Dirty Heart - Chapter 39

“This is insane, what son are you talking about! Do you really think that vicious woman Charlotte would keep a promise like that?”

Courtney shouted with a flushed face, but Marco didn’t waver in the slightest. Instead, his eyes rolled wildly as he glared at them, his anger only deepening further.

“See? You’ve completely forgotten that the director took you in and now you insult her. People like you should be burned away immediately.”

Step by step, Marco drew closer, but Courtney and Liam couldn’t move at all. Right behind them was a sheer drop into the abyss.

“Why? Are you scared? Want me to help you?”

Letting out a creepy snicker, he slowly rummaged inside his sleeve. Then he took out a blade heavily covered in rust. It was obvious he had been preparing for this moment from the start.

“Die!”

With a sharp shout, Marco charged straight at them.

“Kyah!”

Instinctively pulling Liam into her arms first, she shut her eyes tightly. The rapid sound of approaching footsteps grew closer and closer.

‘Is this how I die? Really…?’

As she imagined the cold blade piercing her body and drew in a breath, Lionel suddenly came to mind. Just like when she had been dragged into the underground prison, she even found herself wishing he would save her one more time.

It was ridiculous. She had barely escaped from him to avoid death, yet now she was searching for Lionel again. What could be more contradictory than this?

‘Still, please, just this once more….’

But something strange happened. As if her desperate wish had reached the heavens, she felt none of the expected pain, nor the dizzying sensation of falling off the cliff.

“Kgh!”

Instead, the only thing she heard was Marco’s pained groan.

“…?”

Carefully opening the eyes she had squeezed shut in fear, she saw something unbelievable. Lionel was standing there, holding a long sword pressed against the back of Marco’s neck.

“Y-Young Duke?”

Lionel. He had really come. She was so shocked she couldn’t even form proper words.

“Are you alright?”

At Lionel’s question, Courtney quietly nodded. Seeing how he was panting heavily, she could tell he had rushed here with everything he had.

But more than anything, what captured her attention was Lionel’s gaze.

His blue eyes, fixed on Marco, were filled with a mix of rage and killing intent. A look as if he could tear Marco to death at any moment. Just looking at it made her entire body break out in goosebumps.

“P-Please, spare me!”

Marco seemed to feel that killing intent as well, and instantly changed his attitude, begging for his life.

“I-I was wrong. Please just spare my life.”

Looking down at his pathetic pleading with contempt, Lionel slowly withdrew the sword pointed at his neck.

“Th-thank you, th— kgh, kgh!”

Just as Marco tried to lift his head in relief, a merciless kick flew at him.

Thud, thud!

Instead of the sword, Lionel struck Marco’s abdomen several times.

“Urgh!”

Unable to even scream properly from the impact, Marco collapsed, and blood began to gush from his abdomen like a fountain. His already damaged wound couldn’t withstand Lionel’s brutal blows.

“Young Duke! Stop! You’ll kill him at this rate!”

As Alex, who had arrived late, hurriedly tried to restrain Lionel, Courtney and Liam were also safely moved by the security force soldiers.

“Are you alright?”

“Y-Yes… thank you.”

Courtney answered in a trembling voice at the soldier’s question. As they supported her and barely moved away from the cliff, the strength suddenly left her legs. Liam was still clutching tightly to the hem of her clothes, sniffling.

Death had come right up to them and then retreated in an instant. Everything had happened so suddenly that it all felt like a dream.

“Courtney. Are you hurt?”

As she stood blankly staring at Marco lying motionless on the ground, bleeding, Lionel, who had approached at some point, checked on her condition. His face was so gentle it was hard to believe he was the same man who had been mercilessly trampling Marco just moments ago.

“I-I’m okay….”

Courtney’s complicated emotions were clearly reflected on her face as she answered. Of course, in that life-or-death moment, Lionel had appeared and saved her life. She couldn’t deny that, considering she had even thought of Lionel at the very brink of death.

But at the same time, a primal fear pressed down on her heart. The fact that she had been caught by Lionel once again felt as if it meant she would never be able to escape him.

“Th-thank you for saving us. Thank you so much!”

While Courtney remained speechless, her face pale, Liam stepped forward and bowed deeply to Lionel in gratitude. The wariness he had shown when he first met Lionel was long gone, and now his eyes were filled only with admiration for the one who had saved his life.

Meanwhile, whether Liam spoke or not, Lionel’s gaze was fixed solely on Courtney.

“Courtney. Come back to the capital with me. Your leg is badly swollen.”

“With you…?”

As if he understood what she was worried about, Lionel spoke in a gentle voice.

“Get treatment first. After that, I’ll let you do as you wish.”

She should have refused his offer right away, but the words wouldn’t come easily. Her ankle was so swollen she could barely walk, her whole body was exhausted, and she couldn’t ignore Liam’s safety. Above all, she had no confidence she could make it out of this forest alone.

Just as her heart began to waver, she suddenly realized that Lionel’s birthday was now very close.

‘Get a grip! If you go with him now, you’re as good as dead!’

No matter what Lionel promised about letting her go, she couldn’t fully trust his words.

Should she ask him to take only Liam to the capital? Or ask to be let off somewhere along the way? With the gold coins Lionel had given her, maybe she could somehow find a way to survive. Though it lasted only a brief moment, her thoughts spun rapidly.

“Young Duke, I’ll just stay in the village—”

Just as she was about to say she would remain in the village, her eyes widened in shock at something she saw.

Marco, who had looked as if his breath had already stopped just moments ago, was standing right behind Lionel.

In one hand, he held a half-empty transparent vial, and in the other, a cold blade.

“You damned nobles! I’ll kill you first for trying to stop the purification!”

With a crazed shout, the hand holding the blade flew straight toward Lionel.

“W-Wait…!”

A faint scream burst from Courtney’s lips. She wanted to shout for him to dodge, but no sound came out. It felt as if time slowed down.

Alex, who noticed Marco’s abnormal behavior, quickly drew his sword from his waist, but the distance was too far. The security force soldiers were also frozen, unable to react to what was unfolding.

In a way, for Courtney, this was the perfect chance. If Lionel were to die at Marco’s hands just like this, what greater stroke of luck could there be?

‘Just stay still.’

That was clearly what she thought. But by the time she came to her senses, she had already leapt forward like a moth to a flame to protect Lionel.

Thud-!

With the horrific sound of flesh being pierced, her legs gave out and buckled. The blade that had been aimed at Lionel dug sharply into her side.

“Co-Courtney…?”

Hearing Lionel’s startled call, Courtney looked down. The first thing she saw was the hilt of the blade lodged in her side, and then the blood soaking her clothes.

“Ah….”

A faint groan slipped from her lips. In that moment, more than pain, a fierce rage toward the original owner of this body surged up. She had appeared even in her dreams, tormenting her, begging her to save Lionel, and now, in the end, it had all gone as she wanted.

‘Courtney, you bitch….’

With a silent scream, everything around her went dark.