Chapter 23
Someone Garon Heysen didn’t even know suddenly walked in and, in a matter-of-fact tone, said they were going to set fire to the body of an innocent man.
Having no idea where he was, nor the slightest clue how to escape, Garon Heysen trembled violently with all four limbs bound.
“Do, do you even know who I am before pulling something like this? Who the hell are you people?!”
Yet Garon, who had been raised as the son of an earl, stubbornly kept up his worthless bravado until the very end. Even while terrified that his body might be set ablaze, he hadn’t forgotten that he was a noble, and instead shouted even louder.
Garon made the utterly foolish assumption that they were only doing this because they didn’t know what kind of family he belonged to.
Once they learned his status, they would surely fall to their knees and beg for forgiveness. Of course they would. He was the son of Earl Heysen. In the North, the Heysen name was second only to Oberon.
So instead of begging for his life, Garon Heysen raised his voice arrogantly.
Elisa could see right through Garon’s pathetic calculations as he worked his dull brain. Trying to bury his own wrongdoing with his status and crush others beneath his rank was exactly how he had been back at the military academy.
Wearing an expression of annoyance, Elisa threw a dagger. **Whoosh.** The dagger flew through the air, grazed Garon’s ear, and embedded itself in the wall.
“Aaaaargh!”
Although he couldn’t see, the chilling sensation of a blade slicing past his ear made Garon scream.
“W-What the hell did you just throw at me? A knife? It was a knife, wasn’t it?! Who the hell are you people?!”
“Shut up and stay still. Before I test whether you really catch fire that easily.”
“W-Who the hell are you to do this to me? At least tell me who you are, you coward!”
“The word ‘coward’ coming out of your mouth. That’s truly astonishing.”
“Y-You… know me?”
“I’m a little disappointed you can’t recognize my voice.”
Standing before Garon, Elisa lifted the foot clad in her high heel and mercilessly stomped down on his knee.
“Aagh!”
Just from having his thigh stepped on, Garon Heysen toppled over while still bound and rolled across the floor.
Elisa looked down at him with an emotionless expression.
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*’I’ll bet 500 gold. The prostitute’s daughter will accept Adrian’s invitation to dance. The way she’s been looking at Adrian hasn’t been normal for a while. I know best.’*
‘Didn’t you lose 500 gold at the racetrack last month?’
‘That’s exactly why I’m betting another 500. The prostitute’s daughter will pay off the future head of the Heysen family’s gambling debt. That’ll be a tremendous honor for that bitch.’
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Elisa still remembered Garon Heysen’s laughter as he mocked her.
And yet this little pain was enough to hurt him?
“I… I was wrong. So please, please let me go. If you release me now, I-I absolutely won’t hold this against you or my family. Hmm? So let’s end it here and let me go.”
The same man was now rolling at Elisa’s feet, begging for forgiveness. Crying that it hurt too much, Garon rolled across the floor until he **thud** bumped into Elisa’s leg. Elisa simply kicked the fool in the back once again.
“Ghk… ghk…”
Letting out a ridiculous groan, he rolled away and curled himself into a ball.
“If the food isn’t much to look at, then at least the liquor should be good.”
Elisa lifted and shook the whiskey bottle in her hand.
“That’s an expensive whiskey. Nixon treasures it, so I’d appreciate it if you could spare it.”
“Really?”
Nixon, who stood beside Enoch, nodded desperately. He had only managed to get that bottle from his senior last month after shamelessly flattering him. He had thought he’d hidden it well, but never imagined it would be discovered so easily.
As she shook the bottle, the amber liquid shimmered brilliantly inside.
A moment later, that amber liquid flowed past Elisa’s lips.
After emptying a third of the bottle in an instant, Elisa wiped her crimson lips with the back of her hand.
“Worth cherishing indeed. Want a drink too?”
Elisa held the bottle out toward Enoch.
Unable to ignore Nixon’s pleading gaze, Enoch shook his head.
“No, I’m fine.”
“Then, Nixon.”
“Yes, Admiral!”
The new recruit who had joined this year answered energetically, but his trembling eyes never left the whiskey bottle in Elisa’s hand.
