When Charles realized that there was no way out of this, he lost his mind and blamed Cersinia for the situation he was in.

‘Because of that bitch.’ His anger soared.

‘Why do I have to be humiliated because of that witch?’

Charles’s face became red with anger and his breathing grew more and more shallow. As if she didn’t humiliate him enough, this bitch had to ruin his whole life now. If only that bitch didn’t ignore him from the beginning, Charles thought while gritting his teeth.

Ben’s face sank coldly. Charles was muttering but Ben could still make out the word ‘witch’, in Charles gibberish, clearly.

“Say that again.” Ben said in a low, fierce and cold voice.

“Because of that bitch, I am… Argh!”

Charles shouted, angry. It didn’t last for long as it soon became a cry of pain.

“Gasp!”

Seeing the blood splattered everywhere, everyone’s complexion pale. Ben’s sword that had flashed eerily in the moonlight had cut through Charles’s shoulder.

“Aaaarrrggh!” Charles rolled on the floor, writhing in extreme pain.

“How dare you blame someone else!”

Ben’s voice gave everyone goosebumps, as he grabbed Charles by the neck while holding his sword in his other hands.

“I won’t let you go twice.”

“Uurggh! Pl-please spare-”

“I could cut your head off right now.”

It was a very terrifying warning with Charles’s life at stake.

“Heuuuk…”

Everyone who was watching held their breaths and bowed as much as they could with trembling bodies, trying to not offend the dangerous being in front of them like deer with slender necks laying in front of a lion seeking its prey.

“Uurgh! Spa-Spare…me please.”

Charles started tearing up. His face and eyes turned red all due to not breathing properly.

“I can take your life at any time.”

It was obvious by his voice that Ben’s emotions were suppressed. His hand, which was holding the sword, was trembling. He was holding the sword with so much force that veins protruded from the back of his hand. If Ben didn’t put up with it he would’ve long been dead, but there was a reason why Charles’s neck was not flying right and it was…

Cersinia.

Cersinia was his victim and the only one who could decide his punishment. So Ben couldn’t carelessly kill Charles just because he wanted to. His eyes, which intensity subsided coldly, glared at Charles in a murderous way but did not stay as he turn his gaze away.

“Heuuuk, Heuk!”

Charles took the breath he had been desperately wanting to take.

“Y-Your Excellency. Please spare us…”

Carl Jacques bowed deeply, when he saw his son rolling on the ground in a mess, then humbly begged for their life. The Grand Duke was a man who could take their life as easily as it was to take a fly’s life.Alexdemikan Shorevarce. The man who inherited the title of Grand Duke after the death of the former Grand Duke. And after becoming the Grand Duke, the first thing he did was get rid of all his fathers servants and kill everyone who dared be against him. There were even rumors that he killed his own father to become the Grand Duke.

And since Carl Jacques offended that kind of person…He had no choice but to shudder at the fear that this situation could not only end with his son’s death but the annihilation of the whole village.

“Please have mercy…”

“Mercy?”

Ben’s calm and cold eyes, resembling the night sea if not more dangerous, turned to the Chief.

“Did you say mercy?”

“Please…Please show me your kindness…”

“No, this is not like this. Isn’t there something wrong with the person you begged for mercy now?”

“The problem is not lay in there.Don’t you think there is something wrong? Am I really the person you should be begging for mercy, right now?”

“Pardon? What do you mean…?”

Confused, Carl Jacques raised his head without realizing it. He shivered as he met Ben’s cold eyes and quickly lowered his eyes. He didn’t understand what the Grand Duke was saying.

‘What do you mean it was wrong with the person I asked for mercy?’

Thanks to the imperial degree the right to punish them was passed on to the Grand Duke, but who should they ask for mercy to? Confused, the chief’s eyes shook in dizziness.

“You shouldn’t be begging me for mercy.”

