Chapter 105. A Saint who was Adopted by the Grand Duke
Updated: Apr 3
Darwin tilted his body crookedly as he stopped before the bars of the cell. He scanned Lucifer while the poor man was helplessly tied to a chair.
“Is that him?”
“Yes. The man kept resisting, but he is now quiet.”
While Darwin received the vassal’s report, he set foot inside the prison cell.
His shadow resurfaced against the dim red torch lit inside the dark prison.
Darwin’s large but intimidating silhouette covered Lucifer completely.
“Remove the blindfold.”
After the low voice resounded, the black eye patch that had concealed the man’s eyesight was cast off.
Lucifer blinked to regain focus, all while looking around with a frightened face.
Darwin, with his abnormal and overwhelming atmosphere, including the knights standing behind him. Realizing he had no chance of escaping, Lucifer decided to proceed submissively.
“I-if you could tell me what the issue is, I will do my best to cooperate. Just spare my life, please.”
Darwin slowly approached Lucifer, not bothering to pretend he even listened to the pleading man’s bullcrap.
“Do you want to live?”
“O-of course.”
He leaned down to meet Lucifer's eyes. Lucifer trembled involuntarily as he faced the rusty green eyes embedded with uncontrollable fury and anger.
“Then just answer the questions. You will only speak the truth.”
Lucifer nodded vigorously as if standing before the grim reaper himself.
The knights brought a chair, which Darwin rested on with his legs spread apart, ready to interrogate Lucifer.
Darwin’s simple stare at Lucifer put so much pressure on him that he started to tremble in fear.
“You've been in the slums of Harstal for a long time, haven't you?”
“…That's right.”
Lucifer shrank in surprise at the mention of the place he hadn’t heard of in the longest time.
“14 years ago, you would have brought a girl there.”
“If it was 14 years ago…”
He initially thought he would have been arrested for illegally gaining profit from the slums, but he didn’t quite comprehend where the 14 years ago came from.
“It's been so long… I cannot recall everything as it wasn’t just one or two orphans I picked up.”
“You've been spouting trash for a while now.”
Darwin kicked the chair Lucifer was tied to with his foot, unable to contain his anger at the thought that such trash bought Esther.
“Argh!”
Lucifer hollered in pain as he fell to the cold ground along with his chair.
However, in order to somehow survive, he kept his mind straight and continued.
“Pl-Please be merciful and tell me a little more. What kind of child are you looking for?”
“Diamond necklace.”
“Hyuk, how did you…!?”
Lucifer's eyes widened at Darwin’s brief words.
That diamond necklace was the only thing Lucifer failed to steal when he left Harstal.
The most precious item he was forced to give up because his business partner, his grandmother, always wore it every day that he soon lost hope.
“I remember. The girl who had the same pink eyes as the necklace.”
Darwin’s patience reached its limit once again as he heard Lucifer’s shameless words.
Darwin fumbled for his waist to pull the sword before recalling that he had left it in Ben’s hands. He exhaled deeply.
“Whoo.”
Everyone flinched at the sight of his timed explosion. Ben hid the sword behind his back.
“Tell me where you found the child, what happened to her mother, and all that you know.”
“Th-that…”
Lucifer averted his eyes while in his uncomfortable position. His contemplation of whether to lie or tell the truth soon chose the latter as he wished to ensure his survival.
“I've been picking up and selling orphans for the longest time. I was out in search of kids as usual one day, when… A woman I saw for the first time appeared in the back alleyways, which I often hung around.”
The reason why he still wouldn’t forget that time was because Lucifer fell in love with the woman at first sight.
“She didn’t seem like a person belonging to such a dark place, but there she was, lying with her new newborn child.”
Lucifer nervously forced his parched lips apart and continued.
“Honestly, at first, I was thinking of what to do because she was rather attractive… She died a few days later.”
“Died?”
Darwin clenched his fists and retorted unconsciously.
“Yes. Her wound was so severe that I didn't know where she was injured. She didn't receive treatment on time because she just had her baby. Even though she knew she was going to die.”
He couldn’t believe she suffered a life-threatening wound before having given birth. He was defeated and frustrated that he didn’t even know what hardships Catherine had to go through.
“The woman's eyes must have been pink like the child's. The necklace would have belonged to her, too.”
“That's right.”
Lucifer examined Darwin’s eyes and replied cautiously.
Lucifer, who happened to watch Catherine breathe her last, took care of the child as a notion of luck.
And the pink diamond necklace Catherine left behind. As soon as he arrived at the slums, it was taken by his grandmother.
“Injured? Who in the world…”
Esther was an orphan, so he was more than expecting Catherine not to be alive. However, it was too terrible for her death to have been caused by an injury.
“Did you hear anything else? As for the wound.”
“We didn't talk to each other much… Ah, but there was one word she muttered several times just before her death.”
There was a reason why Lucifer remembered the words even after 14 years.
