CHAPTER 51 - EZEKIEL WANTS TO MAKE A DEAL WITH LIAMEzekiel was following Harriet Goldlane and the blonde-haired man when he began to realize that their relationship seemed to be much deeper than he thought. In the blonde man's presence, Harriet laughed and told many stories with enthusiasm, anger, and even tears. His brows furrowed as he felt a little guilty doing all this.
They looked so in love with each other. And not only guilt, but a strange discomfort grew in Ezekiel's chest.
This was the life of the woman he hated. The woman he thought was a devil who had a beautiful face–which turned out to be more normal than he had imagined.
If he married Harriet, would he be able to get her to make all those expressions too? Was she laughing because the man was making a joke? Was she crying because she was sad that she couldn't be with him openly? Was she angry that the man was teasing her?
What kind of stories did the two of them share?
As the sun began to fall to the west, Ezekiel saw the two people coming down from the treehouse. After the two said goodbye and kissed each other again, he saw Harriet leave. Maybe she went back to the castle after her secret date?
Well, whatever it was, he still had to find out who that man was.
As he started to follow the man with long blonde hair down the road that led away from Almandine Castle, he realized he was starting to walk into some suspicious streets. When he was careless, suddenly the man's figure had disappeared from his sight.
"What?!" Surprised, Ezekiel ran to where the man was missing and looked in all directions. Where did the man go?
"Why did you follow me all the way here, Sire?" asked a low voice behind Ezekiel.
The young man turned his head, surprised to see the man with long blonde hair and golden eyes staring at him coldly. At the same time, Liam was surprised to see Ezekiel's black irises, which signify his Imperial status. The blonde-haired man narrowed his eyes in annoyance.
Ezekiel smirked.
"Please don't take it wrong. I'm here to make a deal," said the sky-blue haired young man.
Liam didn't say anything. He just stared at Ezekiel expressionlessly.
"Listen to me, and I'll make you an offer you can't refuse. If you love Harriet Goldlane, work with me to get her to divorce," Ezekiel said seriously.
Liam furrowed his brows deeply. Divorce? An imperial son wanted Harriet to divorce him?
"Why?" Liam asked. "What do you want?"
"Do you still want to see her suffer?" asked Ezekiel. "From what I see, you love her so much–"
Ezekiel saw the handle of Liam's wooden cane shoot straight into the middle of his forehead.
WHOOSH!
Before Ezekiel realized what was really going on, Liam's gilded wooden cane handle stopped exactly an inch in front of his face, and a strong wind pressure blew due to the man's movement. Ezekiel's eyes could still see Liam's pair of golden eyes shining coldly.
Liam knew Harriet was suffering. No one wanted Harriet's happiness more than him. He also knew that the best decision Harriet could make to save her life was to divorce him. And that only made him even angrier when other people told him the same thing.
"That will be Madam's decision, and no one can influence it," Liam said coldly, pulled his cane from Ezekiel's face, and turned to leave.
Seeing Liam who was walking calmly away, showing his exposed back as his weakness to Ezekiel, Ezekiel felt his entire being burn with anger. Despite his shock that he couldn't react at all to the man's threat, and despite his legs shaking with fear, his pride was hurt. He wanted to make the man pay.
Ezekiel pulled out his longsword from its scabbard and jumped at the man's back. That man had attacked him all of a sudden, of course, he would do the same–
CLACK!
Liam's figure in front of Ezekiel blurred, and suddenly, the man was already blocking the slash of his sword blade with the grip of his wooden cane. The man's movements were fast–even faster than his father, Axias?
Who was he really?
Various possibilities swirled in Ezekiel's head for a split second. The man's movements in response to his attacks flowed gently and beautifully, causing Ezekiel to widen his eyes.
Harriet Goldlane's secret lover–was a knight even stronger than the Emperor?
CLANG! SWITCH!
Very sharp and fast–
Ezekiel couldn't think and only had time to dodge or block the man's attack, which felt smooth and accurate.
"Ugh!" his cheek bled from the scratch of the blunt handle of the wooden cane. The attacks flew so fast because of the man's movements. Ezekiel firmly believed this man was not showing his true strength.
"AAAARGH!" Ezekiel got angry and let out his
But that only made the wooden cane in Liam's hand had a sharp angle that was more dangerous than before.
Responding to Ezekiel, who released his
Ezekiel fell to the ground on his side, spit out clear liquid from his mouth and curled up in pain while hugging the part of his liver that was in excruciating pain. He didn't expect that even without using
"Cough, cough!" Ezekiel spat out clear liquid again from his mouth.
"Don't you dare bother my Madam for any reason, or I will kill you, even if you are a member of the imperial family." Liam stared coldly at Ezekiel whose face paled in fright.
Liam walked away, this time, beyond his reach.
Ezekiel coughed, and the pain in his right rib began to subside. "What the hell?"
While still trying to breathe properly to ease the pain, Ezekiel saw something glittering near where he was lying. Ezekiel grabbed it with one hand, realizing it was the man's gold plated cane handle.
On the wood below, there was an engraving that was cut with his sword.
[Thec]
"Thec?" asked Ezekiel. Normally, wasn't there an engraving of the owner's name on the special items belonging to a noble? Was this the man's name?
"Thec… Theo?" asked Ezekiel quietly, trying to guess that maybe the 'o' in 'Theo' was cut off by his sword, making it look like a 'c'.
He furrowed his brows. He did not know a single noble named 'Theo'.
From his appearance, the blonde-haired man looked like someone from the West. However, his hair and slender build–as well as his speed and strength, reminded Ezekiel of the Elves, who lived in seclusion from the outside world in the Great Central Forest near the east.
Was he of elven blood? Or was he a more talented knight than the Emperor?
What Ezekiel realized now was how loyal the man was to Harriet, and how dangerous he would be if he continued to be in that snake woman's hands. How could that woman continue to find talented people and get them to support her?
Still, an affair was an affair. Ezekiel tucked the cane's handle into his robe pocket and walked away from there with a limp.
Ugh. Did he have to return battered like this to the castle of the monsters? This was really embarrassing.