Reasons for Contract Marriage - Chapter 182

Watching the edge of the cloth burn away, Brianna struggled not to show any sign of agitation. She knew that revealing fear here would only provoke his sadism further.

“Oh dear, I’ve ruined the Duchess’s dress. My apologies.”

In a tone that carried no sincerity at all, he extended his foot and pressed down on her skirt, grinding it against the floor. Then, holding the cigarette between his fingers, he deliberately brought the burning tip close to Brianna’s face.

“I wondered if showing him his brother’s corpse would drive him half-mad, but he seemed far too composed. I thought to myself, was it because he didn’t see the process of dying? Or should I have cut off the limbs before killing him? Considering the depth of my resentment, it’s true I let the late duke go far too peacefully.”

The glowing cigarette drew closer, nearly grazing her eye. The heat brushing against her skin made her tremble despite herself.

“So I’m seriously debating what to do with you. Should I let him watch you die this time? Or perhaps put a hole in that pretty face of yours? Or…”

He lifted the front of the shoe that had been stepping on the cloth, raising her skirt. Brianna clenched her teeth at the disgusting sensation, as though a snake had crawled over her. Thankfully, the shoe withdrew soon after.

“The most classic and effective way would be to defile you sexually, but I’m not such a lowly swindler. Still, I’m curious about the Duchess’s opinion, so let me ask. Which do you think is better?”

His words were nothing more than the way a cat toys with a mouse before killing it. In truth, he could carry out every one of the things he had just said. So she refused to let him see her shivering in terror. That would be the very sight he longed for most.

“At least there’s one thing I know for certain. Why you became like this.”

He bit the cigarette crookedly between his lips again. Regardless, Brianna continued speaking.

“Lucius has never once tried to take what belonged to someone else. No matter how much he wanted it.”

Though he was told he was more suited to be Duke Carlisle than his crippled brother, he had always excluded that position from his life. He had loved her for so long, yet he had hidden it tightly. If Florian had not died, he would’ve kept his mouth shut until the very end.

“But you coveted and desired something that was never yours from the very beginning. That’s why you ended up like this. Pathetic, worn out, and utterly vile…”

“Something that was never mine from the beginning?”

Displeasure filled his face, followed by a dry laugh.

“If you mean to say that the king’s power was never mine, even though I was born royal and raised as crown prince, then is that not absurd?”

“The crown prince’s position was never something you earned through effort.”

“And Lucius was different? He was born the son of the most powerful man in the country. And as the second son, he even seized the duke title.”

“He never strove to hold power. Instead, he shared the power he had with others. By establishing the House of Commons, by breaking the monopoly of the Speaker. And that is an unstoppable tide of this era.”

Brianna looked him straight in the eyes as she added, “The royal authority you believed was yours was already nothing more than a hollow illusion. It was already shattered into pieces. It was only your dull eyes that failed to see it.”

A mocking smile lingered at her lips. “You look as if you don’t understand a single word I’m saying. No wonder. You are incompetent, lazy, and greedy. Yet even so, perhaps you might have remained the luckiest of royals. Even if sweeping changes shook the current class system, you could still have lived comfortably, loved by the public, respected as royalty. But you kicked away that fortune yourself, and so you will have no more chances.”

“Shut your mouth.”

He pulled the gun from his waist. Cold metal pressed against the side of her head.

“Before I blow your head off right now. Or should I burn that loose mouth of yours first?”

Brianna thought that perhaps it might be better to die now. At least then she could prevent Lucius from losing his life.

No matter how much she twisted her bound hands, the ropes showed no sign of loosening. At this rate, there seemed to be no ending other than both she and Lucius dying.

Perhaps it would be better to provoke him further and make him fire the gun in anger.

Just as she resolved this in her heart, the door of the mountain lodge opened.

The man standing outside was unmistakably Lucius. The instant she saw his face, tears she had held back surged hotly. She had wished he wouldn’t come here, yet at the same time, deep down, she had desperately wanted to see his face one last time before dying.

