Chapter 177
“Ah…….”
Chesha parted her lips in a daze.
It was not the form of a complete adult.
Her body belonged to a girl of fifteen or sixteen, still carrying the soft traces of youth in every line and curve.
Yet now she and Kierne could meet each other’s eyes without him kneeling or her being lifted into his arms.
She could wrap her long arms fully around him.
Chesha, still examining her suddenly grown self, soon lifted her gaze to Kierne.
“…….”
He stood with a vacant face.
Eyes unfocused, he stared at Chesha standing before the roses for a long, breathless moment, utterly lost.
She knew without being told whose image he saw superimposed upon her.
She must resemble her mother so very much.
Kierne smiled faintly, helplessly.
The tension drained from him; his straight shoulders sagged downward.
With eyes clouded by longing and love, he whispered so softly it was almost soundless.
“…You’re beautiful.”
The moment the faint whisper left his lips, Kierne’s body tilted slowly forward.
“Father!”
Chesha cried out in alarm and caught him.
His body, completely drained of strength, settled heavily against her.
The weight of it startled her so badly her heart nearly burst.
She checked at once—he had simply fainted.
Relief washed through her in a long exhale.
Then Chesha’s eyes fell to her own forearm.
Even unconscious, Kierne had not released the hand gripping her.
He held on with desperate, unbreakable strength, as though he would never let go again.
At the sight, Chesha could not help but smile.
‘I really have come back.’
Only now did the truth settle deep inside her.
Chesha had returned home.
Count Basilian strode from the banquet hall like a madman, eyes blazing.
He shook off everyone who tried to stop him, even brushed aside the emperor’s own hand, and left without a backward glance.
His departure sent ripples of unrest through the entire hall.
This was no mere breach of etiquette.
To commit such an open slight at the emperor’s birthday banquet was nothing short of an insult to the imperial family.
Of course, Count Basilian had crossed lines before—many times.
But he had always been meticulous.
He moved only far enough to conceal his tracks or shift blame elsewhere.
Even those who suspected him of being the hidden hand behind countless incidents had never found proof, because he had always acted with flawless precision.
He had always kept one calm step back, watching, orchestrating events exactly as he wished.
This was the first time Count Basilian had caused such a blatant, public scandal.
Those who witnessed the unprecedented scene buzzed with eager gossip about his outrageous behavior.
They had gathered to celebrate the emperor’s birthday, yet no one spared the emperor a single thought.
Even the emperor himself fidgeted restlessly, wondering why Count Basilian had acted that way.
The true protagonist of the evening had completely changed.
“Damn it…….”
Amid the murmuring chaos, Marquis Nemea ground his teeth.
Earlier, when the count had stormed out with the eyes of a lunatic,
Marquis Nemea had stepped directly into his path.
“Count Basilian!”
He had called out in a thunderous voice, but Count Basilian had not spared him a glance.
Since the man had even rejected the emperor’s hand, ignoring the marquis was perhaps only natural.
Yet Marquis Nemea could not swallow the fury rising in his chest.
It was not the first time Count Basilian had behaved this way, yet today the insult burned hotter than ever.
Being disregarded in front of everyone endlessly provoked him.
His face twisted beyond control as he stormed from the banquet hall.
Even after stepping into the garden and letting the cold night wind wash over him, the heat inside him refused to subside.
His son and daughter—Sionel and Teo—who had quietly followed, spoke to him with careful voices.
“Father.”
Sionel offered him a handkerchief.
The marquis, still flushed with rage, snatched it and roughly wiped the sweat from the bridge of his nose.
“Are you all right?”
The moment Teo asked the same question,
“You worthless fool!”
Marquis Nemea roared like thunder and shoved Teo’s hunched shoulders with brutal force.
The blow was so savage that Teo staggered backward several steps.
“You should have helped stop Count Basilian too!”
It was an absurd demand.
Teo was merely the marquis’s son, stripped even of his former position as chief of security.
How could he possibly restrain Count Basilian, who had brushed off the emperor himself?
It was nothing more than the pride-wounded marquis venting his temper.
Knowing how unreasonable the order was, Teo offered no protest.
He simply pressed his lips together and endured.
The marquis’s fists rained down—not on his face, but on his stomach, thighs, arms—places that would not show.
Merciless blows landed again and again.
“…….”
Teo swallowed every pained sound.
His eyes briefly met Sionel’s.
His proud older sister watched him with helpless pity.
Once the beating ended, she would comfort him, tend his wounds.
But that was all.
She never stepped forward to block their father.
She never shielded him.
She simply watched from behind.
As he silently bore the violence, Teo suddenly remembered the Basilians.
“Don’t bully the little bear!”
The tiny child, smaller than one of his own arms, who had bravely stepped in front of him and shielded him.
Where was Lady Chesha now…….
Teo’s vision blurred.
He should never have let her leave like that that day.
She had accepted the invitation to the Nemea marquisate so willingly……
He had always missed her, but suddenly the longing became unbearable.
The ache was so fierce that tears stung his eyes.
The days he had spent with the people of House Basilian had been far happier, far brighter than any time in the marquisate.
The sweet memories of a year ago now felt like a distant, unreachable dream.
Thinking of a time he could never return to made the tip of his nose burn with pain.
Teo frowned hard and forced the tears back.
“You dare make a face over something this small!”
Mistaking his pained expression for weakness, Marquis Nemea bellowed again and kicked him.
In the end, Teo collapsed onto the dirt, his elegant banquet attire now filthy and meaningless.
He was thinking the marquis’s rage was lasting longer than usual tonight.
“You’ll end up killing someone at this rate.”
A languid voice cut in without warning.
Marquis Nemea, sleeves rolled up and still in the middle of the beating, startled violently.
He was extremely conscious of his public dignity.
He never allowed anyone to witness him disciplining Teo.
Even tonight he had chosen a deserted corner of the garden.
Yet no matter how consumed by anger, the skilled knight that was Marquis Nemea had failed to sense the approaching presence.
“…Who are you?”
The marquis quickly straightened his clothes and turned.
From the shadows, a man he had never seen before walked forward with leisurely steps.
The moment Teo saw that carefree gait, he flinched.
‘…Huh?’
It couldn’t be, but why……
‘Lord Karha?’
While the stunned Teo stood frozen, the man tilted his head.
“Anyway, that’s enough…. I’ll borrow your son for a moment.”
The red-eyed man pointed straight at Teo.
“I have something to talk about with him.”
“…I asked who you are.”
Switching to a lower, more threatening tone, Marquis Nemea glared sharply at the intruder.
“If you don’t want to die, you’d better answer first.”
The fierce threat only made the man burst into laughter.
“Ah, yes. Then go ahead and try to kill me. However…….”
The man lifted the corner of his mouth into a crooked smile, revealing sharp fangs.
“Marquis, I don’t think you have the skill for that?”
