Bad Born Blood-Chapter 181

Chapter 181

Gabriel had rarely interacted with the Empire’s upper class or aristocratic society, so he was unfamiliar with the complexities of Imperial politics. He simply described the events that had unfolded around him, sometimes with detachment and other times with passion.

"Then, I heard from Giselle that you had died. She explained why they hadn’t made the news public, but it was a story that had nothing to do with me. Don’t take it the wrong way. To me, you were as good as dead anyway."

I scoffed.

"I have no reason to take it the wrong way. In fact, it would have been strange if you had missed me for years. Just like you said, I’m nothing more than a figure from your past."

Gabriel gave a faint smile. He mainly talked about G&G Cybernetics, Giselle, and Gilda.

"Who would’ve thought the company would grow so fast? The people we brought in later were all on a completely different level—far beyond someone like me. I didn’t want to be treated like some guy who lucked into his position just because of connections."

Gabriel grinned as if he had downed a drink.

I continued listening to his story. He described G&G Cybernetics’ growth process. There had been frequent clashes with other corporations—so frequent, in fact, that they had even resorted to illegal force at times.

’They expanded their business aggressively. A lot of high-risk decisions were made.’

It was hard to believe this was Gilda and Giselle’s way of running things. Technically speaking, both of them were engineers. They weren’t the type to make bold, aggressive decisions or engage in cunning business tactics.

If they were the same people I knew, they would have slowly expanded their business by steadily building solid technology. But something had changed in them. Or perhaps...

"...Did someone new join the core management team that I don’t know about?"

Maybe they had brought in someone to compensate for what they lacked.

"Huh? No, that’s not it. Giselle and Gilda’s decisions were always absolute."

My assumption that a third party might be involved was wrong. That was possible, too. I lacked information. If I could deduce everything that had happened in the past twelve years based on guesses alone, that wouldn’t be insight—it would be a superpower.

"Keep going."

"Thinking there were no more markets for the Kinesis Chip in Akbaran and the Empire, they decided to expand into Border City. It’s the place that uses the most cybernetic implants outside of Imperial territory. Giselle even refused to perform full-body cybernetic conversions because other nations and species found it unsettling during business negotiations. She was extremely aggressive in expanding."

It wasn’t strange for an aggressively expanding corporation to move into Border City. As the buffer zone between the three nations and a testing ground for new technologies, it was a market that any capable company would covet.

‘And Giselle avoided full-body cybernetic conversion procedures.’

I fidgeted with my fingers.

"From the moment the decision to enter Border City was made, Giselle and Gilda’s relationship started to crack. G&G Cybernetics even split into two factions."

My eyes widened. This wasn’t something just anyone would know—it was insider information.

‘New intel.’

A piece of information I hadn’t accounted for slipped into my mind, bringing forth countless possibilities.

‘Giselle and Gilda had a falling-out.’

I hadn’t expected that. Whether for business reasons or something else, they had clashed. Even Gabriel didn’t know the details.

"Because of Gilda’s lack of cooperation, the Border City expansion fell entirely on Giselle’s shoulders. For two years after the expansion, she spent almost half of each year there. No matter how beneficial her activities were to the Empire’s national interests, if she weren’t a Custoria, the Empire wouldn’t have permitted her to stay there for so long."

"Was the business expansion successful?"

"I don’t know that much. It didn’t seem to be going as well as it did within the Empire. Things inside G&G got so bad that the situation completely spiraled out of control."

"Spiraled out of control?"

"Luka, I’m not smart enough to understand complicated numbers and corporate matters. And I don’t think Gilda is a bad person either. So I’ll just tell you what I saw and heard. G&G Cybernetics was on the verge of splitting. If Giselle hadn’t gone missing, the company would have been divided."

I bit my lower lip lightly, as if flicking it with my teeth. It was time to ask the question I didn’t want to ask.

