Chapter 109: The Woman Who Took His Life
Luvia’s lovely voice echoed through the dusty tower chamber, but Luka’s hand stopped before taking his teasing any further. He could still see the exhausted rider’s horse being tended by the grooms. The silver banner of House Alverain remained stalwartly beside Babylon’s flag, fluttering softly in the wind.
’There’s too much to think about...’
The fact that Amol was nowhere near ready for battle, the idiotic knight of the Queen, the dark elves coming for Luvia, and a future that became more uncertain with each day.
’Enough.
Luka pulled away slowly, drawing his hands from her plump thighs with a faint reluctance.
Her golden eyes narrowed almost instantly as she chased him.
"W-What’s wrong? Did I do something to upset you?!"
"No, Luvia... I have to see someone."
"Who!?"
"Mildred."
The moment she heard the woman’s name, Luvia’s face lost some of its colour, then contorted into obvious displeasure as the room instantly lost its warmth.
"That strange woman?"
"Yes."
"Right now?"
"Yes."
Her lips trembled with a delicate hum. He couldn’t bear to upset her, but she avoided his hand when he tried to stroke her face.
Luvia glared back at him, with slightly wet eyes as she leaned against the dusty bookshelf.
"You lift a woman onto a desk, whisper filthy things into her ear that make her entire body feel like it’s on fire... her stomach churns and flutters as if filled with butterflies... and then suddenly remember another woman? My Lord, you truly are awful."
"I know."
She seemed about ready to scream, huffing and puffing with hardly any room for him to speak, and yet she didn’t.
Her eyelids slowly closed as she weakly pointed to the door.
"...then go?"
Luka stepped back and fixed his collar. He watched her with a soft smile as she peeked through her half-closed eyes, annoyed enough to bite, yet the sharpness in her eyes faded when she noticed his expression.
’Don’t look at me like you’re going to cry!’
He wasn’t leaving because he lost interest.
’Even I want to drop everything to have sex with you...’
However, there was just too much he needed to do now. Mildred wasn’t a woman he could take lightly; her skill, passion and talent were something he didn’t expect to come across for a long, long time.
’The woman who took my life...’
"...Is she important?"
Luka paused at the door.
Though he could have said any number of sweet words, somehow only the truth left his lips.
"Not as important as you."
"...W-What!?" Luvia gasped behind him as he stepped back into the twisting stairwell.
He could feel the thud of his heart, pounding against his ribs. The overwhelming feeling of being honest brought a sense of unfamiliar delight and a dash of pride.
The smile on Luvia’s face followed him down the stairwell longer than her voice.
Luka did not turn back.
If he did, he knew the matter with Mildred would be delayed again, and that was something he could no longer afford.
The lower halls of Babylon were colder than the tower.
Sunlight disappeared behind the stone, replaced by narrow lamps fixed along the walls.
The manor above carried the sound of servants, guards and distant work, but each step downward stripped those sounds away until only his boots and the faint drip of water remained.
’How troublesome.’
Luka brushed his fingers against the wall as he descended. The stone was damp, old and neglected, like most things in Babylon.
Due to generations of warfare against the Amol Warriors, invaders from the fallen lands and other futile clashes, the resources of most lords of Babylon became wasted outside their own territory until it was far too late.
Cedric’s voice reached him before he turned the corner.
"This is unlawful! I came under the Queen’s authority! When Her Majesty hears of this, your little border house will regret treating me like a criminal!"
Luka stopped for a moment.
’This arrogant little prick! If I had my way, he’d be rust on Oblivion’s blade...’
He couldn’t stand the arrogant nobles who did nothing of significance, but acted like they were the king themselves.
The two guards beside the passage gasped upon seeing Luka, quickly straightening themselves, bringing a smile to his lips.
’What a joke, to spend their days in this miserable hole...’
"My Lord."
"Has he eaten?"
The guard hesitated.
"Only a little, My Lord. He threw the first bowl at the wall."
"Oh, well, he cannot complain we didn’t feed him then, give him the same food he tossed away for his next meal." Luka enjoyed how the guards’ faces twisted before he continued with a sneer. "He is a grown man, and should realise that food shouldn’t be wasted."
