Arad, unable to contain his anger, suddenly reached out, grabbed Hisar by the collar himself, and threw him toward Hampton.
“Argh!”
Hisar let out a short scream as he tumbled across the floor.
His face was filled with bewilderment. Even among the servants, Hisar was known for his sturdy build and had been acting as their leader, yet Arad had thrown him aside with such ease.
Hisar’s face turned pale at the terrifying strength.
Arad’s black glove fell onto his face. He looked down at Hisar with an expression of disgust.
“Get him out.”
Ivnia, who had been standing stiffly and watching everything unfold, had a complicated mess of thoughts running through her mind.
‘Hisar is going to tell the butler that I was hiding in the library.’
What should she do?
As she worried, she cautiously glanced at Hampton.
Then she flinched.
She realized that the look in Hampton’s eyes as he stared at her was no different from the way he had looked at Hisar.
Ivnia immediately understood.
‘He’s going to throw both Hisar and me out.’
To Hampton, Ivnia wasn’t some kind of victim here. She was merely one of two employees who had caused trouble.
On top of that, Ivnia had a previous offense of causing a disturbance in Arad’s office.
‘If I just stand here, I’ll be thrown out.’
The position of maid was something Ivnia had barely managed to obtain by making a deal with Arad, agreeing to give up her inheritance in exchange for it.
But she had caused trouble, and if the butler decided to dismiss her, there would be nothing Ivnia could do.
‘I have to get Arad to forgive me here and now. Otherwise, the butler could quietly dismiss me along with Hisar.’
If Hisar were fired, she would be fired with him under joint responsibility.
It wasn’t unusual for servants who caused trouble to disappear all at once like that, so even though she hated it, Ivnia decided she had no choice but to take Hisar’s side.
“Please forgive me.”
She bowed deeply toward Arad.
“There was a small misunderstanding. I’m sorry for causing a disturbance. Please show mercy and forgive me, my lord.”
Arad’s face twisted more severely than it had at any point until now.
“A small misunderstanding? You don’t know what that bastard was trying to do to you?”
“Hisar was only trying to find out what I was doing. We were friends who knew each other when we were young. His way of expressing himself was rough, but he was only joking because he was happy to see me again after such a long time.”
“Joking?”
Arad let out a short laugh. It was a smile filled with contempt.
“Since when was putting your hands on someone a sign of happiness?”
Despite his sarcasm, Ivnia stubbornly continued.
“People like us, who aren’t very educated, have bad manners. There was no malicious intent. If you, my lord, who have such great wisdom, would show us mercy……”
Arad was too stunned to continue speaking as he stared at Ivnia.
“I heard perfectly well what that bastard said to you, Ivnia. How can you hear something like that and still ask me to forgive him?”
“To me, it was nothing.”
“Nothing?”
“It’s simply something I’m used to hearing. We…… This is just how we are. It happens all the time.”
Ivnia’s eyes became dry and empty.
Yes. Words like witch along with the other insults Hisar had thrown at her, were things she had heard countless times.
It had been like that before she left this place, and it had been like that after she returned.
It was simply something that always happened.
That didn’t mean she wasn’t hurt by it, but for Ranelli’s sake, she could bow her head as many times as necessary in Hisar’s place.
What difference was there between bowing her head in submission to Arad, who had treated her like a toy, and asking forgiveness on behalf of Hisar, whom she hated with all her heart?
Ivnia’s facial muscles trembled as she clenched her molars.
“As an employee who is supposed to quietly follow the rules and avoid attracting my lord’s attention……”
“Enough. Shut your mouth.”
From her lowered gaze, Ivnia caught a glimpse of Arad clenching his fist tightly.
His voice was one of someone desperately suppressing his anger.
After silencing Ivnia, Arad irritably shouted at Hampton, who had been quietly observing the situation.
“Didn’t I tell you to get that bastard out of here?”
“I apologize.”
Hampton pulled Hisar to his feet and pushed him toward the exit.
Hisar looked back and forth between Ivnia and Arad with an interested expression. Then he gave a polite bow before disappearing with Hampton in light, easy steps.
Once the two of them were alone, Arad spoke in a slightly softer voice.
“Raise your head, Ivnia.”
“My lord.”
“I said raise your head.”
Ivnia had no choice but to straighten her bent back and lift her head.
But her gaze was still directed downward.
“Look at me.”
“……”
“Why won’t you look at me?”
Arad stared at Ivnia as though he didn’t know what to do with himself, but Ivnia’s downward gaze meant she couldn’t see his face.
He let out a sigh and took another moment to cool the heat in his chest before asking in the calmest voice he could manage.
“Let me make sure one more time. Were you really just joking around? And was I the one who interrupted you?”
“I’m sorry for causing a disturbance.”
“Who said I wanted an apology? I’m asking you. Did I interrupt you?”
“……”
Arad roughly ran a hand through his hair.
“That bastard was trying to hit you. Did I see it wrong?”
“It was just a joke.”
“Ivnia.”
Arad’s voice grew slightly louder.
It sounded less like anger and more like a desperate cry from someone who didn’t know what else to do.
But Ivnia didn’t budge.
