[Warning: This chapter may contain hints at a topic that some people find sensitive, so it should be noted.]
Enjoy the chapter. ( ﾉ^ω^)ﾉ
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The journey from the Duke's room to the Carriage seemed very long. It got longer and longer whenever he remembered the face he was facing, his disgusting laughter, his shallow breathing, and...
"Ashley," a man smiled with distinctive violet eyes and long, neatly tied hair
Marquis Alios
the teacher
He wasn't bad at first, In fact, he was better than any other teacher
His way of explaining was fun, He was never nervous, and he responded to all his questions without getting bored
For a child suffering from neglect, having someone who smiled at him just enough was a source of hope and happiness
"Only four days have passed without seeing you, and yet you continue to become more beautiful and beautiful every time I see you."
They seem like nice words at first, if they weren't coming out of the mouth of a dirty person
"Marquis." Ashley hadn't felt a rush like this in a while, and not just because this person had hurt him
He had seen everything at that time and he knew it. This filthy person had been a teacher in more than 6 noble families before arriving at him.
They were all children
"It's been a while."
Ashley climbed into the Carriage, past the man's outstretched hand
"I apologize that I was not able to attend our classes in the past two days. I was busy with preparations," the Marquis spoke with emotion.
Ashley continued to ignore Marquis's presence for a while
After an hour, finally, to Ashley's surprise that he had waited so long, the Marquis got up from the seat opposite and sat next to Ashley.
He slowly reached out and placed his hand around Ashley's other shoulder until it covered his entire back
"You haven't come to classes for the last two days." The hand moved from the shoulder to Ashley's neck slowly
"You know, I thought for a moment that you had abandoned me, but of course you couldn't, couldn't you?"
"Put your hand away."
"Huh?"
"Get your hands off me now."
"What's the matter, Ashley? Are you crazy?" the Marquis said in a low voice and put his hand on Ashley's neck
Ashley slowly turned his head and stared at the Marquis
"I said, raise your hand, now."
"Ha…or else?" The Marquis smiled amusedly
"Otherwise, I will open the door now and call the guards."
"Do you think they'll believe you, sweetie?" Mocked
"They will." Ashley turned his face away from the man in disgust
"Oh really? Why do you think that?"
Because, unlike before, Ashley realized very well that these soldiers were there for him and would do anything he asked, not out of personal loyalty to him, of course, but because the loyalty of the soldiers of the duchy would never be to just an a Marquis.
"Don't you believe me? Well, let's see what the guards will say when they hear that the Marquis is trying to touch their young master."
Ashley pushed the Marquis's arm and opened the door of the moving carriage
"No, hey, wait!" The Marquis screamed in fear, but Ashley did not stop
"Guards!"
Suddenly, the whole group stopped
"What's the matter, young master?" knight asked,( the leader of the group)
"The Marquis," Ashley said
"What's wrong with him?"
The Marquis began to tremble under Ashley's gaze
"The Marquis feels suffocated in the carriage. Is there another place for him?"
"Yes, there is a spare vehicle in the background, but it is a bit old."
"It's okay, the Marquis doesn't care about details and fancy things."
"Isn't it Marquis?"
Without opening his mouth, the Marquis descended from the carriage and followed the knight
Ashley quietly closed the carriage door and rested his head on the back of the seat
'It was easy, very easy'
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The rest of the trip went relatively smoothly
Ashley looked from his parked cart at the guards laughing as they ate their food
"Commander"
The knight approached his horse to the carriage window
"Yes, young sir."
"What do you think would happen if a monster attacked us now, for example?"
"We will kill him, young master."
"Well what if he is very strong and difficult to defeat?"
"If the monster is much stronger than us, withdrawal will be the best solution."
"What if....the monster catches me?"
"We will fight him until he leaves you."
"What if he doesn't?"
"We'll keep going until he does."
"You will die,"
"It's an honor,"
"You have a life,"
"We chose to use it to serve the duchy."
"I'm not the Duke"
"And I'm not the king"
Ashley blinked for a moment
"Anything else, sir?"
Ashley shook his head, and the commander returned to walking towards the guards
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Finally, the second day began, and the trip continued
Ashley became more and more distracted all the time
The first time before, this day seemed unusually good at its beginning. The guard commander decided to ask Marquis to stay in the other vehicle while he stared at him with suspicious looks. Then Ashley got the opportunity to taste various sweets from the residents that the guards had brought with them and insisted on sharing them with him.
Well, this time, he didn't get out of his carriage at all, so he didn't recognize any of them again except the leader
"Where are you going?" the knight leader asked after seeing Ashley getting off the carriage and approaching the trees
"Just here, I'm going to pick flowers."
"You mean hunting rabbits, young sir?"
"yeah whatever"
Ashley advanced into the forest little by little before finally stopping and looking around
"I'm here,"
No sound appeared except the squawking of some birds and the rustling of trees
"There's no need to hide, I know you're here."
"...."
"You came for me, so there's no need to hide, come on."
The trees finally began to move after a moment, and a few heavily armed men came out, looking more like trained mercenaries than mere amateurs.
"How did you know?" One of them came forward while the others pointed their weapons at him cautiously
"Does it matter? The important thing is that I am here."
"Why didn't you stay with your guards?" he asked in a cold voice
"Aren't you here to kill me? I'm here to give you that."
The gang members laughed as another one stepped forward. Maybe he was number two in command or something
"Hey boy, do you want to die that much?"
"Maybe"
"Are you crazy?" Man number two crossed his arms together as he looked curiously at the boy in front of him
"Many people ask me this during these two days."
"Do you know why you're even about to die?" asked the cold voice of Number One
"I don't want to know, just kill me quickly."
"....."
"....."
"You're about to die here because your bastard brother thought it was fun to pretend to be a hero and killed our guild master," one said, not even considering the other party's unwillingness to know.
"You...are you from that...yellow eye that ended two years ago or something?" Ashley opened his eyes, proud of the strength of his memory
"We are the red eye"
'The same thing'
"Wait, are you telling me that you waited two whole years to come and take revenge on me?"
"Not from you, but from your brother. Your brother took something precious from us and will lose something in return."
"....."
"....."
"So you're telling me that you want to kill me to take revenge on my brother..."
"Yes, your older brother Michael," said Number Two
"You know, it doesn't matter, don't tell me more."
"Huh?"
"Okay, before you kill me, I want to give you a little offer."
"Which is?"
"I came here myself so you won't have to face the guards anymore."
"That would be a shame because we have already decided to get rid of them," Number One said coldly
"I'm speaking for you. Actually, think about it. You came here for one purpose. Why do you risk losing what's left of your secret organization or something like that here? do you realize the strength of the duchy's soldiers? Do you even know the strength of the knights? Do you want to risk being completely annihilated this time?"
The gang members looked at each other, then Number Two nodded to One with his head
"Good for you, it's a noble sacrifice on your part," one said, and the rest of the gang laughed as he walked towards Ashley.
"I will give you as quick an end as you wish." One raised his sword and waved it in one fell swoop towards Ashley
He saw the blade coming toward his neck, but he did not back down. He stared silently as he finally waited for his imminent death
Click!
A flying arrow suddenly appeared and pierced the group leader's head, and he fell to the ground