Atonement, About it's Cruelty - Chapter 9
Seo-ah gripped her hands tightly as she gazed out the window.
Soft lights leaked from the buildings lined along the riverside, and then the carriage curved around a massive and stunning stone mansion. A huge black carriage stood imposingly at the entrance of the mansion.
What kind of place was this, and who owned such a carriage?
These idle thoughts evaporated as they passed the mansion, and anxiety filled the void they left. With limited funds, she worried about the cost of the carriage ride and the inn. What if that man followed her again?
As her anxieties piled up, the carriage slowed significantly, and eventually came to a complete stop.
The coachman outside shouted.
“We’ve arrived!”
Seo-ah held her luggage and coat tight as she looked out the window. Outside was a mansion as opulent and beautiful as the stone one they had just passed.
* * *
“Have you found the safe key yet?”
There was no answer from Oscar.
He just smoked his cigarette, and as the smoke transparently vanished, he threw out another question.
“Any news from Felpe Bank?”
Of course.
The Grand Duke inwardly rejoiced. Having news that would interest this detestable fellow was a stroke of luck. What fortune that such news had arrived just at this moment!
Instead of responding, the Grand Duke drew on his cigarette, and the smoke clouded the air just as their gazes met.
Knock, knock, knock, knock.
A chilling knock sounded. The Grand Duke looked towards the door, and Oscar repeated his question.
“Is there any news related to Felpe Bank?”
The Grand Duke’s gaze shifted from the door to Oscar as he held his cigarette, which emitted a hollow smoke.
“….”
“….”
After a few seconds of silence, Oscar nodded a couple of times as if in thought and then smoothly stood up. His shadow cast over the Grand Duke’s head, creating the illusion that the world had darkened.
“Marquis?”
Was it because Oscar was standing alone, dressed up, or was it perhaps because the Grand Duke was being consumed by the shadow he cast?
An oppressive darkness loomed around him.
Oscar’s features, picturesque and suave, twisted into a soft smile. The Grand Duke felt as if he was being choked by that smile.
“It’s intriguing, hence my curiosity.”
“No, I mean, that is…”
The Grand Duke stumbled over his words, and Oscar had no patience for his foolish stuttering. A faint laugh escaped Oscar, and as the Grand Duke’s mouth shut, Oscar nodded.
“Please, excuse me for a moment.”
Meanwhile, Simon, sensing that Oscar’s patience had worn thin the moment he saw him leaving the room, quickly relayed the news he had just received.
Standing silently like a shadow, Oscar returned to the room without a word.
As soon as Oscar returned and sat down, the Grand Duke’s mouth went dry. Oscar, still smiling, took another sip of his cigarette, enveloped in a haze of smoke.
Then the laughter faded, leaving only those chilling eyes visible.
“Grand Duke Baden.”
A creepy voice came from beyond the smoke, causing sweat to bead on the Grand Duke’s forehead. Each time his bare body twitched, his shriveled manhood dangled, which Oscar found hilariously pathetic, and he couldn’t contain his laughter.
The deep, low laughter, rising as if from the very depths of a mine, was colder than the draft ascending a mine shaft.
The Grand Duke, as if the woman sitting next to him was his shield, pulled her tightly to himself and faced Oscar.
“Ack! Your Grace…!”
Dogs bark, but wolves do not.
In the quiet forest of deadly intentions, they simply lie low and wait for the right moment. And when the lurking wolf finally revealed its true colors, the Grand Duke realized he was standing alone in a forest brimming with danger.
“Anything about Felpe Bank?”
The third time.
The intuition that there would not be a fourth overwhelmed him, and the Duke, shifting uncomfortably, hurriedly spoke up.
“That, the person with the key to safe 5555 has appeared!”
“Is that so?”
“A woman, and, uh…”
“So when can I open that safe?”
“…”
“Is it not possible?”
As Oscar’s responses abruptly shortened, the Grand Duke shuddered as if having a seizure.
“Is it not possible? Look here, Marquis!”
Even as the Grand Duke became irate, Oscar remained expressionless, simply flicking the long ash from his cigarette onto the floor.
“So, is it possible or not?”
The Grand Duke fumbled with his words like a man at a loss, to which Oscar muttered while lighting another cigarette,
“Damn it, if it were within your capability, it would have been done already.”
“….”
The frosty curse stung like a slap across the face, causing not only the Grand Duke but also the woman clinging to him to freeze in shock. Then, as Oscar took another long puff of his cigarette, the Grand Duke suddenly exploded in anger.
“Marquis Reinhardt! How dare a Marquis of Luxen behave so rudely towards royalty? What if I make this public and send a formal complaint to the king of Luxen, do you think you’ll be safe?”
At that moment, any hint of smile vanished from Oscar’s face.
The woman, forced to face Oscar because the Duke was using her as a shield, realize deeply that the Grand Duke had made a terribly wrong choice.
Oscar looked at the Grand Duke, then the floor, then the cluttered table before getting up suddenly from his seat. He picked up a half-empty bottle of whiskey.
Her body started to tremble like a leaf in the wind, and it was unclear whether it was her own body shaking or the Grand Duke’s, who was still holding her from behind.