The moment Lucian finished speaking, Hugo froze in his tracks.
It felt as if an icicle had been driven straight through his spine. His entire body turned to stone, and he couldn't even manage a single breath of his own volition.
Lucian flashed a cold smile at the paralyzed Hugo.
"What's wrong? Smile. You were smiling just fine a moment ago."
"...."
"It's such a joyous day, yet you look so awkward. You've successfully saddled the Grand Duke's son with gambling debt; shouldn't you be busy thinking about how to use me? A man like you must have already calculated the perfect time to blackmail me."
"Gasp."
Hugo opened his mouth to say something, but even that was beyond him. Instead, the breath he tried to exhale caught in his chest, leaving him feeling as though his throat had been physically blocked.
His reason screamed at him to make up an excuse, but his instincts were sending the exact opposite warning: the moment he uttered a clumsy lie, he would be dragged straight to the execution ground.
Struggling to ignore his instincts, Hugo managed to squeeze out a single word.
"Young Master."
"Yes?"
"There seems to be... a misunderstanding."
"A misunderstanding, is it?"
Lucian chuckled and leaned back in his chair. After a moment of silent contemplation, a chilling voice drifted from his lips.
"Do you think you can get away if you just survive this moment? I suppose you think you can escape easily enough, given that you've prepared a secret passage."
"...!"
"Honestly, I was impressed that you installed a mechanical device in the chair's armrest. It's quite cleverly made. Where did you find the engineer?"
"How on earth do you know that?!"
Hugo was so shocked his heart nearly stopped.
The mechanism that opened the passage by turning the armrest in a specific direction was a secret known only to Hugo. He hadn't revealed it to the thugs here, nor even to his closest confidants. How could this boy possibly know?
Watching Hugo's expression, which looked as if he'd seen a ghost, Lucian suppressed a laugh.
'How do I know? Because I'm the one who found it when I came to catch you.'
Two years from now, Hugo would be caught distributing drugs. The Grand Duke, flying into a rage, would order Hugo's arrest, and Lucian would storm the place along with other guards.
Hugo had already sensed the pursuit and slipped away in secret, so they found nothing at first. However, frustrated by the mystery of how he had vanished, they searched the gambling den top to bottom.
After three days of fruitless searching, Lucian had kicked the chair in annoyance. The impact had accidentally triggered the mechanism.
'I remember how shocked I was when the wall suddenly started sliding open.'
Even after that, Lucian had been pushed by the Guard Captain to search the secret passage to its very end. Naturally, he knew exactly where it led and what was inside.
"Near the North Gate wall. You chose an excellent location. There are horse traders nearby and plenty of crossroads; even if we wasted just a day or two looking for the passage, we would have lost you. I admire your thoroughness."
With every word Lucian spoke, Hugo felt his mind going numb.
Just how much did this Young Master know? If he let him keep talking, the boy would probably guess what he ate for lunch and the color of his underwear.
'It's over.'
Any lord ruling a territory was bound to loathe drugs. It wasn't necessarily out of concern for the commoners, but because the financial losses were devastating.
Drug addiction meant a healthy person turning into a total wreck. Not only did the labor force and tax revenue plummet, but the addicts also stopped following orders. Driven mad by the drug, they were swayed more by the supplier's words than the lord's commands.
Because of this, lords would execute drug suppliers using every cruel method imaginable. There were even rumors that impoverished rural lords would go into debt just to hire a professional torturer.
In short, once a drug dealer was caught, it wasn't a question of life or death—it was a matter of praying for a quick end.
And now, he had been caught red-handed by the Young Master while trying to sell the stuff.
'Should I kill him?'
If he killed the Young Master right here and buried him, could he buy some time?
For a split second, a murderous glint appeared in Hugo's eyes, but it vanished within moments, replaced by a hollow laugh.
'You idiot. What were you thinking?'
The crime of murdering the Grand Duke's offspring was far worse than selling drugs. If it were the latter, they might give up after ten years of searching, but for the former, they would hunt him to the ends of the hell.
"Sigh."
Knowing there was no way out actually brought a strange sense of peace. One only worries when they don't know which path to take to avoid capture. He had already been caught and gutted; what was the point in agonizing?
There was only one thing left to do anyway.
Thud.
"Please spare me."
Hugo fell to his knees. As his massive frame hit the floor, the room shook with a heavy thud.
While everyone else watched in shock, Hugo lowered himself even further, slamming his forehead against the ground.
"If you tell me to be a dog, I will be a dog. If you tell me to bark, I will bark. If you tell me to crawl, I will crawl. So please, just spare my life."
"P-please spare us!"
"Spare us, Young Master!"
Realizing the gravity of the situation from Hugo's actions, the rest of the subordinates also dropped to the floor and began banging their heads.
Lucian chuckled as he watched the four men repeatedly slam their foreheads against the ground.
"Well, I suppose having a dog wouldn't be so bad. I was just thinking I lacked hands and feet to do my bidding."
Hugo let out a sigh of relief at Lucian's words.
Yes, as long as he was alive, he could figure something out. He didn't know how long he would be kept on this leash—whether it would be a few years or over a decade of drudgery. But as long as he lived, an opportunity would eventually come. For now, he was simply grateful not to be dead.
"Thank you, Young Master. I will dedicate my life to—"
"But you know, a dog is a bit too unremarkable, isn't it? And you don't seem like the type of person who would be satisfied with just being a dog."
"Pardon?"
"Hey, Hugo."
Lucian crouched down and whispered into Hugo's ear.
"Don't you want to try becoming a knight?"
Hugo's eyes snapped wide open.
If a devil were to whisper, would it feel like this? His heart began to thud wildly.
Did he want to be a knight?
'I would sell my soul if it meant I could become one.'
