70.
His strangely blurry face lowered others’ guards, and his somewhat clumsy speech sometimes invited dismissal.
‘But that’s actually the scariest part.’
Who would believe it? That Alto, that seemingly naive man, was actually a member of Leviathan.
Lyunne had heard about Leviathan from her father before. Her father had explained the dangers of Leviathan and warned her to be careful, but she hadn’t paid much attention at the time. Born with noble blood and having lived only within safe boundaries, organizations like Leviathan seemed like tales from a distant land.
Those were happy times, knowing nothing. Some wise person said that people become unhappy to the extent that they know. The same was true for Lyunne.
‘Why can’t I inherit the duchy?’
Because there was a brother right above her.
‘But I’m more talented than my brother. I’ve surpassed him in academics, swordsmanship, in every aspect.’
Just because she was born later, Lyunne couldn’t become the duchess. At first, she tried to understand somehow. Her brother was an inadequate person, but he loved his only younger sister. He always smiled kindly and treated Lyunne gently in any situation.
Because he was such a person, Lyunne didn’t want to act badly towards him and desperately suppressed her desires. She tried to eliminate the impure thoughts that occasionally arose. But on the day her fiancé was chosen, those efforts crumbled.
Seeing her brother believing that Lyunne would be happy with her engagement to another man, the emotions she had been holding back all along burst out. Why does my brother believe my happiness lies there? She couldn’t bear it anymore. Lyunne wanted to become the duchess herself and aim for higher places rather than becoming another man’s wife. For that, she felt she could even join hands with the devil.
‘That was when it happened.’
The third son of a noble who ran a fairly well-known merchant group died. To be precise, all the people living in the mansion where the third son lived were massacred. And the group that led that massacre was none other than Leviathan.
“Those devil-like bastards!”
Her father spat out the words. Hearing this, her brother wore a regretful expression, while Lyunne laughed inside. Because a devil to join hands with had appeared. Moreover, that devil reached out to her first.
“Don’t you want to become the duchess?”
At that question, which seemed to have read her desires, Lyunne nodded as if entranced. As Lyunne was lost in thought, Grey’s voice reached her ears.
“It’s a strange thing.”
Lyunne agreed with Grey’s opinion.
“It is strange indeed.”
For a good-for-nothing who seemed unlikely to change to suddenly start acting diligently. It was as if his soul had been switched. But since such a fantastical thing couldn’t happen, it would be right to think differently.
“He must have been hiding his true nature all this time. Everyone knows how peculiar the first wife of the Lucid family is. Perhaps he did it to survive?”
“…I suppose so.”
“Why, are you interested in him too?”
“I can’t say I’m not.”
“Well, in a way, he does have some similarities with me.”
Lyunne said this and then closed her mouth. It was because they were about to arrive at the opera house where her fiancé was waiting.
“Ugh, save me…”
Yu Jin let out a groan as he struggled to lift his eyelids. His body, which had been so active before he passed out, was now fresh and clean, but his depleted stamina was a different matter.
‘That brute.’
This body was that of a good-for-nothing who had lived steeped in alcohol and pleasure. It had terrible stamina that couldn’t be compared to a young man in his prime who would run around energetically. Jinhyeon must know this too, but he lost his mind and went wild every time they had sex, making it a living hell for Yu Jin. This time, he really, truly needed to start exercising. Even light jogging might help a bit. Yu Jin groaned and closed his eyes.
Jinhyeon seemed to have gone out on some business. Well, it was a busy time for him.
‘No, that’s not the problem.’
Although he had been twisting the original story all along, this time he had really made a big mess. He didn’t regret the words he had said to Pamina, but he couldn’t predict what would happen because of it.
‘First, will the Lucid massacre route disappear?’
Originally, Jinhyeon would kill the other members of Lucid to make Roena the head of the family, but in the current situation, that didn’t seem likely to happen. After all, Yu Jin, who had taken Roena’s place, had declared that he had no interest in becoming the head of the family.
Pamina had gone berserk, but she would change her mind when she calmed down. Being a clever person, she would realize that there was no benefit in messing with Yu Jin in the current situation. Then, it would be peaceful for a while.
That is, if the second female lead doesn’t appear.
