Translator and Editor: Skye and Einna

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Chapter 18

Focusing on the noise outside the mansion, he did not notice that a big dot was forming at the end of the last line.

Ink kept leaking from the tip of the immobile pen.

The piece of paper that had a long, thick ink stain on it soon fell under the desk when the commotion outside made Lucian leap to his feet.

His heart began beating violently with anxiety. He hurried out of the study and quickly went down to the first floor.

He was sure Rachel would be standing there with a puzzled look after seeing how he rushed to go downstairs. Then he thought he should take her to her room quietly.

Because the Duke’s knighthood had come, it meant that the situation was dire. Rachel had to be in the mansion.

Lucian arrived on the first floor and looked around to find Rachel.

But the person he was trying to find wasn’t there, and even the employees were gathered at the entrance of the mansion.

He went outside right away.

As he stood at the entrance of the mansion, a group of knights could be seen from a distance, marching. The man in front of their formation was the Duke’s Knight Commander.

There was only one reason that made that man make a move.

It was when the Duke was in danger.

But his father didn’t go out alone. Rachel was with his father.

Lucian’s dull eyes glimmered.

Rachel!

He hurried to the stable and quickly went to his private horse, Hooter, who sniffed and became restless.

“Young Master?”

A stableman recognized him and called out, and only then did Lucian give an urgent order.

“Give me a saddle!”

The stableman, who knew that Lucian was usually a quiet, seemingly absent-minded type of man, got startled and flustered by his sudden command.

Lucian, who didn’t want to deal with the dumbfounded look on the man’s face, got the saddle himself.

“Young Master, please let me do it.”

Perhaps he recovered his senses late, but the stableman helped put the saddle on.

Lucian climbed on the horse swiftly. The stableman looked blankly at his retreating figure as he steered the horse into a gallop without delay.

The butler jumped in front of Lucian as he tried to ride his horse out of the castle.

Lucian stopped his horse in front of the butler by a hair’s breadth, then gave the older man a cold look.

“If you want to die, then die somewhere else.”

His words made the butler’s eyes grow wide. But soon he regained his calm demeanor and spoke in a low voice.

“Young Master, please step down from the horse.”

“…”

The butler devoted himself to the Duchy for a long time.

He had been working here even before Lucian was born, and everyone knew what kind of environment Lucian grew up in and how he was treated.

He thought the child had grown up with a weak heart.

“The Duke will return safely. If you go out like this, you would just get in the Duke’s way.”

“…”

“So, please stay in the mansion.”

This was not something a mere servant was supposed to say.

However, the butler had a duty to protect the Duke’s successor, and, as he said, it was unlikely that Lucian would be able to help.

Normally Lucian wouldn’t have disputed what he said. Yes, normally.

After a moment of silence as he stared at the butler, Lucian spoke grimly in a low voice that seemed to have been drawn from the bottom of his soul.

“To me.”

With his slow words, the butler looked up. On the black horse, Lucian lowered his golden eyes that felt as if they were made from cold metal.

The butler was reminded of the previous late Duke.

Reason came before emotion.

He had a plan for everything, and he was thorough and firm at work.

Lucian firmly ordered the butler, who looked up blankly.

“The only person who can give an order to me is my father.”

The manager of the house trembled at Lucian’s icy tone. Lucian didn’t have time to deal with him.

He was anxious, but he didn’t show it.

Instead, he just quietly ordered.

“Move.”

While staring coldly at the butler who submissively shuffled to the side, Lucian grabbed the reins.

His black horse began to run fast. He didn’t realize this was the first time he had broken his schedule.

Only his sister, Rachel, occupied his mind.

Rachel, please stay safe.

✦

“Ugh…”

I woke up with a splitting headache. After blinking a few times, my blurry sight sharpened.

Where am I?

Thinking that I’d been trapped somewhere, I looked around apprehensively.

Not far away, I could hear people talking. I looked around in the dark and raised my head.

I opened my eyes amidst a thick forest where I couldn’t even see the night sky, and I immediately recognized where I was.

It’s a place mentioned in the original novel.

It was the forest where the second male lead hid to get out of Lucian’s way as he escaped from his master.

The place where the mana wavelength was so erratic that it was designated by the Empire as a forbidden area.

It’s not easy to get out of this place, even if there were talented wizards and knights with you.

The place I was in now was a maze forest proudly located in the center of the Empire.

