IATAOTHKG | CHAPTER 44

~CHAPTER 44~

Meyna flinched and stepped back.

Then Caliph grabbed her upper arm.

His drunken eyes glared at her, as if threatening that he might do something if she took another step.

“Sir Lennox.”

Meyna called him calmly.

At the same time, Caliph reached out. His rough fingertips touched Meyna’s lips.

“Ah…!”

Meyna gasped.

Only then did she realize her lips were bleeding. Since entering the kitchen, she had been nervously biting them without noticing.

Caliph gently rubbed the blood off her lips with his fingers.

His face showed no expression, but his eyes, focused on the act, were calm and composed.

Her whole body felt disoriented, as if all her nerves were concentrated in her lips. Only when she managed to move her head did his hand finally release her.

But her freedom was brief.

Exhaling hot, thick breaths, Caliph grabbed her chin.

“Who is the new castle knight being recruited from Ocean?”

“……”

“The one you were supposed to assist.”

He asked in a languid, coaxing tone.

The drunkenness seemed completely gone.

The fire of anger from moments before appeared to have calmed as well.

With a composed smile, Caliph waited for Meyna’s answer.

But Meyna could tell. His eyes betrayed an unmistakable anxiety.

Others might not notice, but she alone could read the true emotions Caliph tried to hide.

She knew that whenever he tried to conceal something, traces remained.

When he chose sharp words.

When he put on a blank expression.

When he assumed a relaxed posture.

When he gripped her body roughly like now.

She knew he was struggling to hide his real feelings.

“Let go.” Meyna said quietly, removing his hand.

Seeing her calm demeanor, Caliph reached for another weapon.

“Vanze said it. The contract you and I had is void.”

Meyna, who had remained expressionless, slightly frowned.

Caliph concealed a victorious smile as he continued.

“You know, consulting the legal advisors isn’t something only he can do.”

“……”

“I don’t intend to fight you in court.”

Meyna silently kept her lips closed, gazing steadily at Caliph.

Is this a threat? she thought.

It seemed likely.

“During that time, they’ll probably do everything they can to capture you. They’ll get angry, throw fits, question you logically.”

Vanze, who had gone berserk the night she submitted her resignation, was now wielding words of contracts and legal battles as weapons.

“I see.” Meyna murmured quietly, locking eyes with him.

Then she calmly added:

“Even if some matter arises that must be contested with Sir Lennox in the legal realm,”

“……”

“I won’t personally intervene.”

Meyna paused briefly, then added firmly:

“The Duchess Motenson will handle it.”

“……”

Caliph briefly looked as if he doubted his own ears, then twisted the corner of his mouth.

After letting out a silent laugh, his expression stiffened coldly as if nothing had happened.

He spoke in a chillingly low voice, like a final warning.

Meyna avoided his eyes, looking down instead. A knife she hadn’t yet cleared lay unsteadily on the cutting board.

“Raise my salary?”

Surprised, she looked up, and Caliph was watching her seriously, without a trace of a smile.

It was clearly no joke.

“Is it for the money?”

“Are you serious?” Meyna asked, astonished.

“Vanze said if you finish with me, you’ll get a raise?”

“……”

“How much? Tell me.”

“I’m asking if you’re serious.”

“Does it sound like a joke?”

“No. It seems too serious…”

Emotion surged and Meyna couldn’t continue speaking.

Do you think it’s just about money? she thought.

Beyond disbelief, she felt a sense of emptiness.

All those years living like a shadow beside him—how could he see it so casually?

Caliph added one final blow.

“Ever since your parents passed, you’ve been struggling all this time.”

Meyna finally lost her composure.

If it had been a sudden resignation meant to provoke her, it might have been less painful.

But from Caliph, she felt no other intention.

Seeing his face, apparently clueless about why she had submitted her resignation, her fragile grip on reason snapped.

“That’s right.” Meyna’s voice turned icy.

Probably for the first time.

“When my parents were alive, I lived more luxuriously than anyone. After my father died, things went downhill. Paying for my mother’s medical bills, then her funeral, I was almost kidnapped by creditors and dragged to a brothel. You know that, right?”

Caliph couldn’t guess her state from this unfamiliar side of her.

Is she angry? he thought.

When angry, her face would flush and her voice tremble. Now, her expression was unreadable, and her voice calm.

So… she’s not even angry? he realized.

Caliph grew anxious.

Seeing Meyna without anger before him, he felt an overwhelming unease.

He had to provoke her, make her angry, or he wouldn’t know how to survive.

“I know.” Caliph nodded calmly.

“If I hadn’t come for you then, you’d still be dealing with drunken men and drugs, barely surviving.”

“Ha ha…” Meyna laughed, squinting her eyes.

Starting as a hollow laugh, it grew until her shoulders shook. Seeing this, Caliph felt unbearably irritated.

He had thought he knew her better than anyone.

Yet he could see nothing.

Why was she laughing like that?

What was she thinking?

“Back then, I thought my life would end if I was dragged to a brothel.”

“……”

“Honestly, it might have been better.”

Caliph was stunned.

“You said you’d raise my salary? How much can you give me?” Meyna asked, her voice devoid of emotion.

“I know you’ve been living frugally, so I should have raised it earlier.”

“……”

“I thought you didn’t know because I kept giving you only pocket money.”

Meyna spoke with the utmost calm.

Caliph, left speechless, suddenly began laughing wildly.

The alcohol hit him again. His stomach churned, and a pounding headache split his skull.

As he staggered against the cutting board, the knife spun dangerously.

Watching him laugh like a madman, Meyna bit her lip again.

That knife… she thought.

Sharpened to cut raw meat, it looked ready to fall at any moment.

It could slice clothes or step on a foot.

As she reached to secure the precarious knife, Caliph grabbed her wrist.

“Where were you yesterday?”

A surge of anger rose.

“Where did you sleep?”

“……Let go of me.”

“Where have you been wandering around lately?”

“……”

“A highborn lady like you… now letting your body be—”

“The knife.” Meyna said, bowing her head and trembling.

“What?” Caliph frowned.

“The knife. That knife about to fall at any moment!” Meyna shouted.

Her eyes burned with tears.