Dietrich was called to report on Seliya's condition, but as soon as he met his face to face, the doctor's face turned red with fear.
Dietrich's gaze moved to the doctor's pale face and then slid to Seliya. Dietrich's face didn't show any sympathy as he looked at Seliya, who was drooping with a bloodless face.
It was a face that showed no anger or resentment, let alone sympathy. It was a face without any emotion, but that made it even scarier.
No one in the imperial family did not know how cruel Dietrich was.
From the beginning, he did not gain the Emperor's unconditional trust. The Emperor completely forgot that he had brought him to the imperial palace on his own whim and was busy taking his woman.
In an imperial family full of all kinds of intrigue, a handsome boy with no significant background was easy prey for many.
Even the servants in charge of various chores in the imperial palace were mostly children of lower-ranking nobles, and when a boy they had never heard of who was almost sold to a slave dealer came to stay in their lodgings, they did not hide their displeasure.
However, since he was brought by the Emperor, they initially kept an eye on their superiors. But even after three months, the Emperor did not visit Dietrich.
When the servants found out that Dietrich had been abandoned, they began to openly ignore him. The one-sided harassment, which used to force people to do chores, became increasingly more intense as the days passed.
No matter how many people poured cold water on him pretending it was a mistake or verbally insulted him, Dietrich's expression never changed.
The male servants did not like Dietrich, who seemed to act aloof like an old man who had not yet grown up.
One day, the male servant who had been harassing Dietrich the most, locked him in a warehouse and called four men to humiliate him.
Dietrich didn't have a single hair damaged that day.
On the other hand, all of the people who tried to harm Dietrich were found as gruesome corpses. A total of five bodies were found without any sound. Knife stab wounds were found all over the body.
The male servant who was trying to harm Dietrich had a rusty knife in his hand.
The incident ended with them having a heated argument and, unable to control their anger, they committed a stabbing and ended up dead.
It was not uncommon for people to die in the imperial family. If you step on his rope incorrectly, you will die, and if you look unpleasant to your superiors, you will be killed.
In a way, it was natural for such an imperial family to make light of an incident in which a few insignificant servants, etc., appeared to have died after fighting with each other.
The people who tried to harm Dietrich gathered together and died all at once. It was a strange incident that could hardly be considered a coincidence.
After that, many people tried to touch Dietrich, but they all met a tragic ending.
After a greedy male servant who secretly tried to sell Dietrich as a plaything for a high-ranking nobleman was executed for attempting to rape the Emperor's maid, people finally realized that Dietrich was unusual.
The frightened servants kicked Dietrich out of the servants' quarters and into a stable with old, sick war horses located on the outskirts of the imperial palace.
Although the horses were old and sick, they were once excellent horses that showed off their skills on the battlefield, so they were not killed but kept alive to live out the rest of their lives in peace.
Since the horses all had such ferocious personalities, it was not surprising that he was kicked to death in his sleep. In fact, the servant who was looking after Dietrich's horse was kicked in the vital area by the horse and died on the spot.
The servants, who knew this well, sent Dietrich to the stables in the hope that the horses would kill him.
But contrary to their wishes, the horses followed Dietrich very well. He spent every day sleeping in the stable at night and taking care of the horses or doing chores for the servants during the day.
An imperial knight who noticed that Dietrich was good at taming the horse reported this to the Emperor, but the Emperor said, "Ah, those red eyes? Was he still alive?" He threw his head back and laughed.
The imperial knight was sympathetic and taught Dietrich swordsmanship.
Ten years later, Andersen, the imperial knight who taught Dietrich swordsmanship at the time, became Dietrich's subordinate, and Dietrich became the leader of the imperial knights and one of the Emperor's closest associates.
Dietrich was secretly nicknamed the Emperor's Mad Dog. Because the Emperor is dead... How will he come out?
Dietrich's emotionless eyes turned to him in response to the doctor's observing gaze.
The doctor was so overcome by Dietrich's spirit that his body trembled. He hurriedly lowered his gaze to the floor as if he had not seen anything.
"Say it. How is her physical condition?”
The doctor swallowed his saliva and recited the information he had found, hearing a voice that showed no emotion as much as his emotionless eyes.
“...The lifespan is one year at most. Her physical condition is not good. Not only are the organs not functioning properly, but there is also rotten blood accumulating inside the body.”
The doctor added, looking at Seliya with a confused look.
