The man burst into loud laughter at the almost obsequious remark. No one else dared to breathe easily until his unusually prolonged laughter finally subsided. The only one who remained composed in that space was him.
“Alright, I’ll trust you.”
It was hard to believe those were the eyes of someone who truly meant what he said, but being adept at concealing emotions, he merely gave a light nod, bringing the meaningless conversation to an end.
“Ina.”
“Yes, Father.”
Skipping over the third and fourth individuals, the man called out to Ina, who was seated in the fifth seat. It was already an honor that the master of the district remembered her name, but to call on her while passing over those in front of her? A victorious smile spread across Ina’s face.
“I heard the western district hasn’t been fully taken care of yet.”
“It’s not finished yet, but I should be able to wrap it up completely by next week.”
“…Next week, huh. Not exactly fast, but not slow either.”
He was indifferent to matters that didn’t concern him, so he didn’t know exactly what kind of “cleanup” the district master had ordered Ina Shining to handle. But he was nearly certain it wasn’t just a simple matter of tidying up.
He was barely picking at the blood-caked meat when he suddenly felt a gaze on him and lifted his head. From across the room, Ina Shining was staring at him intently.
For the first time, their eyes met, and her gaze was eerily similar to that of the district master—almost unsettlingly so. Well, the thicker the Shining blood, the more they resembled him. Clicking his tongue lightly, he averted his gaze elsewhere.
And so, the meaningless meal gradually came to an end. Normally, tea time would follow, but citing exhaustion, the man called off the biannual Shining gathering.
“Show me before the wedding.”
Just as he was leaving the dining hall, the man suddenly stopped and threw out those words. Without affirming or denying, he simply bowed deeply toward him. The man, apparently not expecting an answer in the first place, turned away without hesitation.
With the district master gone, only the Shinings remained in the dining hall, and an uncomfortable silence settled over the room. There was no longer any reason to linger here. Just as he was about to return to the bedroom where Seo-yul was, Joshua blocked his path.
“You bastard, you did that on purpose, didn’t you?”
“On purpose?”
He raised an eyebrow in mild amusement as he echoed the words. Joshua, flustered and agitated, stammered through his accusations, but nothing he said made any sense. What was the point of listening to paranoid nonsense? Letting out a long sigh, he ignored Joshua and attempted to leave the dining hall.
“I’m not done talking!”
But Joshua, oblivious and incapable of giving up, finally grabbed him by the collar and threw a punch. As the sluggish fist came toward him, he briefly considered whether to take the hit and return it several times over. But even that would be a waste of time, so he simply chose to dodge it with ease.
Joshua’s bold swing failed to land, cutting through nothing but empty air. As he staggered forward from the missed strike, Vin shoved him aside and dusted off his crumpled shirt. But the wrinkles had already set in and wouldn’t smooth out so easily. The irritation he was trying to suppress started to rise.
“Does the bastard you’re marrying even know? That you’re just a filthy dog who’ll throw away his humanity as long as it’s an order from Father?”
“…….”
“So, are you still doing that these days?”
At Joshua’s next words, Vin’s hand, which had been brushing off his shirt, came to an abrupt stop. Slowly raising his head, he met Joshua’s gaze. Seeing the first real reaction from him, Joshua’s lips curled into a smirk.
“No matter how much you devote yourself, what’s the point? Do you really not get why Father keeps delaying the heir announcement? You’re just a disposable pawn, you son of a bitch!”
Joshua’s voice rang through the dining hall, but Vin merely listened in silence as his hand moved toward his waist. Despite the escalating tension, the other Shinings merely watched, making no move to intervene.
His fingertips brushed against the cold metal. He wanted to kill Joshua Shining right then and there. But it wasn’t time yet. Later—soon—he would make sure to kill that bastard in the most brutal way possible. For now, he let his hand drop and regained his composure.
“Instead of wasting time, focus on your own business. Father told you, didn’t he? That he’s disappointed in you.”
