grin.
She’d caught a big fish. No—a whale.
“That’s a secret.”
It would be no fun to reveal it so soon.
Evan didn’t seem too curious, though. He simply asked another question.
“What if he denies the documents?”
“That doesn’t matter, Evan.”
The papers were just supporting evidence. The true proof would be revealed at the public execution.
‘Marquis, I’ll show you exactly what happens when you dare to cross me.’
Liet looked up at the deepening night sky with a victorious smile.
