Chapter 42: The Tin Knight and The City of Clockwork (1)
“Oh, dear.”
William Heming, a marquis from a prestigious noble household in the Kingdom of Ionia, couldn’t help but sigh at the sight of his reflection in the mirror.
His eyes were sunken, his skin dry, and the mustache he had been secretly proud of had lost its luster.
He knew other nobles and servants in the mansion were whispering behind his back, but he hadn’t realized it was this serious.
“...If it weren’t for that witch!!”
William gritted his teeth.
A few months ago, upon hearing the king’s so-called “Great Kingdom Revival Plan,” he had tried to subtly interfere, fearing the entire nation would be destroyed.
William’s plan to either recruit—or, at the very least, eliminate—the witch, who was the key figure in the king’s proposed plan, had failed miserably. Worse, he had been forced into an unfair contract.
The terms included not harming or interfering with the witch, informing her if there were signs of betrayal from the king or nobles, and explaining the witch’s independent actions to the king and surrounding nobles on her behalf.
If this had been a simple written contract, William could have laughed it off, but cruelly and terrifyingly, this was a magical contract.
At first, William had tried to minimize his own responsibility by claiming the witch had ignored their “goodwill” and acted as she pleased, but then the unthinkable happened.