The two guards appeared stunned at what he’d said, taking several seconds to recover before they both saluted him with haste.
"Yes, My Lord."
’Haha...’
Luka shook his head, gently patting their shoulders as he stepped further into the darkness.
"You’ve worked hard."
Cedric’s shouting grew louder the moment he heard Luka’s voice.
"Lord Babylon! You cowardly brat! Face me properly!"
Luka didn’t look towards the cell.
"If he keeps shouting, gag him after sunset. Until then, let him tire himself."
The guards bowed.
"As you command."
He continued forward without answering Cedric directly.
The fool could wait.
A louder problem didn’t always deserve to become the first problem.
At the far end of the corridor, Old Levi stood before a heavier wooden door with two more guards. His expression looked calm, but his eyes carried the same quiet question he had worn since Luka mentioned Mildred.
"My Lord."
"Has she caused trouble?"
"No."
"Asked for anything?"
Luka remained blunt with Old Levi, the gap between them likely to never heal. He could only rue that the old man was too sharp and realised so soon.
However, in response to Luka’s question, the old man wore a bitter expression.
"M-My Lord, she asked for you."
’I bet she did.’
Luka stared at the door, the solid bars able to stop even an orc in its place, a rare and expensive ore gained through the first generation De Babylon earned through their military feats.
’To make a prison out of them... what a dark ancestor.’
Mildred had done nothing in this life.
That was the part that gnawed at him.
If she had drawn a blade, cursed him, lied badly or shown even a single sign of hidden malice, things would be simple. He could cut her down, imprison her properly, or use her until she became useful or dead.
Instead of that gaze... the crazed look which poured with pure lust and obsession.
’What should I do with her now...?’
After he awakened her Miasma and forced her onto this cruel path of lusting for him endlessly with little to no chance of him ever reciprocating it, it might’ve been a show of his own pride and slight tendency for sadism.
Instead, she waited in a private room beneath his manor.
In silence.
’No... I cannot decide that from a closed door.’
Levi took the key from the guard and unlocked the door himself.
The iron clicked softly.
The door opened.
The room beyond was clean enough for a prisoner of value. A narrow bed stood against the wall, with a small table, a wooden chair and a lamp burning beside a clay cup. There were no chains, filth or straw.
Mildred sat at the table.
Her hair had been combed, and the plain grey dress given by the servants fit her better than expected. She looked neither frightened nor defiant. Her hands rested on her lap, fingers lightly interlocked, while her gaze lifted the moment Luka stepped inside.
’After all, she’s a beautiful woman...’
For a heartbeat, the sight of her brought back phantom aches in the back of his spine, a throbbing jolt of pain as if he were stabbed.
She was picturesque, and her face was the same.
Yet the air around her was different enough to make him second-guess himself.
Luka stepped into the room.
"Leave us."
Levi didn’t argue.
The door closed behind him.
Mildred remained seated for several breaths before slowly standing.
He thought she might lunge at him, use one of the utensils as an impromptu weapon to take his life again... yet she didn’t rush... or kneel, but merely lowered her head.
"Lord Luka."
"That is all?"
Her fingers tightened against her dress.
Although he seemed calm on the surface, he was seething inside.
’There is no way you do not realise who I am!? Even Galatea noticed...! You, only you, I cannot forgive... You must remember me!’
"What else should I call you?"
Luka studied her face.
She looked calm, but not peaceful. More like someone standing at the edge of a cliff, already knowing there was nowhere safe to run and prepared themselves to fall at any moment.
"Do you know why you are here?"
"Because you do not know whether to kill me, free me, or keep me close enough to watch."
Her dark eyes glistened in the dim cell.
He couldn’t help but feel a slight tingle down his spine, ’this is nostalgic,’ he thought. Mildred’s way of speaking, the way she would always treat him this way, even when he was an archangel.
"Enough of the bullshit, Mildred."
"...Eh?" Her eyes widened when he called her name sharply.
There was something deep in her eyes that flickered for a moment, but he watched as it dyed back down into the dark pink swamp.
However, Luka wasn’t in the mood to be gentle or sweet with her.
He slammed his hand against the wooden table, shattering it into pieces before he pointed at her and gave an order.
’How dare you stand like a human...’
"Get on your knees."
