IWMHWD 116

Chapter 116: Love
2024.02.24

“Strangers? You’re saying we’re strangers?”

It wasn’t that the word “strangers” shocked her now. Rather, the faint sense of guilt she had felt toward her father vanished as if it had never existed.

To Pablo, Cordelia truly meant nothing at all. The moment she fully realized this, her mind went completely cold.

“You speak as if I were some precious child once. But for you, the only child has always been Denis, that one.”

“How dare you compare yourself to Denis? That boy is a true Vasquez. Unlike you.”

Pablo’s eyes overflowed with undisguised contempt. Cordelia roughly pushed away Pablo’s arm, which had been gripping her shoulder tightly.

“When you sold me off to Abrams, you told me to fulfill my duties as a Vasquez. But now, when I’ve outlived my usefulness, suddenly I’m not your daughter?”

“That’s a debt you should repay if you’re human.”

“Hahaha. A debt. Really?”

Her laughter came out without reason, more from incredulity than amusement.

At that moment, with a loud crash, a sword burst through the old wooden door. Both Cordelia and Pablo’s gazes immediately shifted toward it. Through the gap in the door, Beluche’s urgent voice rang out.

“The knights are coming!”

Along with him, a surge of magical energy appeared in the room where Cordelia was. She had never seen this form before, so she didn’t know exactly what magic it was—but it felt extremely ominous.

“No way…”

Cordelia spun her head so quickly that the air whistled past her ears as she stared at Pablo.

If it were just the knights attacking, she could have assumed they were being followed. But the presence of a strange magical energy in the room her father occupied meant that this was a trap set by someone who had anticipated her coming.

Cordelia stepped a few paces away from Pablo and glared at him fiercely.

“This time, you sold me to Maximilian.”

“What are you talking about?”

Pablo feigned ignorance, pretending he didn’t know, but there was no mistaking it.

The only person who could threaten her now was Maximilian. It was clear that he had used the Vasquez family to lure Cordelia to the capital under the pretense of her father’s impending death.

Selling a daughter he never bore three times over, Cordelia felt an indescribably deep emotion toward Pablo. For the first time, she felt a cruel, intense urge to cut off his head and place it atop the crumbled gates of the Vasquez estate.

The door, already scarred with sword marks, splintered further. Gasiel appeared, panting, wielding a bloodstained sword.

“You must escape immediately!”

“Use the Treasure of Evrad!”

Beluche shouted, blocking the flurry of incoming swords without pause. Cordelia quickly surveyed the room to assess the situation. Beluche and Gasiel were holding the narrow doorway against the approaching men, but there was no telling how long they could hold.

She felt sorry for the two men, but since their target was Cordelia, it might be better if she were out of the way.

Cordelia gripped the bracelet on her left wrist tightly and focused her mind as before. She tried to recall Leonard’s face and the laboratory within the Magic Guild.

But no matter how desperately she called her master’s name or tried to remember the lab, the space did not change.

The only door was already occupied, and though there was a window, it was so small that only a person’s head could barely fit.

“What are you doing? I said run!”

Beluche shouted, gasping. No matter how many enemies they defeated, their numbers did not decrease.

“I want to go, I do….”

Cordelia groaned, a frown on her face. She kept attempting to use spatial magic, recalling the sensation from the first time she activated it, but it kept cutting off as if some force blocked her magic.

“Please, please.”

The flow of magic beneath her feet seemed to be restricting the power of the Treasure of Evrad.

With a thud, Gasiel was thrown backward. Startled, Cordelia tried to rush to him, but Beluche staggered and fell to his knees. The floor was already covered in blood from the numerous small cuts.

The cramped room was packed with people. Gasiel limped to rise and protect Cordelia, but he wobbled as if he might collapse again.

“Still not subdued?”

Through the shattered door, an unexpected figure appeared. She had expected Maximilian, but it was a red-haired man in his late thirties, leading the knights.

Beluche’s eyes widened, and he let out a short groan.

“Embley….”

“Embley? That’s Lord Embley?”

