Chapter 02
If I had known, I would have politely called him Mr. Veilt instead of Mr. Belt.
I had only said it to show him that I wasn’t someone who could be pushed around, but instead, I had somehow earned points with him.
More importantly, there was something strange about what he had just said.
“You want me to serve the Boss… Are you talking about the Duke?”
He stopped speaking, bent down, brought his serious face close to mine, and whispered.
“Yes. This is highly confidential… I will explain everything while we go to the Duke’s residence.”
I also leaned toward him seriously and whispered.
“I have absolutely no intention of going…”
Why was he assuming I would obviously go with him?
Mr. Veilt straightened his bent back and said without looking disappointed at all,
“That is very unfortunate.”
He pushed up his glasses and, as the vice-leader of the Eclipse Guild, grabbed hold of my weakness and used it against me.
“Did you know that William Anghela is still looking for you?”
“……”
To be honest, I knew William wouldn’t give up on me easily, but I never expected him to be this persistent.
It had already been four years since I ran away from home.
“Marquis Kennedy is very interested in Lady Titia. He even said that if he could find you and put you in the wedding hall, he would wait no matter how long it took.”
“……”
“If Lady Titia marries Marquis Kennedy, William is also scheduled to receive a considerable contract payment.”
William, should I kill him?
My body trembled on its own with anger. The former Viscount Anghela did not particularly like me either, but he never intended to sell me off for money.
When I quietly bit my lip, Mr. Veilt stared at me and added,
“There is no way William Anghela would miss such a good opportunity. Even if it takes time, he will definitely find Lady Titia. If he really cannot find you, I could even help him find you.”
“Why would you help him? Hiring the Eclipse Guild can’t be cheap.”
“I intend to help him free of charge.”
“Why on earth?!”
Why would he go out of his way to help that awful man?
“If you don’t want me to do that, then come with me. Go and take care of the Boss.”
Judging from Mr. Veilt’s actions, if I didn’t accept his conditions, he seemed more than capable of immediately handing me over to William.
But, on the other hand, that also meant he needed me badly enough to threaten me like this.
‘Why?’
Someone who could obtain anything had come all the way here to take a noble lady from a poor viscount family, someone who had even run away from home?
And he had come personally?
There were too many things I didn’t understand. After taking a moment to organize my complicated thoughts, I opened my mouth.
“If it’s that serious, then you’re saying you need me after all… I’ll hear your conditions first.”
“Of course. If you accomplish what we want, I promise you a huge reward in return. In addition, I can protect you for the rest of your life so that neither Marquis Kennedy nor William Anghela can lay a hand on Lady Titia.”
It was a tempting offer… No, it was an offer I should gratefully accept without hesitation.
If William could get money from it, he was the kind of man who would sell me a hundred times over.
‘I can’t keep running away forever. I should accept this offer.’
On the other hand, I was a little afraid of what would happen if I failed. It was none other than the Eclipse Guild.
Before they became heroes, they had been a ruthless guild that controlled the underworld.
Even if they had become heroes admired by everyone instead of being like they were in the past, their true nature couldn’t have disappeared.
With uneasiness in my heart, I cautiously asked,
“…What if I fail?”
“As long as you keep our secrets, nothing will happen to Lady Titia. We will also give you the promised reward.”
“There’s no killing me or anything like that?”
“Perhaps in the past, but now that the Boss has become a Duke of the Empire, he can’t just kill people recklessly anymore.”
The task was obviously going to be difficult considering the extraordinary conditions they were offering, but whether I accepted or refused, I had nothing to lose.
No, rather, this offer was more beneficial to me than anything else.
Because of the terrible family law in this Empire.
In simple terms, noblewomen were not recognized as independent individuals until marriage, so their immediate family exercised their rights on their behalf.
In other words, until I married and removed my family’s surname, most aspects of my life belonged to my legal guardian, William.
What a terrible law.
A law that restricted personal freedom like this should obviously be revised or abolished. But perhaps because it had been created by the first old-fashioned fool, the Imperial family had taken no action despite all the complaints.
I guess it wasn’t their problem.
I didn’t need long to think.
“Okay.”
Mr. Veilt nodded as if he had expected me to accept.
“Then let’s leave right away. Do you have any luggage to pack?”
“I just need to pack a few clothes.”
“Bring them down quickly. Actually, William Anghela is on his way here.”
“Excuse me! Tell me that first next time!”
I quickly went into my room and hurriedly packed my things.
