Even If You Tear Me Apart - Chapter 54
The chapters are split like this so that the TL can update more consistently over time (✿ ＞◡❛)
Ezekiel, unfazed, kicked the door again. With a loud bang, the door swung wide open.
What lay inside was appalling.
A dining table was set in the sitting room. The food had all fallen to the floor or been pushed aside, and Iris Quilluxia was practically sprawled across the table, pinned beneath the Marquis. It was clear that she had tried to rise from the table but had been pushed back down by him.
The Marquis, holding Iris’s wrist and just about to mount her, scrambled off in a panic and shouted.
“What in the world is this?!”
“Everyone, close your eyes and turn around. Get out.”
At Ezekiel’s command, the paladins who had been peeking in turned in unison and exited the room. They all understood what it meant for a woman to be seen in such a humiliating state.
The Marquis shouted again.
“Sir Ezekiel! What is the meaning of this? Didn’t you say you wouldn’t interfere in my personal affairs?”
“My apologies, Marquis. But I must rescind what I said yesterday.”
“What?”
Ezekiel strode over and pulled Iris’s wrist from the Marquis’s grasp. Iris, her cheeks flushed red and eyes brimming with tears, followed limply. Her wrist bore vivid red marks from how tightly it had been gripped, and her dress was disheveled as if a struggle had taken place. Ezekiel’s voice rang out, sharp with anger.
“You cannot treat someone who is to become the daughter of Murenas in such a way before the wedding.”
“Sir! Isn’t that completely different from what you said yesterday?”
The Marquis protested.
“To my knowledge, when you swore your vows as a paladin, you severed all worldly ties! So what business do you have calling her a daughter of Murenas?”
It was true. Even if Ezekiel was a former prince, he had vowed to sever all worldly attachments when he joined Udal’s Holy Order. And because it was Ezekiel himself who had desired that path, everyone had respected his wishes and treated him as if his bloodline didn’t exist.
That was why his referring to Iris as ‘the daughter of Murenas’ likely struck the Marquis as intolerable.
But Ezekiel didn’t care in the slightest.
“Do I really need to spell it out? Regardless of whose daughter she is, no one should be treated like this.”
“And yet you barge into my private dining room?”
The Marquis would not back down an inch. Ezekiel responded coldly.
“Marquis. The reason you are called ‘Marquis’ is because His Majesty the Emperor appointed you as one.”
“What nonsense is this all of a sudden—”
“It means that if you are no longer the Emperor’s mage, you have no reason to be respected here.”
The Marquis’s face flushed a deep red. But Ezekiel didn’t stop.
“I may have severed my worldly ties, but imagining that Geneviève might have been in her place made my blood boil.”
The Marquis, who once had the audacity to ask for Geneviève’s hand in marriage, went speechless with guilt.
“You pointed out my failings, Marquis, so I intend to devote myself to discipline and reflection after this mission. However.”
“……”
“Before that, I plan to meet with my worldly ties once more at the capital.”
Everyone knew Ezekiel was the Emperor’s most cherished son. So there was no way the Emperor would simply let him leave after completing the mission.
In essence, what Ezekiel had just declared was that if things went awry, he would go to his father and expose the Marquis for the lowly, vile man he was.
Ezekiel gave one final warning.
“Marquis. Act in a way that brings no shame before Udal. His Majesty may have bestowed upon you the greatest honor, but if you tarnish the Emperor’s name, he will not forgive you.”
“…This is all a misunderstanding. I…”
Only then did the Marquis start stammering. No matter how powerful a mage he might be, the Emperor of Murenas was not someone to be taken lightly.
In truth, the Marquis knew it too. The reason the Emperor had extended such kindness—adopting a daughter into his household—was not simply because Kazakov was a great mage. It was to demonstrate that this was the kind of treatment true talent received.
And so, should he disgrace the Imperial family’s honor, the Emperor would not stay silent. That was the warning Ezekiel had just delivered.
“I’m not interested in hearing any more. Milena, see to Lady Quilluxia. And have her sleep in your room tonight.”
“Yes, sir.”
Milena, standing behind him, saluted.
***
At dawn just a few hours later, with the sun still hidden deep below the horizon, Iris Quilluxia came to Ezekiel’s room.
