Everyone who was still there watched as the horse-drawn carriage slowly began to leave.
Some villagers remained standing in place, their eyes following the carriage as it moved farther away.
Others began whispering among themselves.
What had just happened to Gerald's family clearly wasn't something they could simply forget.
But the carriage didn't stop again.
Its wooden wheels continued along the wet and uneven roads of Lerta.
Simple houses appeared one after another beyond the window.
Several villagers standing by the roadside immediately stepped aside when they saw the Giorry Family crest on the carriage.
It wouldn't be long now...
They would even pass the place where Zeldryn had met the old man who tried to sell his own daughter earlier.
But Zeldryn?
He wasn't thinking about any of that.
Ever since the carriage started moving...
There was only one thing circling inside his head.
Gerald's head.
The human head that was still under his bed.
'Shit...'
Zeldryn held his head with both hands.
'I should've remembered something this damn trivial, bastard...'
THUD!
One of the carriage wheels hit a small hole.
Zeldryn's body lifted slightly from his seat before dropping back down.
Normally...
He probably would've started cursing immediately.
His ass hadn't even fully recovered from the trip to Lerta earlier.
But now?
Zeldryn barely cared.
His mind was too busy.
'No...'
Zeldryn slowly raised his head.
'No matter where I put it, it would've been the same anyway.'
Inside the wardrobe?
If a servant cleaned inside it, they'd find it.
Behind the table?
Same thing.
In the corner of the room?
That would've been even dumber.
Under the bed?
...
Zeldryn fell silent.
'Yeah.'
'And that's exactly what I did.'
He roughly rubbed his face.
'If a servant comes in to clean my room... no matter where I hide it, there's still a good chance they'll find it.'
"KUUUGHH...."
Both of Zeldryn's hands moved up to his hair before pulling on it hard.
"Bastard..." Zeldryn muttered.
"..."
Hera, who was sitting across from him, could only watch.
Her gaze moved from Zeldryn's face...
To his hands...
Then back to his face again.
She genuinely didn't understand what was happening.
Earlier, while they were still in Lerta...
Zeldryn had suddenly run toward her and asked when the servants usually cleaned his room.
The moment Hera told him that his room was usually cleaned whenever he wasn't inside...
Her master's expression immediately changed.
Then...
Without explaining anything...
Zeldryn ordered Pertaz to bring them back to the Mansion as quickly as possible.
And now?
Ever since the carriage started moving...
Zeldryn had done nothing but curse to himself.
Sometimes holding his head.
Sometimes pulling his hair.
Sometimes staring blankly out the window.
Hera slowly opened her mouth.
"Lor..." Hera began.
Suddenly...
!!
SCREEECH!!
The carriage stopped abruptly.
!!??
"WOAH!?" Zeldryn shouted.
His body was immediately thrown forward.
His ass lifted from the seat, and he nearly flipped over completely if his hand hadn't instinctively grabbed the side of the seat.
Hera was almost thrown as well.
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"Ah!" Hera cried out.
She hurriedly braced herself against the carriage wall.
A few seconds later...
The carriage came to a complete stop.
"..."
Zeldryn slowly raised his head.
"Bastard..." Zeldryn muttered.
A vein almost appeared on his forehead.
'What now??'
He was just about to ask Pertaz.
But before he could even open his mouth...
Pertaz's voice had already come from outside.
"Oi! Are you trying to die!?" Pertaz shouted.
"...Huh?" Zeldryn muttered.
He immediately turned toward the window.
'Who the hell is that idiot?'
Zeldryn leaned forward slightly.
From there...
He could see someone standing right in front of the carriage.
A woman.
She looked to be somewhere around forty to fifty years old.
Her clothes were simple.
She didn't look like a noble or someone particularly wealthy.
The bottom of her dress was already stained with mud from the road.
And for whatever reason...
The woman was standing right in the middle of the road.
Blocking their carriage.
"..."
Zeldryn frowned.
"What's wrong, Pertaz?" Zeldryn asked.
Pertaz slightly turned his head after hearing his master's voice.
"M-My apologies, Lord," Pertaz replied.
Pertaz glanced at the woman in front of them before continuing,
"It seems someone you may know is trying to stop the carriage."
