The Young Male Protagonist Who is Destined for Ruin Fell for Me - Chapter 49

“……!”

Kyle, who was about to say, ‘Let’s slowly start fulfilling that wish we both know’, turned bright red at my shameless response. It was a reaction he would never show in front of others.
If I had coyly steered the conversation away, Kyle would have likely brought up the topic of marriage.

However, since I made the first move, it was clear that he was at a loss for words. I stood on tiptoe, leaning in close, and poured on the charm.

“Why don’t you say it, Kyle? The one you want is me.”

“……”

“It’s obvious, isn’t it? Hmm, are you unable to speak because of bad thoughts? What do you want to do with me, hmm?”

With a mischievous touch, I traced my moist lips and flashed a playful smile. Kyle hurriedly sat up, distancing himself from me to avoid having me read his mind.
“……I must go to Count Gargoyle’s execution ceremony soon. There are matters to discuss with His Majesty the Emperor.”

As much as I wanted to tease him more, I couldn’t keep holding someone who had urgent matters. The execution ceremony for Count Gargoyle was bound to be quite brutal, so I wasn’t interested in watching it either.

I asked Kyle once more to handle the matter with Vanessa delicately and then willingly left his office.

＊＊＊
Kyle told Amel that they had to leave for the capital immediately, but in reality, there was still quite some time before Count Gargoyle’s execution ceremony.

Even if they arrived a little late, they would still witness the painful death of Count Gargoyle. Kyle had ordered that the executioner’s sword be dulled, so the execution wouldn’t be a quick one.

The Duke of Chaield, who hated wasting time, spent the next thirty minutes savoring the charming and seductive Amel.
Despite pretending not to notice, she knew very well what her allure was. When she smiled playfully, showing her dimples, it was hard for anyone to resist.

“Haild, bring that woman here.”

Before heading to the execution, Kyle decided to handle his sister’s request first.

The heads of the Chaield family were very particular when it came to choosing their employees.

Since wealth and power ultimately depended on people, any employee who caused even the slightest issue was disqualified from serving the Chaield family, whose duty was to protect their name and honor.

However, Kyle was unusually lenient when it came to Amelia Diane.

Although there had been a security mistake that warranted a dismissal, if the future Duchess of Chaield wished to keep the employee, Kyle was willing to respect her wishes.
After all, it was the natural right of the future Duchess to choose or dismiss her own bodyguards.

Screech—
“I heard you were calling for me, Your Grace.”

Kyle looked at the woman he didn’t like, Vanessa Mae Brante, who entered the room. He had planned to let the doctor attend to her wound on her side later when he had time. If there was no time, then so be it.

Whenever he saw her face, he couldn’t help but remember the hair of his fiancée that had been hacked off in chunks, which made him furious.

Vanessa, observing Kyle’s increasingly stiff face, thought, ‘Well, of course. What employer would let a bodyguard who allowed an intruder to hold a knife to their neck go unpunished?’

Swallowing a sigh, she remained calm and impassive. In contrast, Kyle, who had received Amel’s request, had already decided not to fire her.

While he didn’t like that she was close to his fiancée, the woman in front of him was undeniably skilled. He hadn’t believed her when she boasted, but the skills she displayed the previous night were real.

‘She subdued the intruder’s subordinates even after being severely injured, and even managed to overpower the intruder himself.’

Her movements were smoother than Haild, the former leader of the knights, and he found himself somewhat intrigued.
This morning, Kyle had gone to the holding cell and seen the subordinates of the intruder that Vanessa had subdued with his own eyes.
In truth, Kyle didn’t know whether those people were puppets or half-decayed corpses pulled from a grave.

Some of the Chaield family’s servants had sneakily hit the intruder’s subordinates as they were being confined, claiming to be getting revenge for Amel.
Kyle chose to ignore the fact that Claire had been seen coming out with a bloody shovel.

What mattered was that Vanessa was indeed quite capable. Furthermore, it seemed she knew the intruder.
‘If we want to catch that man, I need this woman.’

Kyle closed his eyes, nervously recalling the scene from the previous night.

When he had opened the bedroom door, a man named Marabas was holding a sharp knife to his fiancée’s neck.
Even so, Marabas didn’t seem to feel any malice; his face was entranced by the beautiful woman.

What drove Kyle crazy was that Marabas’s greatest sin wasn’t even breaking into the Chaield estate.
It was the fact that he had dared to look at Amelia Diane, his fiancée, in her vulnerable nightgown.

‘Once I find him, I’ll pluck his eyes out first.’
Marabas already had five of Chaield’s informants watching him. Even now, reports were coming in about his past, present, and future.

Vanessa glanced at Kyle, who was emanating an unusual killing intent.

It was about the time she began to consider that the rumors around town calling Duke Chaield a “monster” might be true.
“Vanessa Mae Brante. I hear you’re from the same mercenary group as Marabas. Why didn’t you report this until now?”

“That’s…”

“Make sure to prepare a report on the matter before I return from the execution ceremony.”

Kyle didn’t give Vanessa a chance to respond, adding harshly, “I want you to know that while Chaield is not sparing any resources when it comes to Amelia Diane’s protection, I also won’t tolerate mistakes.”

