"I must admit… I'm quite surprised you had the courage to come this far," said the thick-necked man, overweight yet imposing because of it.
Areth leaned back comfortably in his chair, crossing one leg over the other, his red-gloved hands resting together over his stomach. Anyone looking at him would think he was in no danger at all, given how relaxed he appeared.
And yet, Areth was currently inside the office of one of the underworld lords of the city of Olnalend. More precisely, he was in the office of the very man whom the Information Guild had warned was preparing to kill him.
Standing right behind him was Rosavelle, her pink hair neatly tied into a bun and dressed in an elegant outfit. One of her hands rested on Areth's shoulder, her fingers lightly touching his throat.
The scene looked less like a meeting in the office of one of the city's most powerful crime organizations and more like models posing for the cover of a magazine. Areth's expressionless face only reinforced that impression.
"I came here to clear up a misunderstanding between us, Sir Borgath Vellmar."
Borgath was briefly surprised upon hearing the honorific "Sir," but soon a smile spread across his face. He wondered how the young man before him knew that title, but quickly concluded that the Information Guild must be involved.
Sir Borgath Vellmar.
Though the name was not well known in Olnalend or its surroundings, it carried weight in his homeland. Yet, anyone who recognized that name would likely spit on the ground upon hearing it spoken. Because Sir Borgath Vellmar was an oathbreaker knight who had murdered his own lord.
The smile on Borgath's face lingered for a few more seconds… then slowly changed.
"So… you even know about my past," he muttered, tapping his thick fingers rhythmically against the table. "The Information Guild has truly fed you well, boy. In that case, you must also know why I want the slave behind you."
Areth's gaze did not shift even for a moment.
"Actually… I don't. I don't know why you want to take the granddaughter of the man you betrayed and killed as a slave. Especially when Rosavelle knows nothing about you… or even about her own grandfather."
Rosavelle's fingers suddenly loosened.
Her hand remained on his shoulder, but the touch was no longer one of control. It felt more like a reflex. Her eyes widened slightly, yet she did not speak. She barely knew anything about her mother… and had never even known her grandfather existed.
But now, she couldn't understand why Areth had brought her here. At first, she thought he had come to eliminate a threat. Now that she realized the man before them was connected to her, confusion took hold.
Borgath's fingers stopped tapping. Then he slowly leaned back. And smiled. This time, the smile was wide. Pleasant. Almost… genuine.
"Ah…" he exhaled, tilting his head slightly. "Now this is interesting, Lord Landerbern. I had thought that the two of us shared a similar perspective on revenge…"
For a brief moment, Areth was shocked. Since arriving, he had never used the Landerbern title and believing his identity would remain hidden this far from the duchy.
The fleeting ripple in Areth's eyes might have gone unnoticed by others. But Borgath saw it and he enjoyed it. His ugly grin widened as he looked at Areth.
"Oh… surprised, are you, rebellious Lord? Did you really think you were the only one who knew how to make use of the Information Guild?"
Areth did not look away. The brief shock had already disappeared, replaced by his usual cold, unreadable expression. Though he was annoyed at himself for not considering this possibility, he quickly realized that whether the man knew about him or not changed nothing.
Meanwhile, Rosavelle was experiencing her second shock in quick succession.
Her fingers were still on Areth's shoulder, but the meaning of that touch had completely changed. What had once felt familiar, almost habitual, was now filled with uncertainty. Her gaze slowly drifted to the back of his neck, as if she might find an answer hidden there.
'Lord…?'
Her mind clung to that word. She hadn't known Areth was a noble… no, a lord. In fact, she knew almost nothing about him.
She knew his name, his composure, his dangerous intelligence, and that strange, quiet authority that inspired trust. But his past, his origins, who he truly was… she had never asked. She had never felt the need to. Now, those missing pieces were suddenly laid out before her. She realized that the man she had come to trust in such a short time was, in truth, still a stranger.
And that void… was unsettling.
Meanwhile, Areth remained calm, as if no storm was raging behind him. His gaze was steady. His posture unchanged.
"I simply killed those who sought to harm me. You can call it revenge, but it was also self-defense. Besides, I was never an oathbreaker knight who murdered his own lord."
Borgath tilted his head slightly.
He remained silent for a few seconds, as if weighing Areth's words. Then… a muffled chuckle rose from his chest.
Short.
Dry.
But unmistakably amused.
"Ah… what a clean narrative," he said slowly, placing his fingers back on the table. "Self-defense… how noble that sounds."
His eyes narrowed, locking directly onto Areth.
"Let me ask you something, Lord Landerbern…"
This time, his fingers tapped the table slowly, deliberately.