Lucius gazed at Brianna for a brief moment with deep eyes before turning to the crown prince. At once, the crown prince tossed his cigarette to the floor and shifted the gun that had been aimed at Brianna toward Lucius.

“Put down all the weapons you have.”

Lucius raised both hands. “As you can see, I am unarmed.”

“Did you come alone?”

“Of course. If I wasn’t alone, there would be no reason for me to come here.”

The crown prince carefully listened for sounds outside. Then he jerked his chin at Lucius and commanded, “Close the door and come in.”

“Not until you let Brianna go outside.”

The crown prince gave a slight laugh and adjusted his grip on the gun. Then, without hesitation, he struck Brianna hard on the temple with the gun’s muzzle.

“Ahk!”

“Brianna!”

She fell over together with the chair, her shoulder hitting the floor hard. Instinctively, she realized her left shoulder had been dislocated.

“Ah…”

The area near her head throbbed. Something warm trickled down her face, and seeing it stream down, she realized a part had been torn and was bleeding.

But the greater problem was her dislocated shoulder. At the horrific pain she had never felt in her life, Brianna let out sob-like groans.

“Don’t make me say it twice.”

The crown prince aimed the muzzle at Brianna again. This time, the sound of a click, the loading of the gun, rang out with it.

“Next time, I’ll shoot this woman’s head.”

In the end, Lucius stepped into the mountain lodge. Then he reached his hand back and closed the door.

“Now that the stage is set, shall we rehearse the question I gave you back then once more? Kid, what did I say to do if you wanted to get back something precious?”

Brianna looked forward with her face pressed against the floor. In her slanted vision, tilted diagonally, she saw Lucius slowly kneel on one knee. When she then saw him lower the other knee as well, Brianna shut her eyes tightly.

“Yes, good boy. That’s how you kneel first. And after that?”

“Let Brianna go. Your enemy is me, not her.”

His voice was full of desperation. At that, the crown prince, hmm, muttered as if thinking of something.

“Your attitude is still quite stiff, isn’t it? Once you kneel, you should have pressed your head to the ground and laid yourself flat properly.”

Suddenly, a gunshot rang out. Brianna, startled, opened the eyes she had tightly shut. She saw Lucius, who had been kneeling, collapse to the floor.

“Luce!”

Blood poured from his left thigh where the bullet had pierced. Even while bleeding from the gunshot wound, Lucius didn’t let out a single groan. With his brows deeply furrowed, he merely bit and released his lips lightly. Instead, it was Brianna watching who contorted her face as if she were the one in pain. She couldn’t understand how he could act so composed despite being shot.

“That woman, since she is your wife, dared to speak so much in front of me earlier. She said I coveted what was never mine from the beginning, called me dull. So now, I no longer feel like sending her off peacefully. What shall I do?”

Cowardly, once Lucius was rendered incapable of resisting, he approached and kicked the side of his head hard enough to make a thudding sound.

“Don’t worry. After I leave you at the brink of death, I’ll kill that woman with my own hands right before your eyes.”

And what followed after that was one-sided and indiscriminate violence. Unable to keep watching the sight, Brianna turned her head away, and in that instant, she discovered a glowing ember still alive before her eyes.

It was the cigarette butt the crown prince had thrown earlier.

Taking advantage of the crown prince’s attention being on Lucius, Brianna quickly moved her body. Dragging the chair with her to where the cigarette butt was, she pressed the rope against the ember. A moment later, one of the ropes began to burn, and the bond that tied her body loosened.

“Ugh!”

Meanwhile, a reversal occurred between Lucius and the crown prince. While the crown prince was relentlessly trampling and kicking him, Lucius struck the foot on the ground with his hand, toppling him over.

“Damn it!”

The startled crown prince pulled the trigger at him, but Lucius grabbed the end of the gun with one hand and barely managed to twist its direction elsewhere.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The stray bullets fired in succession in all directions. And Brianna pulled out the gun she had hidden beneath her skirt and aimed it at the two men.