Try Begging Novel - Chapter 87

“This one, in particular, is fierce, and I like her very much.”

At the word “fierce,” the inspector’s face stiffened.

“She bites, scratches, kicks… And she’s a vicious one who only bites vital spots.”

With her lower mouth, as if to bite it off.

“I’ve shed a lot of blood to tame her.”

“Captain, are you threatening me now?”

“Threatening? I doubt a mere captain could threaten a major general.”

Of course, the inspector was proving with his entire body that it was, in fact, possible.

“Captain Winston, the military is not a club for bored rich playboys to amuse themselves. Your superiors seem to turn a blind eye to your unprofessional conduct because of your family name and your father’s prestige. But such tricks won’t work on me.”

“Major General.”

Leon’s usually light voice deepened, heavy with gravity.

“Please understand that those words are an insult not only to me but also to my family and my deceased father.”

He was genuinely enraged by the accusation of being an incompetent officer who had joined the military on the coattails of his father’s prestige and his aristocratic status.

Graduating at the top of his class from the military academy, earning the rank of captain unusually early for his age, and receiving numerous medals—all were purely due to his own abilities.

The remark about him joining the military for amusement was also an unspeakable insult.

Leon had never once taken his duty as a soldier, the suppression of rebels, lightly. He did enjoy the interrogations, a point where his private desires intersected with his public goals, but what of it? Isn’t it desirable to enjoy one’s work?

The military’s leniency towards him wasn’t solely due to his wealth and power. They didn’t interfere because he produced results beyond expectations even when left unchecked.

Leon glared at the rude intruder.

“I’ll give you a chance to retract your statement and apologize.”

The middle-aged man instinctively knew he had made a mistake, digging his own grave. He had slandered a nobleman and insulted a dead hero. If the captain spread word in the military and aristocratic society, things would escalate.

Yet, a major general and an inspector appointed by the King could not bow to a mere captain.

“It is you, Captain, who needs a chance to apologize. Your insubordinate and rebellious attitude today, among other things, will be reported to Commander Davenport as soon as I return to headquarters.”

But the captain merely acted as if mentioning the commander was contemptible.

“Let’s go together. I also have something to discuss.”

I’ll make you look like this soon enough.

Leon curved the corners of his eyes, stroking the commander’s daughter, who was trembling with fear.

The sporadic clatter of a typewriter filled the Commander’s secretarial office. Leon, standing by the window and looking outside, pushed back his shirt cuff to check his wristwatch.

More than thirty minutes had passed since the inspector entered the Commander’s office. Leon shifted his gaze to the antique door of the Commander’s office and suddenly let out a self-deprecating laugh.

How childish.

He felt like a child who had gotten into a fistfight in class and was waiting in the principal’s office to tell his side of the story. It was obvious that the inspector would be exaggerating his inappropriate conduct, just as all tattling goes.

Let him. Even if he had killed the inspector, Leon held cards that would grant him immunity, and he simply found the whole affair amusing.

Suddenly, the sound of the typewriter completely ceased.

“It seems it will take a while…”

A young female secretary, who had been glancing at him for the past thirty minutes, spoke.

“Would you like some tea, Captain?”

Leon stared intently into the secretary’s eyes. Her cheeks below her pupils flushed red, but he didn’t notice.

The woman he was looking at wasn’t the secretary.

As soon as he saw her sparkling eyes looking at him, Leon recalled the tear-filled teal eyes.

It was the moment he had put her back in the torture chamber before coming to headquarters. The woman looked at him as if she had been betrayed by a trusted lover.

Why are you looking at me like that?

Why are you looking at me like that?

What betrayal could there be between us? There’s no trust.

It was absurd. Yet, that absurd gaze kept flickering before his eyes.

“Captain, if you need anything else…”

Leon’s thoughts were broken as the secretary vulgarly stuck out her tongue and moistened her lower lip. He was about to frown and turn his gaze back to the window.

The office door burst open, and two men emerged, appearing quite amicable. The inspector glared at him as he passed.

