Chapter 167: [167] Fool

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!”

A heart wrenching scream echoed through the underground chamber.

Sharp, agonised pain radiated throughout the entirety of Duke’s body and he writhed on the floor, tussling and turning, bloody hands tightly pressed tightly against his eye.

“Fuck! MY EYE!!” He screamed in pain, trying to stop the blood flow, but no matter how tired he was, the blood kept rushing out.

If he was not a knight in training, he would have already passed out from the pain and blood loss.

Doris had mercilessly sliced his face from above his eyebrow, down to his cheek.

It was not just about getting the job done, she wanted him to suffer. She loved the sound of his screams, she reveled in it.

Even Marcus watched her with a reserved expression as she strolled up to Duke, licking her lips.

“Don’t be a cry baby, it’s just one eye. I left you with the second one, Dukie.”

Duke tried to crawl back, only to have his leg stomped by sharp heels, the heel digging into his thigh.

Once again, his scream filled the room, then he swallowed it, spittle drifting down his lips as he sniffled with pain.

“How pathetic,” Doris hissed. “Did you really think someone like you could become Baron? Do you think you were worthy of a girl like me?”

Although Marcus was eager to leave, even he did not dare interrupt his daughter. He had experienced the height of her madness first hand.

“W-why me? What did I do to deserve this?” Duke mumbled.

He had lived his entire life trying to uplift his house, he joined the knights on guard duty so that he could understand his people better…

He spent hours training just so that he could prove himself to his father, so why? Why was he in this mess?

“Why did you do this?!”

Thwack!

A nasty kick rocked his head back, a ringing sound filling his ears. His sense of perception dulled, and in that brief moment…

His world faded, drowned into darkness, his lead lulling to his side.

Then for a moment, his mind went back to a scene that had happened a long time ago…

Back then, he had snuck out with the knights to apprehend some bandits that had invaded a nearby village.

He wanted to help… but all he did was end up getting kidnapped as well, and because of him, the bandits left with far more than they could have gotten.

Duke could still remember his fathers gritting voice as he lashed out on him.

The look of disgust in his fathers eyes as he struck him.

And his mother’s disappointed gaze.

But the worst part… were his fathers words.

“You are a fool.”

Those four letters alone cut deeper than the sharpest blade, they stung more than being boiled alive.

Those words broke him.

But now, lying in a pool of his own blood, having walked into a den of wolves with his own legs, Duke looked into his past and wondered.

’Am I truly a fool?’

Stomp!

Doris dug her heel into his shoulder, causing Duke to scream out as he woke up from his dream.

“Who said you could sleep? I’m just getting started.” Doris smiled.

But this time, Duke just smiled faintly, surprising her.

“You can kill me… but first I n-need to know. Was this your plan all along, right from the very beginning?”

Marcus walked up to him and frowned at his pitiful state.

“Well, since you’re going to die soon. I guess it will be one last favour I’ll grant you.”

“As for your question…” he stroked his chin. “How long? Well, long before you were even born.”

“I already tried this with your big sister, you know? But Cassie is like the devil himself, she’s too smart to fall for such schemes.”

“So I prayed that my brother would birth a fool. Ahh—” he smiled. “And then God sent you.”

Duke gritted his teeth, but said nothing. All he wanted were answers…

He desperately needed to answer the only question that plagued him right now, whether he truly was a fool.

“So, D-Doris, the engagement, it was part of this plot too?”

Doris smiled. “Well not exactly. I am the backup plan. If my father failed to reclaim power, then all I had to do was marry you, kill you, then I’ll become baroness!”

She said it in such a cheery voice, that Duke wondered how he had not seen the signs for so many years.

He coughed up blood, wincing as his face stung. Right now, he could barely see properly, his brain still trying to adjust to the loss of an eye.

“A-and my mom… what does she have to do with…”. His voice trailed off.

Marcus glanced at the baroness, a wicked smile on his lips.

“Haha, well, she is the most important part of this plan of course. We will drag your cursed mother to the ball, right in front of all the nobles…”

Marcus squatted, staring right into the one eye Duke had left.

“Then we will expose her illness to the city. We will brand her as cursed, naturally, that would mean the entire household is cursed.”

He clapped, enjoying his retelling of his plan.

“And then in that moment, we will kill my dear brother, using this justification, and take over Kingsbridge.”

“So, what do you think? Brilliant isn’t it?”

’I see…’

Duke let out a shaky sigh, the world blurring in his vision.

It was only because of him that his uncle was able to find this place.

It was his fault that his mother was now in danger.

And because of him, his entire family would be destroyed.

He stared up at the ceiling, tears flowing down his eye. “F-forgive me dad, forgive me mom…” he sobbed, his face fraught with grief.

“Y-you ssson, truly is— a fool.”

Clap Clap!

While he cried, Doris clapped her hands as she watched him.

“Way to go, Dukie, you finally figured it out. This is indeed a momentous occasion.”

Marcus tapped her shoulder. “Have your fun, but be quick, we need to go.”

“Yeah, yeah, old man. I’ll be quick.” Her eyes glinted with amusement, her fingers brushing her collection of daggers.

Then it finally stopped on one of her favourites.

Doris pulled it out, a deep blush painting her cheeks as she raised it.

“Alright Dukie, please give me your best scream! That last eye of yours is far too tantalising!”

Swoosh!

She brought the dagger down in a clean arc, blood spilling through the air like a fountain.

“Huh?”

The room was silent, and Doris could feel cold sweat running through her back.

Badump—Badump—

Her heart pounded in her ears, her mind trying but failing to process what was happening.

Doris stumbled back, confusion filling her mind as she looked around the room, her eyes settling on Duke.

Lying right next to him was…

Her arm?

Thr hand still clutched tightly to the blade, and her dagger tatto still looked as beautiful as the day she had it done.

Except now, the hand was… detached.

“W-what the— AHHHHHHHHH!”

Marcus, who had been a few feet away from the baroness suddenly turned, his eye widening as he saw his daughter fall to her knees.

“D-Doris?!”

Step!

An ecosystem cut through the room as a dark figure slowly walked towards them.

Drip!

Crimson droplets exploded against the ground, flowing down the floor.

“I really have to say…”

The voice reached them, an eerie familiar voice.

“This was a rather Interesting performance. It’s almost like an anime you know?”

Eliron stepped out of the shadows, an aloof expression on his face.

“But honestly, I’m sick of it.”

He glanced at the Baron’s son and clapped.

“Wipe your tears, Dukie boy, it’s time for some character development!”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep