66.
“…What did you just say?”
“I said I have no intention of becoming the head of such a family. Who in their right mind would crawl back into the trash heap they barely escaped from?”
Such a family? Pamina pressed her hand firmly against her rapidly beating heart in shock. Lucid was one of the top three families in the empire. Knowing this, Pamina had voluntarily become the wife of the Lucid family head and had been working to secure the next family head position for her son. But Yu Jin had just hurled insults at the Lucid family. She had much to say but found it difficult to speak. While Pamina opened and closed her mouth several times, Yu Jin continued.
“If you want Lucid so badly, you can have it. I’m not interested. I’d appreciate it if you didn’t call me for things like this in the future.”
With those final words, Yu Jin turned his back on Pamina. Watching him, Pamina gritted her teeth.
“Stop right there!”
Perhaps Yu Jin was just acting now. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have disparaged Lucid like that. Pamina wanted the unvarnished truth, so she couldn’t let Yu Jin leave now. When Yu Jin didn’t heed her words, she signaled to the knight she had brought along.
The knight moved according to Pamina’s wishes. One stayed to protect her, while the other approached Yu Jin. Just as the knight who rushed forward was about to grab Yu Jin, Jinhyeon intervened between the two. Although his expression remained unchanged, the atmosphere shifted. A heavy and sharp killing intent that made it difficult to breathe pressed down on the knight.
“You!”
Is this the power of a Colosseum battle slave? Sometimes one could gauge an opponent’s abilities without directly fighting. A body trained for years and sharpened nerves could read the enemy’s information.
“No, that’s impossible.”
The knight gritted his teeth. How much effort had he put in to reach this position? He didn’t want to admit that he was intimidated by someone who was merely a former Colosseum battle slave. Initially, he had only intended to stop Yu Jin, but now he changed his mind.
It should be fine to punish one arrogant fellow who dared to interfere. Considering how Pamina usually treated Yu Jin, there was a high chance she would overlook whatever he did. Pamina seemed to enjoy it when people around her insulted and treated Yu Jin roughly.
His hand naturally drew his sword.
It happened in an instant. When Yu Jin saw the knight raise his sword, he looked urgently at Jinhyeon. Jinhyeon had no weapon at the moment. All he could do was dodge the sword, but Jinhyeon showed no signs of moving from his spot. Yu Jin shut his eyes tightly and threw himself between them. He didn’t act with any particular thought in mind. Then the raised sword fell, and a sharp metallic sound rang out.
Clang!
The sword seemed to have fallen, but Yu Jin felt no pain anywhere on his body. When he gently opened his eyes, he saw Jinhyeon’s arm.
“Yu Jin.”
Yu Jin trembled at the emotion in the low voice he heard. As he slowly turned his head, he saw Jinhyeon’s eyes, dark as night. As he involuntarily lowered his gaze, Jinhyeon sighed and pulled Yu Jin behind him. An opening was created during this moment, but the knight didn’t attack again.
‘That’s understandable.’
It might be possible to lay hands on Jinhyeon, but hurting Yu Jin was a different story. No matter how much he had been abandoned by the family head, Yu Jin was still of Lucid blood. Although he had occasionally bullied Yu Jin when he was younger, subtly bullying someone and striking them with a sword were completely different matters. Because of this, Pamina’s face, who had been watching them, turned deathly pale.
“What are you doing!”
Her tone was different from usual, likely due to her shock.
“He, he suddenly interfered.”
The knight tried to explain, but Pamina only glared at him with cold eyes.
“I never told you to harm Yu Jin.”
“I wasn’t trying to harm him! Really. I was just going to teach that arrogant bastard a lesson.”
Listening to their conversation, Yu Jin rolled his eyes. This situation was turning out to be quite interesting.
“Am I that arrogant bastard?”
When Yu Jin asked with a grin, the knight was aghast.
“Even if you dislike me, should you attack Lucid blood?”
“That’s not it!”
“I’ll report this incident to the family head.”
Whether the knight would be demoted or expelled because of this was none of Yu Jin’s concern. If you try to mess with others, you should be prepared to face the consequences.
“If you’ve done wrong, you should be punished. Right, Lady Pamina?”
Pamina nodded slowly at Yu Jin’s words. She seemed frustrated, but she couldn’t step in to help the knight. No matter how much she cherished the knight, he wasn’t of Lucid blood. And no matter how annoying the son of that woman was, even if the family head had abandoned him, Yu Jin was still a Lucid. Others should not harm the Lucid family.