It’s known as the ‘Round and Round Forest’ or ‘Spinning Forest’.

“What the hell is this?”

Why was I brought here? I just couldn’t understand it.

As I said earlier, it’s hard to get out of here even if talented wizards and knights were at your side. No matter how good you are at navigating, it will be hard to get out of the forest.

What the hell were they thinking by bringing me here?

They looked so drunk over there that they didn’t even notice that I woke up.

They were so relaxed about this situation. I could tell because they bound my hands with metal restraints, but they left my feet free.

You didn’t think I could run away from here, did you?

Then, I had to destroy their overconfidence.

I wasn’t discouraged at all even though I was in a place I didn’t know well. I was confident that I’d come back alive and safely fangirl again.

Thinking about it, now that he’s gained some weight, I’ve managed to help restore his beauty, but it still wasn’t enough.

It was sad that I got transmigrated and I couldn’t return to my old life, but to die without being a proper fan was worse than death to someone like me, who had dedicated 10 years of my life as a fan.

That can’t be. This situation was something I didn’t expect, but I will definitely survive and go back to my fave!

I decided to move away from those people for now, so I slowly crept away.

But who the hell did that stupid uncle trust to do such a crazy thing?

Are you begging someone who could control to an extent the Duke of Leon, who was a powerhouse in this country?

Who the hell was audacious enough?

As far as I know, even the Imperial Family couldn’t afford to make such a move against Duke Leon. Why would the Imperial Family antagonize their ever so loyal underling?

Well, who the hell is it then?

Let’s see.

Who was so reckless among the characters in the novel?

Thinking about everyone besides Oscar would be susceptible, but there was one character that matches that description in my memory.

Ah, would he be able to do it?

The description of my kidnapping in the novel was very brief.

The perspective that the readers follow in the book was that of the male lead, and the male lead didn’t give Rachel any attention.

This was the case even more after he met Sue. Therefore, my kidnapping was written down in just a few lines with no further explanation.

But I’m sure it was not supposed to happen right now. I think Lucian had already come of age when it happened.

As I was dragging my feet thinking to myself, I held my breath at the sudden sound of approaching footsteps.

“Huh? Are you finally awake?”

As soon as I heard the beguiling voice, I realized that I guessed it right.

It was such a beautiful voice that I wondered if Seiren would have such a voice if he was born as a human man.

But his head wasn’t as beautiful as his voice.

Because this character appeared as the head of the underworld, he was the most unrivaled madman among the fishes* that had fallen in love with Sue.

What a beautiful madman.

A man worthy of matching the eccentricity of the sub-male lead, Oscar.

He wasn’t a lunatic for Sue, he would just be any ole crazy madman.

“What are you thinking so cutely about? You didn’t think I’d know you’re already awake if you hold your breath like that? Why are you hiding your face behind a tree.”

Oh, I want to go crazy, too.

I didn’t know he’d be the one responsible for my kidnapping.

“Why do you keep ignoring me?”

Why are you upset that I didn’t answer? Then why don’t you get kidnapped all of a sudden. Let’s see how you’ll feel like.

When I kept refusing to answer, the lunatic went right in front of me.

As he crouched down, I looked away because I didn’t want to make eye contact.

Then his legs moved right in front of me.

Just looking at his legs, he had a huge presence like, “I’m one of the fishes!”

No, why did you put this one heck of a strange fish, writer?

In the original story, he’s portrayed as having a beautiful voice, but the good-natured Sue avoided him just because he was the head of the underworld.

Therefore, it was less likely for him to end up as one of the main characters in the first place, so he only stopped at the point of being a fish, and was left alone.

Elliot Aiden.

Born in the lowest of the brothels, he used his specialty to take control of the underworld.

His specialty was controlling spirits.

He signed a contract with a demon-like spirit who fed on human malice or mean and negative emotions. It was not at all like a cute spirit of nature that was shiny and innocent.

The place he lived in was like a shadow of the Empire, so his spirit grew in size and power in an instant.

The more evil he did, the greater his power became.

People screamed and suffered even if he didn’t bother to harm them with his own hands. Unless he stopped committing vicious crimes, his power would continue to prosper.

“If you keep ignoring me, I’ll just open the door for the others to come here.”

Hey, you son of a…!

What an evil minded jerk!

——qc/n:* the sub male leads are described as “fishes” who are in love with Sue.

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