厨房从后面挺进李婷

Having first learned the details from the Marquis of Windsor, the man intended to contact the Archduke to inform him of the possible danger. After all, he was the right hand of the King of Azeroth, and should have been aware of what was happening in the country. But then he changed his mind. The last thing he wanted was to involve Lady Ashford\'s family in this dirty business.

All the more so, the duke would be quite capable of handling it himself.

To discuss their future plan of action, the guests decided to stay at the manor for a couple more days. Duke Cassius gave them a couple of rooms to stay in. And the Marquis of Windsor was notably indignant when he discovered that his rooms were in some backwater place.

But since it was impossible to change the Duke\'s mind, everyone had to put up with it.

Razor Blanche reacted to what was happening with minimal concentration. Since all his thoughts were far away from here.

That night after their arrival, once in his room, the boy could not sleep a wink until the middle of the night. Rolling from side to side, all sorts of doubts haunted his mind.

One question haunted him.

With what face was he to break the news to Lerian when he met her? And, most importantly, with what words?

The second prince deeply regretted coming into the damn room in the first place. If he had known nothing, everything would have been so much easier. And why did he have to go there…?!

Razor\'s hair flickered irritably.

As if he hadn\'t had enough trouble before. Now, there was a secret hanging on the boy\'s conscience that most likely no one knew but him. And if he said a word, it would have irreversible consequences. The prince didn\'t know what to do or how to proceed.

Trying to solve this dilemma in his head, Razor achieved nothing. Eventually, after a long torture, he finally managed to fall asleep.

However, even in his sleep he could not get rid of strange visions.

***

In a semi-dark room, resembling a study, there were two people. The Marquis Windsor from the original novel and his nephew, who was trembling with fear.

— Uncle…» he mumbled shyly, «I really… Do I really have to do this?»

— I have made up my mind,» the knight said firmly, «Your marriage to Rachel Cassius will take place next week and it is out of the question.»

— B-but Uncle…! I don\'t want to do it!

— Silence! — He cut him off,» The welfare of our family depends on this deal. As my sister\'s son, you cannot betray us at the last minute.

Silver Windsor could not lift a finger, for this was the first time he had found his uncle so angry and desperate at the same time. Having just graduated from Oberon Academy, the lad was about to marry the girl he had fallen in love with during his studies. But when he returned home, this sudden announcement ruined all his plans.

Silver didn\'t want to marry Rachel Cassius. After all, he didn\'t even know her…! But in this aspect, the Marquis did not care at all about his feelings.

The Marquis of Windsor knew that their family\'s time was running out. And the man had given him one last chance to prove his worth. The man could not let it slip through his fingers to let everything crumble like a house of cards.

He had to get the marriage to the heiress of the Cassius family at any cost.

And with great difficulty, he succeeded. By then, the Duke of Cassius was just looking for a match for his daughter. Since he was going to hand over his responsibilities to her in the near future, he wanted to leave a trustworthy man by her side to watch over her when he was gone.

Thanks to the connections of his lord, who asked the King of Azeroth to put in a good word for Silver, the Duke turned his attention to him.

Raymond Cassius didn\'t care how rich or powerful his daughter\'s betrothed turned out to be. He just wanted to see someone who could treat Rachel well, despite all the rumors surrounding their family. And the characterization of the youngest heir of the Windsor family suited him just fine.

Besides, in order to smooth over the sharp edges in their relationship and inspire trust, the Marquis himself officially apologized and offered to make their children\'s marriage the final point in the long-running feud. This wedding could also establish strong ties between their countries, which suited both rulers.

Thus, the decision to make a deal between the families happened rather quickly.

The opinions of the children themselves were not much considered in this matter. By this time Rachel was in a prolonged depression, which had haunted her all her life, but which had recently worsened. When she learned of her impending engagement to an aristocrat, she had little or no reaction to it. In other words, she just didn\'t care.

But Silver could not so easily turn a blind eye to his own life. When he returned home, the first thing he did was to burst into his uncle\'s office, trying to talk him out of it.

But the Marquis of Windsor remained adamant.

— This decision is out of the question.

— Uncle!» the lad pleaded, «Please let me control my life. Don\'t I have the right to choose my own destiny?»

— What do you know about destiny? — He chuckled. «If it were that easy, do you think I\'d bend over backwards for that bastard? It was all to protect our clan.»

— What are you talking about?! I don\'t see what this has to do with me marrying Rachel Cassius!

The Marquis of Windsor exhaled noisily.

— Listen to me carefully,» the man gripped his nephew\'s shoulders tightly, forcing him to look directly into his eyes, «You will do as I say. And when you do, you can do whatever you want.»

— W-what…?

— Once the damn family\'s gone, he promised he\'d let us go forever. It won\'t be long now.

— I… I don\'t understand…» said Silver.

