I Became the Childhood Friend of the Northern Duchess – Chapter 81

Ch 81: A Questionable Opportunity

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After hearing the unexpected news from Yulken, Lux spent his days avoiding contact with Vincent as much as possible.

However, for about four days, Vincent was conspicuously looking for him, which was frustrating.

‘That old man is short-sighted.’

What does he expect to achieve by acting according to their goals?

Has he become so rigid in his thinking because of his age?

Even though he was a man who was somewhat respected among the vassals, and they had collaborated, it suddenly occurred to him that he might just become an obstacle.

However, after that fourth day, Vincent’s movements strangely became quiet, to an unsettling degree.

So much so that he was worried that he might have been purged in advance.

Two more days passed, and when Lux returned from a brief outing this afternoon, he heard that Vincent had visited his room.

“Did he say anything in particular?”

He asked as he looked around the room, taking a sip of water that a servant had brought.

Lux’s servant, who was carefully recalling the situation a little while ago, opened his mouth hesitantly.

“He… asked if you keep letters separately.”

“Letters?”

Lux repeated the word in a questioning tone.

If it was a letter, it must be referring to the letter in which they discussed the schedule for the uprising.

Lux was not one to trust others easily, so he had kept all the letters in case things went wrong later.

He had stored them in a secret place that only he knew, in case they were discovered, so there would be no problem even if something happened.

However, he was wondering why he was suddenly asking about it.

“Yes, actually, he asked me not to tell you about this matter, but…”

“Hmm… Is that so?”

Lux tilted his head slightly, feeling a strange unease.

Even if he had asked about the whereabouts of the letters, it was questionable why he had secretly asked the servant instead of him.

If he really just wanted to know if the letters existed, it would have been more appropriate to ask him directly.

‘That’s strange.’

He had been strangely quiet for about two days, and now he was acting in such an incomprehensible way. Why?

Lux paused to ponder Vincent’s intentions, but no suitable conclusion was reached.

“Ah, and this is said to be from Your Highness.”

“Hmm?”

Lux expressed his doubt at a random letter envelope that was suddenly placed on his desk.

It was from Yulken, no less. Why at this time?

He wondered if someone else had sent it under false pretenses, but when he checked the seal on the envelope, it was indeed from Yulken.

“Go out for now. I’ll call you if I need you.”

“Yes.”

The servant bowed his head, filled the empty glass with water, and quietly left the room.

Lux, who was watching his retreating figure out of the corner of his eye, glanced at the window and door once more, and then opened the letter that Yulken had sent.

For some reason, his heart began to pound fiercely, even though he had not yet seen the contents.

‘There’s no need to be anxious.’

Perhaps it was because he had heard those words not long ago, but it seemed that a sense of unease still lingered in his heart.

Lux calmly composed himself and casually took out the letter inside.

And the words that immediately caught his eye were too short to be a letter, and too shocking to be a message.

‘I have heard the whole story from Vincent. If you do not value the lives of your clan, bring me your head before midnight tonight.’

In that sentence, there was no sign of respect, such as ‘Lord Vincent’ or the use of the polite form.

The content written there was certainly shocking, but the part where Lux realized that Yulken knew the whole story for sure was that part.

Bang!

Filled with betrayal, Lux slammed his fist roughly on the desk, trembling.

‘To think that the old man would betray me.’

The glass that had been placed on the edge fell to the floor and shattered, but he had no time to care about such things.

He wondered if this letter was a ploy to sow discord, but Lux immediately recalled the servant’s message a little while ago and gritted his teeth.

‘So that’s why he asked about the whereabouts of the letters.’

From his point of view, he had entrusted most of the work to Lux, so there were plenty of ways to create an escape route if he wanted to.

The problem was that if any physical evidence that could tie him down remained, he could be dragged into the abyss with him.

And the most certain piece of evidence that could prove the whole story was the letters that the two had exchanged.

Lux thought that the reason why Vincent had come to his room early today was probably because of that anxiety.

As long as that existed, he would never be able to create a situation where he could escape alone.

‘Was that why he was so quiet?’

Vincent had been looking for him so much for four days that it was tiresome.

But at some point, his whereabouts suddenly became strange, which was puzzling for Lux.

He probably told Yulken everything in the meantime and sided with him.

Of course, Lux did not know the reason.

However, one thing was certain: if he did not take action, he would be the one to take all the blame.

‘I can’t die alone.’

Now that the matter had been exposed, he had no choice but to die together or somehow reduce the severity of his crime.

Gathering private soldiers or doing anything reckless would only be a bad move in this situation.

The reason why an egg can’t break a rock is because only the egg breaks.

If he crossed the line any further here, he could not even guarantee the lives of his entire family.

Lux decided to assess the situation as calmly as possible.

‘First, I’ll gather the evidence. If it’s midnight, there’s plenty of time.’

Moreover, even if this situation was exposed, the possibility of his head being cut off was extremely low, which was the consensus between Vincent and Lux in the past.

In the first place, Edgar was not exactly Ariel’s fiancé or anything, but just a passing lover.

