Chapter 45
Haele looked at Aiden with a perplexed expression. Seeing him incapacitate an assassin in mere seconds, he understood that he was more than capable. But with his feet shackled, how could he possibly go and rescue Lady Raylenne? Another puzzling thought lingered in his mind, ‘Why does he want to save her anyway?’
Aiden had no reason to go out of his way to rescue someone from the Ergen household. Was he trying to score some points and make his captive life a bit easier? Besides, he hadn’t noticed earlier due to the chaos, but Aiden somehow knew that Raylenne was behind the underground prison. He could only have heard faint footsteps passing by the cell.
Lost in thought, Haele was jolted back to reality by a cracking noise. He stiffened, turning his head with a foreboding sense of dread. There, he saw Aiden holding a broken chain. The chain that had connected his shackles to the wall was now severed.
‘Now that the chain is broken…’
Aiden was free. Haele couldn’t believe his eyes as he stared at the weakly snapped chain.
“How…?”
But before he could get an answer, Aiden disappeared past him like the wind, leaving only a faint, mysterious glow around him.
‘What is that…?’
In the strange turn of events, Haele could only blankly stare at Aiden’s receding figure.
* * *
Raylenne drew a woodworking knife from her pocket and swung it at the assassin’s neck.
Smack!
However, her wrist was caught mid-air.
“You won’t get me twice,” the assassin said, snatching the knife and tossing it to the ground. Raylenne looked down at the fallen knife, her face etched with despair.
But that didn’t last long. The assassin forcibly lifted her chin, making her look at him.
“What are you planning to do?”
The assassin pulled out his sword from his waist instead of answering.
“You’ll find out soon enough, don’t bother asking.”
Earlier, he seemed hesitant to kill, but now, without hesitation, he brought the sword to her face. The blade’s edge gleamed menacingly.
Staring at the approaching blade, Raylenne closed her eyes tightly.
At that moment, the grip on her chin loosened. She heard the assassin groan.
“Ugh…”
When she dared to open her eyes, she saw the whites of the assassin’s eyes.
Thud.
The assassin collapsed, revealing a sturdy figure behind him. Under the moonlight, the silver hair gave away his identity.
“Aiden…!”
Aiden approached and grabbed Raylenne’s hand. Warmth spread through the touch.
“Are you hurt?”
Raylenne could only nod, still tense from the ordeal. As the thundering pulse in her ears started to fade, she realized Aiden stood right in front of her.
He seemed like a mirage, standing against the moonlight.
‘How did he get out of his cell… and just in time?’
As she blankly stared at him, Aiden slowly stepped forward and embraced her.
“…I was worried.”
His soft voice resonated against the nape of her neck. Raylenne was still dazed, hardly believing she was in Aiden’s arms.
A groan from below interrupted the moment. Aiden released her, and the cold wind quickly replaced the warmth.
Aiden crouched before the now conscious assassin.
“Who… who are you…?” the assassin muttered.
Aiden swiftly removed the assassin’s mask, revealing a surprisingly ordinary-looking man with a contorted face. Aiden looked down at him impassively.
“Who sent you?”
“…”
When no answer came, Aiden’s eyes drifted to the assassin’s thigh, where a wound Raylenne had inflicted was bleeding.
Aiden pressed down on the wound.
“Aaaagh!”
The man’s scream echoed, making even Raylenne wince. But Aiden watched the assassin with the same detachment as one might listen to music.
“I’ll ask again. Who sent you?”
“Th-that…”
Finally willing to speak, the assassin caught Raylenne’s attention.
“It was Helis.”
A deep sigh escaped her.
‘So it really was Helis behind this.’
There was no twist, just the expected betrayal. Raylenne felt a profound sense of emptiness more than anger.
Unlike the shocked Raylenne, Aiden calmly continued his questioning.
“Did Helis order you to kill Lady Raylenne?”
The assassin shook his head.
“No, that’s not it.”
“Then,” Aiden gripped the assassin’s jaw, pulling him closer. The assassin trembled, as if about to faint.
“What were you supposed to do?”