What was the point of having talent or learning swordsmanship styles? This cursed bloodline of his held him back at every turn, ensuring nothing ever worked out. He had reached the point of being called a boss in the underworld, but that was it. Hugo knew better than anyone that even this career, which made ordinary people tremble, was nothing but an object of contempt and mockery in the light of day.
It was a dream he had once craved desperately, but one he had long since buried and turned his back on.
And now, the Young Master before him was digging that dream back up and holding it out to him.
"Can I... really become one?"
Hugo asked in a trembling voice. He was terrified that after giving him hope, the boy would mock him and say it was impossible.
But Lucian nodded, giving him a firm answer.
"It won't be easy right away, but it's possible depending on your effort. Though first, you must follow two conditions."
"Please tell me what they are."
"First: Absolute loyalty to me."
CRACK!
Hugo slammed his head against the floor with far more force than before. Warm blood trickled from his forehead, but he felt no pain at all.
"As long as you promise me that, I will follow any order except one to kill myself."
"And second. Actually, this is the most important one."
Lucian didn't even blink at the oath of loyalty. If the second condition wasn't met, he had no intention of making him a knight or anything else.
"Have you ever sold drugs to anyone? Not just now, but in the past as well."
Despite the ice-cold voice, Hugo's mouth split into a wide grin. Whether it was because God hadn't abandoned him or not, he had already met the second condition.
"This was my first time. We only just finished the workshop; I haven't even ordered the ingredients yet."
Only after hearing that answer did Lucian finally smile.
Fortunately, Hugo was still at a stage where he could be recycled.
"I am Hugo, and I will be attending to the Young Master starting today. I look forward to working with you, senior."
"...."
Hans looked at the smiling Hugo and nodded with a look of utter discomfort. Seeing a man whose massive frame looked capable of killing two or three people with ease acting so subservient was something he couldn't get used to.
"Young Master, what on earth happened up there?"
"They seemed useful, so I persuaded them to work under me."
"So you're going to use these people as servants?"
"Why? Is there a problem?"
Hans's gaze shifted to Hugo and the men behind him. Five men with expressions just as terrifying as Hugo's were following Lucian. Every one of them had two or three scars on their faces or forearms, and a faint murderous aura clung to them.
No matter how you looked at it, these weren't servants; they were people who had spent their lives in the underworld. And he was going to use them as servants?
"Um, Young Master. It might be overstepping, but you shouldn't trust people from the back alleys."
"Why not?"
"They calculate their profits, and the moment they think it's not worth it, they'll flip on you. They'll bow low when they're desperate, but once they get what they want, the look in their eyes changes."
"That's true. But these guys will never be able to betray me."
"Did you happen to get some leverage on them?"
"There's that, but it's also because they can only keep what they want as long as I'm around."
Why would a knight remain loyal to a lord even at the cost of his life? Because the fastest way to rise in the world is to serve someone higher than yourself. Power and status are only truly recognized by others when they are granted by a legitimate authority.
No matter how much power one gains, if the justification for it is weak, they will face constant challenges. This was true even for nobles, so it went without saying for someone of commoner blood—especially one from the back alleys. Without a lord to guarantee their legitimacy, no one would ever recognize their status.
'That's why Hugo was constantly attacked even after he became a pretender Baron.'
Although his abilities allowed him to repel those attacks and maintain the title of Baron, it didn't mean his status was recognized. People only tolerated him because they lacked the strength to stop him; not a single person acknowledged him as a true Baron. Even if he built a faction, no knight would ever want to serve under him, so he was destined to fade away eventually.
Whether in his past life or this one, Hugo surely knew that fact well. That was why he wouldn't miss this chance to receive a title and become a real knight.
'Even if he becomes a knight, betrayal is impossible. Because without me, no one will recognize his rank.'
To be called a noble without Lucian's endorsement, four generations—children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren—would have to pass. In reality, as long as Hugo didn't give up on his dream, there was virtually zero chance of him betraying Lucian in his lifetime.
When Lucian arrived with Hugo and his gang, the guards flinched.
"Young Master. The men behind you are...."
"My newly hired servants."
"Servants? With faces like those?"
"What's wrong with their faces? They look fine to me."
The guards were skeptical, but they soon stepped aside. No matter how much they didn't look like servants, what could they do when their superior had hired them personally?
Lucian passed through the open gates and entered the inner castle. The existing servants recoiled when they saw the gang entering with the late-returning Lucian.
"Y-Young Master. Who are these people?"
"Servants."
"Pardon?"
"I said they're my newly hired servants. Introduce yourselves."
Servants with faces like that?
Lucian chuckled at the other servants, who were still struggling to process the situation.
"You've introduced yourselves, right? Now, go bring the Head Maid."
"Why are you calling for the Head Maid?"
"Why else? She needs to meet them too, doesn't she? Hurry up and bring her."
"...."
The servants once again exchanged glances. Their desire to avoid getting blamed if something went wrong was palpable.
Seeing them hesitate, Lucian's smile deepened.
"This is exactly why I hired new servants. It seems no one around here listens to my words."
"Young Master, please consider our situation. What power do we have to...."
"Hugo."
"Yes, Young Master."
Lucian cut the servant off and turned to Hugo.
"Remember the ones who aren't following my orders right now. They're the ones you'll need to teach."
"I'll be busy for a while then. Beating someone to within an inch of their life is a skill in itself; it'll take some time to educate them all properly."
"I'll give you all the time you need, so take it slow."
"Thank you. I'll make sure to hammer the word 'loyalty' into these lowlifes' skulls so deep they won't even forget it in their dreams."
At their conversation, the servants all froze. An ominous feeling that something had gone horribly wrong began to crawl up their spines.