Riven's fingers clamped around the City Lord's throat, swift and unyielding, before the man could even flinch.
What angered Riven was that hope had still flickered in the lord's wide eyes—a futile spark, human nature clinging to salvation even as the air deserted his lungs.
His mouth gaped, straining for a scream that dissolved into a choked gasp, too weak to pierce the forest's oppressive silence.
Riven hoisted him skyward, tossing him like a ragdoll caught in a cruel game.
His right hand released the lord's neck, only to plunge into his stomach with a sickening crack.
Bang!
"ARGH! Blaargghh"
The City Lord's cry shattered the air, followed by a retch of vomit as he crumpled into the icy forest dirt.
He writhed, clawing at the chilly earth, each twist a desperate plea for mercy.
His screams tore through the desolate trees, raw and jagged, stirring a primal chill that seemed to haunt the shadows themselves.
"Please! Please! I beg you—stop!" he sobbed, voice breaking under the weight of his terror.
"We thought… I thought you'd gone… gone to the Imperial Examination…"
His words trailed into a whimper, a fragile hope unraveling against the truth of Riven's presence. Listening to the blabbering old man, Riven had a sudden, serene expression on his face.
'Finally! Found a clue,' Riven's thoughts raced, yet his face showed none of it.
He kept looking at him with a smile, and the more the city lord saw it, the more dread he felt.
"Hmm… that's interesting… very interesting," Riven said, his voice low and calm, but laced with sharpness.
"You thought? We thought? Who's we, City Lord? Who exactly is we?"
He leaned in slightly, eyes narrowing.
"And how did you know I went to the Imperial Examination? I don't remember being particularly famous. I was just another background character.
What made you pay attention to someone like me?
What compelled you to dig into the fact that I went to the Imperial Examination?"
He chuckled lightly, a smile tugging at his lips.
"As far as I know, only my family knew I was planning to take the Imperial Examination. It wasn't something widely known. I'm not a popular figure, am I?"
Listening to Riven talk, the City Lord shivered. Cold sweat began to drip down his back as he realized—a single slip of the tongue had just ruined everything.
Riven leaned back again, his voice soft and calm.
"So please, my dear City Lord, if you could understand your situation and just answer my question, I would be grateful. I wouldn't do anything bad to you."
He paused for a moment, then his tone darkened slightly.
"But… if you're going to reject my goodwill… I'll start with your left hand. I'll twist your arm right out of your shoulder socket."
He leaned in a little, voice low amusement and chilling.
"Then I'll move to your right. I'll break your ankles. I'll smash your kneecaps. I'll leave you crippled. I'll stab you lightly, and I'll let you bleed out and die here in this forest, kay~?"
He looked the City Lord dead in the eyes.
"So I need you to answer me. If you don't answer this question within ten seconds—no—within five seconds… your left hand will be gone.
Evidently, this is my first time torturing someone, so let's do our best together, okay~?"
The peacefulness of the forest stood in stark contrast to the panic that was about to shatter its tranquility.
"Ah! AH! A monster! MONSTER!"
The city lord shrieked, scrambling further away from Riven in sheer terror.
Riven, feeling a surge of impatience, stepped forward and gently took hold of the city lord's left hand, carefully breaking the pinky finger.
"ARRGHHHH!!!!!"
For someone who had lived in comfort all their life, this sudden pain was unbearable. Surprisingly, that small act was all that was needed to shift the momentum.
"Arrghhhh!!!! It hurts! It hurts! Mercy – mercy! Lock… Lockwood… Lockwood family and Ashvale fa- family's first wife!"
Hearing his scream and rambling, Riven let go of his hand and stepped back.
Watching the old man crying tears and snot, he felt a bit weird.
A whisper of 'Have I gone too far?' drifted into his ears, but he soon shrugged it off.
Morality holds no place in this cesspit. Play or be played. So, he put on a genuine smile.
"Good man. See... that's what I wanted to know".
Riven pulled the man up by the collar, walked over to a nearby tree, and sat him down. Then he looked at him and asked,
"All right, so the Lockwood family, huh? I pretty much guessed that. And I also figured my first mother was behind it.
But here's what I still don't get: you're messing with imperial blood. Do you have the First Royal Lineage's backing?"
He paused briefly, his voice calm but cold.
"And if not, I just want to know—why? Why kill me?," Riven's voice cut through the frigid air, sharp with desperation.
"I'm just a powerless nobody. I wouldn't even be a threat to the inheritance, right? So just… fucking tell me everything you know."
He slumped onto a cold-crusted log, his gaze piercing the City Lord, whose trembling frame still quaked with pain and terror.
The City Lord began to speak, his voice still weak but steadier than before.
"I only know… that your elder brother, the eldest son of the Ashvale family… he's a bastard. Or, I should say, he's the first wife's bastard… and doesn't have any imperial blood."
He paused, swallowing hard, his words spilling faster.
"The Lockwood family, from what I know, they… they're a family that practices incest. And the first wife… well, you understand what I'm trying to say, right, young master?
Your elder brother—he seems to be pure Lockwood family blood.
So they… I mean, the Lockwood family, they thought that if this truth ever came out, if you or the Ashvale family's master found out… the inheritance would go to you. And they'd be finished.
However, you- you can't die in the city!
But if you died outside, then in this city, the Ashvale family would have no one else but the eldest son to inherit.
So even if this truth came out in the future… your father would have no choice but to accept the bastard to keep the 'bloodline' alive…. or maybe he would be dead and the eldest son would have already inherited the clan head seat."
Riven's mind reeled, the words slamming into him like a physical blow. His brother—a bastard, not even kin?