Vanessa lowered her head and thought to herself.
‘What a jerk. He acts like a puppy around the lady, but look at him now. How did the lady manage to tame a guy like this?’
But she couldn’t show her thoughts on the outside. After all, he was her employer.
“Of course. Understood.”

“One more thing. If you meet Marabas Rydell again, would you be able to kill him?”

Vanessa, adhering to the rules of social etiquette, chose to give the answer her employer wanted.

“I’ll break his legs, bind his arms, and then present him to His Grace the Duke so that he can decide the fate of the man who dared to lay eyes on his defenseless fiancée.”
“That’s not a bad idea.”

Kyle responded in a voice devoid of any amusement and gestured for her to rise. With the conversation over, it was time for him to head to Count Gargoyle’s execution ceremony.

Count Gargoyle’s actions, which had framed his fiancée for a crime, had greatly disturbed Duke Chaield. Once the head of the family had touched the emperor’s sore spot, the fate of the Gargoyle family was sealed.

Annihilation.

The new emperor had promised to deal with the matter within a week at most, so patience wouldn’t be required for long. As Kyle recalled Count Gargoyle’s face with a blank expression, there was a sharp knock at the office door. When he gave permission, it was Haild, the butler, who entered with a troubled look.
“Your Grace, someone from the imperial palace came with urgent news.”

“What news?”
Haild signaled for Vanessa to leave the room before he spoke to Kyle.

“Count Gargoyle, who was being held in custody, has escaped.”
Duke Chaield’s brows furrowed slightly. With a cold, mocking smile, Kyle asked Haild, “You’re telling me that Count Gargoyle, whose execution was today, has disappeared?”

Haild couldn’t help but lower his head, sensing the deadly intent in Kyle’s voice.
“I apologize, Your Grace. The imperial palace has sent people to investigate the circumstances.”

“If they had the ability to catch the man who escaped, they wouldn’t have let him go in the first place. Have our people go after him.”
“I’ll take care of it.”

“It’s fine if we take measures to ensure he doesn’t escape again, but I want him alive when he returns.”
The man who had dared to put the blame on his fiancée didn’t deserve mercy.

Although Kyle had no intention of letting him go, seeing him struggle as if he wouldn’t acknowledge his wrongdoing only made Kyle want to crush him more.
Once captured, he planned to make Count Gargoyle regret extending his life.

‘He must know his whole family will be executed if he escapes.’
“It seems he accepted the risk. Apparently, he left a letter for his family members who remain in prison. It’s been decided that the Count’s family, who would have otherwise been spared and sold into servitude, will be executed as well.”

“And Count Gargoyle’s family, what’s their status?”
“His parents are deceased. His wife and two daughters remain, and there’s an illegitimate son from a brief affair with an unknown woman. It seems Count Gargoyle wasn’t particularly close to his family due to his frequent infidelities.”

“One escapes, and four die.”
Kyle was growing increasingly disillusioned with people who weren’t loyal to their families. Why betray a beloved wife and children so casually?

While he hadn’t expected clean recognition or repentance from Count Gargoyle, his disappointment was greater than anticipated.
From the start, Count Gargoyle was not a man of great substance, and the power he had wielded so far came not from his own abilities, but from willingly becoming the emperor’s closest confidant while ostracized from noble society.

“What do you think, Haild?”

“Count Gargoyle doesn’t seem to know his own limits. Sometimes attempts to do the impossible are seen as valuable efforts, but his current actions are nothing more than desperate survival. He’s someone who has lived his whole life as a noble, served by others.”

“Indeed, Count Gargoyle may be useless himself.”
“What do you mean by that…”

“Haild. Send someone to investigate the road leading to Keltman’s territory. Don’t forget to ask the locals if anyone saw anything.”

With relations between the Empire of Haile and Keltman on the brink of collapse, the place where Count Gargoyle, once a close confidant of the emperor, could be of the most use was undoubtedly Keltman.

“Count Gargoyle didn’t escape on his own.”

“I’ll thoroughly investigate whether there was an accomplice involved, and if so, I’ll report who they are.”
“Do so.”

Kyle once again scanned the reports he had received this morning. His network of informants across the world was already sending reports of unusual movements from Keltman.

Even without the informants’ reports, price fluctuations in stocks and goods related to Keltman were already telling a story.

Keltman wants to expand its influence over the Haile Empire.
Keltman’s base was located in the northern part of the continent, an area where farming was difficult, and food had to be gathered through raiding, foraging, or hunting. The area lacked water routes, making trade with other countries difficult.

Therefore, those chosen to be Keltman’s chieftains always sought a southern expansion policy, aiming to subdue the Haile Empire and gain influence.

‘A dog barging into its master’s house.’
Kyle had intended to let it end with a warning, but if Keltman had involved Count Gargoyle, things had changed.

Kyle would never forgive the man who threatened his fiancée, and if someone had allied with Count Gargoyle, he planned to sever their hands and necks.

“Haild. Prepare everything. I need to visit the imperial palace.”

In his mind, a vast plan began to take shape.