“When we reach the harbor, I’ll buy you another bottle—a 68-year vintage. In exchange, I’m using all of this one today. Deal?”
At Elisa’s words, Nixon’s face immediately brightened. A 68-year vintage was three times more expensive than the whiskey he had barely managed to obtain from his senior.
“You promised! Please, use as much as you want.”
Having even obtained Nixon’s permission, Elisa’s lips curved into a broad smile. In her improved mood, the sharp clicks of her heels echoed briskly across the wooden floor.
The closer those footsteps came, the more Garon’s body trembled like a leaf.
“P-Please spare me. Please spare me. What… what are you planning to do to me? If… if it’s money… my father will pay a huge ransom for me. S-So please, at least spare my life.”
When the name of the Heysen family proved useless, the arrogant voice that had shouted, *Do you even know who I am?* had now become pitifully respectful.
The change in attitude was amusing.
“Earl Heysen… would he really? Isn’t it common knowledge that the eldest son of Earl Heysen has already fallen out of his father’s favor?”
“…”
“A family that had held high-ranking positions in the Northern Knights for generations. Yet the eldest son and heir was even expelled from the military academy. Because of that, even Earl Heysen’s own position became unstable. Do you really think Earl Heysen will come to save you?”
“F-Father…”
“You’re completely useless now.”
At those words, a grotesque stain spread across the black cloth covering Garon’s eyes. Tears streamed down his cheeks.
“P-Please spare me. I’ll somehow…”
“Somehow? Looks like you still haven’t quit gambling.”
“H-How do you know that…?!”
Terrified that his captor knew far more about him than expected, Garon crawled across the floor in a desperate attempt to get away from her. But with all four limbs bound, he looked no different from a worm.
Elisa calmly watched him before suddenly grabbing Garon’s face with one hand.
Like a hawk seizing its prey.
“Mmph!”
Raising the whiskey bottle high, Elisa poured its contents straight into Garon’s mouth. The golden liquid cascaded down like a waterfall.
“You said this to me before.”
“Ghk… ghk…”
*”If you’re the prostitute’s daughter, then act like the prostitute’s daughter.”*
“Gah… Aaaagh!”
“Now you answer me.”
“How does the liquor poured by the prostitute’s daughter taste?”
By then, half the whiskey bottle was empty. Toward the end, more whiskey spilled onto the floor than actually went into Garon’s mouth.
Elisa let him drop to the floor as though throwing him away and stood up.
She flicked the droplets of whiskey from her hand.
Looking down at Garon, who was still choking, Elisa tilted back her head and finished every last drop of the remaining whiskey.
The sensation of her throat catching fire swept through her.
‘Now this is what whiskey is supposed to taste like.’
Only a few seconds after that thought crossed her mind, a voice ruined the taste.
“Y-You… prostitute’s daughter. D-Don’t tell me… you’re Elisa Shooter?”
“Correct.”
“W-Why… why are you doing this to me?”
“Think about it. What could the reason be?”
“Y-You dare do this to me?!”
“You still haven’t come to your senses.”
At Elisa’s quiet words, Garon’s body—conditioned by fear—shuddered violently.
Yet, as though making one final desperate attempt, he shouted while invoking Her Majesty the Queen.
“Y-You! Do you think Her Majesty the Queen will stand by and let you get away with this?!”
At Garon’s words, Enoch barely managed to suppress his laughter.
Holding up her index finger toward Enoch with a silent **”Shh,”** Elisa looked down at Garon with an expression that said, *Let’s see how far you’ll take this.*
Still blindfolded by the black cloth, Garon unfortunately couldn’t see Elisa’s face.
Mistakenly believing she had been rendered speechless, Garon became smug and began shouting at the top of his lungs.
“Her Majesty the Queen would never tolerate a lowborn person like you committing such insubordination against a high-ranking central noble like me. Of course she wouldn’t.”
“…”
“The moment I get out of here and report everything that happened, what kind of punishment do you think Her Majesty the Queen will hand down to you? Huh? Answer me!”
“Nothing will happen.”
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