“Brions? Why, isn't there a Dukal family, one of the four major Imperial families, with that name? It was the same name as that, so I still remember it till now.”
“Brions?”
Darwin jumped up, startled by the familiar name that resurfaced from nowhere.
He couldn't understand why Brions name appeared in this situation. Especially since this case was related to Catherine.
“That is it. I've really told you everything, so please spare my life.”
Lucifer was now crying chicken dung tears as he begged for help.
TL/N: Chicken poop is quite… sizable, you could say. This basically says that he was crying and large droplets were falling to the floor (P.s. I’d encourage you didn’t search up chicken poop.)
Darwin paused for a moment and looked down at him indifferently. Now, how to deal with him.
He couldn't kill the man since he might be of use in the future. He needed another alternative.
At that time, a knight approached Darwin’s side and whispered, “That man is the same thief who stole Master Judy’s gold coins during the day.”
Darwin’s forehead crumpled at his words.
“How dare you touch my son?”
“I-it’s not like that! I just sneaked them out of his pocket. I have the gold coins as well!”
Darwin gazed at Lucifer as if he was observing a bug.
“I won't kill you. Instead.”
Darwin trampled on Lucifer’s neck as a way to vent his bursting anger.
“You will pay for your sins with your fingers.”
Cutting off hands or fingers was a punishment often given to pickpockets. As Darwin beckoned to the knight, he pulled his sword and advanced forward.
“Do not leave any fingers behind. He will bleed a lot, so call a doctor to prevent his death.”
At the end of his order, Darwin leisurely stepped out of the prison. Lucifer's screams resounded behind his back.
Darwin felt the distress take over him as he stood under the bright moonlight, having escaped the dark prison. His hands, which he had been clenching, were white from the lack of blood.
Ben was equally sad and dejected about the events behind Esther's birth, but he was more worried over his master, Darwin.
“Your Grace… It is not your fault.”
“I know.”
Darwin uttered a laugh self-mockingly. He knew well himself that he was not at fault.
“But it could have changed.”
“Your Grace.”
“That's upsetting.”
The painful regret that he could have changed everything did not leave Darwin’s mind.
He felt sorrowful for the painful things Esther had to go through. His heart was torn.
Darwin stood absent-minded for a while. Then he trudged into the mansion.
“Will you head to your room?”
“I'll see the kids before I go.”
He sent Ben down the hallway and climbed the stairs alone. His sturdy back was drooping, unlike usual.
Darwin first stopped by Judy and Dennis's room before ascending the stairs to where Esther’s room was located.
Judy was sleeping so chaotically. His blanket was spread on the floor, and his clothes were curled up, revealing his stomach.
He quietly covered him with the blanket and visited Dennis's room. Unlike Judy, Dennis lay neatly with his back to the bed; it was as if he measured everything carefully with a ruler.
After confirming that the twins were in a deep slumber, Darwin finally reached the third floor.
However, he hesitated to open Esther’s room.
“Phew…”
After waiting for a while, he mustered his courage and turned the doorknob. As Darwin entered, he could see Esther sleeping peacefully on her bed.
It was disheartening but cute how she hugged the rabbit doll Judy had given her.
‘I'll have to buy her another doll.’
He didn't know she’d favor dolls since he only raised sons.
He stepped inside while thinking of constructing a doll room separately.
As Darwin tried to approach the bed, Shur suddenly appeared. He wrapped himself around Darwin’s feet to prevent him from proceeding any further.
“I'm not trying to hurt her.”
Surprisingly, Shur seemed to have understood what Darwin was saying. He calmly slithered aside.
Darwin reached the side of the bed and looked down at Esther. Complicated emotions struck his chest.
Just then, Esther's hand escaped from the side of the blanket. As he moved to tuck it back inside, Esther’s eyelashes unfurled.
She blinked a few times, rubbed her eyes, and then tilted her head, realizing this wasn’t a dream.
“Father?”
“I'm sorry for waking you up.”
Darwin’s heart sank as he faced Eshter. He was worried over how far he should confide in his new discoveries.
He didn’t think of telling Esther at all, but Darwin decided to give her a choice of whether to listen or not.
“Esther.”
“Yes, father.”
He gazed lamentably whilst tucking Esther’s disorganized hair behind her ears.
“I know who your mother was. If the truth was, that you weren't abandoned… Would you like to hear more?”
“Mo…ther?”
Esther's hazy mind regained complete focus. At the same time, her clear eyes began to tremble significantly.
***
Soo, I know I strayed from the update schedule, that's because I had tech issues, but it's all good now. To be honest, I don't really care about when I post because I'm the type of person that does what they feel like, but the difference is that you guys have to check every day for an update and I don't want you to be discouraged from reading. So, the schedule will now change from every 2 days to every 3. The catch is that I might do double to triple updates even, but you'll get your share anyhow~ That's all, love you guys!