The one who'd tormented him since childhood, no blood of his? His thoughts stuttered, frozen in disbelief.
He had never imagined—not even once—that the bastard who had oppressed him since childhood… wasn't even his brother.
And then it hit him.
Then a chuckle broke free, low and jagged. It swelled into wild, unhinged laughter that echoed through the skeletal trees.
"Pfft! HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!"
He clutched his stomach, eyes wide with manic glee, his voice ricocheting off the forest's hollow silence.
"So this fucking bastard… this fucking bastard isn't even my brother!"
He burst out laughing, roaring, as the truth shattered years of buried rage.
"So that's why the fucker had a crooked nose! That's why he had that ugly-ass fucked-up face!"
He leaned back, gasping between laughs, the absurdity searing through him.
"So that's the reason this man is so damn ugly! And me… I'm…"
He laughed, chuckled, and giggled for almost fifteen minutes.
Finally, his laughter faded, breath clouding in the cold. He muttered, almost to himself, "Fucking hell. Fuck. Fuck me."
After finally calming down, Riven began to think more clearly. Rational thoughts started to take over.
He began piecing it all together—what the real scheme was.
If he died, then after this generation, the entire city would fall into the hands of the Lockwood family.
Because without him, there would be no more imperial blood in the Ashvale family of this city.
And once that bloodline was gone, this city would be free to sever its ties with the palace.
This entire city, this whole region, all the land under its name—it would become an independent power, ruled by the Lockwood family alone.
Why? Because if Riven died, and the Lockwood family inherited everything through his so-called elder brother, they'd gain everything the Ashvale family owned.
And that would make them stronger than the Greenwood family.
Once this generation passed, the Lockwood family wouldn't just be powerful.
They would be the absolute dominators of this city.
Riven exhaled and spoke aloud,
"Quite the elaborate fucking scheme, man. Quite the elaborate scheme."
He nodded at himself, thinking about how his death could start such an absurd domino effect.
Then he turned to the City Lord and asked,
"Is this all you know? Do you know anything else? Like, what about the Greenwood family? Does the Greenwood family know?"
He leaned in slightly, eyes sharp.
"Or does the Lockwood family plan to do anything else to cover this up? Do they have any more backing? Do they have the First Lineage's support? Or maybe someone else's?"
His voice grew colder.
"How the fuck did they think they'd get through the investigation in the first place?"
The City Lord shivered, his eyes flickering with fear as he hesitantly looked at Riven and answered,
"Y-Yes… they do have backing… but I don't know what it is. All I know is that… during the meeting we had—I mean, me and the Lockwood family patriarch—there was this man…"
His voice dropped lower, shaking.
"A man in black… wearing a mask. But he was strong. Extremely strong. I could feel it… I could still feel it… the atmosphere, like pins pricking at my skin."
He swallowed hard.
"They do have backing, but I don't know if it's the First Lineage, or someone else. I really don't know, young master."
His voice cracked, full of panic and guilt.
"My job in all this… was just not to report anything. Even if your body was found—I was not to report it to the palace. That was it. All I had to do was listen to the Lockwood family… and in return, I'd get a piece of this city too.
I'm just a poor servant. It was my greed, young master… my mistake… please…"
He dropped his head and begged, voice trembling.
"I really don't know anything else… Please… please just let me go. Please spare my life. Please…"
'Life truly is unpredictable,' Riven thought.
Then he fell silent, letting the City Lord's terrified rambling fade into a strange symphony.
He listened—to the shaking voice of a man begging for his life, and to the peaceful stillness of the forest.
Silver moonlight poured down on him, casting a quiet glow over everything. In that moment, Riven entered a state of deep thought.
He wanted to know—could this scheme be flipped? Could he turn it against those who were plotting against him?
He wanted to punish them. Every last one of them.
But he didn't have enough information yet. He didn't know enough about the royal families. He didn't understand the laws and regulations well enough to navigate them.
And he knew just the person who could help him.
So, now that he had the information he needed, he knew what his next step would be.
He would go see his grandmother.
He needed to speak with her, to find a way—any way—to place himself into a position of power within this city.
He grabbed the City Lord by the collar, his voice low but firm.
"Don't speak of any of this to anyone."
He stared into the man's eyes, cold and unblinking.
"If you do… just like I abducted you today—with all the guards around your manor… just like I took you from your own bedchamber without a sound— without even your wife knowing…"
He leaned closer, his breath a chilling whisper against the City Lord's ear.
"If you say a single word to anyone… I will kill you."
He paused, letting the silence sink in. Then his words carried low amusement -
"I won't kill you first, though. Just like I disappeared three months ago, I can disappear again.
I'll kill everything you love. Your children. Your wives…. hell, I'll even kill the pet dogs. And only at the very end, when you have suffered beyond belief… will I kill you."
"I will stop at nothing to get what I want. So I need you to stay silent."
His grip tightened briefly, then loosened, a deliberate tease of freedom.
"And if you do… I'll give you what the Lockwood family promised. A piece of this city."
His tone sharpened, his eyes blazing.
"Don't forget—I am Imperial Blood. And I have relatives with powerful faces… in powerful fucking places in this country."
The last part was bullshit, but well... who was the city lord to know in his fear.
However, he would surely accept this idea now, considering Riven's incredible martial abilities.
Without any knowledge of the system's existence, the only logical explanation he could find for Riven's strength—unnatural, impossible—was to attribute it to the support of the second lineage.
The city lord nodded like a pecking chicken. All he wanted to do now was go home and hug his new wife to sleep and enjoy the illusion of safety in his bed.
But will he be able to sleep, though? Will the old man be able to rest his eyes without jolting awake in cold sweat? Alas… That's a different story.