Duke, Please Stop Because it Hurts

“Kaah—ahh ahh!”

The young lady, who was near the hallway, instantly screamed when she spotted Arjan. The smell of blood on the clothes had pierced into her nose disgustingly.

The song, which had been played joyfully, was disrupted by the scream at that instant. Each and every single one of them were gushing down towards Arjan at once.

“What’s going on?”

“What’s going on? What’s wrong with her?”

“What the hell is going on with this party?”

Arjan sank into her seat amidst the murmurs and took a quick breath. A clear stream of red blood could be seen dripping from her arms.

“Please save Ferdinand!”

Arjan was shouting desperately.

“Young Lady Clemence! What the hell is going on here!”

Marquis Werner, who was already briefed on the situation, quickly ran out of the room while Raven was next to him.

Arjan began to tear up as soon as she saw Marquis Werner. And as if the tears that she had been holding back were finally pouring out, teardrops hung in her eyes.

“Huh—help me. Please save Ferdinand.”

“Fer—Ferdinand… You mean, my son?”

The Marquis, who was shocked by Arjan’s sudden words, murmured blankly.

“Save him, what do you mean? What the hell—”

“Don’t cry, Young Lady. Please speak up. What the hell happened? What happened that you have blood all over your clothes?”

When the Marquis eventually realized that she wasn’t really in a state where she could respond under the discomfort, the person next to him quickly took over. When she had comforted Arjan on behalf of the Marquis, her intense crying fit toned down a little.

She was crying so hard that even after she had stopped, a tense sob escaped from her mouth.

“It’s… I was resting when a strange man in black entered suddenly.”

“Where?”

“Ugh, in the lounge along this hallway…”

“Where?”

It was at that moment. Raven, who was just looking through the situation, bolted out from the room.

Raven’s eyes stood sharp at the word—restroom.

No way.

Even though he thought that he wasn’t, he just couldn’t hide his suspicions at all. He was nervous. He was extremely overwrought.

“Where did you say you were just now, Young Lady?”

“Duke…”

Arjan’s body began shaking like a leaf once again after she had seen Raven.

“I’m sorry…… I’m so sorry. Somehow, I managed to catch him…”

“Young Lady Clemence.”

“My sister, Molitia……”

Raven didn’t care to listen to Arjan till the end. Actually, he couldn’t hear it at all.

He turned away quickly and headed for the hallway. It was an action that took place even before someone could put a stop to it. Neither the Marquis who had belatedly regained his senses, nor Arjan who was just sprawling on the floor, could touch the end of his clothes.

“Duke Linerio!”

Ignoring all those sounds that came from behind him, his steps continued to accelerate themselves. At first, his legs had been walking as fast as they were alarming, then they were already sprinting towards the lounge.

There was only one thing in his head.

Molitia—his wife.

The long hallway had been rendered meaningless to his legs. Raven, who proceeded all the way to the restroom that was located at a distance in order to not ruin the atmosphere, was holding himself tall.

The lounge looked absolutely miserable from the door.

The maid was seen leaning against the door with her head lowered, all the while covered in blood. Judging from the amount of blood on the floor, it seemed like it had been a long time already.

“Molitia!”

Raven stomped his foot inside without giving even a blink on the body. Another corpse was bumped into his foot, but he had no qualms to it at all.

“Hey, what the hell is this…”

Those who belatedly followed Raven were unable to speak at the dreadful scene of the lounge. He unhesitantly grabbed his nose in response to the nasty smell piercing his nose.

Raven circled around the lounge, but Molitia was nowhere to be found. Even at the place where she had sat with him before, she still couldn’t be seen except for her hair accessories.

“What about Molitia?”

Raven, who finally confirmed that she was no longer there, turned around. He then strode towards Arjan, who was following him, albeit barely, under the favor of the others.

And so far, Raven had nothing to see there. The fact that his beloved wife, Molitia, wasn’t there had overturned his pair of eyes. Arjan, who had already predicted everything beforehand, was still very surprised that she began trembling.

The pounding of his heart reminded him of a familiar past. The time before he had met Molitia—the war era, which always recorded his consecutive victories on the battlefield—was unfolding right in front of his very eyes.

“Where did Molitia go?”

Arjan began to quiver as she leaned against the shoulders of others who displayed a rather chilly attitude. She just couldn’t handle his gaze. Even knowing the fact that he was still unaware, Arjan felt like all of her sins were being peeled off by Raven’s eye. When Arjan appeared to be trembling too much, a poor man began to step right up.

“Duke Linerio, please calm down! I fully understand your concern for her not showing up, but Young Lady Clemence didn’t hurt them either!”

“…no, it’s all my fault.”

“Young Lady Clemence.”

“It’s not your fault at all.”

Those who accepted Arjan’s words immediately sympathized with her. Trail of tears couldn’t stop flowing from Arjan’s eyes.