Chapter 72

Chapter 72

He couldn’t quite remember how he came back to the castle. Hert opened Tessa’s door first. The room he had been to many times had lost its owner—empty now. The little woman who had always greeted him had disappeared.

She really was not here.

Tessa was nowhere to be seen

It felt as if he was suffocating. Even the air felt heavy. Only his harsh breathing was breaking this quiet silence. Hert managed to capture his distorted expression as he approached the desk, which was littered with papers.

“…….”

The dark blue eyes glanced at the desk promptly. As he was walking here, he got a brief report, and he heard that Tessa had been writing in her room all day today. So they didn’t notice anything unusual. Hert swept the blank papers on the floor.

Papers clattered onto the floor, and a sheet of paper half-dyed with ink appeared on the desk.

Hert carefully picked it up with stiff hands. There was something written on the paper. It was like a letter written for someone. However, there were quite a few areas that were covered by ink… It wasn’t completely unreadable. He slowly read only the parts he could read.

Thank you

I will never forget this grace…

……

Even though we parted…

……

……

I will miss you,

Forgive me…

……

It’s not enough, but…

……

……

……

I wish you well.

Hert’s expression gradually hardened as he read the text that looked like a letter to be sent to someone. His heart thumped and fell, and at the same time, his blood froze cold. He couldn’t believe everything written on this paper.

Goodbye

After seeing the last written word, he crumpled the paper without realizing it. The hand holding the paper was trembling.

Hert let out an exasperated laugh and bit his lower lip. He struggled so hard that blood seeped into his mouth.

…I will miss you dearly,

Tessa

Then he threw the paper to the floor. Did this make any sense? The paper rolled away on the carpet. He ran his palms down his face. From his fingertips to his toes, his whole body trembled with agitation. His tangled stomach swelled up and squeezed his heart. It’s ridiculous. This was clearly not reality.

Tessa disappeared.

No, she ran away?

Anger surged suddenly. Hert couldn’t contain the rage. As he trashed all the objects on the desk to the floor, there was a loud, piercing sound. Black ink poured down the carpet like blood.

The room, once filled with warmth, became a mess in an instant.

Shit, are you kidding me?

Exhaling a heavy breath, Hert clenched his fists. He could not calm down easily.

He felt like he had been mistaken, and everything he had been working hard to believe in collapsed in an instant.

Tessa betrayed him again.

She chose to leave him after he confessed that he likes her.

But he couldn’t understand.

Why? Why? What’s missing?

“How can you…”

How can you do this to me?

Hert was on the verge of going crazy. The conversations he had with Tessa until this day were vivid in his mind. That was why this situation was even more unbelievable. His stomach churned. Tessa’s voice felt like it was piercing his heart.

‘That is… Please… come back safely.’

She told him to come back. There’s something she wanted to say, yes. But why wasn’t she here?

“Are you going to leave me like this?”

An empty laugh escaped his mouth. Could it have all been a lie? Was that expression and crying all acting? Not once, but twice he was betrayed by Tessa. But at the same time, he felt like an idiot who wanted to believe that it wasn’t.

Hert burst into laughter like his madman.

Wasn’t this not pure stupidity?

But the incomprehensible things remain the same.

Why did Tessa choose to leave him and run away?

Hert thought he had given Tessa everything without a lack. It’s okay to hear that he’s a fool that he even vowed to forget everything that happened seven years ago. Didn’t he even confess his heart honestly that he could start over anew from now on?

But why……

Did Tessa decide to abandon him once more?

“Damn it…”

It was just like the day he was betrayed for the first time. It was like this back then, too.

He was the only one who knew nothing. Why Tessa betrayed him, why she had to separate from him. No matter how much he pondered and tried to come to a conclusion on his own, he could not find an answer.

Tessa was the only one who knew the answer, and yet, she was gone, leaving Hert alone.

It was the same this time too. No matter how much he thought about why she betrayed him and why she chose to run away, there would be no answer. Because Tessa wasn’t here with the answer.

But there was one difference between that day and today.

Hert got out and headed outside. Everyone waiting outside the room held their breath and looked at him. At that moment, Mogen slowly approached Hert.

“Sir.”

“Did you find Missus Vellodem?”

“Yes, she hasn’t crossed the wall yet.”

“Yes, I supposed so…”

Hert loosened the tight tie and pulled it.

