Ugly face

Upon seeing the man, who looked like the incarnation of the devil to her, approach. The scrawny woman yelled, her body trembling. "STAY AWAY FROM ME. I'LL GIVE YOU THE BABY. TAKE IT, TAKE IT, I DON'T NEED ANY MONEY, PLEASE, DON'T KILL ME."

Her screams echoed in the courtyard as the couple hurriedly followed her example. Tears rolled down from their fearful faces as they pleaded for their lives.

They prostrated in front of Gaston and the officer, hoping their actions would save their skin. However, their best hope, the officer, turned his head to the side, acting as if he were blind and deaf.

Alas, they only managed to make Gaston's smile widen. 

In a flash, he appeared in front of the couple, his stick raised and his blue eyes glowing with enjoyment. Then, he swung his stick twice, causing the wind to roar angrily behind it as the strikes connected with their soft bodies.

Horrifying cracking noises resounded in the courtyard as bones snapped and blood spattered through the air, followed by the sickening plop of bodies collapsing powerlessly to the ground before the scrawny woman's trembling eyes.

As she felt death knocking on her door in despair, her tears mixing with snot as she wailed, she couldn't help but regret her stupid choices.

Why was she greedy during the negotiation and asked for such an unreasonable price? Why didn't she accept the silver coins offered and live her life in much better conditions?

As despair gripped her heart tightly, she suddenly heard the angelic voice of the officer, causing the dying embers of hope to blaze furiously in her eyes.

He gestured for Gaston to wait and asked, gazing at her with interest. "What's your name ?"

"Rachelle. p... p... Please, sir, please. Help me." She sobbed pitifully, her appearance unsightly.

"Tell me, Rachelle. How did you know your baby was special?" He asked commandingly, his voice reverberating in the night.

He was genuinely interested to know. If she could differentiate the babies and share the method, his mission would become much smoother.

"I-I'm not sure. I just knew. I felt it in my guts." She answered desperately, noticing the officer frown at her unusable method.

Then, she remembered the peculiar sensation she felt above a particular baby and quickly added, her voice full of hope. "I have an information you need! Please, promise... promise me you won't kill me."

"Speak. If it is useful, I can let you live." The officer answered, his eyes gleaming with curiosity.

"You missed one baby. You only got two out of three! I felt it. The last one was with that yo..." she exclaimed, sure she would be saved before the patiently waiting fiend interrupted her.

"She is clearly trying to bullshit her way out. Her method is not reliable." He said convincingly as he raised his arm, ready to strike.

The officer pondered for a second before nodding, agreeing with the statement. After all, how reliable could a gut feeling be compared to their detecting device?

"Don't kill her too fast. Make her suffer," he said, his veins throbbing as he remembered how annoying she had been earlier.

Rachelle's mind failed to register his words correctly. Wasn't he going to save her? Why was he allowing murder in the station? What did she do to deserve this?

Her hands powerlessly fell to the ground as she lamented her fate in silence, waiting for the familiar sensation of pain to assault her in resignation.

*****

For the next three minutes, the painful screams of the woman echoed in the courtyard as Gaston mercilessly tormented her until she breathed her last.

His work done, he gazed at the officer with a satisfied smile and excited eyes. "What refreshing work! Thank you for hiring me, sir Max, knight of the noble barony of Riverwoods. Are your hands so precious that you refuse to dirty them?" He asked mockingly.

In response, Sir Max's eyes narrowed menacingly before responding in kind. "You are one to talk, Gaston Riverwoods, bastard son of the baron. Are you enjoying your life as a nameless commoner?"

Gaston clenched his teeth and fists, glaring hatefully at Max as he said, "Never call me by that name again. I would hate to have to make the body count turn to six." 

Max smirked before reminiscing about the young man's story with a frown.

In his youth, the baron fathered a child unintentionally with a maid. Rather than concealing the matter, as was often done, he accepted responsibility. He treated both her and Gaston fairly, acknowledging them as genuine family members.

Moreover, as his firstborn, he had high expectations for the boy, as he had shown outstanding talent since childhood, planning to make him his legal inheritor.

Thus, he trained Gaston to be his heir, teaching him politics, mathematics, combat and planned to invest heavily to unlock a talent for him before he entered one of the nine magic academies.

Unfortunately, the situation took a turn for the worse nine years ago.

For political reasons and benefits, he eventually ended up marrying a noblewoman.

The boy wasn't against it... at first. The problems started when the lady became pregnant.

Young Gaston probably thought that his position in the family was at risk and that he would lose his opportunity to unlock a talent to the official son of the barony.

He waited patiently until the child was born before attempting to end his life.

Fortunately for the baron, the assassination attempt failed, but he got a glimpse at how ugly his firstborn son's true face really was. After all, he was already so devious and cruel at eleven.

Scared by his own son, he banned him from his domain, forcing him to live amidst the village's commoners after stripping him of his family's name and rights.

Additionally, he sentenced his mother to death for her inadequate education, erasing Gaston's presence from the barony.

Max's frown deepened as he remembered Gaston hated his father. Not because he executed his mother or because of his striped rights. No. He hated him for denying him his talent-unlocking ceremony and the chance to learn magic.

In that twisted mind of his, despite what he had done, his father stole his birthright from him.

Max refocused on Gaston, knowing better than to provoke that madman further, and threw him a pouch that clinked with the sound of coins before answering his earlier question.

"We can't take any risk when these babies are involved. What if they investigate their parents' deaths in the future? That's why the kingdom and nobles can't be linked to their disappearance."