CHAPTER 57: CHAPTER 57: SIR AIDEN

The balcony was quiet, save for the faint crackle of the dry leaves as tea cooled between untouched saucers.

"So, my lord, what is it that my lord wants from this humble servant...?" Aiden preached, his voice low and polished, his posture composed yet pliant. His golden-yellow eyes, almost unnatural in their glow, cut across the table like sharp glass, catching the viscount’s own.

Augustus shifted, the weight of his thoughts pressing into the lines at the corners of his mouth. His fingers traced the rim of his cup, leaving a faint trembling ripple in the tea.

"Aiden..." he began, his voice dropping as though the shadows themselves leaned in to listen, "What I am going to say is secret. A big one. So keep it hush, even from my wife."

’....huh, John already heard it, what kind of secret are we gonna talk about?’ Aiden thought.

The moment that last word left August’s lips, Aiden caught a flicker—hesitation, even guilt. The kind that no lord wanted to admit in front of his servant.

He continued, "I didn’t know how to handle the situation, so I took Lady Sabrina for advice. Together, we came to a solution."

Aiden inclined his head, waiting. The flick of his eyes toward Sabrina was subtle, but it was enough. She sat beside Augustus like a sculpted idol—posture perfect, crimson eyes unblinking, her fingers draped around the handle of her cup as though even porcelain bent to her will.

Augustus finally leaned forward, his words like a conspirator’s whisper.

"Your estimations were right, Aiden. There is corruption within the garrison. But I have no solid proof to act upon. Many knights and guards are of the houses under our fief—barons, high barons, even earls. I cannot strip titles or issue punishments without evidence. Do you understand what I’m trying to say?"

The birds chirped.

Aiden nodded, though the calm mask on his face betrayed nothing of the stir in his chest. He inhaled once, slowly, before speaking.

"I understand, my lord. Let me guess... You want me to act as a spy within the garrison, gather hard evidence, and report it back to you."

He wasn’t dumb, he was the one who orchestrated it from the start. And John seemed to overheard when they were speaking. So one plus one equals..They just need someone who can gather evidence....or someone who they all could blame. Same thing.

Augustus leaned back, relief softening his stiff frame. A smile ghosted his lips.

"I knew you were a smart one. Yes. That’s exactly what I—no we, me and Lady Sabrina—planned."

At her name, Aiden’s eyes darted sideways.

’...She is on this as well? Why?’ The thought pricked him sharp, instinct stirring like a hound catching the scent of a trap.

Augustus sipped his tea, perhaps ready to unroll a web of further instructions. But just as he drew breath, Sabrina lifted her hand—slim, pale, precise.

No words accompanied the motion, but the silence she conjured was heavier than any command.

Augustus’s lips pressed into a flat line. His gaze flicked toward her with faint irritation before he leaned back, swallowing his authority in a single, grudging sigh.

"I will entail the explanation from here on out," Sabrina spoke at last. Her voice was a velvet ribbon pulled taut—elegant, but unyielding.

Her chest rose with an effortless poise as she took a delicate sip. The liquid seemed darker in her crimson gaze, eyes that fixed on Aiden like a predator waiting for its prey to stumble.

"Aiden," she said, her tone honeyed yet absolute, "you will not go as a knight of the viscount’s fief. That would raise suspicion. Instead, you will go under my banner. A knight of the duchy."

Augustus leaned forward, eager to reclaim some part of the plan.

"Yes, Aiden, it’s an opportunity. Lady Sabrina thought—"

BAM!

The sharp crack of her fan against the table shattered his words. No raised voice followed, no chastisement—only the echo of silence, heavy and obedient. Even the fire seemed to bow in submission.

Her crimson gaze never left Aiden’s.

"Where was I?" Her lips curved faintly, as though the interruption were but an inevitable part of her design. "Right. Aiden, are you ready to take this mission? To find the culprit who is stealing from your lord’s coffers?"

The words hung in the air like baited hooks.

’...I am the one who stole that money,’ Aiden thought, hidden laughter coiling behind his ribcage. ’But I cannot say that now.’

Still, his instincts roared louder than amusement. Something about her involvement stank of a deeper scheme, a layer not yet unveiled.

’I smell something fishy,’ he mused, though his body gave no sign. Before him stood a lord and a duchess. He would not play the fool. He would play the game.

He looked at Augustus first, the dutiful servant, the loyal knight lord. Augustus gave a subtle nod, trusting him.

Aiden inhaled. His chair scraped faintly against the floor as he rose, startling both noble figures slightly. And then, with calculated grace, he sank to one knee before them.

His posture was flawless: one knee bent, one fist pressed against the stone, the other hand steady against his upright thigh. His neck lowered in complete deference.

A bow of honor.

A bow of oath.

A bow no one could take lightly.

The bow of a knight pledging his soul.

Sabrina’s eyes flicked toward Augustus, and Augustus toward her. For once, both shared the same thought: admiration. Words were unnecessary—Aiden had accepted not with his tongue, but with his very body.

His voice rang out, steady and solemn, though it carried nothing but lies.

"I, Aiden, swear in the name of this fief and its lord, and in the name of the duchy and its duchess, and finally in the name of the emperor and empress, swear to honor and hone my rank as your knight, to serve and only to serve."

The chamber stilled. Sabrina’s lips parted into a smile—slow, widening, dangerous. She rose from her seat, her silken violet gown whispering against the stone floor.

Her hand extended toward Augustus. Wordless. Demanding.

He hesitated, his pride pricking at her audacity. Yet in the end, he yielded. He placed his sword in her hand.

No ceremony was required. No witnesses, no trumpets, no halls of cheering nobility. Just her, the blade, and the morning light.

She unsheathed it. The steel caught the morning sun that slanted through the trees , a gleam like liquid light running the length of its edge.

Then, with the flick of her finger, with her subtle magic spell, she swept the table clear. Porcelain shattered. Tea spilled across stone like blood. Papers scattered into flight before settling as silent witnesses.

Her voice was clear, sharp as the blade itself.

"Yes... You shall serve the emperor and empress, and their noble bloodline. And I, the duchess of the land, hold the right to name you. I, Sabrina D. Merlin, honor you with knighthood."

The cold edge of steel touched his shoulder, first the right, then the left.

"And henceforward, Aiden shall be called Sir Aiden. No longer a nameless peasant. From this moment, you serve the House of Merlin. Once, and forever."

Augustus’s throat worked as though words pressed against his tongue, begging release.

’.....once and forever?’ He thought.

But he silenced himself. It was temporary, he told himself. Only temporary.

"Rise, Sir Aiden," Sabrina intoned. "Knight of the Merlin Duchy."

And Aiden rose.

A smile curved his lips. He finally understood why she had involved herself.

Her smile, sharp as the sword she held, was laced with hunger. Crimson eyes glimmered not with ceremony but with want, excitement, lust barely veiled beneath nobility’s mask.

’Oh, if only you could see the face I am seeing, Augustus,’ Aiden thought, reveling in the irony.

"I am... honored," he voiced aloud, his bow humble yet laced with hidden mirth.

Her smile faltered into something darker. Desire—no longer disguised. If he had chosen to peer deeper, to call upon his system, perhaps he would have seen the true depths of her mind. But even without it, the truth bled through:

It was not mere lust.

Not mere excitement.

But something twisted, tainted, ravenous.

Her thoughts coiled like chains around him.

’You are now mine’, Aiden, Sabrina exulted silently, crimson eyes devouring him.

’Mine.’