Attachment Knight - Chapter 20

Once he was soaked in alcohol, the man started rambling on about achievements I didn’t even care about. I listened half-heartedly and flattered him appropriately. Emboldened, Godom began wagging his tongue even more freely.

“Are you happy next to that bastard Don? Huh? Does he treat you well in bed too…. To satisfy a young and pretty girl like you, he must be working pretty hard, hiccup.”

He slipped an arm around my shoulder and coaxed me.

“I’m confident too. Why don’t we, uh, give it a try? We might suit each other better than that bastard.”

“Your belly’s too big for that.”

I brushed his hand off my shoulder and unwrapped a piece of chocolate. Maybe even the way I crunched it was charming, because the filthy old man stared at me with a drunken, affectionate gaze, completely taken with me. It made me sick, but I kept urging him to drink.

“By the way. Don must tell you all sorts of things. What does he say? Something about conducting experiments…. I’ve been running errands for Don Pisano for ten years now. I might be able to help. Just tell me a little, hm?”

“I’ll tell you if you finish that glass.”

“Watch carefully.”

Godom boldly downed the glass he had filled to the brim. In the marquis’s loosened gaze, the image of a woman smiling alluringly flickered. Alcohol heated to the limit and desire pushed to the brink make people bold. Recklessness goes too far, and they lose all sense of themselves.

I lightly traced down his arm. The marquis, excited, pulled me into an embrace. When the glass with only a bit of liquor left clinked, it shattered with a sharp sound.

That was the last glass.

***

Radem stared intently at the dark room where a quiet commotion repeated chaotically. He gripped the scabbard at his side. From the moment he silently crossed the threshold until he arrived in front of the concealed bedroom, his breathing remained unwavering, like that of a seasoned assassin. Only the veins bulging on the back of his hand revealed his emotions.

Millicent had told him not to follow, but he couldn’t do that.

Whenever the curtain was lifted, whenever he crossed ‘that’ boundary, a horrific scene always awaited Radem. Even if he built up firm defenses, his heart would be wounded again and again. Even so, he couldn’t just ignore it. Whether it was because of the last shred of chivalry left in him, or because it was Millicent, he didn’t know.

‘I feel like I’m losing my mind.’

It felt as if he and Millicent truly had a special relationship, as if they were lovers forced to part by some incident. Was that why he felt these absurd emotions? Did he even have the right to feel them? He let out a bitter sigh. Radem took a deep breath and yanked the heavy curtain aside. The next moment, the sight that filled his vision made him stop breathing.

A sharp scent hit him, and he quickly covered his nose and mouth.

“Radem?”

A bright, innocent voice followed. The room, filled with a nauseating scent and smoke thick enough to blur his vision, was dyed entirely red. The large man lying pale and limp, and a metallic smell that might or might not be blood. Marquis Godom lay there with his limbs grotesquely splayed, his breath already gone.

Somewhere, a sweet music box melody was playing. The bizarre contrast only made the situation feel more unreal. Only those vivid eyes, shining like jewels, gripped him like an unavoidable reality.

“…Millie.”

Those sunset-colored eyes that had gripped his heart completely. The clusters of light that once held pure vitality under bright sunlight now shimmered eerily in the dim room like a poisoned glass of wine.

“Why did you come?”

Radem flinched. Millicent, who had set the overturned glass upright, casually moved the stiff corpse as she muttered.

“I told you not to come.”

“…I was worried.”

“….”

Millicent stared at him with wide, startled eyes. Her overly dilated pupils gradually returned to normal, and she formed a strange expression.

“Now you know there’s no need to worry, right?”

Her voice carried fatigue.

Radem sealed the door and drew the curtains. As he silently handled the situation in the room and dealt with the body, Millicent’s gaze never left him for a moment.

After a long while, her words shot out sharply.

“Why don’t you ever listen? Did you really have to see this too?”

“It’s poison mixed with a hallucinogen.”

Radem wiped away the silver residue settled at the bottom of the glass and disposed of all the evidence.

“Administered in small amounts repeatedly. Three bottles would be a lethal dose.”

