The Villain’s Aide Has Run Away - Chapter 137.2
By then, he had already realized, down to his bones, that neither the Empress nor anyone else would come to save him. The weight of betrayal wrapped around his entire body.
“If you’ll only do that for me, I’ll do anything. No, I swear I will.”
Count Camilo, who now addressed Leslun in a respectful tone, had lost all traces of the venom that once defined him.
“Can you really do anything?”
Leslun asked a question that did not need an answer. Yet to Count Camilo, it sounded like an opportunity. The man jerked violently against his chains, reacting with frantic desperation.
“I’ll do anything!”
Leslun watched him struggle to live, then gave a small nod.
“I understand. What I need from you is nothing other than…”
***
Count Camilo was moved to another cell. For the first time in a long while, his hands and feet were freed.
Being released from shackles did not mean he was a free man. The guards led him into another cell—deeper, damper, and heavier than the last.
It was a place where even the air seemed to weigh down according to the gravity of one’s sins.
The cell next to his was already occupied. An old man sat there, his appearance weathered with age.
Count Camilo sat down and gave a small, crooked smile.
“I’ll be released by tomorrow.”
It was less a statement of certainty and more a whisper of hope. Still, even the guards’ attitude and the atmosphere seemed to suggest the same.
Official action was to be taken the next day. He saw no need to hide his belief.
The old man lifted his head, a mocking smile tugging at the corners of his wrinkled face.
“So you’re that foolish count.”
“Foolish, you say? You’re one to talk.”
Who the old man was didn’t matter. What mattered was that Count Camilo was ready to do anything if it meant he could survive.
“Hmph. Do you really think a worm like you can read my thoughts?”
Even with the man’s constant provocations, the count endured. The urge to twist that old man’s neck was still there, but long years in prison had taught him a shred of patience.
“You’re the one who took the drug we made through Brian, and yet you failed in the end.”
The old man gave a crooked laugh, almost self-mocking.
When he had first heard the report that Brian was using Count Camilo, he never imagined they would both end up imprisoned side by side.
“You acted as if you could achieve anything, yet you’ve ended up worse than me.”
Count Camilo smirked, pretending to know more than he did. But that wasn’t all.
“Would you like me to help you escape?”
At his sly whisper, the old man closed his eyes, as if deeming it unworthy of attention.
Camilo’s gaunt face twisted into a grotesque grin.
“Do you know that I once kidnapped Lady Miroi?”
The old man still didn’t react, but the count continued, unconcerned.
“I’m the one who snatched the duke’s precious daughter right out of that fortress-like mansion. So getting you out of here wouldn’t be difficult for me.”
“Hmph. Bold words for someone still rotting in prison beside me.”
When the old man said he didn’t believe him, Count Camilo laughed.
“By tomorrow, I’ll be out. Just because I don’t have patrons like you doesn’t mean I’ll sit here waiting to die.”
At that, the old man’s eyes flickered faintly. There was still a spark of hope left.
“Decide quickly. My patience for leaving you alive is wearing thin.”
“And why would you make such an offer to me?”
“Because I might find a use for those little tricks of yours.”
The count’s words—his intent to test the powers of the Shadow Corps—reached the old man. Of all he had said, this sounded the most convincing.
“So you truly have a way out?”
“Of course. Once I’m out of here, I’ll have my revenge on the ones who did this to me. If you want to leave with me, you’d better prove that your skills are worth something.”
Count Camilo’s eyes swept over the old man from head to toe.
The old man ground his teeth in anger but could not hide the turmoil in his expression.
At this rate, he would only leave this place as a corpse. The young sorcerers he had trained were still inexperienced, and most of those capable of teaching them had been wiped out.
He had to survive if there was to be any future at all.
Besides, he still had one last card left to play. The plan to kidnap the Emperor and complete the Great Law had failed, but he still possessed a hidden means.
He would use a spirit beast to create a new life form—a result far beyond the crude, insect-fused abominations they had made before. The materials had already been gathered.
The old man tilted his head slightly toward the iron bars. His eyes glimmered faintly. If survival required it, he would have to join hands.
As he listened to the old man’s words, Count Camilo’s smile grew more and more distorted.
“If you’re interested, I have something to offer you.”
***
Meanwhile, Leslun quietly left after listening to their conversation. If the count stayed near the Shadow Corps’s leader for several days, they could find a way to use him.
Kailos, standing by the door, spoke in a low voice.
“He’s a persistent one.”
It had become clear that the leader had taken Blue.
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