Cordelia had heard something from Leonard. Maximilian had lured Embley’s daughter and impregnated her, and as a result, Embley supported Maximilian. Yet, the Lord Embley before her looked far too young to have an adult daughter.

Unlike Pablo, who was constantly soaked in alcohol and tobacco, Anton had a solid build and a smooth face.

“Can’t handle just two knights and dragging it out like this? Tsk. What are you waiting for? Bring that woman here immediately.”

“Yes, Lord.”

New knights appeared behind Lord Embley. Beluche and Gasiel tightened their grips on their swords, circling Cordelia to protect her. Their intentions were noble, but the odds were clearly against them.

And those odds soon became reality. Though the two men fought valiantly, Gasiel soon collapsed, bleeding onto the floor, and Beluche was completely subdued by the other knights.

“Beluche!”

“Ugh.”

“The eldest and second sons of the Ingirion line always failed miserably. The youngest is different, huh? You won the tournament last year, right?”

Anton glanced down at Beluche, who was barely restrained by four knights, with a somewhat approving look. Beluche struggled like an untamed horse.

“Hmm. Well, Ingirion has many sons. Losing one won’t matter.”

Anton’s terrifying words were delivered casually. Meeting his eyes, Cordelia froze.

“Bring her here.”

“Let me go!”

Finally, Cordelia was grabbed by the knights. She tried to use her protective magic, but it, too, failed halfway, as if blocked by an invisible wall.

She was dragged before Anton and forced to kneel.

Anton lifted her chin. His deep blue eyes, seen up close, held no emotion.

“Blame your father, who sold you for a mere hundred thousand lingots.”

“Only a hundred thousand?”

Cordelia turned her gaze to Pablo, cornered in the room. A sharp, bitter smile curled her lips as she sneered at him.

“Won’t be able to earn money selling daughters anymore, right? Shouldn’t you have asked for more? This would have been a perfect opportunity to profit.”

“Are you fearless? Stupid?”

His reaction was unexpected. Even if she didn’t cry, Cordelia should have been terrified and unable to meet his gaze.

Since she was the same age as a daughter, he had expected her to react like Rosalind, but she didn’t flinch.

“You have no idea of your current situation, do you?”

“I know perfectly well. Lord Embley, who allied with Maximilian, is using my father to try and kidnap me, isn’t he?”

“You’re awfully stiff despite knowing that.”

“If the Lord intended to kill me, I’d already be dead. There’d be no dragging it out like this.”

Cordelia replied with a hint of sarcasm. Her mistake was trusting the bracelet too much. She had never expected that even the ring her master had given her would be blocked by some magic.

“I don’t know what you hope to gain by kidnapping me, but my master will not move according to your will so easily.”

“We’ll see about that.”

Anton produced a small vial from his pocket. Inside was a shimmering purple liquid. It looked suspicious, and Cordelia bit the inside of her cheek. Clearly, this was no impulsive abduction.

“Clear this place out.”

It seemed Anton’s order to “clear out” referred not just to the situation. One of Embley’s knights drew his sword while trampling the unconscious Gasiel’s head. The same went for Beluche. Cordelia grew desperate.

“W-Wait!”

But worrying about Gasiel and Beluche was nothing compared to her own situation. Anton signaled the knight holding her arm, who forced Cordelia’s mouth open.

“Ugh, wait.”

As Anton opened the vial and approached, Cordelia resisted violently, pulling back whenever the liquid touched her lips. Anton impatiently yanked her head toward him again.

“If you don’t want to drink it unconscious, open your mouth quietly.”

“I want to make a deal.”

“A deal? Hahaha. What could you possibly have?”

His laughter seemed reasonable. Everything was against Cordelia, and outwardly, it seemed she had nothing to offer Anton.

“I may have nothing, but I can prevent you from getting what you want.”

“What?”

Cordelia stuck out her tongue and placed it between her teeth. She looked Anton straight in the eye.

“Release those two men. Then I will let the Lord feed as he wishes.”

“Why should I do that?”

“If you so much as touch them, I’ll die too.”