129.
Yu Jin shivered slightly at the sudden chill that came over him. He looked around but couldn’t pinpoint why he felt this sensation.
Everything was progressing smoothly, except that he couldn’t see Jinhyeon’s face as often these days.
Most of the opposition had been dealt with, but Ruhan hadn’t touched those who remained neutral. Among these neutral factions, there were some who doubted Yu Jin’s abilities. It was understandable, given that he hadn’t studied properly since he grew up and had behaved like a good-for-nothing outside. However, even these people had quieted down after seeing Yu Jin work recently.
Lucid was operating properly, just as it had when Ruhan was in charge, which meant Yu Jin’s abilities were quite decent. As a result, more people were approaching him favorably than before. The problem was that their friendly proposals didn’t really resonate with Yu Jin.
“Isn’t it about time you brought in a mistress of the house?”
“But I have a lover.”
“A wife and a lover are different. Besides, isn’t that lover unable to bear children?”
Imagining Jinhyeon giving birth was dangerous in many ways. Yu Jin gently rubbed his forehead with his finger to smooth out the frown that was about to form.
“Keep the lover as is, and take a separate wife.”
Meanwhile, the elder sitting across from him was chattering away excitedly. The problem was that the other elders didn’t seem to oppose this opinion. When the talkative elder closed his mouth, Leion, who had been maintaining a dignified expression, spoke.
“I also agree with that opinion. You only need to take one wife, so how about getting married? We know you’re still young, but an heir is necessary for the family.”
“But I don’t get aroused by women.”
Yu Jin blurted out that line. Whether he could get aroused by women or not, he was already a dead man at the point of taking a wife and having an heir. It didn’t seem likely that Jinhyeon would just stand by and watch that happen.
Of course, there was another reason. He had come to love Jinhyeon now and didn’t want to make him sad. That’s why he had the courage to say it, but the elders were more adamant than he expected.
“That’s alright. There are ways.”
What’s alright about this? Yu Jin looked at Leion with disbelieving eyes. Leion, seemingly a bit embarrassed about this part, lowered his voice to explain the method.
To summarize roughly, it went like this: Since he gets aroused by men, they suggested that three people enter the bedroom. That is, Yu Jin, Jinhyeon, and the wife. What sin had the wife committed to be involved in this?
“…Would the wife tolerate that?”
Yu Jin raised an obvious question, but Leion answered confidently.
“Yes, she will endure it.”
Lucid was a prestigious family with tremendous power and strength. And there were quite a few people vying for the position of wife in such a family, so there would be those willing to become the wife even with such drawbacks.
‘But I don’t want to do that!’
Keith, standing beside him instead of Jinhyeon, also seemed to have a lot he wanted to say.
“Let’s put this matter on hold for now.”
“We will follow the head of the family’s orders. But please understand that an heir is essential as long as there are people aiming for Lucid.”
He knew that. In the current situation, if Yu Jin were to come to harm, Ahmed, who had been removed from the family register, would desperately try to come back.
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
When the conversation with the elders ended and they left, fatigue washed over him. What was more surprising was that they weren’t saying these things out of malice. They were genuinely concerned about Lucid and Yu Jin.
“What’s with this heir business.”
After everything was over, Yu Jin planned to find a smart child within the family and adopt them. But it was too early to reveal that. The elders were just beginning to turn towards Yu Jin, and in the current situation, it was better to go along with them to some extent.
“The tea has gone cold. Should I bring you a fresh cup?”
“No, this is better than something hot right now.”
Yu Jin slumped in his chair and wiggled his feet. He missed Jinhyeon. He had distanced himself from him after Jinhyeon had acted recklessly, saying he would shorten the time frame. To be precise, Yu Jin had given Jinhyeon time to move separately, but that’s how it would appear to others. Since then, Keith had taken over most of Yu Jin’s tasks, including his grooming.
Keith placed his hand on Yu Jin’s slumped shoulder and gently massaged it. Yu Jin whispered to him.
“How’s it going on that side?”
