80.
“The eldest son is stupid, and the second son is under probation for causing trouble.”
Hearing Keith’s words, Yu Jin realized they were entirely true.
“And it’s not like there’s any clever or ambitious daughter among them either. I told you before, right? Starting with Roena, they’re all obsessed with buying slaves. In the current situation, you’re the best candidate.”
As Yu Jin listened to Keith’s words, he slowly lowered his eyes. When he used to cling for attention before, they wouldn’t even look at him, but now they turn to him only after being disappointed by all the other children. Realizing this reality, a bitter expression unconsciously formed on his face.
“I can’t avoid going, can I?”
“They’ll probably try to bring you in by any means necessary.”
If Yu Jin didn’t go, they were the type of people who wouldn’t hesitate to interfere with the department store’s business. So what could he do?
“Then I’ll go. But he’s really someone I dislike.”
“When are you going?”
“It’s better to get it over with as soon as possible. Tell them I’ll go tomorrow.”
“Alright. I’ll go with you, so don’t worry too much.”
“…Thank you.”
After expressing his gratitude to Keith, Yu Jin slowly leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. Why was that person so harsh only to him? Isn’t it right to cherish the child of someone you love?
‘Forget it. Let’s not try to understand.’
That would only tire Yu Jin out. Meanwhile, Keith left the office, and the remaining space filled with silence.
The next day, Lucid sent a carriage. Even though Yu Jin had his own means of transportation, the fact that they specifically sent one was a declaration of their intention to see Yu Jin no matter what.
“It’s been a while, young master.”
The knight standing in front of the carriage was a familiar face. He was a knight belonging to Lucid, who often accompanied his father as a guard.
“Yes, it has been a while.”
What was his name again? Was it Royce? Behind him were a few more knights surrounding the carriage. It was hard to tell if he was being invited or arrested. Still, Yu Jin suppressed his immediate emotions. After thinking a lot overnight, he had come to one decision.
‘I’ll cut ties with Lucid.’
He didn’t know how the head of the family would react, but he intended to do his best. Yu Jin got into the carriage with Jinhyeon and Keith. As soon as they were inside, the door closed, and the carriage wheels began to roll. It was fortunate that the carriage sent by the head of the family was expensive, making it much quieter and more comfortable than other carriages. Jinhyeon sat next to Yu Jin and held his slightly trembling hand.
“It’ll be okay.”
Yu Jin stared at Jinhyeon for a moment before leaning his head on his shoulder.
“It has to be.”
Keith, seeing this, didn’t say anything today. He probably understood Yu Jin’s feelings too. The fast-moving carriage soon arrived in front of the Lucid mansion.
The mansion where Yu Jin used to stay was still impressive in scale and splendor. It might be a place of envy for some, but to Yu Jin, it felt like a monster’s lair. Once the identity check was complete, the monster opened its mouth to accept Yu Jin and his guests.
Clang.
As the opened door closed again, Yu Jin came to his senses. From now on, most people here were enemies, so it was time to act carefully.
The people who came to greet Yu Jin were the butler and Pamina. The butler was expected, but Yu Jin didn’t understand why Pamina had come to greet him. As he looked at her questioningly, she glared fiercely at Yu Jin and opened her mouth.
“So you really came.”
“The head of the family called for me.”
“Even so, to come here!”
Pamina was about to continue speaking but closed her mouth. She chewed on her lip for a moment before turning her back and walking away. She looked extremely anxious. The butler, who had been quietly observing this the whole time, only spoke after Pamina had completely disappeared.
“I’ll guide you to the reception room.”
Usually, when the head of the family met with someone, he would receive them in his office. He didn’t feel the need to move for anyone. In this situation, some might expect something from being called to the reception room, but that wasn’t the case for Yu Jin. He figured they would probably leave them waiting in the reception room for a few hours before calling them in. And that prediction turned out to be correct.
The three waited for quite a long time in the elegantly decorated reception room. During that time, Lucid didn’t even offer them a cup of tea. Whether this was the will of the head of the family or another wife, it was a very unpleasant situation. However, neither Jinhyeon nor Keith dared to comfort Yu Jin. This was because Yu Jin, who should have been the angriest, was calmly enduring it. After an uncomfortable period of time passed, the butler finally returned to the reception room.