— Once you\'re married, you\'ve got to do everything you can to get her to trust you. For the plausibility of the marriage, you can even have children together… But that\'s not important. Most importantly, you have to get Cassius\' daughter to leave a mark on you.

— «Mark»? Uncle, what are you talking about?

— The mark of the Bloody Camellia,» the knight repeated softly, «If she makes a contract with you, then you can easily kill her.»

— Kill her?!

The boy jerked back sharply and his expression twisted in horror. He did not understand why his uncle, who always seemed in the eyes of the entire empire to be a good man, was telling him such terrible things. To kill someone? Was he capable of such a thing?

— Uncle, you can\'t be serious. — Silver muttered excitedly, «Why should I kill anyone?»

— You still don\'t seem to understand anything.

— W-what…

— I said you have to kill her! — The man shouted angrily.

The Marquis of Windsor was behaving very strangely now, and even Silver was frightened. He could not utter a word when his uncle suddenly cornered him.

— All right. Then see for yourself what will happen to our family if you keep stalling.

Silver held his breath as the Marquis suddenly began to remove his jacket. Then, he unbuttoned his shirt, allowing the boy to look at his body.

The sight was so nightmarish that he barely had time to clamp his mouth shut before he cried out.

His chest and back were covered in ugly scars from different weapons, and in some places there were scorch marks. In some places the skin was blackened and never recovered. In short, it looked as if the man had been in some monstrous concentration camp for years.

But it wasn\'t really him, and not even the effects of the battles he\'d suffered. These wounds were nothing more than reminders of the abuse the Marquis had endured for a long time.

Silver could not have imagined that his uncle had had to endure such pain.

— Do you see now? — If nothing is done, the same thing will soon happen to you and your parents. No, even worse.

The boy was shaking with fear because he couldn\'t believe that this could really happen.

— W-Was that really… Was that really the only way out?

The Marquis nodded grimly, throwing his shirt back on.

— But of course, if you don\'t care about everything, you can just disagree.

Silver gulped as he suddenly felt dizzy. To kill Rachel Cassius for the well-being of their family… Was it worth it? Would he even dare do such a thing? But… The scars he\'d just seen on his uncle kept him awake. He remembered his parents and couldn\'t imagine something like that happening to them.

No… He couldn\'t just ignore it.

— If that\'s the case, then… I agree,» Silver said quietly, «I\'ll try to kill Rachel Cassius.»

The next moment, that vision dissolved, and another appeared in its place.

Already dead, the Marquis\'s nephew lay on the floor, while the wound in his chest still oozed blood.

Above him stood Rachel Cassius, clutching a knife in her left hand, staring coldly at her husband\'s corpse. There was not an ounce of sympathy in her gaze, only contempt.

— Worm, did you really think you could fool me?

At the same time there was a child\'s cry around the corner, and little Robert, who happened to see the scene, ran away terrified.

This was the beginning of the development of the male protagonist, who would become a tyrant in the future. The death of his father was the main stage, without which this character would have become simply useless.

An unassuming man from a couple of chapters of Robert\'s memoir, whose face wasn\'t even shown. That was the whole essence of Silver Windsor.

And now he was bleeding, for death was his only raison d\'être.

***

Razor Blanche opened his eyes abruptly a couple of hours after he had fallen asleep. And all because of the horror of the dream he saw. Cold sweat trickled down his face while his whole body shook.

A very bad feeling overtook the boy.

Most likely, the second prince had just dreamt the plot of an original novel. It had never happened before. Especially in such minute detail.

Even though they were unsupported dreams that might well have been delusions, the boy was still scared. He had to make sure Silver was all right.

His death turned out to be a much creepier picture than he\'d imagined. And somehow, he didn\'t want to believe that this was what fate had destined for the Marquis\' nephew.

To die in front of his son, to later become the main trigger in the formation of his personality. A true ending for a character who was even less than minor.

But given how current events have unfolded, the marriage between Rachel and Silver has simply become impossible. In other words, the event for which the guy appeared in this world will never happen.

What will happen to him now…?

Razor ran out of the room on cotton legs, eager to get to his recent friend\'s quarters as quickly as possible. Despite the total darkness, it was as if he could see all the way without light.

After a couple of minutes, panting, was in the right wing. Knocked on the door three times.

— Silver, are you there?

— …

Silence.

— Silver!

The boy didn\'t answer him for a long time, and then the prince decided to go inside himself.

As it turned out, Silver was lying on his bed with his eyes closed, and from the outside it looked like he was just sound asleep.

Razor ran up to him and shook him by the shoulders.

— Silver, can you hear me?

The boy\'s voice had already broken into a cry of despair when the Marquis\'s nephew did nothing to react to his actions. Then he put his ear to his chest and listened.

Emptiness.

Razor screamed and tried to bring him to his senses as best he could, but all remained useless. Silver Windsor had already stopped breathing.