Chapter 74. I'll put your body to good use
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The palace was filled with the spirit of death again today.
The only difference was that it didn't come from the enslaved women of the foreign lands, but from the Emperor's confidant, Hulkan.
Hashad's longsword pierced through Hulkan's foot and pinned him to the ground.
Holding his leg, Hulkhan was lying on the ground, in excruciating pain.
"Gakhran's body is in Bayate?"
"Haaa, yes."
"Kayan must have returned from the East and is continuing to follow up on Gahkran's body. Things are going to get worse if this continues.”
Hashad's foot crushed the prone Hulkan's head.
Then, Hulkan shuddered and coughed up blood.
He hadn't taken the antidote at the right time and was poisoned.
That's why he crawled into what could be his grave, knowing Hashad's merciless punishment.
Since Kayan's return, Hulkan had stayed in Bayate, desperate to learn the Black Wolf's weaknesses.
But since no one in the Black Wolves considered him an ally, he had difficulty gaining useful information.
He tried to beg Netira for information, but she was of little help, as their relationship was no longer the same.
Without an antidote, the pains came at increasingly rapid intervals, and with his body on fire, Hulkan was forced to scour the Bayate.
His steps led him to the wolf forest.
He had heard that the slave who tended to Netira's skin disease had brought herbs from its borders to cure the plague.
Perhaps there was something there.
It occurred to him that since no one went there, it would be an ideal place for Kayan to secretly hide evidence against Hashad.
And that was exactly what Hulkan found: a hut.
Inside was Gakhran's body.
Hulkan also knew that Kayan was after Gakhran and Elgon, pressuring the Emperor.
This shouldn't come as a surprise, but it was enough to convince him that Kayan was up to something, hiding the body in violation of the emperor’s orders and hunting down traitors.
Hulkan's face contorted as he lay at the emperor's feet, he barely managed to open his throat.
"That evidence alone should be enough for you to charge Kayan with disobeying the imperial command."
"If you had succeeded in killing Kayan, I would not have had to go to such trouble."
Hashad dropped to one knee in front of Hulkan, a wicked grin on his face.
The ghastly blade in his hand was aimed at Hulkan's pupil.
"I wish you had died of poison, so I wouldn't have to see you in such a sorry state. You've got a lot of nerve to come here on your own, do you think I’m a fool?”
"Kkk, Your Majesty."
"I'll put your body to good use."
No sooner had he spoken than Hashad raised his sword in a flash.
Hulkan's voice rose again, his eyes pleading.
"Ka, Kayan has a woman."
Hashad's blade paused in midair.
One of his eyebrows raised slightly.
It was an interesting enough topic to delay what he was about to do for a few minutes, even if Hulkan was faking it to prolong his pathetic life.
Hulkan glanced at the pausing Emperor and thought back to the past as if it were the last time he would ever do so.
A few days ago, Netira had begun to rage like a madwoman, torturing and tormenting those around her for no reason.
Even her favorite maid had fallen into a coma and had yet to wake up.
He knew she had a bad temper, but he had never seen her so crazy like she he lost her mind.
It was so bad that even Hulkan couldn't go near her for a while.
It wasn't until later, when he happened to read a letter that Netira had torn up and thrown away, that he realized the reason for her madness.
It said that Kayan had left Bayate and was living with a woman.
And it was a slave that Netira had kept.
No wonder Netira was on a rampage.
Hulkan knew that Netira had been in love with Kayan, even to the point of calling Kayan's name when she slept with another man.
To have him stolen by a foreign slave, a disfigured wench, was enough to make her murderous.
Hulkan didn't understand the sudden change in Kayan.
Kayan was not one to act so irrationally.
He wasn't someone who would take someone belong to Netira, who was like family to him.
So Hulkan could only assume that the slave was quite important to Kayan.
In retrospect, he wondered if Kayan had torn off his ear because he was mocking his beloved slave.
Hulkan knew he couldn't change Hashad’s mind with the mere information about an unknown slave, but he was about to die, so he had to say something.
"She's a slave of the Bayate family, but she's royalty from Elmir......"
"That's something new."
Hashad paused to think as he scratched Hulkan's face with the tip of his blade.
With each stroke, Hulkan's face was stained with a long line of blood.
Hashad already knew that Kayan had left Bayate and was living elsewhere.
What he didn't know was that he was hiding an Elmir slave there.
It was a bit-or rather, interesting.
Until now, Kayan had never been close to a woman.
Although he was past the age of marriage, he didn't seem to have any intention of having a wife or children, so much so that Hashad wondered if he was incapable of reproducing.
The fact that he'd gone to the trouble of getting a separate mansion for a mere slave suggested she was important to him.
So Hulkan's last information was useful news to Hashad.
But not enough to show Hulkhan any mercy.
“You blew two separate chances, and you deserved whatever coming to you.”
Hashad's eyes suddenly changed, and he made a quick jab at his hand.
A horrible scream erupted from Hulkan's mouth.
"Aaahhhh!"
Hashad's sharp knife sliced through Hulkan's eye socket.
Hashad showed no hesitation in the process.
The stabbing didn't stop for a long time, and Hashad's expression remained impassive as he looked at Hulkan's mutilated body.
Luan, the emperor's wolf, was drooling beside him as soon as he smelled the blood.
"Luan."
At his master's call, Luan pounced on the living prey.
The sound of the wolf chewing on the flesh echoed clearly.
The wolf's face was stained with human blood.
Hashad stared at it numbly, then shifted his gaze elsewhere.
There, watching all of this, was a slender woman, shaking in terror, unable to utter a cry.
As Hashad took a step, then another, closer, the woman convulsed violently.
As he stood before her, a lukewarm liquid flowed from her and soaked her feet.
The woman, half stunned by the emperor's grotesque murder, had unconsciously urinated.
Hashad raised the tip of the woman's chin with the dagger in his hand.
"From the looks of you, you're not a northerner..............."
"Oh, save me."
"Where are you from?"
The woman was too shocked to answer Hashad's questions right away.
"Please, please, oh, save me."
Hashad put his face close to her ear and spoke slowly.
"If you want to live, you'll answer my question properly."
"...."
"Where is your country? If you lie, you'll end up like him, and that's something you should keep in mind."
Hashad gestured with his chin to the wolf-torn corpse of Hulkan and laughed grimly.
The woman's eyes suddenly came into focus.
She looked up at the red-haired killer and barely managed to speak.
"Eh, Elmir."
Then Hashad's mouth curved.
Hashad stroked her hair, soft as silk.
Then his gaze fell to the woman's delicate hands, which looked as if they'd never struggled before.
"You are a noble."
"..."
"Then you know who the royalty of your country was who was taken to Anut."
Hashad whispered again, tucking the woman's flowing hair behind her ear.
"What is your name?"
"I, I'm..................."
"Well, you'd better answer honestly, because it shouldn't be too difficult for the Emperor of Anut to send someone to Elmir to verify your identity."
The woman's eyes were still filled with fear, and tears streamed down her face.
She didn't think giving her name would save her life, but she couldn't defy the Emperor as she watched the corpse that was losing its shape before her eyes.
She slowly opened her mouth.
"Charlotte Gordon."
The corner of Hashad's mouth lifted a little higher.
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