Chapter : 36. Gentle Orders
The scent of blood couldn’t completely mask the lingering fragrance that drifted above Elise’s blindfold before settling.
“I’d like you to keep wearing the blindfold.”
The words, spoken in a low, pressured voice, were neither a suggestion nor an order. They carried a tenderness directed at Elise.
“…Please don’t get hurt.”
Anyone else might have laughed at such a statement, but Karan took it completely seriously.
“Of course.”
Karan replied obediently and vanished, leaving a trail of stirred wind behind him.
Elise stood in place, imagining his movements.
She had seen him fight from a distance once.
In the battle against monsters where they were outnumbered, just his appearance had changed the atmosphere.
And he had dominated that battlefield.
Saying he fought well wasn’t enough. “Ruler” was the only fitting word.
Now, just like then, he would move through the area, his blade an extension of himself, punishing those who tried to kidnap Elise.
Once she felt safe, her clouded reasoning slowly returned.
I must not make things worse.
Thinking of the kidnappers who had dragged Regina out and slapped her, Elise didn’t want to stop Karan.
But she couldn’t let him cause trouble somewhere unrelated.
Murder is a grave crime. That alone must be prevented.
She gripped her dress tightly.
“Karan.”
And she called to him, wherever he might be.
Elise trusted that somewhere, he could hear her voice.
Her faith was not betrayed.
“Elise, did you call me?”
After a few measured breaths, he appeared, heat radiating from his body. Elise reached toward the warmth.
Something damp met her hand. Reflexively, her fingers recoiled.
It was sticky, unlike water, and smelled even fouler.
Elise opened her mouth, forcing herself not to falter.
“Please… spare them.”
“……”
“When I told you not to get hurt, I wasn’t just referring to your body. I wanted… for you to remain completely unscathed, in every way.”
“Elise, I am not an emerald. I’m more like a stone.”
Emeralds are notoriously difficult to care for—easily scratched, melting under even slight heat.
Karan was tactfully saying that Elise was being overly cautious.
“No. To me, you are a jewel. A jewel I want to protect delicately, like an emerald. So, Your Highness… please don’t kill them.”
Karan’s dim gaze cleared. Light seeped into his otherwise dark eyes.
He sheathed his sword and removed Elise’s blindfold.
“Understood, Elise.”
For the first time in his life, Karan declared a retreat on the battlefield.
By Elise’s command.
Instead of killing them, Karan captured every single one.
Elise knelt in a small warehouse, counting the heads of those huddled together.
“Fifteen of them.”
More people were involved than she had anticipated for her kidnapping.
“I expected there would only be five at most.”
“They must have needed people to clean up the surroundings, just in case. I made good use of that.”
Just before arriving at the warehouse, they had cleaned up the aftermath of a carriage accident and wiped away the blood left by their companions.
Their will to escape quietly had broken during that work.
Even without Karan threatening them, they obediently followed him into the warehouse and bound each other with ropes.
It was clear they were motivated not by duty, but by money.
“Who sent you?”
Elise stood before a man missing an arm—the one who had dragged her from the carriage.
Thanks to Hartwin’s emergency treatment and the sedative painkillers, he was sweating but conscious.
“I… I don’t know.”
The mission had failed. To protect the contract payment, he could not reveal the client.
“The client would have promised a large sum if they succeeded in kidnapping me. Whatever it was, double the amount.”
The man’s eyes widened as he began calculating furiously. He was trying to gauge if Elise would actually give the money.
Elise took out a ring she had been wearing—a top-quality diamond, one of her few valuables.
“If you sold this, it would cover a family of four for a year.”
The man’s pupils trembled uncontrollably. He desired the money.
But he was scared—of the man standing beside Elise. His gaze met Karan’s.
“There’s no guarantee you’ll be spared.”
“If you tell me who the client is, I won’t retaliate. You were only following orders. But if you keep it a secret, it becomes your crime. And then…”
Elise trailed off, filling the men with fear. They all inhaled sharply.