In the original story, it had ended with ‘They lived happily ever after,’ so I couldn’t understand what had barged into the story in the middle that made someone like me, who was practically nobody, necessary.
Inside the smoothly moving carriage, instead of answering my questions, Mr. Veilt took something out of his briefcase and warned me.
“There is something I must make clear before you meet the Boss. Everything that happens inside the mansion is strictly confidential. Accordingly, you will have to sign a confidentiality agreement. If you violate it, according to the Eclipse Guild’s laws, yes.”
“Excuse me, what do you mean by ‘yes’? How can you just stop there without finishing what you were saying?”
When I looked at him in disbelief, he kindly explained with a gesture. He raised his thumb and made a motion as if cutting his own throat.
I understood perfectly.
“Since it seems you’ve understood, here. Please place your thumbprint here.”
I wasn’t the type to go around telling everyone everything anyway. Following someone’s advice that contracts should always be read carefully before signing, I examined it thoroughly and pressed my thumb firmly into the blank space.
The two contracts began to glow brightly. A long thread formed, wrapped around my thumb, and then disappeared.
He took one contract for himself and gave the other to me as he warned me.
“If you violate this contract, then yes.”
Please stop ending everything with ‘yes.’
“Now I suppose we can speak comfortably. Let me tell you properly about the Boss’s depressing days.”
He began rambling on about the depressed Boss’s life.
“As you know, the reason our Boss, who used to do nothing but evil, turned over a new leaf was because of Saintess Yubelin Morte.”
But that Yubelin Morte ended up with another man.
He pretended to stare at the distant mountains through the carriage with a troubled expression.
Where was he looking? The windows were closed.
“First love is usually not meant to come true, isn’t it?”
“Saintess and His Highness the Crown Prince were each other’s first loves.”
“Ugh.”
He made a strange sound and then coughed quietly to cover it up.
“Well, let’s consider that a special case. Anyway, after our Boss was abandoned by the Saintess… he became very, very…”
“Twisted?”
“If only that had happened. I actually miss the days when he used to commit evil deeds like before and laugh while watching people suffer.”
You miss that?
His eyes became moist as if he were reminiscing about the past.
“But our Boss had already been… by the Saintess…”
“Exorcised.”
“Pardon? Ah, yes. Well, in a way, you could say that, but since the Boss was already rotten to the core, calling it an exorcism is a little…”
“……”
“Confidentiality, yes.”
“Yes.”
I even made a circle with my fingers to show that I understood.
“Anyway, whatever happened between him and the Saintess, he locked himself away in his room as soon as he sealed the Demon of Serael. I thought he would be fine after a few days, but who would have thought? The longer a year passed, the more of a wreck he became. And even now, another year later, he still remains locked in his room and refuses to come out.”
“He’s managed to keep his position all this time?”
Wouldn’t someone normally kick the Boss out and become the Boss themselves in a situation like this?
“I can’t live without the former Boss.”
“……”
What a devoted man.
Maybe that’s why the female lead dumped the Boss. Because you were keeping an eye on her…?
“There are many frightening rumors about the Eclipse Guild, but when it comes to loyalty and trust, we’re the best.”
The best at what?
At the hands of the people you kill?
“I’m not really interested in that. So the Boss became a wreck because of this?”
“You’re very honest. Anyway, the conclusion is that the Boss has locked himself in his room and refuses to come out.”
Mr. Veilt spread out his index finger and pinky, making the rock-and-roll hand sign to represent the number ‘2.’
Who expresses the number two like that?
With a gloomy expression, he added in a low voice,
“And that has been going on for a full two years.”
Put your fingers down already. I can’t concentrate.
“Has he not even washed for two years?”
“Is that what you’re curious about? You’re certainly unusual. Fortunately, the Boss is extremely clean, so he does wash himself quite well… Yes.”
“Yes.”
“So there is only one thing Lady Titia has to do.”
Mr. Veilt finally put his fingers down.
“It’s Titia.”
He ignored my complaint and put on a serious expression as he continued.
“Within one year, you have to drag our Boss out of that damn room. And if possible, bring his smile back as well.”
In other words, Jervant was currently locked in his room, refusing to come out and having lost his smile.
I wondered if someone could really become like this just because they were rejected. If that was the cause, then perhaps if the person responsible came and comforted him properly, he might come out.
“Why don’t you ask the Saintess? If the Saintess came to visit him, I think he would come out of his room on his own.”
He let out a deep sigh as if my suggestion was frustrating.
