Reasons for Contract Marriage - Chapter 75

Lucius’s face hardened instantly. A chillingly cold voice slipped from his lips.

“Unknown individuals? Does that mean they’re not connected to the crown prince?”

“We won’t know for certain until more information comes in, but the abduction methods suggest common thugs were involved. They lured Miss Brianna with a pickpocket and then took her away in a carriage parked along the street.”

Lucius’s brow furrowed. He agreed that the methods were far from those the crown prince would use. The crown prince would never take the risk of abducting someone from a busy street. If he were behind it, he would have lured Brianna to a secluded place like he had with Florian, leaving no body behind after burning everything. There was no immediate reason to kill Brianna either.

This meant that some other force was targeting her, apart from the crown prince.

“Do you know where they took her?”

“Of course. They are currently heading to the western outskirts of the capital. I will send another signal as soon as the carriage stops.”

“We’re heading there now.”

Lucius took out a gun he had kept in a drawer and strapped it to his waist. Although a soldier on leave using a firearm for personal matters could face severe punishment, that was the least of his concerns at the moment.

Lucius mounted his horse and galloped off, not toward the lodge where Daniel awaited, but in the opposite direction. His plan was to meet Daniel only after ensuring Brianna’s safety.

Daniel would understand. Even though it was the important occasion of their father’s memorial, he had always been forgiving of his younger brother. When Lucius had been suspended from the academy, Daniel had never asked why, unlike their mother. Instead, he had defended Lucius, convinced that there must have been a good reason for his actions.

So, Daniel would surely wait for him this time too. He would scold Lucius for being late, but after hearing the explanation, he would pat his back and tell him he did well.

Not long after he began riding, raindrops started to fall. Soon, a torrential downpour began, making it difficult to see ahead.

***

Just as their mother had predicted, the rain poured down in the afternoon. Daniel murmured to himself as he watched the rain through a small window on one side of the lodge.

“Mother has an uncanny ability to predict the weather. Still, why isn’t he here yet?”

As the rain fell, the air turned damp and chilly. Daniel took the firewood that had been prepared in one corner of the lodge and placed it in the stove, lighting it himself. They hadn’t brought any servants since it had always been a tradition from their father’s time to do everything by themselves. At the duke’s residence, the servants catered to their every need, but in this lodge, their father had insisted on doing everything himself—lighting the fire, hunting, and even butchering the hunted animals to cook over the fire.

The meat their father cooked, with his unskilled hands, had always tasted better than anything seasoned by the best chef at the duke’s residence. In those days, strict etiquette was forgotten as Daniel and Lucius devoured the meat handed to them, tearing it apart with their hands. Their father had always watched them with a content smile, though their mother would have surely scolded him if she had seen them, accusing him of feeding the children improperly.

“Hah.”

Daniel let out a chuckle as he stared at the flickering flames. There was something about being here that made a person sentimental. Or perhaps it was because this was the first time he was alone without Lucius. Memories of the past kept surfacing, as well as the words his father used to say.

“Daniel, if anything happens to me, you’ll need to take care of your mother and brother. I know this is a heavy burden for you, but there’s no one else I can ask.”

Contrary to his father’s concerns, Daniel had never found that promise burdensome. He saw it as his duty as the eldest son, and, more than anything, it brought him great joy to be responsible for his mother and Lucius.

That was why marriage was such a difficult matter for him.

Any woman willing to marry a man like him couldn’t be in her right mind.

No matter how prestigious the title of Duchess might be, who would willingly endure a crippled husband who only cared for his family? Considering all these things, he had let the years slip by. Now that Lucius was engaged, their mother had become even more insistent about his marriage. If things continued like this, she might tie him up and force him into a wedding ceremony.

“Maybe I should just make Lucius’s future child my heir.”

It was a half-joking thought, but as he considered it, it seemed rather reasonable. He could live a carefree life, and Lucius’s child would become the next Duke Carlisle. It seemed like a perfect plan.

Just as he was thinking about abandoning the topic of marriage and discussing this idea seriously with Lucius, he heard a noise from outside.

“Finally, he’s here!”

Daniel grabbed his cane and headed to the door. He was already coming up with ways to scold Lucius for being late. If he asked for another kiss, Lucius might leave with a look of utter contempt. That trick had already been used, so it wouldn’t be fun anymore.

As Daniel was brainstorming new ways to tease his brother, the door suddenly burst open with a loud bang. He swung his cane, shouting, “Where have you been all this time—”

The man standing in the downpour was cloaked entirely in black, his face and body covered. Initially, the pouring rain blurred the figure, making Daniel mistake him for Lucius.

But soon, he realized that this was not his cherished younger brother. And Daniel knew, with a chilling certainty, that he would die here today.

This man was death incarnate, come to take him.

The man stepped into the lodge, one slow step at a time. Rain blew in through the open door, soaking the entrance.

Daniel raised the corners of his lips in a bitter smile. “Would you mind closing the door, at least out of courtesy? I’d rather not be found bloated and soaked. Think of the poor soul who has to find my body.”

Instead of closing the door, the man walked steadily toward Daniel. Muddy water mixed with black earth puddled with each step he took. Soon, the cold barrel of a gun was aimed directly at Daniel’s heart.

Ah, Father must have felt like this too.

In that fleeting moment between life and death, Daniel’s entire life flashed before his eyes. And he knew, instinctively, that his father must have felt the same emotions in his final moments—dying while protecting his loved ones.

He had no regrets about dying. He had lived earnestly, never looking back.

But he had many worries. The family he would leave behind. His mother, who would lose another son after losing her husband, and Lucius, who would lose his friend and brother—how could they continue? More than anything, the thought of breaking his promise to his father filled him with deep sorrow.

Bang!

The gunshot echoed once. The bullet pierced through his heart, and a burst of red blood gushed from the wound.

Daniel clutched his chest, trying to stop the flow, but blood continued to spill, staining his hands and clothes. He lost his grip on his cane, collapsing to the floor.

Blood soon pooled around him, soaking his scattered silver hair in a crimson hue. As his consciousness faded, Daniel let out a hollow laugh.

Damn it, it hurts a lot more than I thought. What the hell did Lucius put himself through?

That fleeting thought faded as darkness engulfed him.

***

Brianna woke up shivering from the extreme cold. She quickly realized that she was in a downpour, tied up, unable to move her tongue due to a gag in her mouth.

“Mmm…”

As she struggled, trying to recall how she ended up in such a state, she remembered being struck on the back of her head as soon as she entered the carriage. The spot where she had been hit throbbed with pain.

Who could have done this…?

Just then, she heard men’s voices coming from somewhere nearby.