The difference between that day and today was that, now, there was no one here who could stop Hert.

Hert decided to let go of his hopes that he would be able to start over again as before.

If even his heart couldn’t hold her, then he had no choice but to use force. After all, it was a life where he had given up being a human being after rolling in the mud for the past seven years anyway.

Could a bastard become a human by pretending to be human? He has been hiding his true nature and pretending to be a normal human being.

Come to think of it, Marquis Borwen was right.

It was only when he was a bastard that his usefulness was revealed.

‘So that you won’t betray me again… So that you won’t leave me… Wouldn’t it be okay to ruin you a little bit?’

If the heart is difficult, he wants to have her body completely.

“Take me there.”

As soon as Tessa woke up, she realized that her hands and feet were bound. Her hands and feet were tied with ropes and she couldn’t move properly. Above all, a cloth was placed over her face, so she could not see properly.

She felt her heart swell almost bursting. Her hands and feet trembled, and fear engulfed her to the depths of her heart.

‘I’m scared… What am I going to do now?’

Tessa was terrified, just like when she was dragged and beaten by Ferdale. She couldn’t see anything, and her hands and feet were tied, even more so. She didn’t even know where she was. It felt like she was about to cry as a feeling of helplessness took over her body.

At that moment, someone pulled out the cloth that was covering her face.

“…Mani?”

It was Mani who appeared before Tessa. Tessa was relieved a little when she saw Mani for some reason.

“I’m sorry, Madam. But be quiet… Please be quiet for a moment.”

With a sharp razor, Marni began to cut the ropes that bound Tessa’s hands and feet little by little. Meanwhile, Tessa looked around. She thought she felt a little shaky at times, but she seemed to be in a wagon.

“This is, what… what’s going on?”

Tessa barely spoke in a trembling voice and looked at Mani. She still couldn’t believe that Mani had put her in this situation.

The only person in the castle who first reached out to her and helped her was Mani. Mani came alone to give medicine to Tessa, who was beaten and assaulted by Ferdale, and secretly brought food while she was lying ill without eating.

So Tessa couldn’t just hate Mani even if Mani had done this to her. It was for that reason that she did not doubt when Mani led her to a gloomy place. Because she tacitly trusted and followed Mani, who helped her without payment.

“Why… me…”

“I’m sorry, Madam. Really I… I couldn’t help it. They threatened my family. I had no choice either.”

In a low, hoarse voice, Mani spoke hastily to Tessa. Her eyes were swollen and red.

“I will release you soon. Actually I… I didn’t know, I didn’t know they would do this to you, Madam. They said just to confirm… Obviously, they just need to confirm…”

“That… What do you mean?”

“I swear… I didn’t mean to endanger you, Madam. They told me they only wanted to confirm something— that, that you’re the one they’re looking for… So I brought you to them, Madam… I’m really sorry. It’s all my fault.”

“Mani…”

Shortly thereafter, Mani finished cutting all of Tessa’s ropes. Perhaps because she had been tied up for a long time, there were clear red marks along the grain of the rope on her wrists and ankles. Her hands and feet seemed to be sore.

“I will keep an eye. In the meantime, please run away.”

“How, how about you?”

“It’s because of me. Don’t think of me. Because I’m fine… Madam, you should run away and ask for help.”

“No, Mani come with me…!”

Tessa gave a low cry but Mani resolutely shook her head. She lifted the cloth covering the wagon and opened her mouth, checking the outside.

“Not both of us can run away. Someone has to stay here and lure them in. So Madam must run away.”

“…Mani.”

“I’m really sorry.”

Mani bowed her head to Tessa. Tessa told her not to do that, and tried to get her up, but Mani stood firm.

“I know how nice you are, Madam… So I used you… And it is only obvious for me to help you now.”

“Ma, Mani, you were nice to me too…!”

“…We don’t have time, you need to run away.”

Mani led Tessa out of the wagon. She then pushed Tessa’s back into the woods. Go now, go! Reluctantly, Tessa started running. When she got out of here and met people, she was going to ask for help.

She continued to run forward, ignoring the tingling pain in her limbs. She ran for a long time. Finally, a small light appeared in the distance. Tessa ran towards it with all her might and shouted.

“Help me!”

“…Oh my God, Tessa?”

There was Janet and Jean, wearing robes with hoods up to their heads.

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