“Then I’ll be taking my leave.”
Yu Jin waved his hand lightly and left the art gallery with Jinhyeon. He could hear the knight’s pleading voice from behind, but he ignored it completely. As Yu Jin was descending the stairs installed in front of the art gallery, his legs gave out halfway, and he stumbled. Fortunately, Jinhyeon caught him, but it was a close call.
“…I just lost my tension, that’s all.”
As Yu Jin made excuses, Jinhyeon picked him up instead of responding to his words. His expression remained stiff. Only after boarding the waiting carriage did Jinhyeon set Yu Jin down on a seat. Still, he couldn’t shake off the tension in his body. Yu Jin glanced at Jinhyeon sitting across from him. His eyes then fell on Jinhyeon’s wrist, where the wide bracelet he was wearing seemed to have blocked the knight’s sword earlier.
‘Do they usually make accessories that sturdy?’
As he was pondering this, Jinhyeon spoke.
“Do you.”
Jinhyeon looked at Yu Jin.
“Have two lives or something?”
“No, no.”
His straight lips twisted. Yu Jin had a feeling that if he said the wrong thing here, it would be a big problem. He chose his words carefully.
“I couldn’t let you die, so I did that.”
At Yu Jin’s words, Jinhyeon’s eyebrows twitched.
“…So you jumped in to save me.”
When Yu Jin nodded, Jinhyeon let out a deep sigh. He then stood up and moved to sit next to Yu Jin. He pulled Yu Jin into an embrace.
“Why did you want to save me? Is it because of something you know? Or is there another reason?”
Honestly, when he jumped in front of the knight, Yu Jin couldn’t think of anything else. He acted solely on the desire to protect Jinhyeon. But saying that outright felt like confessing his feelings. So Yu Jin chose to keep his mouth shut.
“Hmm.”
Jinhyeon cupped Yu Jin’s cheek with his hand and raised the corners of his mouth. When their eyes met, Yu Jin immediately realized that his feelings had been discovered. Jinhyeon’s expression, which had been as cold as a winter wind, gradually softened. However, the words that came out of his mouth were a bit different from what Yu Jin expected.
“Still, you did wrong, so you need to be punished, right?”
“What?”
“Who told you to jump in front of a knight? With your frail body, you couldn’t have blocked anything. The one who almost died this time wasn’t me, it was you. I’ll have to educate you thoroughly so this doesn’t happen again.”
As he said this, Jinhyeon kissed Yu Jin’s forehead.
“Look forward to it when we get back.”
Even after hearing those words, Yu Jin didn’t feel excited at all.
When the carriage arrived at the mansion, Jinhyeon picked up Yu Jin again.
“I can walk on my own.”
“No. This is part of the punishment too.”
Just then, Keith, who had been following behind, also arrived at the mansion. Yu Jin sent a plea for help with his eyes to Keith from within Jinhyeon’s arms, but that attempt soon failed. Whenever Yu Jin got distracted or tried to seek help from someone else, Jinhyeon would affectionately kiss him. Then, as if finding the position uncomfortable, Jinhyeon adjusted how he was carrying Yu Jin. He sat Yu Jin on his arm, supporting him by his bottom.
‘I don’t like being carried like a princess, and I don’t like this either!’
But he couldn’t voice his complaints. Every time he opened his mouth, a kiss would fly in. Seeing this, Keith furrowed his brow, but Jinhyeon paid no attention.
“What are you doing where so many eyes can see?”
“What do you think?”
The atmosphere between the two suddenly turned hostile. Unable to speak, Yu Jin waved his hand instead, signaling them not to fight. Keith seemed to interpret his meaning but didn’t back down.
“Put Yu Jin down.”
“I don’t want to.”
Just as it seemed like this might escalate into a fight, Haruna appeared, as always.
“If you have the energy to fight, use it to work!”
Haruna, who had shouted confidently, handed half of the documents in her hand to Keith.
“And you, stop it too. Why are you two so eager to fight whenever you meet?”
“It’s because of that guy.”
“That’s my line.”
Jinhyeon’s words ignited Keith’s anger.
“Enough. I said stop fighting. Jinhyeon, quickly take Lord Yu Jin back to his room. He must be tired. Right, Lord Yu Jin?”
At Haruna’s words, Yu Jin nodded.