“It’s amazing how she survived with that body. You can’t tell from the outside, but the internal organs have already been damaged beyond use, making it almost impossible to even alleviate the condition, let alone cure it.”
As the doctor added, Dietrich's face showed emotion for the first time. The lips that were tightly pressed together curved into a faint smile.
When the doctor who was looking at Seliya turned his head to Dietrich, the smile that had been on his lips had disappeared without a trace.
“That’s great.”
Dietrich's muttered words dispersed like fog inside the dungeon. However, the doctor who was paying attention to Dietrich's every move heard those words clearly.
“What are you planning to do with this woman?”
Dietrich spoke indifferently without even looking at the doctor.
“They say that if a person talks too much, he cannot live up to his name.”
“...!”
“You didn’t come here today. You didn’t see anything.”
The doctor nodded his head several times at Dietrich's words.
"Yes, yes! Today, I wandered the hallways to boil precious medicinal herbs brought from the East.”
The doctor barely answered in a trembling voice.
Dietrich silently pointed toward the exit with the tip of his chin.
The doctor escaped from the prison as if running away. He must have been worried about Seliya, so he stopped and looked behind her.
However, he could not see Seliya. Because he saw Dietrich watching him with his arms crossed. His eyebrows had suddenly narrowed tightly.
The doctor barely held back from screaming and ran away.
After confirming that the doctor had disappeared, Dietrich approached Seliya. He looked down at Seliya, who was exhaling her breath as thin as a thread as if he were looking at her as if she were a foreign body.
The corners of his mouth twisted as he looked at her Seliya.
“Brillion’s Angel.”
Dietrich muttered lowly to himself. His large hand touched the side of Seliya's neck.
People were talking about this woman, saying she was Brillion's angel or something, but Dietrich wasn't interested in such things at all.
If he strangles her like this, she will die.
Her great reputation and her life will all be ruined by one small gesture.
However, Dietrich changed his mind and withdrew his hand. He said it was obvious that the woman was awake, but she didn't bother to open her eyes.
"Wake up."
Seliya's closed eyelids slowly opened at the dry, cold voice. Fresh eyes resembling a forest were captured entirely in Dietrich's field of vision.
Seliya also looked at Dietrich.
A man with a menacing physique that made the prison feel full was looking at her as if he were an insect.
Seliya lifted herself up and sat down in her place. She straightened her back and sat up straight, staring at Dietrich.
Dietrich felt as if Seliya was looking down at him from above.
She may not have read his thoughts, but Seliya smiled softly. Despite her picturesque smile that people admired, Dietrich's expression did not change at all.
“Tell me the real reason you killed the Emperor.”
As soon as Dietrich saw Seliya, he immediately got to the point.
“Seliya Brillion, the adopted daughter of Viscount Brillion. Why did you kill the Emperor?”
Seliya looked at Dietrich with a calm face, as if listening to her own business. Dietrich, on the other hand, feigned composure on the outside, but he was not fooled.
“It would be better to speak the truth. Who instigated you?”
“...”
When Seliya did not answer, Dietrich leaned down to be at eye level with her.
“Are you going to tell me if I torture you?”
Dietrich looked at Seliya's snow-white ankles as if he were really going to torture them. Eventually, Seliya’s lips slowly opened.
“...Dietrich.”
A fine wrinkle appeared between Dietrich's eyebrows as if he didn't know that the woman knew him.
“Do you know me?”
Seliya smiled and answered.
“There is no one in the Abelon Empire who does not know your name.”
Even though Seliya was here as a criminal, she spoke informally without hesitation. But it seemed so natural that Dietrich felt uncomfortable.
Seliya looked at Dietrich and sarcastically said.
“If I had known it was you, the Emperor’s mad dog, I wouldn’t have fainted in front of you so ugly.”
Seliya's lips were in a soft line, but her eyes were not smiling. A deep resentment appeared in her cool eyes.
Dietrich looked quietly into her eyes. Unlike his own bright red eyes, the eyes of the woman in front of him were a clear green color.
Seliya held her chin high and refused to compromise herself, and noble grace radiated from her.
Why does the adopted daughter of a humble Viscountess give off an air that can only be found in well-educated royal family members?
Dietrich knew very well that these types of people would not give him the answers he wanted, no matter how hard he tortured them.
How many people would act like this when they could die at any moment? Even when it's time-limited.
Or is it because she is terminally ill that she is not afraid of death?
However, what really surprised Dietrich was what Seliya said later.
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