Chapter 62

“Yes, sir.”

The warning not to run away again carried a dense, heavy threat. Answering with exaggerated vigor, Lino cast one last, detached glance at the Baron shivering flat on the floor before turning his back and walking out of the abandoned house.

Enoch approached him. “Have you finished?”

“Yes. His Highness told me to come out first.”

“The wind is cold. Please get inside.”

“Alright.”

To Lino, who had survived in far harsher climates, the Zetina Kingdom’s summer night breeze was merely refreshing, but he obediently climbed into the back seat. This vehicle must have been equipped with mana stones as well, because the air inside was noticeably purer than outside. Leaning back comfortably against the seat, Lino realized he hadn’t taken a proper breath the entire time he was inside that filthy house. Unbuttoning the top of his collar, he finally let out a long, deep exhale. I was only able to breathe because Grondil was next to me. It was a stark reminder of just how heavily he had come to rely on the Beast.

A smile kept threatening to spread across his face, forcing him to cover his mouth with his hand. Even though he was alone in the car, he clenched his jaw tight, irrationally afraid someone might see him beaming.

Before meeting Grondil, he had believed that leaning on someone, relying on them, or accepting help was absolutely forbidden. I cannot become weak. No matter what happens, I must resolve it myself. That had been his mantra. Because he never knew when or where the Baron might track him down, he had maintained a lifestyle where he could erase his traces and vanish overnight.

Forget lovers; he hadn’t even managed to make a single friend to share his thoughts with. He couldn’t stay in one place for more than six months, and he could never secure a decent job. Years of living like a ghost had left his soul utterly devastated. Joining the Order of St. Margia had been partly due to his divine power, but it was also a desperate attempt to recover a fraction of the life he had lost.

He knew finding a lover would be impossible in an order full of men, but he had hoped to finally put down roots and make friends. Things hadn’t exactly gone according to plan.

He had fully expected to return to that bleak, exhausting life once he left the knights. Then, he met Grondil. He thought the man was just an Imperial Duke, but he turned out to be the Grand King of the Isberg Grand Principality—and his true form was a Beast.

Not a beastkin with fluffy ears and a tail, but a full, terrifying Beast. Sometimes, Lino wondered if Grondil was the true definition of a beastkin.

I still can’t believe it. 

Lino placed a hand over his stomach and closed his eyes. It was hard enough to believe he had fully taken Grondil in his Beast form, let alone the fact that he could carry the Beast’s child.

He wasn’t entirely repulsed by the idea of male pregnancy. But he had spent shameful, passionate nights not just with Grondil the man, but Grondil the Beast.

The mind-numbing pleasure he derived from tangling with the Beast had fundamentally rewritten his values. Had it been another human, he might have violently resisted. But the coercion wielded by a transcendent, non-human entity—the absolute ruler of the very country he had spent his life revering—had ironically made him yield without a fight.

From birth until now, Lino had lived a life completely detached from the word ‘protection.’ He fell asleep alone and woke up alone. Even in a crowd, he considered himself isolated, living so lonely for so long that he had forgotten what loneliness felt like.

Grondil had completely upended that life. He heated the bed until it burned and left it soaking wet. He trapped Lino in his arms to sleep, and made sure he was fed the moment he woke up.

He was sly and undeniably perverted, but no one had ever cared for, cherished, and treasured Lino the way Grondil did. And because of that, Lino’s core values shifted.

A life filled with the things he had long since given up on was incredibly sweet. So sweet he never wanted to give it up again.

If I really end up having His Highness’s child. 

A family.

Stroking his flat stomach, Lino let the thought wash over him. I will have a family too. Just the imagination of a completely new, unimaginable future waiting for him made his heart pound so hard he thought it might burst.

He had felt his heart pound like this when he thought the Baron had found him, but this sensation was entirely new. Caught up in the fluttering excitement, he didn’t even notice the faint, prickling twinges deep in his abdomen.

“Are you hungry?”

Grondil asked as he slid into the seat next to Lino. Despite coming from the same filthy, abandoned house, Grondil looked fresh and completely unbothered, wearing a light smile as if he had just returned from a pleasant stroll, a stark contrast to Lino’s exhausted expression.

“You can completely erase the Baron from your memory now.”

“…Are you sure that’s okay?”

“You can relax. From now on, the Baron will be so thoroughly tormented he won’t have the luxury of searching for you, let alone remembering he ever adopted you.”

“Tormented?”

As Lino’s eyes widened in surprise, Grondil, seemingly pleased by the reaction, gently stroked Lino’s hair with his massive hand. The hand then trailed down his cheek, lightly caressing the nape of his neck.

“The loan shark Iscazel Noth Haklan borrowed his business funds from is one of the many operations run by the Baron Merchant Guild.”

“Ah… the Baron Merchant Guild runs a loan sharking business too.”

Lino let out a long sigh. Iscazel was a truly terrible older brother, but hearing he had borrowed money from the Baron’s loan sharks elicited genuine pity from Lino.

“Because the Baron Merchant Guild reigns above the law, there is no country better suited for them than Zetina Kingdom to play with money, slapping on exorbitant, illegal interest rates using their own twisted calculations.”

