The Grand Warlord’s Accidental Marriage

Chapter 008 – The Betrayal

*****

Nicholas’s voice carried faint ridicule… not toward others, but toward himself.

And almost uncontrollably, memories of the battlefield and betrayal resurfaced inside his mind.

Abruptly, the atmosphere around him changed.

The lackadaisical aura he usually carried disappeared completely, and in its place emerged something terrifying.

He remembered the brutal war against the enemy nation.

At that time, victory had already been within reach.

His forces had completely overwhelmed the battlefield, pushing the enemy army into despair.

Everything should have ended that very day, but then… the cruel and unexpected ambush came.

Several of his most trusted subordinates died protecting him that day, falling one after another in pools of blood while he himself suffered devastating injuries.

And the person responsible for it all…

It was someone he trusted more than anyone else… his right-hand person.

The memory alone was enough to make Nicholas’s eyes turn terrifyingly cold.

Before he even realized it, a violent killing intent burst from him uncontrollably, and his fists clenched tightly.

“Even if you escape to the ends of the earth…” he growled quietly, his voice filled with bone-deep hatred, “I will still find you.”

At this moment, Nicholas no longer resembled the relaxed man Kelly had been ordering around earlier.

No trace of laziness or playfulness remained.

Instead, he looked like a monster that had crawled out from a mountain of corpses now.

But just at that moment…

“Rinnngg!”

The sudden sound of a phone ringing shattered the oppressive silence instantly, piercing the heavy atmosphere inside the tiny room.

But Nicholas, as though he had already expected the interruption, didn’t react much at all.

If anything, the murderous chill in his eyes faded quietly, the suffocating pressure surrounding him gradually disappearing, like a tide retreating into the sea.

For a brief moment, he remained seated on the bed silently, his gaze fixed somewhere distant, unreadable thoughts flashing through his eyes.

Then, unhurriedly, he reached beside him and picked up a classic-looking button phone.

The device looked old-fashioned and simple, completely ordinary.

Yet, if certain people saw it, they would instantly recognize it as a special, encrypted communication device impossible to trace through conventional means.

“Yes?” Nicholas spoke unhurriedly after answering the call.

His voice was low, quiet, and emotionless.

It carried none of the chilling killing intent from moments ago, as though the intimidating man from earlier had never existed at all.

There was a slight pause from the other end of the line before, finally, a respectful voice sounded.

“How are you feeling now, boss?”

The tone carried obvious concern hidden beneath its restraint.

Nicholas released a faint breath, and almost immediately, every trace of heaviness from before vanished completely from his demeanor.

His shoulders loosened slightly, the coldness in his gaze disappearing

And once again, he returned to that lazy, easygoing state that made him look more like a harmless unemployed young man than someone capable of frightening nations.

He even yawned as he unfolded his crossed legs.

“Any intel for me?” he asked lazily, casually ignoring the question about his condition altogether.

The caller hesitated instantly.

Clearly, he wanted to press further regarding Nicholas’s injuries, yet he also didn’t dare force the topic.

Ultimately, duty won over concern.

“According to the latest information, boss,” the voice reported solemnly, “Red is indeed hiding somewhere within Ironstone City. However… we still haven’t been able to pinpoint her exact location.”

The moment those words fell, the atmosphere on the other end of the line turned tense.

Even through the phone, it was obvious the caller was carefully waiting for Nicholas’s reaction, probably expecting rage, disappointment, or at least some fluctuation in emotion.

After all, the betrayal from Red had nearly cost Nicholas his life.

But Nicholas merely stretched lazily on the tiny bed.

He looked more like a sleepy university student waking from an afternoon nap than a man discussing a traitor capable of shaking entire underground forces.

“Knowing Red,” he replied unhurriedly, “the fact that we managed to trace her to Ironstone City already counts as good fortune.”

He rose slowly from the bed and walked toward the small window.

Outside, the afternoon sun was already beginning to set, hinting at the arrival of evening.

“But finding her exact location…” Nicholas continued calmly, "that will depend on luck as much as skill.”

“I…”

The caller faltered briefly before suddenly speaking with intense seriousness.

“Please continue recovering in peace, boss,” he declared firmly. “No matter the cost, we’ll drag her out eventually. Even if she hides at the ends of the earth, we’ll still find her.”

Nicholas fell silent.

His gaze drifted quietly beyond the window, but what he saw wasn’t the scenery outside.

Instead, memories surfaced involuntarily inside his mind.

Red.

The frightened girl he had once rescued years ago from a place worse than hell itself.

At that time, she had been starving, injured, and barely alive… treated like a lab rat by inhumane scientists.

He had fought them alone, sustaining countless injuries in the process.

Though he narrowly escaped with his life, his involvement in something that didn’t concern him had ended up offending a powerful organization with deep influence and reach in the world.

Yet even after that, he hadn’t abandoned her.

He had protected her and personally trained her.

He had given her status, power, trust… and a place beside him that no one else had ever been granted.

She had once sworn absolute loyalty to him, yet in the end…

Even now, part of him still found it difficult to connect the girl he rescued with the woman who nearly killed him.

“Huff…”

Nicholas exhaled slowly.

There was no explosive anger in his expression now, only disappointment.

“Alright,” he responded at last, his tone laid back as usual, making it impossible to tell what he truly felt.

“Please wait for our next report, master,” the caller said respectfully, preparing to end the call.

But just before the line disconnected…

“All my external injuries have already healed,” Nicholas suddenly stated casually, finally answering the subordinate’s earlier question.

His tone was so relaxed it sounded like he was discussing dinner plans instead of life-threatening injuries.

“However, the internal damage is proving… troublesome." He helplessly massaged his temples. “I would need some rare medicinal herbs to treat them.”

The voice on the other end instantly changed.

“This…”

Panic seeped through immediately.

“That doesn’t sound good, boss,” the caller blurted anxiously. “How can an injury remain unresolved for the Miracle Healer himself?”

By this point, the man sounded genuinely alarmed; after all, Nicholas wasn’t merely feared for his strength.

His medical abilities were equally monstrous.

The title “Miracle Healer” had not been given lightly.

If even Nicholas described the injuries as troublesome, then they were clearly severe.

“Please send me the list of herbs immediately,” the caller urged hurriedly. “No matter how rare they are, I’ll gather them personally if I must.”

Hearing the anxious tone, Nicholas smiled faintly.

A trace of warmth finally appeared in his eyes.

“Alright then,” he replied gently. “Thank you.”

With that, he unhurriedly ended the call.

Silence returned to the tiny room once more.

Nicholas stared at the phone quietly for several seconds before tossing it aside casually.

Then, without the slightest concern for dignity or image, the Grand Warlord stripped down until only his underwear remained.

If people who knew him saw this scene, they would probably collapse from disbelief.

The Grand Warlord… sleeping half-naked inside a cramped little room beneath a staircase after cleaning cobwebs for two straight hours.

Life truly had a twisted sense of humor.

Nicholas himself, however, appeared completely unconcerned.

He just lay down on the tiny bed, his eyes slowly shutting despite the lingering pain inside his body and the betrayal.

And within moments, he fell asleep peacefully, looking like a man without a single trouble left in the world.