CHAPTER 36 - HEATH CONFRONTS LIAMIn the Old Duke's room, a young man stood straight facing the old man sitting at his writing desk. Heath glared at the Old Duke who was staring back at him with the same seriousness. This would be the umpteenth time for them to confront each other in this manner.
"I will pay you with anything, but please spare my sister from this suffering, Your Grace," said Heath.
Suffering.
Heath knew how his older sister was. Since childhood, the woman was the light of the lantern that lit his path.
Harriet took his little hand gently through the winding road, shielding him from all pain and supporting him through every challenge. Harriet was his parent, his educator and his guide. Harriet was his idol and role model.
She was a woman who was far from perfect, and everyone saw her as the most perfect woman in the world. Yet Heath knew Harriet was both.
"My sister can go through all the suffering that will come, but Your Grace, I can not approve of it," said Heath. He continued, "You saw her yourself in the tower.”
Heath reminded Old Duke of Harriet's blank stare and gentle smile that slowly followed.
"My sister will be devastated by her sense of responsibility, I'm sure, this time it will be."
Old Duke, despite having had this argument with Heath many times, this was the first time he felt that Heath was right. Maybe Harriet wasn't as strong as he thought. Perhaps, he had chosen wrong for Harriet to bear all the future where Liam died leaving her.
Maybe Harriet would fall and never get up again.
"My sister is strong, and I know that best," said Heath. "But you saw for yourself what happened when she almost lost me."
Old Duke recalled the young woman kneeling before him on top of the western fortress. A young woman who begged him to save her brother. When Liam left, what would happen to the young woman? Wouldn’t he be the cause of the young woman's suffering all her life?
"My sister will fall to pieces the more she loves someone and loses them," Heath said seriously. "That's why I disapprove of this marriage."
Heath furrowed his brows deeply after deciding to confront the man today. He prepared in his finest Goldlane Knight uniform, which was black and carried his longsword at his waist.
His wife, Miriam, looked at him in surprise, but innocently supported him with two fists clenched in front of her.
“I-is Young Lord Almandine that terrifying?” Miriam asked, batting her big blue eyes.
"He's the most horrifying person I've ever met," Heath said, shivering in horror.
Miriam looked at her husband worriedly. She had also heard how terrifying Young Lord Almandine was. Everyone from the Almandine Pack said that Young Lord Almandine was stronger than the Old Duke. Even her husband, Heath, the strongest man in her eyes, also said that Liam was horrifying.
Heath had cut off the arm of the mage prince and the man who had taken her hostage. Miriam's father had been killed by that mage after fighting to the death. And Old Duke was also an Alpha who was stronger than Heath.
In Miriam's head, she imagined a ladder of power levels and who occupied the highest level.
Miriam's father was under Heath, and Heath was under the Old Duke. Then, above the Old Duke, was the Young Lord Almandine, whom she had never seen before.
Young Lord Almandine, the spouse of Miriam's Sister-in-law, Harriet Goldlane.
Miriam now imagined a powerful, authoritative figure who could defeat anyone who opposed him. Miriam decided to go with her husband.
They walked down the hall hand in hand, but Miriam could clearly see her normally calm and tough husband looking very nervous and shaking. In the passage near the tower entrance, Heath suddenly stopped. Miriam became nervous because she saw her husband's irises shaking badly as if he were about to face a big trauma that he had.
“Are you okay? Umm, how about we talk to Young Lord Almandine when Sister Harriet is around?” Miriam asked Heath.
Heath closed his eyes and tried to refocus them. He was determined to wake the man from his deep slumber if necessary. He was fully prepared and had trained hard all night to get the courage to face the man, but in front of his wife, he was frightened like a cowardly chicken.
That pair of golden eyes still haunted him to this day!
But! A knight would not swallow back his own words. He stepped forward, and Miriam stared at him in admiration.
However, as they turned down the windowless passage leading to the tower entrance, they were surprised to see something lying in front of the entrance. It just sprawled below the spiral staircase going up to the tower.
It was the body of a person, with long blonde hair. The man's body lay face down on the floor as if he had just fallen. On the floor, around the man's head, blood pooled, making the place look like a crime scene.
