121.
As soon as Yu Jin became the family head, congratulations poured in from all quarters. Even after cutting off those who didn’t meet the standards, there were still many. Only after dealing with all of these did he finally have time to be alone. But he couldn’t just relax during this time. He had to properly face Lucid’s last retainer. That is, the shadows.
“Would you come out?”
At Yu Jin’s words, spoken while standing in the office that had now changed owners, a person dropped down from the ceiling.
“I greet the new master.”
Calling him ‘master’ rather than ‘family head.’ It seemed the shadows truly stood in a different position from the knights. Yu Jin stared at him for a while before asking what he was most curious about.
“How far can I order you?”
“As far as you wish. We will do anything our master desires.”
After asking a few more questions, Yu Jin was able to confirm the range of orders he could give to the shadows.
Knights can refuse orders that harm the family head or even advise the family head. But shadows, being tools of a different nature from knights, cannot refuse anything. If the master orders it, they cannot disobey even if it’s an order that harms the master.
‘How severe.’
However, this nature of the shadows is helpful now. Yu Jin sent the shadow away and sat in the office chair. Only then did the fact that he had become the head of Lucid truly sink in. He had obtained the position someone else had so desperately wanted. There was still much to do, but he had come this far. As he was thinking this and relaxing his body, a small sound came from the window.
Tap tap.
Turning towards the persistent sound, he saw Jinhyeon’s face beyond the window. At first, he stared blankly at it, then realizing that the family head’s office wasn’t on the first floor, he jumped up from his seat. Though he knew Jinhyeon wouldn’t be in danger whether it was the second or third floor, he was momentarily startled.
“Why are you at the window when there’s a door!”
“There were too many people to meet if I came through the door?”
“So you came this way because it was bothersome?”
“Something like that?”
Jinhyeon quickly climbed through the open window. Then, looking around the interior, he spoke.
“It’s more ordinary than I thought.”
“He wasn’t one to enjoy luxury.”
The office was still as Ruhan had used it, so his tendencies were clearly visible.
“Are you going to keep it like this?”
“No, I’m going to remodel it to my liking.”
He had no intention of leaving traces of Ruhan, who had acted selfishly and left alone.
“Well, the interior decoration isn’t your taste.”
“You know my taste too?”
“I do.”
Saying this, Jinhyeon suddenly brought forward the hand he had been keeping behind his back. In Jinhyeon’s hand was a bunch of flowers that looked like they had been picked from the garden. Only then did Yu Jin notice the floral scent tickling his nose. The scent must have been there since Jinhyeon brought the flowers inside, but the fact that he only noticed now showed how tense he had been.
“What’s this?”
As Yu Jin received the flowers, Jinhyeon smiled softly.
“I suddenly wanted to give them to you.”
“That’s unlike you.”
“Do you dislike it?”
“No, I like it.”
Even though it was a crude bouquet, he was happy to receive it. Yu Jin fiddled with the bouquet and then took out the largest and prettiest flower and tucked it behind Jinhyeon’s ear. Jinhyeon looked surprised but didn’t refuse.
“It suits you well.”
When Yu Jin said this playfully, Jinhyeon mimicked the exact same action.
“It suits you well too.”
“Well, everything suits me.”
As Yu Jin boasted, Jinhyeon approached and wrapped his arms around Yu Jin’s waist.
“That’s true. You’re too pretty.”
They faced each other and burst into laughter.
Keith rolled a small vial in his hand. It was the brainwashing drug he had received from Leviathan. Since Yu Jin had agreed to pretend to be brainwashed, there would be no need to use this drug on him. But what if he used it on someone else?
If it’s confirmed that Yu Jin has been brainwashed, there’s a high probability that his master Rector will come. Additionally, Aksen, who worked with Rector to deal with Ruhan last time, might come too. It would be rational for him to move like that since his disciple Grey had grasped something about the capital. The two of them tended to faithfully follow the leader’s orders even if they didn’t get along with each other.
Then, who among them should be brainwashed to help Yu Jin?
Rector? Although he belonged to Leviathan, he often deviated for the sake of fun. Keith had received favors from Rector over time, but he had never truly thought of him as a master. He had repaid everything he received while working under him, and although he felt goodwill towards Rector, it wasn’t more precious than Yu Jin.