"Was there truly… no other way?"
Borgath leaned forward.
"Killing someone… is always the easiest solution," he continued. "But just because it's easy… doesn't mean it's the only option."
His lips curved into a thin line.
"You could have exiled them. Broken their power. Ruined their reputation. You could have made their lives… worse than death."
A brief pause.
Then he emphasized the next words:
"But you didn't."
He looked straight into Areth's eyes.
As if piercing through him.
"Because you didn't want to."
His smile sharpened.
"You killed them. Fast. Clean. Certain. That wasn't necessity. That was a choice. I once told myself the same lie... It was necessary. I had no other choice. He forced me into it."
He shook his head slowly.
"Nonsense."
His eyes darkened.
"The truth is… I wanted to kill him."
The words echoed through the room.
"And so did you, Lord," Borgath added, his voice lower now, each word clearer than the last. "You can deny it. You can tell yourself it was logical. But in that moment… when you delivered the final blow…"
A faint smile formed.
"You enjoyed it."
Silence. It lasted only a few seconds. But for Rosavelle… it felt far longer.
Areth, however… Did not move. He didn't even blink.
Borgath leaned back again. Not like a man who had claimed victory… But like someone waiting for an answer.
"That's why we're the same," he said with calm certainty. "We both chose to kill. We both rejected the harder paths."
He tilted his head slightly.
"The only difference between us… is that I accept it."
At that moment, all eyes in the room turned to Areth. An answer was expected. And in Borgath's eyes, there was the same thing.
Curiosity.
Genuine curiosity.
"Let's say you're right, and everything you said is true. Then why are you so insistent on having Rosavelle? Until now, she knew nothing about you… or about the grandfather you killed. She is no threat to you."
The wide smile on Borgath's face didn't fade for even a moment. On the contrary, Areth's question seemed to draw something buried within him to the surface. His eyes narrowed slightly, his gaze briefly shifting from Areth to Rosavelle behind him. There was threat in that look, curiosity… but most of all, an unsettling sense of possession.
"A threat?" he murmured, his voice low yet clear. Then he slowly shook his head, the corner of his lips curling upward. "No… my reason for wanting her isn't that simple."
He leaned back further into his chair, interlacing his thick fingers as he let out a relaxed breath, as though he were about to share something he had long kept to himself.
"Sometimes, it's not about threats or logic, Lord Landerbern," he continued, fixing his gaze back on Areth. "Sometimes… it's about satisfaction."
Rosavelle's hand trembled slightly on Areth's shoulder at those words. Without realizing it, she moved a little closer to him, yet couldn't take her eyes off Borgath.
He noticed.
And he enjoyed it.
"My former master…" he began, his voice heavier now. "That 'great' man who trained me, who taught me everything… spent years telling me what to do. How to speak, how to fight, how to live." His lips thinned. "And every time I made a mistake… he made me pay for it."
A brief pause. His fingers slowly scratched along the edge of the table.
"The day I killed him… I didn't just gain my freedom," he said, his eyes gleaming with a dark light. "I also claimed everything he left behind. Except for his daughter."
His gaze shifted back to Rosavelle, lingering longer this time.
"His blood..." he whispered. "That cursed blood still walks this world. And now… a piece of it stands right in front of me."
Rosavelle was afraid, but what frightened her most at that moment was the possibility of Areth showing even the slightest sign of fear. Deep down, she was silently begging him not to leave her here. Hearing a stranger speak about her as if she were his possession was deeply unsettling, but as long as Areth was here… she held onto the hope that he would protect her.
'I want to go home' she thought to herself.
In such a short time, the merchant manor rooms she had shared with her new master had already begun to feel like home. But when she lowered her gaze and saw Areth, she chose to suppress her fear. If she gave in to it now, she felt she might lose the one person she had come to trust after so long.
Meanwhile, Borgath chuckled softly. It wasn't loud or exaggerated, but there was a clear, twisted satisfaction in it.
"I could have destroyed her," he said, looking into Rosavelle's deep blue eyes and pointing at her."That would have been the easiest path. But…" He tilted his head, a playful curve appearing on his lips. "That would have been far too boring."
His eyes narrowed.
"To control someone who carries his blood… to possess them…" He chose his words deliberately. "In every sense."
A brief silence followed. Then he leaned forward slightly.
"That" he added in a low voice, "is true satisfaction."
The air in the room grew even heavier with those words. Borgath's intentions were no longer hidden. This wasn't a plan or a strategy… it was something far darker, deeply personal.
Areth, however, still did not move.
His face remained expressionless.
But his gaze… had hardened for the first time.