Dirty Heart - Chapter 34

At the desperate voice leaking out from the cave, Courtney’s heart froze.

‘Liam….’

Hastily hiding the pouch of gold coins inside her clothes, she strained her ears to the conversation coming from the darkness.

As expected, the faint voice of the boy repeatedly begging to be spared could be heard, but there were no other signs of anyone.

It was a moment where every second counted, yet Courtney stood rooted in place, conflicted. Was it really the right thing to leave Liam like this and go?

‘There’s nothing I can change anyway. What can I even do alone?’

Even if she entered the cave, what could she possibly do in a woman’s body? If she ran into those men, the life she had barely escaped from Lionel could be put in danger again.

‘Lionel said he would save Liam….’

Right now, the only way to ease her guilt was to trust Lionel’s words completely. There was no time. She couldn’t stay in one place any longer.

‘Yeah, let’s go. I have to go.’

Turning away coldly, she stepped forward to run. But her legs, stiff with fear and tension, wouldn’t move easily. Liam’s cries echoing one after another clung to her ankles.

Crack.

At that moment, a branch under her foot snapped with a fairly loud sound.

“Who’s there?”

A rough man’s voice suddenly shot out from inside the cave.

“…!”

She didn’t even have time to scream. The blades held in the masked men’s hands felt far too threatening.

In the blink of an eye, a cold blade flew toward Courtney’s neck, yet she couldn’t bring herself to even utter a word begging to be spared.

The eyes visible above the masks were those of killers. The ruthless gaze, as if it could see right through her, made her feel like she might lose consciousness at any moment.

Soon, after whispering among themselves, the men pulled a rough sack over Courtney’s head.

“N-No… let go! Let me go! Ah!”

“Stay quiet.”

“Ugh….”

With that cold voice, a hand struck the back of Courtney’s neck. The sudden impact made her consciousness fade instantly, and she collapsed on the spot.

“Handle her carefully. Don’t leave any marks.”

“I know. I only knocked her out.”

With those murmured voices, complete darkness took over.

***

Saint Agatha Orphanage director’s office. After Lionel’s group left, the captain of the guard returned once again to see Director Charlotte.

“Are you really planning to find that boy Liam?”

Charlotte’s voice came out sharp as she addressed the captain. The investigation, which she had expected would end with a mere pretense of searching, was progressing more seriously than she thought.

Setting down his teacup, the captain shrugged with a tired expression. “With the Erhardt ducal house even deploying their mobile unit, we don’t have a choice. If we handle this wrong, we’re all finished.”

“That’s going to be a problem. Do you know how much money I’ve funneled to you people all this time!”

“You’ve already gotten quite a lot out of it thanks to that, haven’t you?” The captain let out a sigh and shook his head.

Saint Agatha Orphanage was a long-established charitable institution. But ever since Charlotte took the position of director, a close cooperative relationship had been formed with the security force.

Charlotte had exploited and abused the children countless times, yet she had been able to remain safe thanks to the protection of the security force.

Whenever children who couldn’t endure hunger and beatings tried to escape, they would act as if nothing had happened and return the children to the orphanage. It went without saying that they also turned a blind eye to the director embezzling state subsidies.

“Anyway, we can’t push it any further. If it’s revealed that we ordered the kidnapping, we’re all finished.”

The captain lowered his voice. He had ignored countless crimes until now, but this time the risk was on a different level.

Charlotte ground her teeth. She had sent Liam’s finger to the Erhardt ducal house as a show of defiance, but once she returned and thought it over, she feared the consequences.

That was why she immediately recruited local vagrants and ordered the kidnapping. In other words, Liam’s abduction was a staged act.

Of course, she had never imagined the Young Duke would come all the way out to this remote place in person.

Feeling anxious, she sent a letter to the vagrants telling them to kill Liam on the spot now that things had gone wrong.

But not long after, the news she heard was shocking. Instead of Liam, the bodies of the vagrants were discovered first at the hideout. All of them had their heads severed.

‘This is driving me insane….’

No matter what, it was clear the situation was growing far bigger than she had anticipated.

What if the ducal house found Liam first? And what if Liam revealed everything? From that moment on, the situation would spiral completely out of control.

“Then we’ll take our leave. We also need to hurry and find Liam.”

“Hey! If this gets exposed, don’t think your lives will be safe either!”

The moment the door closed, she hurled the teacup on the desk in a fit of rage. Pure white porcelain shards scattered across the floor with a loud crash.

“Damn it…!”

Everything she had built over her lifetime was on the verge of collapsing all at once.

***

“Gasp, huff.”

Saint Agatha Orphanage infirmary. Though it was called an infirmary, it was essentially no different from a storage room. Marco lay there, wheezing.

The abdomen he had been beaten in by the vagrants felt as if his organs were twisting, releasing relentless pain.

“Cough, ugh!”

As he continued to cough intermittently, thin saliva mixed with bright red blood spilled from his mouth. Despite being in a condition serious enough to require immediate hospital care, the young man was left without any treatment.

“Oh dear, my beloved son.”

At that moment, with the creak of rusty hinges, Charlotte entered the infirmary.

“Marco. You look to be in great pain. Are you alright?”

Approaching him slowly, Charlotte cupped Marco’s face in both hands. With tears welling in her eyes, she looked exactly like a loving mother.

Hearing himself called her son for the first time, Marco’s eyes trembled violently.

‘She called me her son….’

For an orphan like him, being called someone’s son was something he had dreamed of his entire life. A warmth spread faintly through his chest.

“Director… I did my best to protect Liam… I’m sorry… But I clearly saw the faces of the men who took him. If you call the captain of the guard, I can testify….”

With a smile across her face, she nodded as if she understood his feelings. Then she slowly bent down and pressed a kiss to Marco’s forehead.

“I brought medicine just for you. If you take this, you won’t feel any pain anymore.”

At the same time, a bitter liquid began to pour into the man’s mouth. It was a painkiller containing narcotic components, one of the substances banned in the Empire due to its high fatality rate despite its rapid effectiveness.

“Director. As soon as I took the medicine, I feel better right away. It doesn’t hurt at all anymore.”

“This medicine is special. Keep it with you at all times so you can take it whenever the pain comes like this.”

Whispering softly, the director tucked a small vial deep inside Marco’s clothes.

“Thank you, Director….”

Emotion filled Marco’s eyes. He couldn’t believe that the director was taking care of him like this.

As Marco’s expression became much more at ease, Charlotte gently stroked his cheek.

“Marco. Listen well to what I say.”

“Yes… Director.”

“I heard the children reported me.”

“…What? Reported…?”

Charlotte’s voice carried a deep sigh, as if she were bearing the weight of the entire world.

“You know better than anyone, Marco. How much I’ve worked for those children. I only disciplined them strictly so they wouldn’t stray down the wrong path….”

Marco’s face twisted in confusion. “That can’t be! I’ll persuade the children properly—”

“No. I can’t go on like this anymore.”

After pausing for a moment, she placed a small bundle into Marco’s hand.

“My son. I am going to entrust you with an important task.”

“A task…?”

As Marco asked in a trembling voice, a faint smile spread across Charlotte’s lips.

“You’ve read the holy scripture, haven’t you? The trial that the one true god of the Empire bestowed upon depraved humans.”

“Fire… He burned away the root of all sin.”

“That’s right. Burning at the stake is not death. It is purification. A chance to be reborn anew.”

Marco’s face turned pale.

“Saint Agatha Orphanage will turn to ashes starting today. After that, let’s leave together for a new land. We’ll build a new orphanage there.”

Still gently caressing the man’s cheek, the director whispered like a demon, “There, Marco, you will become my most precious son.”