Right now, Aiden’s demeanor was utterly unfamiliar.
Aiden’s expressionless face and monotone voice made it seem like he was possessed by someone else. The shy demeanor he had previously shown, blushing and avoiding eye contact, was nowhere to be found. Just watching him made her legs feel weak, so she couldn’t imagine how the assassin felt.
As the assassin hesitated to respond, the merciless Aiden pressed on the wound on his thigh again.
“Aaah!”
“Answer before I dig this wound further with my sword.”
“They told me to slash her face with a knife!”
Raylenne, watching from the side, asked with a horrified expression.
“So, you weren’t trying to kill me… but to scar my face?”
“I was just following orders!” the assassin trembled in fear.
“Tell me exactly. What did Helis instruct you to do?”
“He ordered me to give you a hideous scar, one that would make no one want to take you as a bride!”
Terrified, the assassin confessed without hesitation.
But this only raised more questions for Raylenne.
‘Why would he give such an order…?’
As Raylenne pondered, she realized she couldn’t fully trust the assassin’s words. She felt like she was sinking deeper into a labyrinth and wanted to confront Helis immediately. But first, she needed to handle the current chaos.
“Aiden,” Raylenne called, and Aiden released the assassin and stood up.
“Yes.”
“I’ll ask later how you got out of your cell. People might come soon, so hurry back inside.”
“…”
Aiden glanced at the trembling assassin on the floor.
“The guard let me out.”
“Haele did…?”
“Yes. It seems he fled from the assassin.”
“And what about the assassin chasing Haele?”
“He’s unconscious. I lured him into my cell.”
Raylenne quickly grasped the situation.
‘So Haele fled to the underground prison, and Aiden subdued the assassin.’
However, one thing didn’t make sense. Even if Haele had opened the cell door, the shackle key was with her, so he shouldn’t have been able to free himself.
“I’ll put this assassin in the cell. If the guard handles it later, there shouldn’t be any issues.”
Raylenne was pulled back to reality by Aiden’s voice.
“…Then what do you plan to do?”
“I’ll stay in the cell as if nothing happened, so don’t worry.”
Aiden proposed a clear and precise solution. Although it seemed odd for a prisoner who had just escaped to clean up the situation and voluntarily go back to his cell, Raylenne could only agree.
“I’ll repay you for this later.”
Recalling the events, Raylenne still felt dizzy. The memory of the sharp blade approaching her was vivid, causing her heart to pound.
She felt the need to show some gratitude to Aiden, who had saved her just in time. A faint smile appeared on Aiden’s face.
“I’ll remember that.”
Raylenne nodded and hurried away. Her destination wasn’t Helis’s room. Confronting him now wouldn’t yield any answers, but she felt it would be best to have someone she trusted by her side. Clenching her fist, she went to find the only family member she could rely on in this mansion.
* * *
After Raylenne left, Aiden crouched down to the assassin. The assassin grabbed his thigh wound in fear.
“W-what are you doing…?”
Aiden’s eyes fell on the fallen sword. He picked it up and twirled it gracefully. The assassin’s eyes followed the spinning blade anxiously.
Suddenly, Aiden plunged the sword into the assassin’s thigh. He quickly covered the assassin’s mouth.
“Mmmmph!”
The assassin’s scream was muffled, echoing inside his mouth. Aiden watched him with cold eyes.
“I’m still not over my anger.”
With a clang, the sword dropped to the floor, its purpose fulfilled. Aiden dusted off his hands and stood up.
“If it were up to me, I’d have driven the blade into your heart, not your thigh, but I’m restraining myself.”
The assassin, unable to scream from the pain, only shed tears. Aiden mercilessly hoisted the assassin over his shoulder.
“Now, let’s return to the cell.”
* * *
Raylenne arrived in front of Caverion’s room. She was worried about what Helis might do if she confronted him alone. Even though Helis hadn’t ordered her death, she couldn’t rule him out as the true culprit. One thing was certain: today, she would find out if Helis was the one trying to harm her.
She adjusted her disheveled clothes and hair, then knocked on the door.
