Under the Oak Tree - Chapter 172
Chapter 172: Chapter 172
It was impossible to tell who was more stunned. Growing as rigid as a statue, Maxi waited for Riftan to dissolve like a mirage. She would have preferred to crumble to dust over letting him see her in such a wretched state.
As always, fate cruelly turned its back on her. Riftan remained standing, wearing a stupefied expression she had never seen on him before.
The Duke of Croyso came to his senses first. He wrenched his hand away and looked back and forth between the wide-open door and the unexpected intruder. His face slowly twisted in outrage.
“How did you get in here? You dare break into my castle?! Do not think I will overlook this transgression! If you do not leave this instant-”
“I asked…”
Riftan’s voice was toneless and calm, yet somehow chilling enough to make the imperious duke pause. Finally pulling his gaze away from Maxi, Riftan turned to the duke and continued.
“…what in the devil it is you are doing?”
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Maxi had never seen her father look so flustered. He flinched and backed away from whatever it was that he glimpsed in Riftan’s eyes. His face flushed as though humiliated.
“Enough with the self-righteous act! This is hardly scandalous. As her father, I was merely correcting her vile manners. It is a parent’s duty to discipline their children.”
“Discipline?” Riftan cocked his head as though unable to comprehend the duke’s words. “You call this… discipline?”
His voice was uncannily low and flat. When his gaze returned to her, Maxi shrunk into herself and clutched at her dress until her knuckles turned white. His eyes swept over her disheveled hair, bruised face, and her back full of twisted lacerations like swollen worms. Maxi had never felt so pitiful in her life. She hung her head, unable to meet his gaze.
“There is a hierarch waiting downstairs,” she heard her father say tersely. “She won’t have a scratch on her once she is treated with divine magic! Such efforts are required for instilling obedience in daughters.”
The duke haughtily raised his pointed chin as if displeased by the fact that he had been made to justify himself.
“Now, it is your turn to explain yourself. How in God’s name did you get in here? Did I not tell you to go back? I’m sure you are well aware that infiltrating a lord’s castle is a crime… Are you prepared to face the consequences?”
Riftan merely stared at the duke in silence. Unsettled by Riftan’s calm gaze, the duke nervously clicked his tongue and flicked his wrist.
“First, I want you out of here. We will continue this conversation in the drawing room. I pray for your sake that you have a proper excuse.”
“I see,” Riftan said after a long silence.
He stood like a statue, his face as inexpressive as plaster. Then, he slowly turned and walked toward the door. Maxi watched his retreating back in disbelief. A coldness as though all her blood had drained away settled over her.
The shock prevented her from calling out to him. Her mouth dumbly flapped open and closed when Riftan stopped just before the door. He grabbed a chair by the entrance and walked back to Maxi and the duke.
His face was so placid that neither of them understood what was happening until he raised the chair by its leg.
The wooden chair struck the duke’s bony figure. Maxi’s eyes widened. Everything seemed to move in slow motion. The chair splintered, sending chunks of wood flying in every direction. The duke sailed through the air like a scarecrow before crashing onto the floor. A bizarre scream filled with pain and outrage burst out of him.
“Y-You scum…! Y-You dare…!”
With a look of sheer shock, the duke shakily raised his torso and looked up at Riftan in disbelief.
His white hair was always meticulously swept back with not a single hair out of place. It was now a disheveled mess, and blood dripped from his mouth. His contorted face was devil-like as he shook a finger at Riftan.
“Y-You dare?! You dare to strike me?!”
The duke’s shrieks grated like a screeching iron gate.
He shakily got to his feet and bellowed, “Guards! Guards! Take this- Ugh!”
Riftan strode over and kicked the duke in the stomach. The duke collapsed back onto the floor, his face turning blue. He choked on the blood and vomit that poured out of his mouth.
Maxi watched in stunned silence. It was unimaginable that the tyrant who had dominated her entire life could be so weak and helpless.
Riftan lifted the writhing duke by the neck and slammed him against the wall. The impact made the old man’s body flail like a broken doll.
Crushing the duke’s head against the wall, Riftan muttered flatly, “Why are you causing such a scene? Surely you could have a hierarch heal you as well, no?”
“Uhhhh…”
The duke flailed his long legs. His face was blue with shock and fear. Having never suffered such pain in his life, he whimpered and frantically tried to free himself. He thrashed and clawed at Riftan’s armored forearm.
Riftan did not budge. Gazing at the duke as though he were nothing but a squirming insect, Riftan raised his fist.
At that moment, someone came rushing into the room.
“Commander!”
Elliot and Ursuline, both dressed in black robes, rushed to Riftan’s side. When they tried to pull him away, Riftan’s previously emotionless face contorted viciously.
“Get your hands off me!”
“Think, Commander! Even you won’t be pardoned-”
Riftan shoved them away without much effort. He then hoisted the crawling duke back up and swung his fist.
The blow crushed the duke’s jaw like clay, and his eyes rolled back into his head. Riftan raised his fist once more, not caring that the duke’s head now slumped back. Elliot flung himself at Riftan and barely managed to stop another blow.
“Commander! You’ll kill him! A serious strike from you will kill him instantly!”
Riftan thrashed against the knight like a chained beast and screamed. Filled with despair, Maxi looked on. Her father lay sprawled on the floor, his face bloody and his eyes rolled up into his head.
Someone else came running into the room, and Maxi flinched away in recognition.
