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Cesare kicked open the door, which was riddled with bullets.
Inside, only two were standing—Eileen and the Marquis’s son-in-law, Matio.
"H-h, f-ck, f-ck..."
Matio pressed a dagger to Eileen's throat.
In his agitated state, he was highly likely to do something dangerous to the hostage.
Diego and Michele exchanged glances.
Michele, along with the snipers, was waiting for the moment when a chance appeared.
Rotan waited at the villa in case of unforeseen circumstances.
Diego, while Michele and the snipers distracted attention, had quietly gone around the building from the rear.
He’d climbed to the second floor, broken a window, and entered.
By that moment, he was just coming down the stairs to the first floor.
"Grand Duke." Matio smirked, his eyes bloodshot.
"Pocketed the beauty for yourself, huh?"
Rotan stood behind Cesare, checking Eileen's condition.
She, held by Matio, was trembling pitiably but remaining calm.
In a hostage situation, the behavior of the victim also mattered.
"They'll execute me anyway!
The guillotine will cut off my head, so at least before I die I'll see your face contort."
Diego, hiding in the darkness, aimed his barrel at Matio.
However, the man stood too close to Eileen, and the shot was risky.
Silently grimacing, Diego narrowed his eyes and prepared.
While the circle slowly tightened, Cesare remained perfectly calm.
He didn't react to Matio’s words.
He just looked at Eileen.
The longer that gaze lasted, the more Eileen calmed down.
The trembling in her body and her uneven breathing gradually faded.
Only when she had come to herself did Cesare speak:
"Good girl.
You aren't even crying."
At those words, tears immediately welled in Eileen's eyes.
"You promised, after all," she whispered, her lips moving—they were bitten to blood from how hard she’d been clenching them.
"That... that you would wait and... and come to save me..."
Her large eyes filled with tears.
Eileen, looking at Cesare through the tears, asked: "I-I want to go home."
"Not today.
You'll stay at the residence." Instead, he softly offered her amaretti brought from the Imperial Palace.
Eileen only burst into sobs in response: "Th-that is good..."
"All right, Eileen.
Close your eyes, okay?"
"M-m-m... y-yes...
A-ah... for long?
And will you sing a song?" she asked, remembering how he’d sung to her in the greenhouse.
Cesare smirked.
"The anthem is too long.
Maybe a lullaby?"
Eileen squeezed her eyes shut with all her might.
Tears flowed incessantly down her flushed cheeks.
But now she wasn't afraid.
All her attention was focused only on closing her eyes and listening to the song.
"F-ck, have you completely lost your mind?!"
The moment Matio exploded, Cesare moved.
Taking a sharp step forward, he shot him in the leg.
*BANG!* From the loud sound, like a thunderclap, Matio reflexively swung the dagger.
But before the blade touched Eileen, a black leather glove caught the blade.
Simultaneously, Cesare yanked Eileen to himself and jumped back.
More shots rang out.
Bullets pierced Matio’s limbs, and he screamed, writhing in shock.
Cesare dropped the dagger on the floor and ordered:
"Leave him alive."
The blade had pierced the hand of Matio, who was sprawled on the floor.
Cesare took off his uniform jacket and threw it over Eileen's shoulders.
Then he picked her up in his arms and whispered quietly:
"Time to go home, Eileen."
Without even finishing a verse of the lullaby, Eileen nodded and curled into a ball.
She tried to catch the hem of the jacket, but her trembling fingers slid past time and again.
Cesare adjusted her in his embrace with one hand and wanted to help her catch his palm.
But, looking at his bloodied hand, he changed his mind.
"Grand Duke!
Grand Duke Erzet!"
Marquis Meneghin rushed after Cesare, who was heading for the car.
Cesare stopped briefly and cast a look at him.
The Marquis, dripping with sticky sweat, pleaded: "H-have mercy.
My daughter is innocent...
I beg you, on my knees..."
Meneghin dropped his cane and fell to his knees.
While the operation to free the hostage was underway, Senon had explained the situation to him in detail.
After the death of the former emperor, in the Traon Empire, the penalty for drug distribution was the destruction of the entire lineage.
Because of the unfortunate choice of son-in-law, the ancient marquessate could vanish.
Cesare watched the old man's desperate pleas, smirking crookedly.
"Of course, I should spare you."
"!"
He spoke as politely as always, and his words of salvation obviously instilled hope in the Marquis.
Looking at his glowing face, Cesare smiled: "If you gouge out your remaining eye."
With those words—that he would spare both the Marquis and his daughter if the man blinded himself—he started walking again.
Meneghin didn't dare hold him back and only watched dejectedly after him.
"It will be amusing to see him blind," Senon remarked, helpfully opening the car door.
"To the residence."
The door slammed shut at Cesare's command.
The military vehicle dissolved silently into the darkness.
***
Until they arrived at the residence, Eileen remained in Cesare's arms.
And he didn't let her go.
He even carried her out of the car.
The high body of the vehicle allowed for this.