His triumphant gaze seemed to say, You’re a dead man now. Leon suppressed a laugh.

The commander escorted the inspector out of the secretarial office. It seemed he was taking quite some time to appease him. Words like “severe disciplinary action” occasionally drifted out.

“Then I’ll trust you, Commander.”

The persistent inspector finally departed, and the commander entered the secretarial office. As Leon saluted, the elderly man narrowed his eyes and glared at him, then entered his office and commanded,

“Come in.”

Leon picked up the file he had left on the coffee table and entered.

“Captain Winston, the world seems amusing to you, doesn’t it? The previous commander might have been soft on you, but I won’t be.”

Unlike the excessive hospitality at his inauguration party, the commander, having decided to treat him coldly, began to reprimand him while making him stand before the desk.

“I instructed you in writing to cooperate fully, yet you treated the inspector poorly. You dared to treat me poorly.”

“……”

“If you’re going to disregard rank and regulations, the military isn’t for you! If you don’t want to leave the service dishonorably, then even now…”

The commander, who had been observing the captain’s attitude, gritted his teeth.

“What exactly did you come here for?”

The captain offered no excuses or retorts, merely listening to his scolding. Yet, his face showed no sign of meekly accepting the reprimand or reflecting.

“If you came to bribe me about an audit, you’ve wasted both our time. There’s a line you shouldn’t cross, even when committing misconduct!”

Bang! His fist slammed onto the desk, knocking over a picture frame and creating a deafening noise. But the young man standing before the desk didn’t even flinch.

“To privately detain a rebel without even reporting it to the military!”

“You have the eyes of a rebel.”

The commander was aghast at the captain’s first words since entering the room.

“Are you insulting me now?”

“I’m merely stating facts.”

No matter how wealthy and noble, for a mere captain to not only show no fear before a far superior commander but also to insolently insult him—his anger flared even more.

He picked up an ashtray and threw it at the captain.

Smash! The marble ashtray shattered against the wall. Leon straightened his head, which he had tilted slightly, and the corner of his mouth curved upwards.

That woman, her fiery temper must be genetic.

Leon walked leisurely and placed the file on the desk. As his gaze fell on the cover bearing his name, the commander looked up. His eyes, clearly reflecting bewilderment and displeasure, stared back at him.

“Those teal eyes. They are a characteristic unique to you, Commander, not to the Davenport family.”

As he unexpectedly brought up the matter of having investigated his private affairs, the displeasure in the commander’s eyes intensified.

“However, one of your sons also inherited the same iris color, proving it’s a genetic trait passed down to your children.”

“What are you trying to say?”

“I know another person with those eyes.”

The commander’s eyes changed as he instantly understood the implication of a bastard child. Leon opened the file and pointed to a black-and-white composite sketch.

“Nora Watson.”

The name he called was entirely different, but it was actually a younger Angela Riddle. The commander’s eyes began to waver, as if the face was familiar.

“Approximately 28 years ago, a woman named Nora Watson, with blonde hair and hazel eyes, was hired as your personal secretary, Commander, while you were with the Royal Guard.”

Leon subtly began to put a leash around the commander’s neck.

“The scope of a personal secretary’s duties was quite broad, it seems. The driver at the time confirmed this, so denying it would only waste both our time.”

He mocked the commander, using his own words. As he flipped through a few pages and revealed interview records, the commander scoffed.

“Do you think you can threaten me with this nonsense?”

“Yes. Quite sufficiently.”

The elderly man narrowed his eyes sharply and glared at him.

“I thought you were smart, but you’re not. How pathetic. Who doesn’t have a mistress? Such a common thing isn’t a big flaw. You, of all people, should know your father was no different.”

The corner of Leon’s upturned mouth twitched almost imperceptibly. The commander pointed out that his father had been killed by rebels who thought he had a mistress. Unaware that his father’s mistress and his own past mistress were the same woman.

What kind of face would he make if he knew?

A pleasant thrill slowly crept up his veins.

“Listen to the end of the story.”