107.
Leviathan at least pretended to be noble, but those guys didn’t even bother with that. There were crazy people who would easily give up their lives for their leader.
“It’ll be a big problem if they come over.”
“So you’re saying we can’t let Leviathan disappear completely.”
Yu Jin had two options to choose from. Either grow the back alley organization faster to match Leviathan’s power and replace them, or…
“Or devour Leviathan from the inside,” Jinhyeon said.
Yu Jin looked skeptical at Jinhyeon’s words.
“Is that possible?”
“We’ll have to make it possible. Or how about this method?”
“What method?”
“I become stronger than anyone else and beat them all. According to you, I’ll be the strongest on the continent, right? Let’s make that happen sooner. So don’t worry in advance. You haven’t even fully recovered yet.”
It wasn’t something someone who had just vigorously stirred up Yu Jin’s insides should be saying. Anyway, for that reason, Yu Jin decided to swallow up Lucid for now. Since Ruhan was still alive, he couldn’t become the head of the family right away, but even becoming the heir would increase what he could do. So he told Farsen:
“I permit you to stay.”
As Yu Jin gave his permission, Farsen bowed deeply.
“I will serve you to the best of my ability.”
And so Farsen, the knights, and their servants entered Yu Jin’s mansion.
Farsen didn’t try to change the mansion from the start. He knew well that if a newcomer tried to make changes without permission when there were people who had been there for a long time, they would be disliked.
That’s why the first thing he did was to find Haruna. He knew that Haruna was currently managing Yu Jin’s mansion. After persuading Haruna, the next step was for the knights to find Keith, who commanded the other knights.
“Hello?”
“Hello.”
Haruna greeted Farsen normally. Yu Jin couldn’t tell Haruna everything, but there was one thing he could say.
“Haruna, I’m going to become the head of Lucid.”
When Haruna first heard this, her eyes widened in surprise. But the surprise was only momentary, and Haruna quickly replied.
“I thought you might. If you really hated it, you wouldn’t have accepted the position of heir.”
“You don’t dislike it?”
“What?”
“Haruna, you suffered because of Lucid too.”
At Yu Jin’s words, Haruna smiled gently.
“I did suffer. But we can’t cling to those feelings forever, can we? And in my opinion, maybe Yu Jin becoming the head of Lucid might be the greatest revenge.”
“What if I’m not becoming the head for revenge?”
“Then you must have other important reasons.”
Yu Jin felt a lump in his throat at Haruna’s words. While he felt he had only been a burden to the twins, Haruna had always stayed by his side, taking care of him affectionately. He was grateful but also sorry for that. That’s why he finally spoke the words he had been suppressing for so long.
“I’m sorry.”
A tear fell from Yu Jin’s eye. If only Yu Jin had given up on himself, perhaps Haruna could have lived a happier life.
“I’m really sorry.”
“Oh, why are you crying? And you said it yourself, didn’t you? That we’re family. So I just did what was natural. What kind of older sister would stand by when her younger sibling is struggling?”
Haruna hugged Yu Jin tightly. Her embrace was so warm and gentle that Yu Jin burst into tears. It took him quite a while to calm down.
“Are you okay now?”
“I’m okay.”
Yu Jin answered, sniffling.
“Then, as your sister, can I give you just one piece of advice?”
“Of course you can.”
“Yu Jin, be careful of Keith.”
Yu Jin just blinked blankly at this unexpected statement.
“I know. It must sound strange coming from me. Keith is my twin, after all.”
“Can you tell me why you’re saying this?”
“When we were young, Keith didn’t hide anything from me. I was the same. But at some point, Keith changed. He started having secrets from me too.”
“Couldn’t everyone have a secret or two?”
“They could. In fact, I have a secret or two myself. But what Keith is hiding isn’t just a small secret like that.”
Haruna had a vague idea of why Keith had come to have such secrets. Even when Madam was alive, Yu Jin’s life was threatened by other wives. After Madam died, it got worse, and Haruna and Keith’s mother, who tried to solve this, also died. Haruna didn’t intend to blame Keith for the choice he made in that situation. If Haruna had been given the same opportunity, she might have done the same as Keith.
