SWS CH 13

Chapter 13

That was what life was like for commoners here. It could collapse and be ruined in an instant. Maybe Halara had clung to powerful men just to survive.

Why that mercenary suddenly came to mind at a time like this, she didn’t know.

For a moment, she thought it would be nice if anyone were by her side—but she erased the thought immediately. Then she quietly slipped out through the back door and ran toward the market.

Meanwhile, at the otherwise peaceful Bloodymary training grounds—

“Young Master! Young Master!”

A knight came running in a panic. He headed straight for Helvern, the youngest son of the Bloodymary family, who was doing pull-ups while hanging from a tree—red hair, sharp eyes, and rough breaths spilling out.

“Get lost. Can’t you see I’m training?”

Helvern kicked at him dismissively from where he hung. The knight dodged desperately, got kicked once, and cried out indignantly.

“It’s seriously huge news!”

“Huge news? Or nonsense?”

“I don’t know! If you don’t want to hear it, then don’t!”

At that, Helvern dropped down in one smooth motion, lightly choking the knight by the neck.

“I’ll kill you.”

“You stink of sweat!”

“What is it. That ‘huge’ news.”

“Docep is getting married.”

The knight blurted it out.

“What? Married? What marriage?”

“Not exactly a formal wedding yet. Ah—please keep your voice down. It’s still a secret. I barely overheard it.”

“What do you mean? Is it real?!”

“They say the other party is a commoner woman. That’s all I know. And the Duchess has approved it, so she’ll be entering the family soon.”

Helvern’s face collapsed instantly.

“Seriously…? A commoner?”

“Yes.”

“So it’s a love marriage?”

“Uh… probably?”

Snap.

It felt like the sound of Helvern’s reason breaking.

Despite being told it was a secret, Helvern threw down his sword and sprinted toward the estate.

***

Helvern Bloodymary.

The third son of the sword family Bloodymary, he was a once-in-a-century genius even within the family.

Docep was a one-star knight.

Helvern was an eight-star knight.

Their temperaments differed just as drastically as their strength.

Helvern’s impulsive personality, lack of intellect, and habit of acting with his body before his brain meant he hadn’t even properly debuted in high society yet.

He’d merely been overshadowed by Docep, the openly acknowledged madman—but Helvern himself was no less of a rabid dog.

He stormed down the corridor, footsteps pounding.

His red hair shimmered crimson where the light hit it.

Helvern was furious. All he could do was curse.

“Insane. That damn lunatic.”

What?

All that wandering around—it was for that?

“So he wasn’t just drinking himself unconscious—he got a woman pregnant?!”

Disgust and nausea welled up from the pit of his stomach.

“Ugh.”

The family’s disgrace was one thing, but this kind of catastrophe was beyond imagination.

Worst of the worst.

“That bastard. Let me see his face—I’ll beat it in.”

With bloodshot eyes, Helvern went looking for Docep.

But unlike Nikolai, Helvern wasn’t clever. The places he could think of were simple.

The training grounds. The stables Docep often visited.

Or that commoner woman’s house.

First, Helvern decided to look for clues in Docep’s room. He kicked the door open.

“Damn it!”

Startled.

But he didn’t need to search far. Ridiculously enough, Docep was right there.

In his room.

“Why the hell are you holed up in your room?!”

He bit his tongue.

Damn it.

“Hey, you lunatic!”

Docep was changing clothes inside the room. He didn’t react at all, no matter how Helvern shouted.

It pissed him off even more.

“Your ears finally rot off or what?”

Helvern closed the distance in a single stride and grabbed Docep by the collar.

He thought he’d knock him down instantly—but for some reason, Docep didn’t go down like usual.

“Huh?”

Helvern tightened his grip.

Blood rushed, strength surging through his arm.

Only then did Docep move slightly.

“Helvern. Stop it.”

He even called him by name.

“Don’t call my name. It’s disgusting.”

“Bern.”

“Are you insane?”

A chill ran through Helvern’s body. He flinched and released Docep’s collar, but more than that, Docep’s changed attitude unsettled him.

Sniff.

“You don’t even smell like alcohol. Are you really crazy?”

“Why? Mother calls you that sometimes.”

“How are you and Mom the same?!”

“We’re family. You’re my only little brother.”

Docep smiled faintly.

Helvern’s face drained of color.

On the way here, he’d prepared hundreds of insults to throw at Docep—but faced with this bizarre behavior, his mind went blank.

Focus. The marriage—start with that.

Forcing himself to calm down, Helvern’s gaze fell on the clothes Docep was holding.

Old clothes a poor mercenary might wear.

So those are the clothes he wore to disguise himself and meet her.

And the woman was supposedly one of the most beautiful in the village.

Damn it. That piece of trash gets a love marriage? With a beauty? He should be stripped naked and kicked out of the family.

A love marriage.

It was something Helvern had dreamed of for a long time.

In his room sat a tattered copy of the famous romance novel The Fate of Juliette and Romier, worn thin from rereading. He’d torn off the cover and hidden it carefully, afraid his family might see it.

Meeting someone you love. Falling in love romantically. Marrying that beloved partner and living happily ever after.

That had been Helvern’s dream.

And also a dream he could never achieve.

Romance was something you had to give up the moment you were born into this family.

There was no way he’d let Docep steal that chance.

You bastard. You don’t deserve it.

“Are you out of your mind? Trying to get kicked out by Father?”

Helvern snarled at him.

“How do you keep dragging the family through the mud? And you still want to stay here?”

“Yes. Family should live together.”

Docep answered calmly.

The nerve.

“You shameless bastard. You think I’ll let this slide?”

But even at Helvern’s murderous growl, Docep only looked at him like a fond older brother watching a little child.

Then he placed a hand on Helvern’s shoulder.

“If you’re jealous, just say so. I’ll introduce you anytime you want.”

And with that, he left.

“Damn it!!”

Helvern cursed freely.

He gagged a few times at Docep’s sudden act of brotherly affection.

“Ugh, insane bastard! Dog bastard!”

He had clearly lost his mind.

Or maybe that woman he’d met—

A commoner woman, trying to snag a big payoff by seducing a useless, disgraced young master.

“Fine. So Mom approved it… If she comes here, she’s dead.”

And his rage, instead of staying with the deranged Docep, turned toward the woman he would bring—Halara.

“I’ll kick both of them out for good.”

***

Unaware that Helvern’s fury had turned toward her, Halara wandered the market late into the evening.

She was afraid Francesca might show up if she went home.

And thinking about the man who’d come to her house frightened her too. What kind of life had Halara lived, that men followed her even at dawn?

“Escaping the original story isn’t something you can do easily.”

There was a reason the phrase “escaping the original plot” existed.

“I don’t mind being poor. I don’t need fancy dresses.”

She just wanted to live well on her own.

Growl.

Maybe because she’d barely eaten, or maybe because her tension finally eased, her stomach growled.

I’ll buy something to eat today.

Making excuses not to go home, she bought a chicken skewer at the market and slipped into a narrow alley.

The alley was dark, barely touched by sunlight—but that made her feel safer.

No one would come looking for her here.

She decided to wait until Aunt Michelle returned.

She was just about to take a big bite of chicken—

[Should I beat her senseless?]

What?

Is there a thug around here?

The alley was empty. She was alone.

[This is the perfect chance… Should I just twist that skinny wrist and snap it?]

Where was that rough voice coming from?

The alley was barely wide enough for one person. Anyone hiding would be obvious. But aside from broken wooden crates scattered nearby, there was nothing.