The atmosphere inside Duke Valecrest’s study had beco eerily quiet despite the storm of events unfolding throughout the manor, as the massive room illuminated by soft golden mana lamps remained buried beneath a pressure heavy enough to make even breathing feel uncomfortable. The elegant white and navy-blue interiors carried the dignity expected of the ruler of an entire duchy, yet at this mont, the room itself felt colder than any prison.
Behind the large desk at the center of the study—
Duke Valecrest sat motionlessly upon his chair.
His fierce golden eyes remained fixed upon the empty space ahead of him while one hand rested calmly against the armrest, his posture carrying the sa overwhelming authority that naturally pressed down upon everyone around him without effort.
Standing before him
The head butler remained bowed deeply.
"...So that is everything that happened, m-master."
The old man finally completed his report carefully before falling silent once more.
And after that—
Nothing.
The Duke simply continued staring ahead without speaking for a very long ti.
The silence gradually beca suffocating.
Yet the head butler remained perfectly still while waiting patiently for the Duke’s response, not daring to raise his head even slightly.
Then finally—
The Duke spoke.
His voice remained eerily calm.
"So..."
A faint pause followed.
"It seems we have remained silent for far too long... haven’t we?"
The mont those words echoed throughout the study—
The head butler visibly trembled.
Because despite the calmness within the Duke’s tone, the old man could clearly feel the terrifying anger hidden beneath it.
anwhile, Duke Valecrest slowly leaned back into his chair before continuing.
"Send my orders to the intelligence departnt," he said coldly. "I want every spy, every infiltrator, and every individual with an unclear identity removed from the Valecrest Manor imdiately."
The pressure inside the study intensified further.
"Investigate every single servant thoroughly," the Duke continued. "And if there is even the slightest suspicion that they have maintained outside contact..."
His golden eyes darkened faintly.
"...purge them."
The head butler imdiately bowed even deeper.
"As you command, m-master."
Just then—
KNOCK KNOCK—
A hurried knock suddenly sounded against the study door.
The head butler frowned imdiately at the interruption before quickly moving toward the entrance and opening the door himself.
Outside stood a frightened attendant whose pale face already looked close to collapse.
"What happened?" the head butler asked sharply.
The attendant swallowed hard before answering nervously.
"T-the person... h-he has been healed..."
For the first ti since entering the room, visible relief flashed briefly across the head butler’s face.
"Where is he now?"
But instead of answering imdiately—
The attendant trembled even more violently.
"H-he..."
His voice got stuck completely.
Then suddenly—
The Duke’s voice rang out from deeper within the study.
"Speak."
The single word alone nearly caused the attendant to collapse onto his knees.
"H-he..." the attendant stamred in panic. "H-he was taken away..."
A brief pause followed.
"...by young master Damon."
***
The underground chamber hidden beneath the Valecrest Manor felt less like a prison and more like a place abandoned by humanity itself, as cold stone walls soaked in moisture stretched endlessly beneath dimly flickering mana lamps whose pale light only made the shadows appear deeper. The air slled heavily of iron and blood, while the distant dripping of water echoed faintly through the chamber like a slow countdown toward sothing dreadful.
At the center of the room—
The traitor hung restrained against thick iron bindings fixed directly into the wall.
Or rather—
What remained of him.
Blood soaked through his clothes completely by now, dark stains spreading beneath his body and pooling slowly onto the stone floor below. His breathing had beco ragged and broken after prolonged screaming, yet despite the horrifying state he had been reduced to, a distorted grin still lingered across his blood-covered face.
And standing before him—
Damon calmly observed him.
Not angry.
Not emotional.
Calm.
That calmness itself had gradually beco the most horrifying thing inside the room.
The man coughed violently, blood spilling from his ruined mouth before he started laughing again through the choking sounds.
"Khh...khhahaha..."
The broken laughter echoed disturbingly through the chamber.
Then his bloodshot eyes slowly lifted toward Damon.
"You think..." he rasped painfully through the mutilated remains of his mouth, "...you can scare ...?"
Damon quietly wiped blood from his fingers using a cloth handed to him earlier before responding in an almost indifferent tone.
"No," he said calmly. "I already know fear no longer works on you."
The man laughed harder after hearing that.
"Then what exactly are you trying to do... Damon Valecrest?"
Another cough of blood escaped him.
"You nobles always think pain changes anything..."
Damon slowly stepped closer.
Then without warning—
CRACK—
A horrifying snapping sound echoed through the chamber as Damon calmly broke another finger backward at an unnatural angle.
The man’s body convulsed violently.
"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH—!!"
The scream echoed so loudly that even the guards standing near the entrance visibly stiffened.
Yet Damon’s expression did not change at all.
"You misunderstand sothing," Damon said quietly while still holding the shattered hand. "I am not trying to make you fear pain."
Another crack followed imdiately.
"AAAAAAHHHHHHH—!"
"I am simply asuring," Damon continued calmly over the screams, "how long your loyalty lasts before your mind breaks apart."
The man’s breathing beca ragged as sweat and blood poured together across his face, yet despite the agony, another twisted grin slowly appeared again.
"You..." he coughed violently. "You sound just like your father..."
Damon’s eyes narrowed faintly.
But still—
No anger surfaced.
Instead, he crouched slightly before the man so their eyes aligned directly.
"Who ordered you to remove Sahira’s record?"
The man remained silent.
Damon waited several seconds.
Then calmly grabbed the shattered finger again and slowly twisted it further.
The sound that escaped afterward no longer sounded human.
"AAGHHHHHAAAHHHHH—!!"
The man thrashed violently against the restraints while blood sprayed from his ruined mouth onto Damon’s clothes.
Yet Damon remained completely still.