The two men who were preparing for the uprising had assured each other that if Yulken had any sense, he would not push them to such an extreme situation.

Moreover, the target was not dead but had ended in failure, so if they took advantage of that point and begged on their knees, they could save their lives.

Lux started rummaging through the desk drawers, thinking that he should save himself first.

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“What the…”

When Vincent opened his eyes, all he could see was dark darkness.

No, to be precise, nothing was reflected in his eyes.

This sight, where not a single ray of light entered, was somewhat inadequate to be described as mere darkness.

A field of vision where he could not even perceive whether he had opened his eyes, even though he had opened them.

In this place where even a faint fragment of light did not reach, the concept of dark adaptation was not even applicable.

Both his hands and feet were tightly bound.

He could tell that they were chains from the clanging sound and the cold, metallic sensation that was transmitted through his skin, but that was all.

His memories were hazy.

He clearly remembered being summoned before Yulken, but after that, he had no memory left.

He didn’t know how much time had passed in this place, or what kind of place it was. He knew nothing.

Except for one thing, the reason why he was tied up here.

‘To think he would go this far.’

The reason why he was suffering such humiliation was obvious.

However, he had not expected that Yulken would treat him so badly.

He had thought that at most he would be dismissed.

However, one question that he had was why he had been locked up in such a place without any explanation, without any proper punishment.

Usually, wouldn’t they come and ask why they had committed such an act?

At the very least, it would be a normal procedure to tell them what kind of punishment would be given.

Snap.

“Ugh…!”

Just as he was wondering, his vision became blurred by the sudden light.

It was probably because his eyes had become less resistant to light because he had been in the dark for too long.

“Have you been waiting long? Vincent.”

“……”

The person who entered the cell, making footsteps, greeted him with a bright smile, as if he was a little late for an appointment.

It was a very familiar face to Vincent as well.

However, he was surprised because he did not expect to see her here.

“…It was you.”

“Did you throw away the title ‘Young Lady’?”

“You know that it’s useless to say it in this situation.”

Vincent scoffed at Ariel and retorted confidently.

Since he had already been branded a traitor, there was nothing to lose.

“Well, I guess so.”

She shrugged her shoulders and nodded casually, and then slowly approached him.

Compared to Yulken, she was small enough to be described as tiny, but the imposing aura she emitted was comparable to his, as far as Vincent could see.

“How did you know?”

“At first, it was suspicion. On the day I returned to Hespania, I saw a few faces that I wouldn’t normally see.”

“…So, that was a trap.”

Somehow, it was strange that the incident that day had not been made public, but to think that they had already identified an enemy within and set a trap.

“How did you find the evidence?”

“I didn’t find it. In the first place, I didn’t think that you guys would leave any evidence or hide it within reach.”

“I suppose so.”

He didn’t know about Lux, but at least Vincent had burned all the letters and other items that could be used as evidence.

That was why he had been careless. He thought that if no physical evidence came out, it would eventually end up as circumstantial evidence.

“So, you mean you are persecuting me without any physical evidence?”

“Of course not. Do you see this?”

“That is…?”

Ariel was holding a small wooden box in her arms, and he wondered what it was, but what appeared inside was a pile of letter envelopes.

As soon as Vincent saw it, he immediately realized who it belonged to.

It meant that she had somehow obtained the letters that Lux had left behind without destroying them.

To think that he had ruined everything because of that stupid guy, he must have misjudged him.

“Ah, if you think that your scheme was exposed because of Lux, you’re mistaken. You played a big role too.”

“……?”

He played a big role?

Vincent was puzzled by Ariel’s appearance, which was clearly mocking him.

He thought that he had done everything thoroughly, but where on earth did the gap occur?

“The letter I sent to you, whose do you think it is?”

“Well, it’s Your Highness… no, in this case, it would be Young Lady’s.”

The title had returned at some point, but neither of them cared.

“That’s right. But didn’t you ever think that the letter was fake?”

“Of course, I did.”

It was a conversation between one person with his hands and feet tied, and the other standing proudly opposite him, and the tone of their conversation was quite relaxed.

“But whether that letter is true or false, what’s the problem with my actions…”

Vincent couldn’t understand.

Even if the content of the letter was false, the actions he took afterwards should not have been particularly noticeable.

At best, he had tried his best to meet with Lux, but it was difficult to call that physical evidence.

“Well, it’s because you made Lux spill everything.”

“…Yes?”

However, at Ariel’s words that followed, he had to open his eyes wide.

That was the cause? How?

“Actually, before sending you that letter, I asked my father to summon Lux separately.”

“You mean he spilled it at that time…?”

“Of course not. At that time, I said it like this.”

‘You and a few others, including Vincent, are on the list of suspects. However, after investigating you and Vincent, it is thought that you are innocent, so I secretly called you. I will tell Vincent this story later.’

Ariel recited Yulken’s words, not exactly, but roughly in a similar tone.

Vincent’s eyes began to widen as he pondered her words, wondering what the problem was with the content.

He also knew that Lux was not a truly foolish person.