“Looks like they’re about to make a real move.”
I wish they’d move faster. After Keith’s massage ended, they moved to the office. After dealing with the daily updates, a flood of invitations piled up on a silver tray. Right, it was about time to start going out. Of course, he had no intention of attending his first party at another family’s house.
“When would be a good time for the succession celebration party?”
The family was also preparing various things in anticipation of the party.
“It would be good to set it for two weeks from now, since we need to send out invitations.”
Even that was a tight schedule, but it didn’t matter. How many people would dare to send a rejection to an invitation from the head of the Lucid family? The guest list was expanded a bit compared to Ruhan’s succession ceremony. After losing his wife, Ruhan had reduced the number of parties and attendees, so Yu Jin planned to increase them again.
“Are you going to write the invitations yourself?”
“Only some of them.”
He would personally handwrite invitations for people who needed special attention, while court officials would write the rest. As Yu Jin was thinking about this, he reached out and wrapped his arm around Keith’s waist standing next to him. He wanted to compromise with just holding hands moderately, but he had to show that the brainwashing was deepening. Additionally, he needed to start showing that he was losing his rationality when it came to Keith.
‘But there’s not really an opportunity for that.’
The family members took it for granted that Yu Jin clung to Keith. It was a side effect of their close relationship since childhood.
“Yu Jin.”
Keith gently stroked Yu Jin’s head and kissed him. In the past, even this felt uncomfortable, but he had become quite accustomed to such actions in the meantime.
‘This is a problem.’
He should feel a sense of crisis since the other person had confessed to liking him, but it wasn’t easy. Yu Jin swallowed the sigh that was about to escape and nuzzled his face against Keith.
Tap tap tap.
San’s pen shook as fingers drummed on the desk at regular intervals. Although it had been quite some time since he found a new life, San vividly remembered the massacre Jinhyeon had committed in the past. That’s why he didn’t let his guard down even when Jinhyeon acted kindly.
‘Especially now.’
There was no expression on Jinhyeon’s face. He sat in the chair, tapping on the table in that state, and even without expression, one could tell he was filled with anger. The aura emanating from him was that fierce. Because of this, San desperately tried to stop Gee from attempting to speak to Jinhyeon several times.
“Why!”
“No. Just no.”
“He’s emitting killing intent in front of a weakling who doesn’t even know how to fight!”
“This weakling is against fighting.”
“I’m not saying we should fight.”
“Still, no.”
Jinhyeon was scary before, but now he was even more daunting. It wasn’t incomprehensible. According to their plan, Yu Jin, who was Jinhyeon’s lover, had to be close to another man. For San, wouldn’t it feel like Gee was doting on another child?
‘That must feel awful.’
So San decided to try to endure Jinhyeon’s behavior.
“By the way, I heard that Lucid is hosting a party within this month.”
“We can’t attend anyway, right?”
“That’s not the issue. I think something will happen that day.”
“What kind of thing?”
“If I were Leviathan, I’d do something then to gain Lucid’s trust or infiltrate more people.”
“They’re complicated folks.”
Gee shrugged and sat closer to San. As he did so, San felt his body, which had been heavily weighed down, become lighter. Gee was intercepting and blocking Jinhyeon’s aura from the middle.
“He’s a scary person, anyway.”
San agreed with Gee’s words.
“Haa.”
Jinhyeon stopped tapping the table and straightened up. Damn Leviathan. Why do they hide so well that we have to draw them out like this? He wanted to break Keith’s neck and hold Yu Jin in his arms, but he couldn’t. If Leviathan infiltrated while doing that, he’d have to watch his back constantly.
‘Above all, it’s impossible for me to kill all of Leviathan now.’
Jinhyeon showed unusually rapid growth but didn’t recklessly overestimate himself. Yu Jin had said that the strongest person in Leviathan was Rector, Keith’s master. The leader of Leviathan had persuaded him to settle down from a life of wandering in search of fun.
When you settle somewhere, you follow social rules. But in Leviathan, you could fight and kill people without following rules.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