“Boss, just tell us.”
“You’re not the loyal type, and with your arm disabled, why take the blame? How would you survive?”
Those crawling on their knees whispered among themselves.
“They said they’ll pay.”
The small-time gang leader wavered. He lifted his eyes after staring down.
“Put the ring here.”
Then he stuck out his tongue, coated in white residue.
Karan raised an eyebrow.
“What a filthy tongue…”
As his hand moved to the sword hilt, Elise elegantly removed the ring and dropped it onto the leader’s tongue.
He wrapped it with his tongue and swallowed it. At least he got the ring—no loss.
“I trust you. The person who hired us…”
“Do you know them?”
Elise headed to the mansion in Karan’s carriage.
Regina followed, tended by Hartwin.
“Elise?”
Lost in thought and missing Karan’s words, Elise turned from the window when he gently held her elbow.
“What did you say, Karan?”
“I asked if you know the person.”
Should she say yes, or no?
Elise nodded, letting it serve as her answer.
“What should I do?”
Karan’s gaze lingered on her disheveled hair. Seeing her tired face, he felt a strong urge to take the man’s life.
And surely, he would have.
But she had said he was a jewel. She wanted him protected like an emerald. No harm should come to him.
So he needed restraint.
If she wished, things could change. Karan asked again, subtly hoping for that.
“Shall I meet this person?”
Elise shook her head.
“I want to meet them, Your Highness. Can you let me?”
“Ha! Who… are you?!”
Karan was unbelievably fast.
Less than two hours after parting from Elise, he had brought the person she wanted to meet into the room—without being seen by anyone.
“Can you wait without sleeping?”
Good thing she hadn’t ignored what he said at their parting.
Elise closed the book she had been reading and stood.
“Sir Richter Vermond.”
“Woman? Who?”
As Richter tried to rise, Karan pressed down on his shoulder.
Richter groaned through clenched teeth.
“Show respect. Keep your voice down.”
Richter bit his lip.
Before arriving, he realized the man who brought him wasn’t ordinary.
All along, the man had described, in a deadpan tone, the “service” he could provide for Richter.
It was called service, but it sounded like vivid torture.
It didn’t feel like a bluff. Richter couldn’t even utter his usual “Do you know who I am?!”
Any misstep, and the man’s “service” could become reality.
And the place he was brought to was warm and comfortable.
Hearing the crackling of wood and smelling the soft, cozy scent, courage surfaced.
The man was crazy, but the one commanding him might be reasonable.
Richter swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing.
“Tell me what you want. I’ll do anything.”
“Who sent you?”
“What do you mean…”
Elise looked at Karan, who removed Richter’s blindfold as if they had prearranged it.
By the dim light, Richter could just make out the person in front of him.
The color drained from his face.
“E… Elise Wharton?”
He looked like he’d seen a ghost.
“You seemed desperate to meet me. You could have sent a letter, but your method of invitation was rather… extreme.”
Elise rolled up her sleeve to reveal her wrist.
A bruise marked her skin—the result of the gang leader roughly pulling her.
“I-I never ordered a kidnapping.”
Elise’s eyes sparkled.
“I never even mentioned the word kidnapping.”
Caught off guard, Richter bit his lips.
“Miss Elise, I mean…”
“Who sent you? What were you planning to do when you met me?”
The person who wanted to harm her. Elise thought of both men.
She met Richter to figure out which one it was.
“I wasn’t hired. I did it myself. I had no intention of harming you, only to scare you.”
“Why?”
Elise’s question was only natural.
Richter had no connection with her, nor with the Vermond family.
He wasn’t an important figure—just a devoted follower of Iris.
He even once threatened suicide over Iris in the past.
Thinking of that, Elise could guess who had manipulated him.
The only one who could move Richter voluntarily…
“It was Iris, wasn’t it?”