"Is it possible that Gilda did something to Giselle? No, that’s a stupid question. There’s always a possibility. Let me ask again, Gabriel. Do you think Gilda did something to Giselle?"

Gabriel’s eyes wavered. He liked both Gilda and Giselle. And he liked me too. He wasn’t the type to turn against his own people.

"I... I don’t know. At some point, I stopped understanding what Gilda and Giselle were thinking and doing. They kept talking about complicated things. I just did what I was told, believing that the two of them would work things out somehow..."

If it were me, I wouldn’t have stood by and watched them fall apart like that. But Gabriel wasn’t me. I couldn’t force my choices and possibilities onto him.

‘...Gilda.’

A new suspect.

Right now, I had identified four main suspects. One of them had either kidnapped Giselle or was involved in her disappearance.

First, Kinuan. He was the most likely suspect. Given Valek’s appearance, there was a high probability that Kinuan’s intentions had somehow played a role in Giselle’s disappearance. He was skilled at manipulating others from the shadows.

Second, Barbara. A woman who wanted to possess Giselle. However, there was no evidence or trace of her involvement yet. More importantly, Giselle had been wary of Barbara. She wouldn’t have moved around without taking precautions against her.

Third, people who had clashed with Giselle in areas unknown to me. G&G Cybernetics had aggressively expanded and pursued bold business strategies. That meant there could be countless competitors, rival corporations, or other nobles with grudges.

The fourth... was Gilda, who had just emerged as a suspect from our conversation. The Gilda I remembered was kind, considerate, and someone who sought to protect her friends and acquaintances. It was hard to believe that she had come into such serious conflict with Giselle—so severe that the company nearly split apart. People change, but imagining such a drastic transformation in her was difficult.

If there was a fifth suspect, it would be Ivan. But I ruled him out. I knew the darkness that lurked within the Empire’s upper echelons all too well.

‘If Ivan had truly set his sights on Giselle, then by now, I would already be his possession.’

If the Empire had taken Giselle, extracting information from her would have been effortless. There were countless methods of information extraction, some so extreme that no amount of mental resilience could withstand them...

"Ilay Carthica? Do you know anything about his movements?"

Gabriel had almost no connection to Ilay. I was asking just to grasp at straws.

"I don’t know anything about him. I’ve only heard the name now and then."

I had gotten a rough outline of what had happened while I was gone. This was likely all that Gabriel could offer from his perspective.

"Now, tell me about Shiren and Lunia. And what happened on the day Giselle disappeared."

I didn’t give Gabriel any more time. It was time to get to the core of the matter.

"Haa... haa..."

Gabriel took deep, shaky breaths. With trembling hands, he gulped down water.

"Want a sip of alcohol?"

I asked, pretending to reach into my inner pocket. Of course, I didn’t carry alcohol around with me.

"No, I’m staying sober."

I had already seen the photos of Shiren and Lunia’s deaths. If Gabriel had witnessed the same scene firsthand, it would have been difficult for him to stay sane.

I didn’t even want to imagine myself in Gabriel’s position. If I were in his shoes... I would have tried to tear the world apart. Of course, I would have been the one getting crushed in the process.

"Shiren was a good woman. In Akbaran, the moment I got a little close to someone, they’d start asking me to buy them things or beat someone up for them. But Shiren never asked me for anything. She was just happy to have me around.

She was the first woman like that I had ever met. Later, she told me she had a daughter, but by then, it didn’t matter to me. I... uh, I just... I just liked her. I really did..."

Tears streamed down Gabriel’s rough, hardened face.

"How did you meet her?"

I spoke flatly. I wasn’t the type to offer emotional comfort. Trying to do something I wasn’t suited for would only make me look ridiculous.

"Shiren was a cleaner at our company’s Border City branch. Some other employee was harassing her, so I stepped in and stopped it."

"You stopped it instead of being the one doing it?"