At those weighty words, Joshua, who had been running his mouth so confidently, clamped his lips shut. He wanted to return the humiliation he’d received in full, but he had no interest in dragging out this pointless exchange any further.
If it could even be called a conversation.
“Fucking bastard.”
That was all Joshua could manage to spit out in the end. Vin had heard it so many times by now that it didn’t even faze him. He let it wash over him and finally stepped out of that stifling dining hall.
He just wanted to return to Seo-yul as soon as possible.
—I heard you even sell your body when Father tells you to.
Joshua’s sneering remark echoed in his mind. He had long been aware of the rumors circulating through the mansion—that he was a loyal dog who would do anything his master commanded, even sell his own body.
When he returned here, he had to carry out any order from the master of the district, no matter what it was. Killing people, torturing them, and even suppressing the longing and emotions that tormented him to the point of insomnia.
But never—not once—had he done anything like what the rumors claimed.
Unfortunately for them, he was fundamentally broken in a certain way. And that flaw of his—his inability to react—only changed in the presence of Seo-yul.
That was something he had only realized after reuniting with Seo-yul.
“Just wait a little longer.”
He was barely holding himself back from turning around and snapping Joshua’s neck when he heard hurried footsteps approaching from behind. Someone had called out to him.
Ina Shining.
She had been watching him during the meal earlier, and now she was following after him, telling him to wait. Was she coming to pick a fight like Joshua? But judging from her expression, that didn’t seem to be the case.
“I have something to say.”
Ina steadied her breath and spoke. But without even acknowledging her, Vin simply walked past. He heard the string of curses she hurled at his back, but he didn’t stop heading toward his bedroom.
“Hey! Vincent Shining!!”
A normal person would have given up and turned back by now, but Ina stubbornly kept following him. “Vincent, Vincent,” she called, repeating the name he didn’t want to hear, trailing persistently behind him. Eventually, he stopped walking.
“What do you want?”
“Work with me.”
Even though she got straight to the point without hesitation, he didn’t seem surprised and answered immediately.
“And why would I do that?”
“That idiot Joshua says Father will just use you and throw you away, but I don’t think so. The moment you become the next district master, the rest of us have to leave the estate. So I’m looking out for myself while I still can.”
“…….”
“I don’t want to be ‘independent.’ That means I need to align myself wisely. Don’t you think?”
Just as she said, the moment the next district master was chosen, the remaining Shinings would be forced to leave under the guise of “independence.” But in reality, it was nothing more than a polite way of discarding failed experiments, leaving them to dispose of themselves.
A few of them could remain if they were chosen by the next district master, but those were rare cases. Many Shinings tried to secure a spot by attaching themselves to the one most likely to become the next heir.
He had met plenty of Shinings before, but none had ever been as blatant about their motives as Ina Shining. Most would grovel and flatter him under the pretense of caring for him, but she was different. The way she threw it all out in the open, plain and honest, was both amusing and refreshing.
“So, you’re saying you want to cling to me?”
“Cling? No, I’m saying we should help each other.”
Ina corrected him. To him, there was no difference between clinging and “helping each other,” but fine—he’d call it what she wanted. Not that he had any intention of accepting her proposal anyway.
Perhaps sensing his disinterest, she started talking even faster. She promised to support him until he became the district master and even help him pull off the ridiculous marriage he had to go through.
He could manage those things just fine on his own, but having one of the top five Shinings on his side would make everything significantly easier. Of course, if she could surpass Joshua and rise to the second spot, that would be even better.
But something felt off. Was she really offering all this just because she didn’t want to be forced into independence? No way. Those crimson eyes of hers didn’t even bother to hide the raw ambition burning inside them. She still hadn’t revealed her true intentions.
“So, is that all you want?”
He cut her off, his gaze piercing straight through her. Meeting his sharp eyes, the pleasant smile vanished from her face in an instant. And then, finally, she revealed her real demand.
“When you become district master, give me the seat of Central Elder.”