Ruth took in the scene in one stupefied sweep. His eyes grew wide when he saw Maxi, the color draining from his face.
“By God… My lady… What…?” he said, reaching out to her.
“Do not touch her!”
In an instant, Riftan pushed the knights away and ran to Maxi. He slapped Ruth’s hand away. The sight of him losing all reason made Maxi recoil, and she hunched her shoulders inward like a turtle.
Clearly frightened by Riftan’s murderous aura as well, Ruth hesitated before he spoke.
“Calm down,” he said as though trying to pacify an agitated beast. “I’m only trying to heal her.”
The look on Riftan’s face made it clear that Ruth’s words were not sinking in. His dilated eyes darted about like a man possessed, and his blanched face twisted. Ruth approached cautiously, trying not to agitate him further.
“I won’t touch her. I will only heal her with magic.”
Riftan stiffened as Ruth reached toward Maxi again. This time, he did not push the sorcerer’s hand away. Feeling the pain slowly ease, Maxi finally let out the breath she had been holding.
As the pain faded, her battered pride made itself known as a dull ache. Raising her dress to her chin, she glanced at Riftan, Ruth, and the shocked knights before hiding her face beneath her disheveled hair.
Shame and humiliation stabbed at her. She wanted nothing more than to turn to dust and disappear.
“There, all done.”
When Ruth pulled his hand back, Riftan removed his robe and wrapped it around Maxi. He then picked her up and strode toward the door.
It felt like floating above cold clouds. Gripped by the unsettling sensation, Maxi looked about nervously and spotted Rosetta standing to one side of the darkened corridor. Her sister slowly walked toward them and icily gazed down at their father’s limp and bloodied body.
“Is he dead?” she asked flatly.
Elliot was bent over the duke, checking his condition.
“No, but he just might die if you don’t call the cleric immediately,” he said calmly.
Rosetta merely nodded and made no move to call for a cleric. Maxi stared at her sister. This entire situation felt impossible to get her head around. Had she passed out during the beating, hence this strange dream?
Her beautiful sister, the apple of her father’s eye, glanced indifferently away from the duke and pointed down the unlit corridor.
“I’ve asked a maidservant to lace the guards’ food with a sleeping draught, but the knights and soldiers in the eastern wing are still awake. They would’ve heard the commotion and are headed this way. You should leave before they get here.”
With that, she spun around. Her cold eyes flicked to Riftan and Maxi before looking away.
“Please remember that I know nothing about this matter.”
“We will make sure you are not implicated, Lady Rosetta,” Ursuline replied curtly.
Rosetta was the embodiment of grace and calm as she walked away. Maxi vacantly stared after her before Riftan turned and began striding in the direction Rosetta had pointed.
No one spoke as they moved down the long corridor and descended the stairs. The heavy silence still hung over them as they got to the first floor and made toward the garden. As they approached the back gate, the Croyso guards stopped them at sword-point. The soldiers gasped as they recognized Riftan.
Her father’s favored knight stepped out from the group of guards and shouted imperiously, “What is the meaning of this? You dare to infiltrate our castle? Are you not aware that this is grounds for war?”
The knight’s self-assuredness vanished when he saw the glint in Riftan’s eyes.
“Exactly what I want,” Riftan said in a frighteningly grim voice. “I will raze this land to the ground, along with you and all of your families.”
At least fifteen of the guards faltered and backed away, their faces frozen in fear. They knew that standing against Wedon’s greatest knightly order was a fool’s game. Elliot broke the nerve-racking tension as he stepped forward to mediate.
“Everyone here knows that Lady Maximilian is now a Calypse. The duke had no right to confine her in Croyso Castle in the first place! Let us be clear that it was the duke who was out of line first.”
“Lady Maximilian is His Grace’s daughter! He never confined her-”
“Elliot, enough with the talking,” said Ursuline, drawing his sword. He had clearly reached the end of his patience. “Croyso and Anatol are now enemies. That being the case, we simply dispose of them and leave.”
Apparently deciding that they would not be able to subdue Riftan and his men with just their number, the commanding knight motioned with his head for the guards to let them through.
Riftan strode past them with Elliot and Ursuline on either side, their swords drawn. Outside the castle, a chilly wind brushed Maxi’s tear-stained cheek. She leaned her face against Riftan’s cold, armored chest and curled herself in his arms.
Talon was tied to a nearby tree. Riftan mounted his horse after helping Maxi onto the saddle. It was not until she heard hooves against the ground that the sobbing began, racking her whole body.
As she silently wept, she could not tell if this feeling in her chest was relief or despair.
***
No one spoke of the events that occurred in Croyso Castle. The rest of the knights waiting outside did not ask any questions, as if they could sense the tension enveloping the returning party.
They traveled across the darkened plain without rest until the village of Zeno came into view.
Maxi blinked her stinging eyes at the dim lights glowing in the dark. Raising her head, she could vaguely make out Riftan’s tense jaw. Riftan did not spare her a glance as he spurred his horse into a gallop down the hill.
When they reached Zeno, Riftan and the knights booked out a large inn at the southern end of the village. Moving as one, the knights dismounted, left their horses to the stables, and organized the luggage.
Riftan carried Maxi up the stairs. After gently lowering her onto the bed in one of the rooms, he walked over to light the lamp by the window.
Maxi hugged her knees as she sat as motionless as a rock. Riftan’s face had been shrouded in darkness up until now. As he lit the lamp, the flickering light revealed his expression.