!!
Zeldryn looked at the woman again.
'Someone I might know??'
He studied her face more carefully.
'Who??'
Nothing.
He couldn't remember her at all.
'Shit...'
Zeldryn rubbed his forehead.
'And it has to happen now.'
He immediately turned toward Hera.
"Hera," Zeldryn called.
!!
Hera, who was still fixing her sitting position, immediately looked at him.
"Y-Yes, Lord?" Hera replied.
"Look out the window right now," Zeldryn said.
He pointed toward the front.
"Do you recognize that woman?" Zeldryn asked.
"Yes, Lord," Hera replied.
Hera leaned forward slightly and looked outside.
Her eyes searched for the person Zeldryn was pointing at.
A few seconds later...
!!
Hera's expression changed slightly.
She quickly looked back at Zeldryn.
"M-My apologies, Lord," Hera said.
She hesitated slightly before continuing.
"It seems... that's Henry's mother."
...
!!??
"Huh?" Zeldryn blurted out.
He immediately looked outside again.
'Henry's mother??'
A face appeared in his mind.
A fat young man.
Henry.
One of the bastards who had helped plan the beating of the old Zeldryn only a few days ago.
'What the hell now??'
Zeldryn grabbed his forehead again.
'I can't waste too much time...'
Every minute they spent here meant a greater chance of someone entering his room.
And if that really happened...
Zeldryn didn't even want to imagine it.
"Pertaz!" Zeldryn shouted.
Pertaz flinched slightly.
"Y-Yes, Lord?" Pertaz replied.
"Ask her what she wants," Zeldryn ordered.
He stared ahead impatiently.
"Quickly."
"Y-Yes, Lord," Pertaz replied.
Pertaz immediately turned back toward the middle-aged woman.
"Oi, Rosela!" Pertaz shouted.
!!!
Zeldryn raised an eyebrow slightly.
'Rosela?'
He looked at the woman again.
'So Henry's mother's name is Rosela?'
Zeldryn kept that small piece of information in mind.
Pertaz still held the reins as he stared at the woman.
"What business do you have that you dare interrupt Lord Zeldryn's journey?" Pertaz asked.
Rosela didn't answer immediately.
She lowered her head for a moment.
But...
When she slightly raised her face again...
She wasn't looking at Pertaz.
Instead, she tried to look past him.
Toward the carriage.
More precisely...
Toward the window where Zeldryn was sitting.
"L-Lord Zeldryn..." Rosela called.
Her voice trembled.
She lowered her head again.
This time, even deeper.
"I have already heard about the terrible things Henry did to you..." Rosela said.
"..."
Zeldryn didn't respond.
Rosela tightly clasped both hands in front of her body.
Even her fingers were trembling slightly.
"B-But I beg you..." Rosela continued.
She took a small breath.
"Please forgive him..."
She lowered her head even further.
"Please release Henry, Lord..."
"..."
Zeldryn only watched from behind the window.
Rosela continued,
"If necessary..."
Her voice grew weaker.
"I can take his place."
...
"Imprison me instead, Lord," Rosela pleaded.
"..."
A few seconds passed.
Zeldryn remained silent.
'Haissh...'
He finally let out a long breath.
'I thought she had something else to say.'
'So it's just about Henry.'
Zeldryn already knew that sooner or later, someone might come asking about that fat bastard.
But right now?
'This isn't the time to deal with him.'
There was a human head in his room that a servant might already be finding at this very moment.
Compared to that...
Henry could wait.
"Pertaz," Zeldryn called.
Pertaz immediately glanced back.
"Yes, Lord?" Pertaz replied.
"Ignore that woman," Zeldryn ordered.
!!
Rosela immediately raised her head.
"L-Lord Zeldryn!" Rosela shouted.
But Zeldryn wasn't even looking at her anymore.
"Get back to the Mansion, quickly!!" Zeldryn shouted.
His voice was much louder than before.
!!
Hera immediately flinched.
Her body instinctively stiffened.
"..."
That tone.
The way Zeldryn had just shouted.
For a moment...
It sounded far too much like the old Zeldryn.
The one who always shouted whenever something didn't go his way.
The one who could explode at a servant over even the smallest mistake.