“The head of the family is calling for you. However, he said only Yu Jin should come.”
“I understand. I’ll be back then. If anyone tries to pick a fight, ignore them.”
Keith replied to Yu Jin’s words.
“Don’t worry. If it’s something like that, isn’t it my specialty?”
Only then could Yu Jin manage a small smile. Jinhyeon hugged Yu Jin tightly one last time and whispered in his ear.
“If anything happens, I’ll come running.”
This one’s even more dramatic than Keith. Still, thanks to Jinhyeon continuously holding his hand, a lot of tension was relieved.
“I’ll be back.”
Yu Jin followed the butler. The butler guided him to the front of the office and took a step back. Taking a deep breath, Yu Jin lightly knocked on the door.
Knock knock.
“It’s Yu Jin.”
Then a familiar voice was heard from inside.
“Come in.”
As he opened the door and entered, he saw Ruhan, the head of the family, sitting at his desk, playing with a pen. Even though Yu Jin had entered, he didn’t immediately look up. He was finishing what he was doing. Only after Ruhan had checked all the documents he was reading did he look directly at Yu Jin.
“You’ve changed.”
At these words said without context, Yu Jin let out a bitter laugh.
“People always change.”
“That’s true. But cases of changing for the better are rarer than you might think. I heard you’ve started quite a decent business this time. It’s excellent, almost unbelievable that you did it.”
Such praise didn’t make him happy.
“Why did you call me?”
“Why I called you?”
Ruhan spoke leisurely as he organized his pen.
“You should know the reason.”
“Is it because you need an heir?”
“Yes. At first, I was thinking of making another one the heir, but they were all below standard. If those guys became the head of the family, Lucid wouldn’t be able to maintain its current status.”
“I see. But did the other wives agree with your opinion?”
“Do I need to care about the opinions of my wives?”
Ruhan, speaking like this, was still cold.
“Won’t they try to kill me?”
“If you run away because you’re afraid of that, then I would have misjudged you too. Yu Jin, don’t you want revenge? If you take the position of heir, you’ll be able to do whatever you want.”
He had this conversation just in case, but Ruhan hadn’t changed at all from before. If he had even a little affection for his children, he wouldn’t have said such things. Yu Jin spoke the words he had been holding back all this time.
“I don’t need it.”
At Yu Jin’s words, Ruhan looked at him with an interested expression.
“I have no intention of becoming Lucid’s heir, so give it to someone else.”
“Are you stupid? Or do you lack ambition?”
“Neither. I just don’t want to take on this garbage place.”
“Do you think you could have succeeded without the Lucid name?”
“Yes, I would have succeeded even without it. Because I’m a more valuable person than you think.”
“You’re confident. But foolish.”
Ruhan mocked Yu Jin, but he didn’t flinch.
“It doesn’t matter what you say. I will never return to Lucid. I’ll even give up the Lucid name. From now on, I’m not Yu Jin von El Lucid, but Yu Jin von El Miribel.”
Miribel was the family name of Yu Jin’s deceased mother. For the first time, Ruhan’s expression, which had been relaxed all along, changed. He seemed angry, and maybe even pained. But he didn’t express those emotions in words. He just calmly uttered one sentence.
“You’ll regret it.”
You’ll be the one to regret it. Yu Jin turned around and left Ruhan’s office. He passed by the butler waiting in front of the door and headed to the reception room. The confused butler followed, but Yu Jin didn’t look back.
“Jinhyeon, hyung!”
When Yu Jin burst into the reception room calling their names, both of them turned their heads simultaneously.
“Let’s go back!”
The two followed Yu Jin’s words without asking anything.
“You can’t leave like this.”
The butler said, but Yu Jin simply ignored him.
“But how do we get back?”
The Lucid mansion was so vast that it would take quite a long walk to the main gate without a carriage.
“I thought this might happen, so I prepared a carriage in advance.”
Keith pointed to a carriage standing at the entrance. It had the Lucid emblem on the outside as a disguise, but the actual owner was Yu Jin. Realizing this, the tension dissolved, and laughter burst out.
“Great, let’s go!”
As Yu Jin got into the carriage, Jinhyeon sat next to him. Keith closed the carriage door and then leaped onto the coachman’s seat. There was already a coachman, but this was to prepare for any unexpected situations.