If the person who committed the crime heard such words, would they really believe them?

At least Vincent did not think that Lux was that carefree.

Then, what would Lux do afterwards?

There would be two major possibilities, but in Vincent’s view, it narrowed down to one.

That is,

“The reason why you were so blatantly avoiding meeting me… is it because of that?”

“That’s right.”

Ariel congratulated him for getting the answer right, with a smile that was as refreshing as ever and even a short clap.

That was exactly it.

Lux heard those words from Yulken, and, thinking that he had to be even more careful, he avoided even the slightest conversation and kept his distance from Vincent.

However, Vincent, who had not received any information from Yulken and had only received a letter containing divisive content, reacted in a contrasting way.

He tried to contact Lux in any way possible to ask about the truth of the contents written in the letter, and Lux, who had always had the perception that ‘old people are rigid and cannot see far ahead,’ rebelled against it and avoided him even more blatantly.

After about four days of this, Vincent had no choice but to believe the contents written in the letter more and more.

He had gone to Lux’s room a few days ago, though he didn’t know exactly when, and asked the servant about the letter in case of an emergency.

“And this is the letter that I sent to Lux later. Do you want to see it?”

“……”

Since his hands and feet were tied, Ariel had no choice but to approach him and show it to him.

However, since he might not be able to see well because he was old, Ariel kindly offered to read it for him and unfolded the letter envelope at a considerable distance from him and read the words written on it.

“I have heard the whole story from Vincent. If you do not value the lives of your clan, bring me your head before midnight tonight.”

‘This is the letter that arrived on the day you visited Vincent’s room.’ Ariel said with a smile.

As soon as he heard the content, Vincent dropped his head weakly.

He could easily imagine the situation that would follow.

“To think that you created the evidence because there was no evidence…”

“It was important to tie you two together. That was also the part I asked my father for.”

There is a saying called ‘the prisoner’s dilemma.’

It often occurs when there are two accomplices, in a situation where they are asked to reveal the other’s crime in exchange for a reduced sentence.

At this time, if both of them remain silent, the sentences of both of them will be reduced, but most criminals reveal the other’s crime in order to reduce their own sentence.

In order to do this, it is important to prevent the two criminals from contacting each other, and that was what Ariel used.

Of course, there are differences in the details.

However, the clear commonality was that neither of them cared about the other’s well-being.

Rather than reducing the size of the incident itself, they were trying to find evidence on their own in order to save their own lives.

As a result, Ariel was able to easily weed out the internal enemies who had come to her on their own without any proper investigation.

“…What are you going to do now?”

“You’re quite confident for a criminal. Don’t you value your life?”

“Of course I do. But looking at this situation, I don’t think it will end with just a dismissal.”

In the end, he was sad that he could not purge a cunning ant that had infiltrated the Lobeheim Family and would have to go on like this, but he thought it was inevitable.

As Vincent closed his eyes as if he had already sensed his fate, Ariel, who was watching him, chuckled and let someone inside.

“Bring him.”

“Yes!”

A man who had been waiting outside brought in a man with a neat impression, who looked to be a little over thirty.

He was dragged in with his vision blocked and thrown into the cell, where he was placed between Ariel and Vincent.

“Who… is he?”

“You don’t need to know who he is, I’m just going to give you a chance.”

“A chance?”

What kind of chance would she give to a traitor who had practically planned a rebellion?

As Vincent stared at the man sitting in front of him with a dumbfounded expression, Ariel smiled and removed the blindfold that had been covering the man’s eyes.

“……!”

As soon as his vision returned, the man tried to move in surprise after seeing Vincent’s face.

The gag was so tight that even his whimpering was barely audible.

However, Vincent’s expression was still blank.

She had suddenly thrown a man he didn’t know in front of him and said she would give him a chance. He had no idea what Ariel was thinking.

“You don’t know who this man is, do you?”

“No.”

“Well, I’m going to give you a chance now.”

Ariel received a dagger from a huge man who was waiting outside, and then slowly approached Vincent and placed the dagger in his hand.

It didn’t matter to her if he attacked her.

She had enough power to subdue him anyway.

“Cut off a part of his body one by one until he dies. But don’t kill him. Eye, ear, mouth, anything is fine. For each one, I’ll let you live one more year.”

“Ah…”

Only then did Vincent realize why she had given him this dagger, and he let out a soft sigh.

Did she think that he would feel a great sense of guilt for killing a man he didn’t know?

For him, who had spent decades on the battlefield, taking someone’s life was not a new thing.

Clang.

Soon, the shackles that had been binding Vincent’s body were released.

Ariel smiled at him as if it was a chance, gestured to him, and then closed the cell door and went out into the hallway.

A situation where only the two of them were left without any interference.

A bitter smile formed on Vincent’s lips as he watched the man he didn’t know, and the blade of the dagger shone even more fiercely.

He had no way of knowing why she was offering such good conditions, but he had no time to wonder about it in such an extreme situation.

And so, Vincent slowly approached his bound prey.

The man’s hair, which reminded him of his younger days, shone brightly in the light.

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