Hera unconsciously lowered her gaze.
Her hands moved closer together on her lap.
Meanwhile...
"Yes, Lord!" Pertaz immediately replied.
He raised the reins.
CTAK!
"Hya!" Pertaz shouted.
The two horses began moving again.
The carriage wheels slowly started turning.
"L-Lord!" Rosela shouted.
She immediately panicked and started following the carriage.
"P-Please, Lord!" Rosela begged.
The carriage began moving faster.
"Release Henry!" Rosela shouted.
Rosela started running.
Her dress lifted slightly with every step she took across the muddy road.
"Lord Zeldryn!"
"Please!"
The carriage continued getting farther away.
But Rosela kept chasing them.
"Please release Henry!"
Zeldryn remained seated.
He didn't turn around.
"Please, Lord!"
The woman's voice continued coming from behind them.
"He's my son!"
"..."
Zeldryn closed his eyes for a moment.
But he still didn't turn around.
Then...
!!
SPLASH!
"Ah!" Rosela cried out.
The sound of something falling came from behind them.
Rosela's foot had slipped on the wet ground.
Her body fell straight into the mud.
Both of her hands became dirty as she tried to catch herself.
"P-Please..." Rosela muttered.
She still stared at the carriage as it moved farther away.
"Release..."
Her breathing became uneven.
"Henry..."
"..."
The carriage continued onward.
Her voice grew quieter.
More distant.
Until eventually...
Zeldryn couldn't hear it anymore.
"..."
He still didn't turn around.
'Haissh...'
Zeldryn leaned back slightly against his seat.
'Not now.'
He could deal with Henry later.
Right now...
He had a slightly harder problem to explain.
Which was...
Why there was a human head under the bed of a twelve-year-old boy.
"..."
Zeldryn grabbed his head again.
'Bastard.'
...
About ten minutes later...
The carriage was still moving.
The houses of Lerta had gradually disappeared from view.
The scenery outside had changed back into the road leading toward the Mansion.
Zeldryn had been sitting there the entire time, staring out the window.
THUD!
The carriage shook again.
His body shifted slightly.
But this time...
There was no curse.
No complaint about his ass.
Even the pain from the carriage's constant shaking barely registered anymore.
Not because the pain was gone.
His mind was simply too full to care.
'I hope no one's gone inside yet...'
'I hope no one has seen it...'
'If they already found it...'
"..."
Zeldryn immediately stopped himself.
'No.'
'Don't think about it.'
He looked outside again.
A few moments later...
!!
Zeldryn immediately leaned forward slightly.
In the distance...
A large gate had finally come into view.
The Mansion gate.
"Finally..." Zeldryn muttered.
He almost let out a sigh of relief.
The carriage continued getting closer.
Closer.
Until finally...
The carriage stopped briefly in front of the Mansion gate.
The guards stationed there immediately recognized it.
They also knew exactly who was inside.
Without saying much...
Several guards immediately moved to open the gate.
CREEEAK...
The large gate slowly opened.
The carriage began moving into the Mansion grounds.
Zeldryn was still looking outside the window.
Then...
His eyes accidentally met those of one of the guards.
"..."
Their eyes met.
Only for a moment.
But...
!!
The guard visibly shuddered.
His body stiffened.
And almost immediately...
He lowered his gaze.
As though he didn't dare look at Zeldryn for even another second.
"...?"
Zeldryn frowned slightly.
He watched the man as the carriage passed him.
Of course...
Zeldryn knew people were afraid of him.
The old Zeldryn's reputation was already bad enough to make almost every servant and guard inside the Mansion cautious whenever he was nearby.
But...
That was different.
It wasn't just fear because Zeldryn might get angry.
The guard's expression looked more like...
He knew something.
"..."
Zeldryn slowly straightened his body.
!!
'SHIT???'
His eyes immediately widened.
'HAS IT ALREADY SPREAD??'
His heart sank.
'IT'S ONLY BEEN A FEW HOURS...'
"..."
Zeldryn froze for a moment.
Then...
!!
'NO!!'
He immediately grabbed his head.
'A FEW HOURS IS MORE THAN ENOUGH FOR A RUMOR TO SPREAD, DAAAAMN IIIIT!!'
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