After sucking the marrow out of Roena, who had become the head of the family, Jinhyeon’s eyes meet with a new person. Unlike Roena with her fiery temperament, this person was as calm as water. But her desires were greater than anyone else’s, making her a good match for Jinhyeon.
“What was her name again?”
As he painfully racked his heavy brain, the name soon came to mind.
Lyunne, the talented daughter of a duke’s family. A well-rounded person with blue hair and green eyes. At first, she scoffed at Jinhyeon’s intentions, but like in most novels, it didn’t take long for her to fall for him.
With Jinhyeon’s help, she seized the position of duchess and used her right of succession to the throne to make Jinhyeon the emperor. Of course, the process wasn’t smooth. First, she killed her older brother, the heir to the duke’s family, in an accident, and she didn’t hesitate to do anything to obtain the right of succession to the throne.
‘Come to think of it, it’s amazing I read such a novel.’
People were killed off whenever anything happened, but at the time, it felt thrilling and entertaining. It was because I thought it was just a fictional story. If I had known it would really happen, I would have read a healing novel. Like a story about growing crops in some countryside. It was too late to regret now, but the regret kept gnawing at him.
As he was dwelling on this for a while, drowsiness began to creep in again. His eyelids grew heavy and his mind slowly sank. Just as he was about to fall asleep, suddenly there was a knock at the door. Someone had come.
‘Who could it be?’
Normally, he would have asked who it was, but he was too sleepy for that. Thinking that if there was no answer, they would leave on their own, Yu Jin kept his mouth shut. Then he heard the sound of the doorknob turning.
Creak.
In most noble houses, the doorknobs were oiled and maintained so that they wouldn’t make a sound when turned, but Yu Jin’s room was different. He was sensitive to someone entering his room, so he intentionally left the doorknob to make a sound when turned. It was a habit he had kept from when he lived in his family home.
‘Is it Jinhyeon?’
Recently, Jinhyeon had been using Yu Jin’s room as if it were his own. Even if he offered to change it to a better room, Jinhyeon had no intention of moving. Yu Jin already liked Jinhyeon, but it was troublesome that he kept trying to stick close. His heart would race and he would involuntarily smile, making him feel like he might reveal all his feelings at this rate. Just as he was thinking this, the footsteps stopped beside the bed.
Now he’ll probably burrow into the bed or touch me, Yu Jin thought as he waited, but the person standing beside him made no move to do so. All he could feel was a gaze staring intently at him. At this point, Yu Jin realized something was strange.
‘Should I open my eyes?’
Yu Jin unconsciously clenched his fist under the blanket. He was thinking of getting up and striking the intruder before running away if necessary, but then he heard a voice.
“Yu Jin.”
If he hadn’t misheard, this was Keith’s voice. A chill ran down his spine at the low, gloomy voice.
“I’m still waiting.”
Yu Jin knew what Keith was waiting for. But the emotion that immediately arose was not guilt, but fear. The atmosphere, the behavior, made Yu Jin shrink back.
Should I get up? Or is it better to keep pretending to be asleep? Perhaps due to the tension, he could sense Keith’s movements more keenly. Keith, who had been standing beside the bed, leaned down to examine Yu Jin’s face. Then he reached out and gently stroked Yu Jin’s cheek.
“Even if someone else is first, I’ll be the one by your side until the end.”
For a while, there was no sound. Then the sound of footsteps was heard again, and the doorknob turned. Even then, Yu Jin didn’t immediately open his eyes. He continued pretending to sleep for a while, and only when he judged that Keith had really left did he sit up. Everything felt like a dream, but he knew it wasn’t.
Yu Jin let out a deep sigh and wrapped his arms around his shoulders. It seemed he had taken Keith’s feelings too lightly. His emotions were deeper, gloomier, and more sticky than he had thought.
Keith was walking down the corridor with a calm expression when he suddenly stopped.
‘He was pretending to be asleep.’
Yu Jin had been awake the entire time since Keith entered the room. He seemed to have acted his best, but it was impossible to deceive the senses of an excellent swordsman. Knowing this, Keith still said what he wanted to say.
Because he couldn’t hold it in any longer. The emotions he had been suppressing while watching Jinhyeon and Yu Jin enter the room together burst out. He abandoned what he had to do and stood in front of Yu Jin’s door.
