# 32
Harold walked over to Vincent, who was covered in dirt from head to toe. Slowly examine it from top to bottom with a sarcastic look.
“If I threw you in the dump right now, no one would know. You stink and you’re dirty – everyone will think you’re trash.”
“Stop insulting me and let me go!” Vincent pleaded.
“Think, Vincent. If I were to release you, would I bring you here?” Harold's head tilted and he laughed coldly.
“Then tell me what you want! I will talk to my father and make sure he listens to you!” Vincent bit his lower lip, desperate to negotiate. Of course, Harold had a reason to keep him alive and was going to use it for something related to his father.
“Vincent, do you really think your life still has value?”
“I am the only legitimate heir to Vicomte Garcelle!”
“But your father abandoned you.”
“If he calms down, he will definitely—!”
“He will definitely take you? Maybe, but by then, you won’t even be alive. What a pity.”
“…!”
Vincent's eyes widened in horror.
Are you not alive? Does it mean...?
“Are you saying you're going to kill me? After you brought me here?” Vincent turned pale, and fear seized him. He started begging for his life.
“Please, have mercy on me! If you let me live, my father will give you what you want!”
“But what I want is your life.”
“Your Highness!”
"Don't worry. You won't die easily."
Harold pointed to the guild master.
With a frown, the guild master grabbed Vincent's jaw and forced his mouth open.
"Oh! No! Stop!"
Despite Vincent's resistance, the guild master poured a thick purple liquid into his mouth and forced him to swallow it.
"Ah, disgusting. Your Highness, don't make me do things like that. My stomach is weak," the Guild Master complained before backing down.
"Yes!"
Vincent squirmed and tried to vomit, but nothing came out. His stomach turned, and tears streamed down his face.
'Am I really going to die? Because of that idiot Diana?'
“I...I don't want to die...not like this...”
He had once dreamed of becoming the next Viscount Garcelle, but now his future was slipping through his hands.
“Please...”
But Harold showed no intention of showing mercy to him, no matter how much Vincent offered.
“Am I really going to die like this?”
Vincent raised his head, his red eyes staring at Harold. His despair and fear turned into anger and malice, exploding from his lips.
"You will regret marrying Diana! Do you know how evil she is? On the day of my mother's funeral, that crazy woman was laughing alone! You are living with a scoundrel woman! She is called evil for a reason!"
Harold, who was about to leave, suddenly froze.
'Even Harold Wesen is shaken by this,' Vincent thought with a cruel smile. But that smile disappeared when Harold turned to look at him, his gaze steady and cold.
“Why…why are you looking at me like that?” Vincent stammered.
"Do you think I didn't look into her past? Diana's mother did not die by accident – she was murdered by your mother, Viscountess Garcelle. Isn't it crazy to mourn the death of an assassin?"
Vincent scrambled to find another argument.
“But you certainly know about all the other terrible things I did!”
“I know. And I like it anyway.”
Harold smiled as if he had just remembered something.
"Oh, I forgot to tell you what I drank. Have you heard about the tears of a fallen angel?"
“…!”
Vincent froze. The tears of a fallen angel were notorious – a slowly killing poison, starting at the feet and gradually rotting the entire body over the course of a month.
The pain was so unbearable that most victims begged to be killed quickly instead.
“I told you, you won't die easily.”
"Your Highness! Your Highness!" Vincent's desperate cries echoed as Harold walked out, closing the heavy metal door behind him. The door creaked shut, swallowing down Vincent's screams.
At the same time
As the sky turned golden at dusk, the bread we were distributing ran out.
“Thank you all for your hard work!”
While we were packing up our things, most of the people who were hanging out near us left, disappointed.
But a few people stayed, not wanting to leave yet. Among them were some young beggars, who amused themselves by singing a little song:
“Hide, hide, the night is approaching,
Hide, hide, away from the witch,
Hide, hide, who will be gone by morning?”
The terrifying melody made me stop cleaning and watch the children singing and playing.
‘This song… I haven’t heard it in a long time.’
“The song is energetic, but the lyrics are scary.”
Dante said with a frown next to me.
“It's a song that warns people not to get kidnapped by witches,” I explained.
After the witches disappeared, centuries later, witches began to spread the belief that magic was the power of demons.
They claimed that making sacrifices to demons allowed them to use magic, and sold mysterious items such as crystal balls to predict the future.
'Even though in reality they were just ordinary people who were either insightful or good with words,' I thought.
However, the witches continued to crave special power. Their sacrifices escalated from animals to humans. Five years ago, it was revealed that witches were secretly kidnapping people for rituals.
“Weren’t most of the witches, including their leader Reyna, executed five years ago?”
I nodded.
As Dante said, Reina, who first proposed using humans as sacrifices, and the seven witches who supported her, were all executed. Ordinary people who followed them received severe punishments as well.
It was the first time that Reyna and the other witches, who had always hidden their faces, were revealed in public.
I moved my gaze from the children to Dante.
“For these kids, there is not much difference between then and now.”
They were still exposed to hunger and danger, unsure of when they would die.
“Is that so… haha…” Dante laughed embarrassedly and adjusted his glasses.
“When I was younger, D.C. didn’t have songs like this,” he continued. “Seeing it with my own eyes now, it's different than I imagined.”
“Have you ever been to the capital?”
“Yes, for a short time. At that time, life was much easier. His Majesty the Emperor cared about the people, and the security of the capital was good.”
As Dante stared at the setting sun, his face seemed tinged with bitterness. The contrast between how he smiled at people when distributing bread and his current expression was different.
“Do you think things will get better?”
“It will get better, for sure.”
“Duchess, do you really believe things will get better?”
"Yes."
I said firmly.
“It's like the setting sun; it will rise again eventually.”
In a side story, it is mentioned that once the new emperor takes over, he will enhance public security and take care of the people.
In other words, it means that public security is not great at the moment, but the important thing is that there is hope.
“By then, I think that song will no longer be heard.”
Dante stared at me blankly. Was I being too direct?
“It's just my hope. Anyway, I'll go finish cleaning.”
"Ah! Let me go with you! We need to hurry up and get things over with so we can go back!"
I turned toward the sound and saw Dante approaching quickly.
'Will he stumble again? He's fallen three times today already; I'm worried about his knees.'
“Watch the stone in front of you... Dante!”
Before I could finish my warning, Dante tripped over a stone.
I quickly grabbed him for support without thinking, and as my body was pushed back, I was able to regain my balance.
“Huh…thank God we didn’t both fall.”
I sighed inwardly, realizing how close I was to falling myself.
“Are you okay, Dante?”
“Yes, yes. Thanks for catching me.”
Dante, not expecting me to catch him, looked up at me with wide eyes, his face turning bright red.
At that moment, I heard a 'click' sound.
“Huh?”
I looked in the direction of the sound and saw a bouquet of flowers and... Harold.