"Interesting," Damon murmured softly. "You react strongly to physical pain, but your eyes still move whenever I ntion her na."
The man froze slightly.
Only slightly.
But Damon noticed.
Then slowly—
A faint smile appeared across Damon’s face.
"There it is..."
The man imdiately started laughing again despite trembling violently from pain.
"Khhh...you think...you’ve won...?"
Damon tilted his head faintly.
"No," he answered honestly. "Actually, I think you still believe soone is coming to save you."
The laughter suddenly stopped.
For the first ti—
The man’s expression shifted.
Only briefly.
But Damon saw it.
And Damon’s smile deepened slightly afterward.
"You see..." Damon continued softly, almost conversationally, "people who truly accept death stop looking toward doors."
The chamber fell silent.
The man’s breathing gradually beca heavier.
anwhile, Damon calmly stood again before slowly removing another instrunt from the nearby table.
The faint tallic sound alone caused the restrained man’s body to tense instinctively.
"You are very loyal," Damon admitted quietly. "Honestly... more loyal than most nobles."
Then Damon looked directly into his eyes.
"But loyalty is a fragile thing."
A slow step forward.
"It weakens when abandonnt appears."
Another step.
"It weakens when suffering continues long enough."
Another.
"And eventually..."
Damon stopped directly before him again.
"...it weakens when the person you are protecting never cos for you."
The man’s breathing visibly faltered.
And for the very first ti since entering the chamber—
The grin on his face disappeared completely.
The restrained traitor barely resembled human anymore at this point, as blood covered nearly every inch of his body while multiple fingers hung bent at unnatural angles, torn flesh exposed openly beneath shattered skin. His wrists had already been ripped raw from struggling against the restraints, and every breath escaping him now sounded wet and broken after hours of screaming.
Yet despite that—
Damon continued asking the sa question again and again.
"Who is targeting Sahira?"
Silence.
CRACK—
Another finger folded backward with horrifying slowness beneath Damon’s grip.
The man’s entire body convulsed violently as a scream tore out from his ruined throat with enough force to shake the chamber itself.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH—!!"
Damon did not react.
Instead, he calmly observed the man’s face while speaking over the screams themselves.
The man continued screaming uncontrollably.
Damon twisted the broken finger slightly further.
Another horrifying crack echoed.
"Yet the mont I entered Crownspire Academy..."
His golden eyes narrowed faintly.
"...the pressure around her suddenly increased."
The man’s body visibly stiffened despite the agony.
Only slightly.
But Damon noticed imdiately.
"There it is again," Damon murmured softly.
Then slowly—
A faint smile appeared across his face.
"You react every single ti I ntion the academy."
The man spat blood onto the floor while laughing weakly through broken breaths.
"Khhh...khhh...you think...you’ve figured sothing out...?"
Damon ignored the mockery completely.
"The person behind this is connected to Crownspire sohow," he continued calmly while releasing the shattered hand at last. "Soone with enough influence to operate quietly within noble circles, enough reach to erase records within the Valecrest Manor itself, and enough confidence to leave hidden pieces untouched because they believed nobody would ever investigate deeply enough."
The man’s breathing gradually beca more unstable.
Fear had already begun replacing defiance within his eyes.
anwhile Damon stepped closer again, crouching slightly before him while maintaining steady eye contact the entire ti.
"You know what your mistake was?" Damon asked softly.
The man glared at him hatefully without answering.
Damon continued anyway.
"You remained too loyal for too long."
A faint pause followed.
"People break faster when they believe betrayal is impossible," Damon said quietly. "But once doubt begins entering their mind..."
His fingers lightly brushed across the blood-covered restraints.
"...pain becos much louder."
The man’s breathing visibly faltered after hearing that.
Then suddenly—
Damon grabbed one of the already broken fingers again.
Not violently.
Not quickly.
Slowly.
Purposefully.
The grinding sound of shattered bone moving against itself echoed sickeningly throughout the chamber as Damon gradually increased the pressure little by little, allowing the agony to build rather than explode instantly.
The scream that followed no longer sounded human.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH—!!"
The restrained man thrashed so violently against the chains that blood sprayed outward from reopened wounds across his body while desperate choking sounds escaped endlessly from his ruined mouth.
Yet Damon simply watched him.
Calmly.
"You are still hoping soone will co save you," Damon said softly over the screams. "Even now."
The man froze slightly.
And Damon smiled faintly afterward.
"That is the only reason you continue enduring this."
Then Damon slowly leaned closer until his voice itself felt colder than the chamber surrounding them.
"But nobody is coming."
The man’s breathing beca ragged.
Panicked.
Broken.
"You were disposable from the beginning," Damon continued quietly. "The mont they sent you here alone, they had already decided your death was acceptable."
Those words struck differently this ti.
The hatred within the man’s eyes finally began cracking apart.
Because deep down—
He knew it was true.
Damon saw that realization appear.
And pressed further.
"You are not protecting them anymore," Damon said softly. "You are rely dying for people who already abandoned you."
Then Damon slowly reached toward another instrunt resting upon the nearby table.
The faint tallic scraping sound alone caused the restrained man’s entire body to jerk violently in terror.
"N-no..."
For the first ti—
True desperation surfaced within his voice.
Damon’s eyes sharpened instantly.
"So tell ," he said quietly, his tone remaining horrifyingly calm despite the blood covering his hands and clothes alike, "who from the academy is targeting Sahira..."
The man’s breathing completely collapsed now into panicked gasps.
Sweat poured endlessly down his face.
His entire body shook violently.
And fina
lly—
Sothing inside him broke completely.
"I-I WILL SPEAK...!"
The desperate scream exploded through the chamber as tears mixed together with blood across his face.
"PLEASE—I WILL SPEAK...! I WILL TELL YOU EVERYTHING...!"
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