Heath and Miriam were rooted to the spot.
“Wh-w-who is that, Heath?!” Miriam turned very pale, and Heath quickly hid his wife behind his body.
“Yo-Yo-Young Lord Almandine?” Heath tried to see more clearly whether the body was really his terrifying brother-in-law who haunted his every nightmare or not.
The body didn't move at all, even after Heath and Miriam waited a little longer.
Miriam saw Heath's eyes flash sharply. The young man drew his longsword from his belt still in its scabbard, causing Miriam to gasp and cover her mouth. Would she witness a murder? Would her husband kill their brother-in-law? Wait a minute, was their brother-in-law even still alive?!
Miriam breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Heath was just trying to nudge Liam's body with the tip of his sword, as he was afraid to come close.
Wait, this wasn't right either. Shouldn't they have gone and sought help?
She thought she heard that Young Lord Almandine was dying…
While Miriam was at a loss as to what to do, Heath stepped closer and tried to re-examine his brother-in-law's body more closely.
“W-we should call the physician right away, right?” Miriam asked then.
"Right," Heath said quietly and doubtfully.
“Ugh…”
"GYAAH?!" Heath and Miriam screamed in surprise.
Liam slowly got up.
"HYAAAAH!" Heath and Miriam grew even more frightened, both taking ten steps back.
As he regained consciousness, Liam looked at his two terrified in-laws in the corner of the hall. He narrowed his eyes and smiled helplessly. “Oh, hello, brother and sister-in-law. Good morning, HURLLLLL–”
"AAAAH!" Heath and Miriam screamed again seeing Liam vomiting blood on the floor.
“Call a physician, Miriam, go!” said Heath, quickly approaching Liam and supporting him, preparing to take him to the nearest room. Meanwhile, Miriam ran quickly to get help.
"What happened to you? How did you get here?! Why don't you call someone if you're awake and want to go somewhere?!” Heath asked in succession.
“Hahaha, you sound a lot like your sister, don't you?” Liam said with a pale face, but his golden eyes were shining brightly.
“Why are you talking like that at a time like this? Now please, I'll help you back up to your room," Heath said, supporting Liam's body.
Meanwhile, he saw Liam trying to hold his body on a wooden cane he was carrying. His hands were shaking and his body felt weak, so just looking at it was pathetic. Heath furrowed his brows at the sight.
"Don't take me back upstairs," Liam said weakly.
"What do you mean?" Heath asked, annoyed.
"Last night your sister said she would cook breakfast for you today. I was curious, and I tried to get up to taste the food," Liam replied then.
Heath was surprised. Just because of his sister's cooking, this man forced himself to get up and descend from the tower, even though his body was like this? The young man supported Liam's body tightly, but he didn't want to take Liam to the dining room yet.
"Sister only cooks for me, so you probably won't get a share," Heath said coldly.
"But while she's cooking for you, if she sees me awake, I'll have a chance to ask for her cooking too, right?" Liam asked with an innocent smile.
Sly man! Heath thought, feeling aggravated.
That was when Miriam came rushing in with Secretary Daniel and a physician.
"Young Lord!" Secretary Daniel called Liam.
“Ah, Young Lord…” Secretary Daniel called at Heath.
Liam laughed in amusement, while Heath grew even more irritated. The two of them were indeed called Young Lord… but their social strata were still vastly different. This reminded Heath of his own weakness, not having enough strength to protect his sister from these monsters.
But when Daniel was about to take over Heath's place of supporting Liam's body, Liam refused.
"No need. Let my brother-in-law help me," said the man.
Heath narrowed his eyes the same way Harriet did, and Liam smiled mischievously at him.
"Please clean the blood on the floor," Liam said to Daniel with a handsome smile.
Everyone felt it was so wrong. But it also looked like they couldn't ask Liam to rest back in his room.
As Liam was being led away to the dining table by Heath, before leaving the bloodstain on the floor completely, Liam ordered in a flat voice, sending everyone shivering on the spot.
“Clean well. Don't let my wife see the bloodstain."