Chapter 12

John shouted out at Ethan as he walked away, but Ethan didn't answer and merely got on the horse another servant had prepared for him.

John frowned at Ethan's abnormal behavior.

He felt that he'd seen something different in Ethan, who was never prone to any change. Was Ethan's frozen life slowly changing?

John's eyes flashed with excitement as he stared at the spot where Ethan had disappeared.

As she frantically ran, Adelina's legs tangled up in her skirts, and she stumbled to the ground. Her knees were bleeding, but she staggered as she got up and ripped the hem of her skirts.

She loosened her elegantly coiffed hair and took out all the splendid ornaments. She took the strips of cloth from her skirts and used them to tie her hair up.

Thinking that her conversation with the General would drag on, she had made the mistake of sending back her carriage. She had thought that the distance was short enough for her to walk back, but why did it feel so far away now?

"Father."

She didn't know why she was so short-sighted.

She thought that everything would be over the moment she decided to follow the Imperial decree. How narrow-minded could she be?! To some, this marriage would be welcome news. But to others, it was something that needed to be stopped.

Her misjudgement had put her whole family in danger once again. She didn't have the courage to go through it again.

"Ah!"

Startled by the horse that had suddenly appeared beside her, Adelina felt herself being lifted off the ground and put on top of the horse. Adelina's body began to tremble when her eyes met the man's cold ones.

"Where is it?"

"What?"

"Weren't you on your way home?"

Momentarily shocked by Ethan's cold gaze, Adelina quickly returned to her senses. Now wasn't the time to be shocked by the man's fierce eyes.

"That way!"

Ethan guided the horse in the direction she taught him.There were many people, but Ethan avoided them with ease. The horse seemed to act as his arms and legs. When she saw her seemingly faraway house with her own eyes, the remaining blood drained from her face. She saw smoke rising from her house.

"Please stop here!"

When she was right in front of the residence, Adelina slipped off the horse without Ethan's help and began to run. Her eyes were anxious as she left Ethan without giving him her thanks.

"Father! Doen!"

Judging from the smoke in the house, this wasn't an ordinary fire. As she slipped through the line of soldiers, Adelina burst through the doors and entered inside. 

"Nisha!"

"My Lady."

"What about Father? What about the others?"

"My Lady, calm down!"

Adelina grabbed the servant in bewilderment. She urged the servant to speak with a pale face.

"Assassins did intrude, but no one was hurt."

Adelina did not relax at the servant's words. Were they lying to calm her down? Letting go of the servant's arm, Adelina turned to start making her way to Scarr's room.

Suddenly, she heard Doen making a fuss as she approached Adelina.

"My Lady."

"Doen!"

After discovering Doen, Adelina ran over to her. Doen must have been very shocked because her hand was ice cold as it grasped Adelina's. Doen wrapped her hand around hers as if to soothe her.

"It's alright. Nothing happened."

"But the assassins!"

"Nobody was hurt."

"..."

"The master and Nisha are all safe. It's alright."

"Are you all really alright?"

"Everyone's fine."

After hearing Doen's reassurance one more time, Adelina collapsed to the ground. Adelina earnestly thanked the god whom she had searched multiple times today.

As if all of her fears had poured over her at once, Adelina's eyes began to fill with tears. As she tried to calm down and wipe them away, she burrowed deeper into Doen's embrace and burst into tears.

"I really thought something bad had happened. I thought the same thing would happen again."

Doen gently stroked Adelina's back.

After seeing Adelina burst into tears with Doen, Ethan looked around with calm eyes. When a soldier approached him, asking who he was, Ethan showed him his General's badge. Then he walked over to the captured assassins.

"Do you want to live?"

The assassin lowered his head at Ethan's question. Seeing this, the edge of Ethan's lips curled up.

"Even if you keep your mouths shut, I'm sure your master isn't the type of person to save your lives. I can't tell if you're foolish or pathetic."

The assassin flinched. As if he were no longer interested in them, Ethan turned his eyes back to Adelina.

Consort Min wasn't the type of person to make such a fuss just because of his marriage.

Ethan's eyes traveled from the assassin to the crying Adelina.

A woman's cries were just as annoying as the sound of her laughter. She didn't even have the power to protect her own family, but she acted all high and mighty. In Ethan's eyes, she was merely a fool.

"S-Save us."

Swallowing her tears, Adelina's eyes flashed to Ethan.

Even though she allied herself with the Deputy Secretary General, nothing had changed. At this rate, everyone was going to die before the wedding.

"My Lady!"

She didn't know where this strength came from. Her mind was completely blank. All she could see was the man standing in front of her right now.

Bursting out of Doen's arms, Adelina grabbed Ethan's leg.

"Please show us mercy just this once. Please… I'm begging you!"

Ethan calmly looked down at the woman grabbing onto his leg. He was tired and annoyed, and he didn't have the motivation to fulfill her request.

However, the moment the assassins came, all Ethan could think about was Consort Min.

There was definitely something going on here. Something that neither he nor Adelina knew. Although he didn't like the fact that she was just like Consort Min, seeing how the Consort was so fixated on this marriage, Ethan felt that this might be a rare opportunity.

An opportunity to slowly wring the Consort's neck.

An opportunity to grasp the Scarr Family, who had cursed his own family, and completely shatter them.

No matter how this had come to be, it was an opportunity to pay back all the suffering his family had received.

"All you're going to do is breathe?"