Baiyi was faced with a temptation that would cause any man to give in to their deepest desires. He hesitated for a moment before shaking his head sideways with utmost determination. “Thank you for your kind intentions, my lady…”
“W-what? But…why…?” the Duchess’s face was one of genuine surprise and confusion. She was incredibly confident about her bewitching appeal; its effectiveness had been proven throughout the years, be it on a common man, or on a Soul Armature. However, Baiyi was so, so determined. It was not like he was playing hard to get. She truly believed that this piece of armor was not interested in her beauty, at all.
“Perhaps Master Hope… is only interested in younger girls?” the Duchess questioned beseechingly.
“Ah, no no no… I do think that you’re incredibly beautiful! I actually think that you’re incredibly dangerous…” Baiyi quickly explained himself, but there was still a thought concealed within his mind, ‘There exists a lass in the Void who has degenerated into a piggy which only knows how to puff out a “hmph”; a piggy who, somehow, just started watching me like a hawk… What’s more, the lass is just as incredibly stunning and beautiful as you…’
“Oho! Men! Don’t you all like these dangerous, exciting games?” the Duchess teased. She activated some sort of mechanism, and the sheer, translucent gown around her body was suddenly opaque, obscuring the curves of her voluptuous body, denying Baiyi the chance for a longer glimpse.
“Oh well… a determination like yours sure is commendable; best save it for all the preaching and gospel-sharing of the Church. What a pity, though. I am more interested in men as fine as you…”
“Save your breath, ma’am,” Baiyi shook his head and raised the Saint Quartz to his chest. “You have a husband that loves you, and you are blessed with an adorable, well-behaved daughter and a status envied by many. You should be enjoying your blissful life as it is, rather than engaging yourself in such dangerous games in the midst of the night!”
“Blessed? Blissful…? Hah! Hahahah!” the Duchess let out a shrill laughter. She laughed maniacally, and her chest trembled with every breath she drew, stopping only when she was forced to gasp for air. Two rows of tears were already streaming down her face as she struggled to find her words, leaving her voice a bizarre concoction of amusement and anguish.
“When I first married him, I did have the naive thoughts that you currently have… Even after those sons of his took their turns with my body, the broken dream I had of a happy marriage still lingered in me; this, however, was more worthless than the so-called reputation that he placed above anything else…”
“Yes, I am indeed a woman who just happened to be good-looking, but when compared to his heirs, and the family’s reputation, how much am I worth?” the Duchess sobbed. She lifted her head, and as she gazed at the moon hovering within the night sky, she quickly rubbed away the tears which portrayed weakness.
“Sir Hope, am I wrong for taking my revenge upon this family — these…these beasts?” She continued.
Baiyi was at lost for words. Somehow, he had already presumed that this woman had experienced some kind of tragic, troubled past, and he knew for a fact that the noble circle was rumored to be extremely hedonistic and debaucherous. Still, news like this was shocking indeed.
Years of abuse had left her in this state. She was now unfazed by whatever the future offered, becoming fearless enough to do anything imaginable.
To his relief, most of the Voidwalkers were single their entire lives; and even if they weren’t, they were prudent enough to not overstep ethical standards, thus saving him from seeing contemptible memories that were similar to the Duchess’s pitiful experience’.
“I am very sorry for you, ma’am… but…” Baiyi stopped short. He felt that it was inappropriate of him to get involved, especially now that the events had turned out this way.
“I don’t need your pity,” said the Duchess coldly. She stepped backward, and her silhouette slowly seeped into the darkness.
Baiyi gripped the Saint Quartz tightly, but it was no longer needed. He silently sent her away with his gaze until she had vanished beyond the shadows.
“Thank you, Master Hope. With your true potential unleashed, I know I am not a worthy opponent for you, after all.” The voice of the Duchess slithered out from the darkness. As her eyes slowly disappeared beyond the backdrop of nothingness, she glanced at the shadow behind Baiyi knowingly and uttered at the very last moment.
“Take care of Vidomina for me, then…”
With his guard up, Baiyi remained motionless for a period of time before letting out a long, helpless sigh.
“She’s gone…” He murmured to the darkness behind him.
Vidomina was already crying like an injured kitten when she shuffled out of the shadows. She quickened her pace and rushed into Baiyi’s embrace and bawling pitifully against his chest plate.
Her howl was filled with so much unbearable sorrow, it would implore heartfelt pity from anyone who heard.
As the daughter of the Duke, she should be enjoying a blessed life envied by many; but right now, in this precise moment, she could not even compete against the most common child in the entire nation. What she really desired, and what she really worked extremely hard for… those normal children could get it simply with the tip of their fingers — but to her, it was only a treasured, dream-like illusion.
Vidomina bawled and bawled; her eyes got swollen from tears, and her voice croaked as she spoke.
“M-master, what s-should I d-do…?” she asked between sobs when she could no longer draw any tears.
Baiyi did not know what to say; after all, her question was a tough one indeed. He could only give her momentary solace by caressing her hair and embracing her with a secure hug, hoping that he could give this poor girl a little warmth.
