When Malaya gave him an eerie smile, the Marquess instinctively shielded his jewel.

“You know, Marquess, you should be dead by now,” Malaya said. “But you see, the bread girl you accused of stealing said I shouldn’t do anything with you. You owe her a debt of gratitude.” Malaya rose to her feet. She refused to listen to any of the marquess’ responses. Not that; he looked like he planned to speak right now.

“I believe she will be the same age as your deceased daughter,” she goes on to say. That’s when Marquess turned to face the hooded girl. “You still have a chance to make things right. This is not the life your daughter would have preferred for you.”

‘That’s right.. The Marquess has a daughter once. But the enemy during the Last Ge-Zo war, the enemy country held his daughter as a hostage and she died. The once fierce and respectable general became a Marquess who is corrupted and divulge himself with pleasures. And in his own sick way, he makes girls the same age or has a similar appearance of her daughter his mistress. And those who refuse him, he imprisoned them.’

‘I really want to make him suffer even more. That is not an excuse to treat kids in that manner. They already have traumas etched in their minds as a result of him. Those poor young ladies. But if I take him on now, my plans may be jeopardized. Even if I didn’t do anything, he’ll be a slave fighting at the Octagon, the Taleba Dukedom’s colosseum entertainment using slaves, after this. That may already be a harsh punishment for him.’

Malaya turned toward Nicholas. “Sir Nicholas, we will take our leave now, after a month, I’ll come back once again, and will get the part of my deal.”

“Then I’ll see you later, strange lady.” Nicholas took off his hat and struck a bow. His attention was drawn to the card in his hands, the eight of swords. ‘Acceptance and life-long suffering, huh? Tsk.’ He put on the hat again and vanished in an instant.

‘Do you really have to call me strange?’ Malaya just pushed the thought back and returned her attention to Dorris and Rein with a strained smile. “The main cast will arrive now. Let’s go,” She said.

Her remarks elicited two nods from the two. Malaya glanced back to the Marquess before they left. Their gazes locked. She gave him a malicious look while zipping her lips closed. ‘Be quiet,’ They all vanished in a second.

—⚓⚓⚓—

Meanwhile, when Malaya and her friends vanished for a little period of time, the door swung open once more, showing another group of young people. They also brought with them the emblematic golden royal knights of the Sahaya Empire, indicating that these youths don’t have ordinary status. In an instant, they surrounded the Marquess.

“Marquess Gridon, you’ve been arrested for pillaging the villages in your domain!” Prince Aadel Krazeri admonished. He was clad in a white tunic with golden embellishments linings, silver slacks, and white leather boots. It complemented his golden blond hair and golden eyes perfectly. This physical appearance clearly indicates that he is of royal blood; in fact, he is the Imperial crown prince of the Sahaya Empire. And, if you guessed correctly, he was Fate of the Stars’ first male lead.

The Saintess Cheong Hyun Jae stood behind him. She was no other than the female lead and base on the novel she was summoned from Earth too. She had shoulder-length curly black hair and clear dark eyes. She was dressed in a long priestess gown with golden embroidery at the hems.

And the supporting male leads, the son of the prime minister, George Viloz, and the son of Duke of Taleba, Kristopher Taleba. And royal knights surrounded the marquess.

Seeing all of them, the Marquess Gridon wanted to say that it is not his fault. But then the words of the hooded girl transpired to his mind once again.

“You still have a chance to make things right. This is not the life your daughter would have preferred for you.”

The Marquess stood up.

“Stay behind me, Hyun Jae.” Prince Aadel said.

The other two young men came in front of the prince and the saintess. So that they could protect them if the Marquess attacked them unexpectedly. Much to their surprise, instead of attacking, the Marquess bowed down.

“I’m at a loss for words. Everything you’ve said is true, and I’m sorry for everything I’ve done wrong,” said the Marquess. “I will pay for all of the crimes I committed with my life.”

The Royal Knights quickly apprehended the Marquess and dragged him away quietly. Kristopher was the last one to leave, but before he did, he took one last look around the room.

‘Hmm. It must be my imagination.’ He walked out of the room, and the knights closed the door behind him.

—⚓⚓⚓—

Rein emerged from the shadows after they had gone and the door had been shut. ‘That was close,’ he sighed, ‘I thought that fool saw me.’ He then stretched out his right arm. It had a small dark tattoo on it. A black small iamond surrounded by thorns.

“Absorb,” As he said this, the thorns on the diamond began to move. The room started to fill with a lavender mist. Then it began to be rapidly absorbed by the tattoo. When the mist had been fully engulfed, the room where Nicholas fought was revealed; the desolate and its shambles state. The bodies of the beaten knights became completely visible.

‘Can he at least clean up his mess before he leaves?’ Rein sighed and took out a pouch. He covered his nose and threw the contents of it to the ground.

‘This expensive obliviscatur will become used to such things.’

‘Did they know how tight my budget is already these days?’ Rein sighed even more. The obliviscatur is a powder that, when inhaled, causes one to forget what happened in the previous twelve hours.

Grey mist started to cover everything. “When they wake up, they’ll be able to forget everything that transpired here. Milady will be safe this way.” Rein then disappeared too.

┈ ✁✃✁✃✁✃✁✃✁ ┈

Extra Scene:

Later that night, in the prison cell of Marquess Gridon. When something hard hit his face, he awoke. When he looked to see what it could be, he discovered a small bone. A rolled piece of paper was tied to it using a red ribbon. The knights guarding the cell didn’t seem to notice him as he glanced around.

With a shaky hand, he picked it up. He took the paper and unfolded it.

[Dear Marquess Gridon,

This is the chicken bone you spit at me earlier. It is sincerely yours so I’m returning it back to you with some additionals you would surely enjoy.

-Your lovely pauper 😛 ]

The paper was burnt to a crisp as soon as he finished reading it. More chicken bones poured in through his cell’s single window.

“Ahhhh!” A man’s shrill reverberated throughout the dark dungeon.

┈ ✁✃✁✃✁✃✁✃✁ ┈