“It must have been hard dealing with him while finishing three bottles.”

“I didn’t have a choice if I didn’t want to get caught. That man may look like that, but he’s been in the black market a long time. He knows all about this kind of thing.”

Millicent muttered and stared at Radem again. He kept his back turned, avoiding her gaze.

“I asked why you came?”

The sharp question shot out like a thorn. Every part of her felt tense and sensitive. Millicent kicked the table. The floor, which had just been cleaned, became messy again with shattered fragments and scattered debris.

Only then did Radem look at her. Millicent felt a faint thrill.

“What, do I look different now that I’ve killed someone?”

“Cleaning.”

“….”

“It was Don Pisano’s order, wasn’t it?”

“No. I wanted to kill this man too.”

For someone who lived at the bottom, Millicent couldn’t understand why she reacted so sensitively to showing her dirtiest, most horrifying side. Was it because the other person was Radem? She felt as if she herself were an unforgivable sin. A wave of emotion she couldn’t identify as shame or self-loathing surged up. As if resisting it, she deliberately provoked him.

“Killing him feels refreshing. I just regret not doing it sooner. I should’ve made it more painful. Using poison is too easy.”

But he didn’t take the bait. Radem silently cleaned what had fallen to the floor, then lowered himself in front of her.

“Are you hurt anywhere?”

“….”

He carefully took her small hand that had pushed the table and examined it. Millicent was momentarily at a loss for words. She even forgot to wrap herself in her usual defensive thorns and held her breath.

Only after a long pause did she manage to speak, her voice drained.

“I’m fine. But then, why aren’t you saying anything? Why won’t you even look at me?”

“I was thinking about an antidote.”

“An antidote? Don’t tell me you’re going to save Godom—”

“Didn’t you drink that alcohol too, Millie?”

“….”

Radem pressed gently on Millie’s palm, where drops of blood had formed, using a cloth. She bit her lip at the stinging pain.

“I’m fine. I have resistance to that level of poison. I just need to rest a bit.”

“I thought you’d say that. I figured you wouldn’t accept any treatment.”

Millicent bit her lip again under Radem’s steady gaze fixed on her. It was calm, yet filled with emotion. The look, carrying both concern and reproach, stung more than the pain in her palm.

“Don’t do that.”

“What…?”

“People are strong, but small cracks build up and can make them collapse in an instant. So don’t brush it off as nothing. Get treated on time. Please. Millie.”

With each word he poured out, that gaze that might be concern or pity, every small act of kindness, Millicent realized again how unfamiliar it all was to her. The feeling that rose instinctively in that moment was fear. A sense of distance. A faint premonition that she would never be able to go back to before she knew this….

Millicent roughly pulled her hand out of his grasp.

“Who do you think you are?”

“….”

“Who are you to worry about me? What does it have to do with you? What are you to me—”

“….”

“Radem Rosenbauer, I’ve lived like this my whole life. An injury like this doesn’t even count as a crack. So stop talking out of line and take me to the bedroom right now.”

“Me.”

His low voice, sunk deep, made Millicent flinch. Without realizing it, she clenched the hem of her clothes tightly. Radem lifted his head and met her eyes. In the uneasy tension, her heart pounded.

His hand firmly caught Millicent’s hand as it tried to pull away.

“You’re the one who saved me, even risking your life.”

“….”

“You’re the one who protected me like that over a single old memory I can’t even recall. And now you say we have nothing to do with each other….”

“….”

“If you tell me not to overstep and interfere, what am I supposed to do? Accept it and just watch no matter what happens to you?”

“I—”

“Even when trash who just want to lay a hand on you come at you, even if you’re thrown into danger as if nothing matters as long as the objective is achieved, should I just stand by? I’m sorry, but I can’t do that. Think of it as overstepping.”

His upper body leaned closer. Millicent felt the warm body heat as he gently wrapped a hand around her neck.

“I can’t just stand by and watch.”

The man who tilted his head close whispered in a voice sweeter than anything.

“I can’t do that anymore, Millie.”