"Hey, I’m a manager, you know. After that, we’d greet each other whenever we ran into each other, and I’d buy her a drink every now and then. It was my first time getting close to a woman that way. Thanks to her, I actually looked forward to Giselle’s business trips to Border City."

Gabriel and Shiren had grown close. It seemed like Gabriel had even considered bringing her to Akbaran once G&G pulled out of Border City.

"Shiren’s daughter, Lunia... yeah. Getting close to Lunia was really tough. Look at my face—I don’t exactly have the kind of look that makes kids want to run up to me. I tried really hard. I even considered getting plastic surgery."

Gabriel’s voice was full of life. The memories that passed through his mind were happy ones. But soon, his face twisted in pain.

"B-But... that day... that day was Lunia’s birthday. She even sent me an invitation. And on it, she wrote ‘Dad.’ Luka, listen. This adorable little girl called me ‘Dad.’"

Gabriel’s expression was a mix of laughter and tears. His emotions were so extreme that even his face seemed unable to keep up.

Then, he pulled out a crumpled photograph. It was a picture of Gabriel, Shiren, and Lunia together.

"It just had to be that day—when Giselle was meeting with another company for negotiations. Security had to be especially tight.

I told Giselle I’d only step away for thirty minutes. Just long enough to drop off a gift, say happy birthday, and come right back.

She wasn’t thrilled about it, but she gave me permission. I swear, since becoming a team leader, I had never let personal matters interfere with work. This was the first and last time."

Gabriel had given orders to his subordinates regarding security and left for a brief moment. And that was when it all fell apart.

Tremble. Tremble.

Gabriel’s entire body shook violently. The power output in his cybernetic limbs fluctuated wildly. His front teeth chattered so hard they seemed on the verge of shattering.

"Sh-Shiren asked me—just this once—to at least show my face. I was only at the party for five minutes, but they were the best five minutes of my life.

I gave Lunia a big stuffed toy and lifted her into my arms. For the first time, she shyly called me ‘Dad.’ And then, when I returned to the site... that’s when the nightmare started—a nightmare I can never escape. I’m still there. Every time I close my eyes, I see it. I smell the blood in the air. I want to rip my nose off."

Gabriel struggled to explain what had happened. I carefully reconstructed the scene in my mind, recording every detail like a photograph.

Giselle had been traveling in an aerial vehicle with her security team when it was shot down mid-air. The vehicle had been built tough, so everyone had survived the crash. But that was where the real problem began.

‘They were attacked immediately after the crash.’

The entire security team had been slaughtered. The only body missing was Giselle’s. The vehicle’s black box and security logs suggested that someone had taken her.

From the surface, it looked like a kidnapping for ransom. But no ransom demand was ever made. Giselle simply vanished, and the incident was forgotten.

"I didn’t want to doubt, I r-really d-didn’t... but it felt w-weird. Even Shiren... she was acting strange that day, like she w-was unusually insistent about me c-coming. And I... I..."

Gabriel continued. Two days after the incident, he went to find Shiren. And what he found was despair.

He saw their corpses—Shiren and Lunia. Rotting.

Thunk!

The moment I heard his story, I struck Gabriel’s jaw swiftly. His consciousness faded instantly. It was better than letting his brain suffer damage from repeatedly reliving those traumatic memories.

Srrk.

I caught him before he could collapse and carefully eased him into a chair.

Leaving Gabriel behind, I headed upstairs. Gaya, who had been tending to another patient, stood up and approached me.

"You finally forced Gabriel’s memories out, didn’t you?"

"It was a necessary measure."

"Necessary for you, maybe."

"Don’t act like you know anything about me and Gabriel. He wants to stand as my equal. He would rather bear more pain than be in my debt."

I brushed past Gaya, bumping his shoulder as I walked toward the door.

"For the sake of his treatment, I’d prefer it if you didn’t visit Gabriel for a while."

"...Take good care of him."

With that, I left the hospital.

Updat𝒆d fr𝒐m freew𝒆bnov𝒆l.c(o)m