My Ex-Girlfriend Was Appointed as a Knight Commander

Chapter 138

There was no time to think. Emil screamed, stopping two passing carriages. The first carriage carried his unconscious servant straight to the infirmary. Sounds around him blurred, leaving only a ringing in his ears that throbbed in his head. The driver, seeing Emil’s dazed expression, cautiously bowed his head and asked,

“Sir, are you all right?”

Emil staggered, clutching the driver’s collar. The driver, startled at being grabbed by what seemed to be a court nobleman, flailed his arms in shock. Realizing that Emil’s gaze wasn’t even focused on him, the driver gulped nervously.

“My lord! It’s dangerous here!”

“...To Rue Le Mans.”

“Sorry, sir?”

Emil’s voice burst out.

“To Rue Le Mans... Drive this damned carriage there, now!”

He was half out of his mind. Onlookers began murmuring amongst themselves. The driver, sweating profusely, tried to calm him down, seeing no choice but to comply with the demands of his frantic customer. He quickly opened the carriage door.

“Please, my lord, get in. And, um, the fare...”

Hoping to avoid trouble later, the driver extended his hand for payment upfront. Emil dug into his pocket, thrusting every coin he could find into the driver’s hand. The driver, wide-eyed, stashed the money quickly, jumped onto the driver’s seat, and cracked the reins.

“Right away, my lord!”

Emil’s vision swayed as the carriage rattled forward, speeding through the city streets. He leaned out the window, his heart pounding, watching as people either ran or stared toward the direction they were headed.

Please, please, don’t let it be true.

Emil clenched his teeth, filled with dread as he wished he could somehow reach the place faster. His wife would likely be attending a social gathering of noblewomen at this hour, away from home. The servants, the children...

The carriage turned a corner and entered a wide street. Emil saw thick, black smoke rising in the distance. The commotion around them grew louder. Emil stared at the dark plume against the blue sky with lifeless eyes.

“My lord! It seems there’s a fire on Rue Le Mans...”

“Drive faster.”

The chilling command made the driver fall silent as he urged the carriage to speed up. Closer. The screams, the crackling of collapsing wood. As they reached the entrance of Rue Le Mans, Emil shouted at the driver to stop. The driver, face pale with fear, brought the carriage to a halt, realizing that the burning house belonged to his passenger.

The carriage barely came to a stop before Emil leapt out and sprinted toward the manor. People gathered around, some watching, others frantically trying to put out the flames.

“...Ruel, Jean, Marion.”

Mumbling his children’s names, Emil reached the manor’s entrance, only to be stopped by soldiers fighting the blaze as he attempted to stumble into the inferno like a madman.

“Let go! My children are in there...!”

“Please calm down, Baron Borden! Your household staff managed to escape with the children!”

Emil, struggling against the soldiers, finally heard them. His once-tidy hair was now a mess, and he seized one of the soldiers by the collar, questioning him with wide, desperate eyes. The soldier nodded repeatedly as he answered.

“They’re safe... they made it out?”

“Yes, the children were all taken to the hospital.”

“No injuries? Are they all right?”

“Your two sons are unharmed, but your youngest daughter...”

For the second time, Emil’s heart sank. The soldier trailed off, and Emil didn’t press further about Marion’s condition.

“Which hospital?”

“The one two districts over. They’re—”

Before the soldier could finish, Emil sprinted off to hail another carriage. The soldiers looked after him, shaking their heads.

“He’s a court noble, right? Poor fellow... his house going up in flames like that.”

“Had he been told his youngest’s condition, I doubt he’d be sane right now.”

The soldier, brushing his collar, watched Emil hail another carriage with a look of pity, shaking his head.

“Can’t even imagine what he’s feeling right now.”

“It’s unfortunate you lost your home to the fire, Emil. I’ll prepare a new residence for you in the capital, along with some attendants. Consider it my way of lending a hand.”

Leon left the room, closing the door behind him. Emil clenched his teeth, looking down at his daughter. The servant left behind stared down at him coldly.

“I’m sorry...”

Kneeling beside Marion’s bed, Emil ignored the servant’s watchful gaze and whispered, seeking forgiveness from his unconscious daughter.

“...for being such a failure of a father.”