“M-my mother… she…” Vidomina began with another question when Baiyi did not give a reply to her previous question. The answer to this particular question was an extremely daunting one; hence, the complete question never left the tip of her lips.
“She still loves you, don’t worry,” Baiyi quickly explained. “The curse she left on you wasn’t the real thing. It was only a wave disguised as one, so you will not be harmed. I was only able to discover the truth through that little clue…”
His answer temporarily relieved the stress in Vidomina’s heart, and she felt slightly better than before. She rubbed her face against Baiyi’s chest plate repetitively, as she brooded in a pool of self-blame.
“M-master… I feel that you shouldn’t have taken me in as your student… and I shouldn’t have invited you over…”
“The truth cannot be concealed by lies forever; you’ll have to face the reality one day,” replied Baiyi solemnly. “But, now that I’m here, there might be one last chance to save your father.”
At the mention of her father, Vidomina instantly retreated back into a solemn mood. The relief within herself was inhibited by the mention of this undesirable subject. She shook her head numbly with a dazed expression and mumbled in a low voice:
“My father… Should I call him my father, or my grandfather…?” she asked, with a pained expression.
That was another heavy topic to be addressed further, and Baiyi did not know how to give her a proper answer for now…
He could only offer his solace by holding her hand and leading her back to the Duke’s room. He destroyed the Slumber Formation cast by the Duchess earlier, and the two maidservants, who had been fast asleep, were roused from their deep slumber gradually. They gave each other puzzled looks and shot a bizarre gaze at Baiyi and Vidomina, who had just entered the room.
“We’re very sorry, my lady! We don’t know how we just fell asleep in the midst of our duties…” The two maids threw themselves onto the ground and kneeled as they apologized.
“Wake the Duke, then leave us be,” said Baiyi.
“Sir Hope, what is the meaning of this…?” One of the maids glanced towards the windows, realizing that it was not yet dawn. They looked at Vidomina in a perplexed manner, but Vidomina only nodded her head solemnly.
Hence, the two maids woke the Duke in a hurry and left them to their own privacy. They wanted to report this incident to the Duchess, but she was nowhere to be found.
The Duke, having been roused from his deep sleep, was finally awoken by some energy channeled by Baiyi. He glanced at the late night visitors by his bedside curiously and asked, “Sir Hope, Vidomina… what seems to be the matter?”
Baiyi cast a soundproofing enchantment to risk the participation of any eavesdroppers. In an impatient, urgent tone, he spoke, “Look, I have a way to save your life, but it involves a lot of danger. The riskiest part of this all might involve some of my secrets, so if you are willing to honor my privacy, I might just save your life…”
Baiyi no longer sounded as pleasant and courteous as before. To be honest, if it was not for Vidomina, or the political benefits, he really couldn’t care, neither would he waste his time on this arrogant fellow. It was too bad that this sorry-excuse-of-a-Duke was still an important pawn to the Voidwalkers, so Baiyi could not do as he pleased this time around.
The Duke’s eyes glinted with a flash of hope. “Sir Hope, you seemed to be a little too heavy on your speech… but I swear on my family’s namesake and reputation that if you could heal me, I will never mention anything to anyone about you, or whatever affairs you’re involved in. I believe that Vidomina would agree with me!”
Just as he finished speaking, he turned around to look at Vidomina and noticed her unusual expression; the reddened, blotchy eyes of hers were particularly noticeable. It was at that moment that he seemed to realize that something was not right, and he was about to make some sense out of it before Baiyi cut him off.
“Your family’s reputation is worthless in my eyes, and your promise means nothing to me,” Baiyi retorted without holding back. “This little secret of yours that you’re trying so hard to hide — I know all about it. So, what do you say? This secret of yours, plus the lives of your heirs… in exchange, you’ll have to keep my secrets from the world and provide reinforcements should I ever request for them. A deal like this is pretty hard to pass in my eyes; I would recommend that you give it some consideration.”
A flash of anger flitted across the Duke’s face when he heard Baiyi’s imposing opinions. He was about to give Baiyi another piece of his mind when the thought of Vidomina’s bizarre mood caught his attention again. He reached out to his daughter to pull her close, but Vidomina flinched and took a few steps back away from him, hiding behind Baiyi instead.
At that precise moment, the Duke finally had a sound speculation about what had transpired in the hours before, and the calm, stoic facade that he forced upon himself collapsed instantly when the epiphanic thought slipped into his mind. Mustering every last bit of hope in his heart, he begged to know.
“Where is your mother, Vidomina?”
“She has already gone,” replied Vidomina distantly, and then she turned her head away from her father, with her back against Baiyi’s, unwilling to lay her eyes on him for another second longer.
The Duke looked like a punctured balloon as he sprawled across the bed, with every last inch of energy expelled from him. His bright, alert eyes earlier were now glazed with a layer of anguish as he whimpered between sobs. “S-sorry…I am… s-so sorry…”
Baiyi only shook his head in response. He walked to the Duke’s bed and posed a question to him:
“Now then, Your Highness… that proposal of mine, have you given it some thought?”