“And the biggest problem isn’t the secret. It’s that Keith likes Yu Jin.”
At those words, Yu Jin’s face turned bright red.
“Ah, I know that.”
“No, Yu Jin doesn’t really understand.”
From a young age, Keith was a child who had to have what he wanted. As he grew up, he seemed to have changed, not showing such behavior, but that was a misconception. Ever since Jinhyeon entered the mansion, Keith often expressed his emotions excessively.
“So be careful.”
Haruna finally said, raising her finger. In this world too, people often hooked their fingers when making promises. Only after making this promise did Haruna let go of Yu Jin.
For this reason, Farsen received active cooperation from Haruna. Haruna willingly handed over documents related to the mansion and helped with Farsen’s work.
“Is it really okay to hand over everything like this?”
When Farsen asked this, Haruna nodded as if it was fine.
“It is. If Farsen takes charge of the mansion, I can return to my main job.”
“You mean running the merchant group?”
“Yes, its scale has grown recently, so we’re short-handed there too.”
“Then I’ll try to learn the job quickly as well.”
Thus, the two proceeded with their work in a somewhat cooperative manner. Keith was also cooperative with the knights. Thanks to this, Knight Geren was able to learn in detail about the mansion’s security system.
“It’s excellent. You’re operating the security personnel perfectly.”
“It’s not that much.”
“Too much modesty isn’t good. Above all, the skills of the guards are all exceptional. They might not be at the level of knights, but I think they would be considered skilled anywhere.”
Geren exclaimed in admiration. Keith responded appropriately to Geren’s words while trying to gauge his abilities. It seemed that Ruhan had sent a skilled person on purpose, as Keith felt he couldn’t win against Geren in a direct fight. In fact, all the security personnel Keith had placed in the mansion were Leviathan’s people. Fearing suspicion, he deliberately didn’t place anyone as skilled as a knight. As a result, he lost important guard positions to Lucid’s knights. But it wasn’t a bad thing.
‘It’ll be safer that way.’
A few days ago, Yu Jin said he wanted to become the head of the family. Although surprised by the sudden statement, Keith and Haruna agreed with Yu Jin’s words. And a few days later, Keith received a piece of information from his capricious master.
[There’s been talk about that child within Leviathan.]
It meant that since Lyunne was no longer useful, they had changed their target to Yu Jin. They seemed to think it would be easier to move since Keith, who belonged to Leviathan, was also nearby.
[That child is weak, isn’t he?]
Implying that his body was easily susceptible to brainwashing.
[It’s not a definite decision yet, but keep it in mind.]
Rector was part of Leviathan but was a capricious person. However, he was strangely gentle towards Keith, his only disciple. Perhaps because of this, he occasionally informed Keith when there was talk about Lucid within Leviathan. This was one such case.
After welcoming Geren, Keith stood by the window looking outside. Outside, Yu Jin was taking a walk with Jinhyeon. Since Jinhyeon’s return, Yu Jin had grown even closer to him. It was clear that they were exchanging hearts beyond just physical intimacy. Knowing this, Keith felt his insides twist whenever he saw them together. His chest ached and throbbed. And at such times, thoughts he shouldn’t have would come to mind.
If Leviathan were to brainwash Yu Jin, they would most likely entrust that task to Keith. Then, what if he reflected his own desires in the brainwashing process? He could make Yu Jin look only at him, not Jinhyeon. Thinking this far, Keith clutched the window frame.
‘I promised to protect him.’
He had sworn when he was kidnapped along with Yu Jin. To protect this small and fragile child no matter what. So he joined Leviathan in exchange for ensuring Yu Jin’s safety. It was actually an unreasonable condition, but Rector, who liked Keith, let him pass. It was also possible because Rector had a fairly high position within Leviathan.
That’s how Keith became a member of Leviathan, and he committed terrible acts to establish himself there. All of that was to protect Yu Jin. But now his heart was wavering. How weak humans can be. Keith smiled bitterly.