“Ha……”
Arad laughed hollowly.
Then, in a powerless voice, he muttered,
“Go. Fine. I understand. Just go.”
Arad stared at Ivnia’s back for a long time as she turned and disappeared.
Then he roughly ran a hand through his hair once again.
His strength seemed to leave him, and his body swayed.
He covered his face with one hand and stood there, supporting himself against the wall.
The eyes barely visible between his fingers were red.
‘Ivnia…….’
His vision blurred.
He shook his head as though trying to shake something away. His wavering vision slowly came back into focus.
But before long, it blurred again.
‘Should I grab her and lock her up?’
‘Take her and lock her away so she can look only at me.’
‘So she can never leave me again.’
The corners of his lips curved with satisfaction.
‘Let’s tie her down and make her look at me.’
‘So she can never take her eyes off me.’
Just imagining it made joy churn inside his chest, leaving him breathless.
His lips parted into a satisfied curve.
With his teeth showing, the smile spreading across his face was eerie.
Then, as though he had suddenly realized what he was thinking, he shook his head and cast the thoughts away.
‘Get a hold of yourself, Arad.’
Yellow and red flickered alternately in his eyes.
The madness lying dormant inside him was trying to seize the opportunity and devour him.
He desperately tried to maintain his composure.
The red mana inside his body surged wildly, covering his entire body with a prickling sensation as though he were being stabbed from every direction.
Arad thought of the ring on his finger and tried to stabilize the tangled flow of mana.
He felt the red mana being drawn into the ring.
It was a ring the former duke had given him as a gift.
Through that ring, he was able to release his rampaging mana and maintain his sanity.
For several years, he had been controlling his madness this way without any problems.
But recently, even the ring had become insufficient to keep him sane.
It had probably started from the day he reunited with Ivnia.
‘Ivnia.’
Whenever he thought of her, an uncontrollable desperation stirred his madness.
Like parched, barren land greedily absorbing rain that had finally fallen after a long drought, he kept craving Ivnia and thinking of nothing but her with desperate greed.
But the more he thought of her, the deeper his desperation became, and the harder it was to control his unstable mana.
He remembered the Ivnia of his youth, smiling as she looked at him.
Her smile soon changed into one of concern, and her gentle hand touched him.
Everywhere her hand touched, the violent mana inside him calmed down with astonishing ease.
Seven years ago.
With her gift for controlling mana, she had saved him when he was a boy who was slowly being consumed by madness.
She possessed such a mysterious power.
Arad’s eyes turned red again.
‘How can you leave me behind?’
A mad smile spread more deeply across his lips.
‘Tell me you love me, Ivnia. Tell me you’ll love only me. Tell me that I’m the only one you have.’
The madness began to consume his mind.
The more wounded he became by her coldness, the more uncontrollably the madness took over his mind.
His shoulders trembled as he let out a low, “Heh…… heh-heh.”
Whether it was because of his laughter or something else, he couldn’t tell.
Still leaning against the wall, his body slowly, slowly sank downward.
Hampton was carrying a tray of food in one hand and was about to knock when he stopped.
Loud noises of something breaking and being thrown around were coming from Arad’s office.
‘He’s doing it again.’
Lately, it seemed that Arad was breaking things more and more often.
When Arad had been a boy, Hampton, who had been learning his duties from his father, had occasionally seen him behave this way.
Back then, Hampton had simply thought that he was a difficult young master going through an especially rebellious adolescence.
Then, at some point, the behavior had naturally disappeared, and Hampton had been relieved.
Now that Arad was falling back into his old habits, however, Hampton was worried in many ways.
‘Has he been dealing with too many things on his mind lately?’
Arad had always been sensitive and particular, but recently he had been losing control of his anger far more often.
That was why Hampton had been paying especially close attention and carefully watching his mood.
And of all things, Arad had witnessed Hisar and Ivnia fighting today.
As the person responsible for managing and supervising the servants, Hampton couldn’t help being angry.
‘It would be better to discipline them properly.’
If he found an excuse to dismiss both of them at once, the matter would be settled cleanly.
But for some reason, Arad had suddenly changed his mind and decided to forgive them, leaving Hampton unable to dismiss them.
‘Is it because of Ivnia?’
Hampton guessed that the paperwork regarding her inheritance still hadn’t been settled.
Just then, a loud crash came from inside the office as a piece of furniture collapsed.
‘Good heavens.’
Startled, Hampton raised the hand he had lowered and knocked on the door.
“My lord, are you all right?”
He waited for a while.
Only after quite some time did a growling voice answer from inside.
“Leave me alone.”
The sharp voice seemed to grate even on the listener’s nerves.
When Arad was like this, he seemed like a completely different person from his usual imposing and composed self.
Sometimes, in crude terms, Hampton even thought he seemed like a madman.
Feeling a chill from Arad, Hampton took a step back.
His face was filled with concern.
He looked down at the tray in his hands.
Under the large silver lid was a bowl of steaming hot soup.
Recently, Arad had become not only more violent but also noticeably thinner.
He seemed to have lost his appetite and kept skipping meals.
Even today, he hadn’t eaten anything except for a glass of wine in the morning.
‘This is serious…….’