“Then to whom…”

The blood dripped down Ben’s blade and fell to the ground. At the sight, a sense of danger took over Carl Jacques. It was as if the one drop would stain/defile the whole village. And that thought, rooted in Carl Jacques’s mind.

“Cersinia.”

“A-Are you talking about Cersinia?”

Ben’s eyebrows furrowed at the Chief’s question. He did not like the way Cersinia’s name got out of his dirty mouth.

‘A dull head that cannot grasp the nature of the problem.’

Ben held the heavy sword near the Chief’s neck, the tip of the sword threatening to take his life if he dared breath. The Chief’s lips turned blue, and cold sweats ran down his forehead.

“Spa-Spare me…”

“If you want to beg for your life, confess your sins and apologize to her. Cersinia is the one who holds your life.”

* * *

“…Cersinia.”

Cersinia was in a deep sleep, so she couldn’t open her eyes when she seemed to have heard someone calling her name. And since she was tired she quickly dismissed it.

“Ugh… It’s so noisy outside.”

She said as her eyes fluttered open at the sound of someone crying. It was May, she looked terrified and her eyes were swollen.

“Outside?”Her mind, which had been half-asleep, had already become clear. And dawn was breaking, the rising sun gave the sky a reddish hue that was dimly seen through the window.

“Heuk, huhu. I think people have come here again…”

At those words Cersinia quickly built her wall up again. The peace Ben brought was so sweet that she let her guard down. She didn’t know what they would do this time but she couldn’t be careless.

‘I shouldn’t let my guard down in this village…’

She quickly got up from her bed. The floor was cold as her feet touched it, meaning Ben’s must have left long ago. She hurriedly headed towards the fireplace, only to see the blankets neatly laid out.

“What about Ben?”

“I haven’t seen him since I woke up.”

‘Where did he go…?’

She looked all over the house, but there was no sign of him. Her anxiety soared again. The thought of him disappearing like he did three years ago, came and it scared her.

‘No way…’

Cersinia’s heart sank. Her body staggered from vertigo.

“Are you okay?”

May hurriedly caught Cersinia, her thick tears falling on Cersinia’s arms.

“It’s okay, May. Don’t cry.”

Comforting May, who was anxious, Cersinia clenched her fists tightly. Her fingernails dug into her own skin.

“It couldn’t be. There’s no way Ben would disappear without a word like last time…’

The seed of anxiety grew bigger. Cersinia’s crimson pupils shook helplessly at the slight possibility that Ben might have disappeared without a word again.

“Just… Just run away, Cersinia.”

May wiped her tears roughly with the back of her hands and pulled Cersinia’s arm. Earlier she heard noise outside and by the sound it looked like there were multiple people outside. May’s eyes were red, it was easy to see that she was at her limit. She couldn’t watch Cersinia get hurt again. She wanted Cersinia to run away, since it was the only way to ensure her safety, even if it made Cersinia a coward.

“Don’t come out.”

“Please…please, Cersinia.”

May shook her head violently as she burst into tears. Cersinia gently smiled at May and told her everything was going to be fine. If she runs away nothing will change, they would just spend each day nervously thinking that the villagers might come find and attack them and May would be anxious at the new environment.

‘May shouldn’t have to suffer any more because of me.’

She had to put an end to it, at least in order to move forward. Cersinia stood in front of the door forcibly removing May’s hand, who didn’t want to let go. Several voices, coming from outside, were clearly heard.

After breathing deeply, Cersinia grabbed the doorknob with trembling hands. She looked calm but she was in fact so anxious that she hesitated to open the door.

The roaring fire of the torches which lit up the night when the villagers, who looked like vicious demons, came to her house. All of the contempt full glares she received not only in the square but also a few days ago, the curse and the people telling her to die even when she was bleeding. Cersinia remembered everything.

‘It’s okay. It’s gonna be okay.’

Cersinia whispered this to herself multiple times trying to comfort herself. And after a few seconds passed, Cersinia opened the door without hesitation.