The Baron Merchant Guild operated a myriad of illegal enterprises, with the underground auction and their loan sharking business being the most vicious. Commoners would shut their eyes, cover their ears, and seal their lips at the mere mention of the letter ‘B’. Rumors ran rampant that simply seeing, hearing, or speaking of the guild would invite their demonic clutches to drain your very soul.

“What on earth was he thinking, borrowing money from them?”

Utterly baffled, Lino muttered to himself. He was so curious he almost wanted to march back into the abandoned house and ask the Baron. However, the car had long since left the Injiu district behind.

“Erin handled the Baron Merchant Guild perfectly.”

“Th-The Guild?”

“While she was at it, she thoroughly cleaned up all their filthy operations. In exchange, I will be collecting Baron Haklan’s debt. With the exact same interest rate they contracted with the Baron Merchant Guild. If their payment is delayed by even a single day, I will make them weep tears of blood. They will never have the time or energy to search for a runaway adopted son ever again.”

Lino silently mourned for Baron Haklan, ruined by a single foolish son. Just listening to Grondil’s plan painted a brutally clear picture of the man’s miserable future. He suspected they would be monitored so closely they wouldn’t even be allowed the luxury of suicide.

“Thank you truly, Your Highness.”

Pity for the Baron aside, Lino bowed his head deeply to Grondil, genuinely grateful for the extreme measures taken to protect him. If not for Grondil, he might have already been sold off according to the Baron’s plan, enduring a hellish existence stripped of his humanity. That was why he offered his sincere gratitude.

But Grondil’s hand swept down Lino’s back and abruptly seized his buttocks in a firm grip.

“I will collect my thanks from here later.”

“…”

Yeah, the Baron doesn’t deserve my pity. “The Baron at least had the brains to study, but it seems his son lacked even that. Upon hearing you were staying at my estate, Iscazel secretly used the Haklan mansion as collateral to borrow money without his father’s knowledge. He planned to sell you—a Letia—to Isberg and use that connection to establish a business trading in my country… Haha, he must think he has multiple lives to spare. Though even if he did, I would have severed every last one of them without a trace.”

Lino nodded silently. He didn’t ask what Grondil meant by ‘severed’. Whether it was the neck or the waist, it clearly meant execution.

“The reason Sir Disson invited Baron Haklan to the networking event was to have his status as a Letia officially recognized. The Baron was planning to expose you as a Letia at that very event.”

“That’s just… What is so great about a Letia that everyone goes absolutely rabid over it?” Lino’s brow furrowed in deep irritation. This bastard wants to sell me, that bastard wants to kill me. He couldn’t help but be furious at the absolute insanity surrounding his existence.

“Then why did Your Highness agree to attend the event?”

Lino finally asked the question that had been burning in his mind. He was incredibly curious why Grondil, who clearly loathed Yuneria, had suddenly flipped his attitude and accepted the invitation so eagerly.

“Why, to acknowledge Sir Disson as a Letia, of course.”

“…Excuse me? Didn’t you say I was the Letia?”

At Lino’s counter-question, Grondil’s eyes curved into crescents as he smiled. He was smiling, but the expression radiated pure, unadulterated malice.

“The Letia I am looking for is meant to be sent as a breeding vessel for the Emperor. So, are you going to go?”

“I-I absolutely refuse!”

“Then if anyone asks who the Letia is, keep your mouth shut and stay perfectly still.”

“…Yes, sir.”

The words ‘breeding vessel for the Emperor’ made Lino’s heart plummet. Considering he had just been fluttering with excitement at the prospect of having Grondil’s child and becoming a family, the future of becoming the Emperor’s breeding vessel was utterly horrific.

“Sir Disson will go to the Emperor in your stead. Tomorrow, at the networking event, the Baron will also acknowledge Sir Disson as the Letia. The Marchioness put quite a lot of effort into this event. Renowned scholars from various countries will be in attendance. If both Baron Haklan and I, an Imperial Duke, confirm his status, Sir Disson will lose any reason to ever lay a hand on you again.”

“But… didn’t Sir Disson like Your Highness?”

Haha! Grondil laughed as if he had just heard the most absurd joke in the world. It was a laugh that screamed ‘Absolutely not.’

“…He doesn’t?”

“Sir Disson’s true objective is to escape the Zetina Kingdom and elevate his status within the Empire. Since he lacks the capability to achieve it himself, his determination to climb the social ladder by stealing someone else’s identity is truly remarkable. The moment he steps foot in the Empire, he will completely forget the existence of Duke Grondil. With the Emperor of the Cartia Empire right in front of him, there is no way he would spare me a single glance.”

“So… that’s how it is. But Sir Disson isn’t a real Letia… Is it really okay to deceive the Emperor?”

“I have already made the necessary arrangements, so you need not worry about that.”

Lost in conversation with Grondil, they arrived at the estate before Lino knew it. Grondil headed straight for his office with Erin, who had been waiting for them. Escorted by Enoch, Lino returned to his room. Enoch’s gaze still carried a hint of suspicion, as if monitoring him to ensure he wouldn’t bolt again. Since vanishing with only a flimsy note was undeniably his fault, Lino followed quietly without a word of complaint.

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