Aksen. Self-proclaimed rival of Rector. Unlike Rector who prioritized impulses, he was rational. Because of this, his influence within Leviathan was much larger than Rector’s. Unlike Rector who often acted alone, Aksen tried to solve problems based on his influence. If brainwashing succeeded, he would become an excellent ally, but it wouldn’t be easy. This was because Aksen was the one who developed the brainwashing drug. He might even have an antidote that only he knew about.
The last person he thought of was Grey. The first disciple of Aksen and the man who recently tried to brainwash and manipulate Lyunne in the capital. He was favored by his master Aksen for his excellent skills, but his treatment might have changed due to this incident. Aksen wasn’t a master who easily accepted failure.
‘Should I target him?’
If done well, he might be able to use Grey to deal with Aksen. After organizing his thoughts to some extent, Keith also informed Haruna of this plan.
“That’s a good idea! But won’t you be in danger if the brainwashing is discovered?”
“That’s why I need to use it carefully while watching the situation.”
Aksen is quick-witted, so it should be used at a truly critical moment.
“But you didn’t tell Yu Jin, right?”
“Yeah. I don’t want to put Yu Jin in more danger.”
“You think it’s safer not to know. But I think it’s better to know. If more people think about it, we might come up with better methods.”
For this reason, Yu Jin was also informed of Keith’s plan, albeit belatedly. Additionally, they decided on when Yu Jin would pretend to be brainwashed by Keith.
“One month from now. By then, the family affairs should be somewhat settled. Wouldn’t Leviathan prefer the family to be in order?”
“I suppose so.”
“Alright. Let’s do it then.”
And for a month, Yu Jin worked tirelessly. Even though it was just stabilizing the family, work kept pouring in endlessly. Ruhan had handled all of this work alone, but Yu Jin didn’t have the confidence to do so, so he elevated the position of the civil officials in charge of paperwork and distributed the work. At first, he strictly managed the civil officials, but before long, he gave them autonomy. They were doing their jobs well enough to warrant it.
Thanks to this, as time passed, he gradually had more free time and could manage to get proper sleep.
“Is this the difference between a genius and an ordinary person?”
On the last day of the planned month, Yu Jin lay on the bed and mumbled weakly.
“Ordinary person? How can you say that when Yu Jin is so intelligent?”
Haruna, who heard Yu Jin’s words, reacted immediately, but it was hard to believe.
“That’s a lie. The previous family head handled everything by himself.”
“That’s not called being a genius, it’s called being stubborn. Because he handled everything alone, the aftermath became difficult to deal with.”
Haruna said, grinding her teeth.
“I agree with that opinion. If you’re going to handle everything alone, there’s no point in creating a family.”
Jinhyeon nodded while massaging Yu Jin’s calves, which were stretched out.
“Is that so?”
“That’s right.”
The hands that were massaging his calves were gradually moving upwards. Haruna’s eyes grew fierce at the sight, but Jinhyeon paid no attention. They finally had some free time, and he was being inconsiderate. Receiving such a gaze, Haruna bit her lip and turned away.
“Then get some rest.”
“Okay.”
Yu Jin, unaware of what had transpired between the two, answered in a drowsy voice. As Haruna left, Jinhyeon moved his hands freely. The hands that were rubbing Yu Jin’s thighs slowly crept to the inner side. Then, as he pressed and rubbed the inner thighs, a moan escaped Yu Jin’s lips.
“It hurts a little.”
“Then I’ll be gentler.”
Saying this, Jinhyeon firmly pressed Yu Jin’s buttocks.
“Ow!”
Yu Jin’s body jumped at the sudden pain.
“You said you’d be gentle!”
He protested, but Jinhyeon didn’t budge.
“You need to loosen this area to reduce the pain.”
As he continued to stimulate the buttocks, it was so painful that tears welled up in Yu Jin’s eyes. Even though he flailed about in agony, he couldn’t move properly when Jinhyeon pressed down on his body. In the end, Yu Jin had to endure constant stimulation of his buttocks while trapped by Jinhyeon.
“Uurgh.”
At one point, he even cried out for help without realizing it. But the shadows that might be hiding somewhere never showed themselves. This was because Yu Jin had previously ordered them not to appear before being called when he was with Jinhyeon. Moreover, although Yu Jin was flailing about in pain, Jinhyeon was actually giving a proper massage. So the shadows didn’t move either.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