Making sure Leon Bening couldn’t hear, he grit his teeth and let his tears fall, unable to fathom how much suffering lay ahead for his child.

Marion woke three days later. By then, Emil Borden had become a monster who betrayed his own daughter. Forced to walk a razor’s edge under Leon Bening’s eye, he could only care for his daughter in secret.

Seeing her look lifelessly out the window killed something in him each time. Every cold word he said to her, every time she blamed herself instead of him for his distant treatment, stripped away pieces of his heart.

His wife, despite the risks, quietly tended to their daughter. She hired tutors and looked the other way when Marion spent time in the garden. The servants Leon sent reported her activities to Emil, but he only nodded as though agreeing to keep Marion in check.

The count rarely visited him anymore. Instead, he began keeping Emil as his near-constant right hand. Marion’s name wasn’t brought up again until eight years later.

“An engagement... you say?”

Perhaps because he’d been indoctrinated as the count’s “dog” for so long, Emil felt a strange, unfamiliar anger stirring as Leon Bening mentioned his daughter.

“I told you not to bring her into society, but it’s no longer feasible to keep her hidden. I’ve found a suitable match; perhaps she should meet him.”

Ever cautious, Leon took Emil to an academy training knights. Emil was introduced to Maxime Apart—a man who seemed to be in a similar position, burdened with obligations, lacking power, and devoid of hope.

At least he wasn’t some greedy noble. Emil couldn’t say he approved of Maxime as a suitor for Marion, but the boy was neither in love with her nor powerful enough to protect her. Let alone capable of offering her freedom; he was shackled to Bening just as tightly as Emil himself.

Yet Marion seemed happy with Maxime. Emil, who had no right to feel otherwise, found himself begrudgingly resentful.

“If you’re my ‘future son-in-law,’ shouldn’t you address me properly?”

Truthfully, he didn’t like being called “father-in-law” by someone like Maxime, though he knew the boy wasn’t eager to use the title either.

“A word of warning not to cause any unnecessary trouble.”

It was advice Emil didn’t need to give; acting on emotions would only bring ruin to the young knight.

Even without Leon’s orders, Emil couldn’t bring himself to treat Maxime warmly. Yet a small part of him hoped Maxime might free Marion, no matter how slim that hope was.

When the engagement was over and Baron Apart asked if he could take Marion east, Emil had to hide his joy, feigning reluctance. Thus, his daughter became partially free, showing a liveliness far beyond what she displayed under his roof.

“...Marion’s returned?”

Hearing this news from a servant watching the First Princess, Emil couldn’t believe it. He thought his daughter would stay away from the bloodshed in the capital, yet here she was, working with the First Princess and the Marquis’s people.

Did she really love that fool Maxime so much? That fool who threw his life away out of stubborn pride?

Perhaps for Maxime Apart’s sake, she stood defiantly against the count.

Emil wanted to tell her it was dangerous. Leon Bening seemed unconcerned about Marion, but who knew when his shadow might fall upon the First Princess and Marion?

Keeping his distance, Emil watched his daughter walking with the First Princess. He couldn’t approach her, couldn’t apologize, and couldn’t ask her to stop.

He was being tested—whether he’d remain the count’s pawn. There was only one thing he could do for her.

A week after Marion’s return, Emil slipped a sleeping draught to the spies posing as his servants. Under the cover of night, he sought an audience with the king, crushed by the pressure from the Head of the Royal Guard. Finally, after nine years, he declared his vengeance. After proving his loyalty, the king accepted his aid.

“I will be Your Majesty’s eyes and ears.”

In return for his betrayal, Emil was granted safety for his wife and children, along with medical care for Marion. His safety was not part of the agreement.

That would have to be enough.

Emil opened his eyes, finding himself alone in the silent hall. Arsen Bern—no, Maxime Apart. Emil repeated the truth he dared not speak aloud.

Could that knight win? Could he bring salvation to his daughter and deliver justice to the count?

Emil gazed toward the spot where Arsen Bern had disappeared and muttered into the air, sounding almost irritated.

“When given a chance, make it count, son-in-law.”

Emil’s sigh lingered in the empty air. He hadn’t noticed he’d called Maxime “son-in-law” without realizing it.