* * *
I scoured the vast mansion.
My breath was hitching in my throat from running around without rest.
It felt as though the fever that had finally subsided was rising again.
Even in this urgent situation, my frail body remained a burden.
Why did I only now realize that even if I avoid a mission, there is always another villain in the family to take my place?
I already knew that the Hestian household was the very soil that would raise Locke into a cruel Emperor.
‘Sigh, this is driving me crazy. Where did he take him?’
I see it now. The plot doesn’t change just because I alone change.
If that’s the case, wouldn’t it be better to use the future I know to twist the story itself?
If I can minimize the collisions between Locke and the family members, the end of the Hestian family might change too.
To do that, I had to separate Cassian and Locke at all costs.
Cassian was out of his mind.
He frequently committed incomprehensible acts and sometimes did things so insane I doubted he was even human.
One of those things was “hunting” servants with a bow in the mountains whenever our parents were away.
I hadn’t known about it because I only stayed within the mansion.
I only found out after Locke had left, through the whispered conversations of servants gossiping about why he had fled.
It was also then that I heard Cassian was the culprit who blinded Locke in one eye.
Before I knew it, the sun was setting.
In the distance, Eclat’s coachman was pulling the carriage out of the garage.
He saw me and gave a silent bow.
I approached him and asked.
“By any chance, did you see where my brother Cassian went?”
At my question, the coachman merely rolled his eyes nervously.
“I take it you did see him.”
“Well… for servants like us, one wrong word and our heads are usually the first to go.”
I took off one of the rings I was wearing and handed it to the hesitant coachman.
Nothing is clearer than material gain.
“I won’t tell him you told me. I promise.”
After a moment of wavering, the coachman’s gaze finally settled on one spot: the old stable currently being used as a storehouse.
“You rag-like bastard!”
Cassian’s sharp voice drifted out from inside the old stable.
“I see it now, the problem is that face of yours. Right?”
I quickly peeked through a crack in the door.
The interior was dark and reeked of rot.
There was a feeding trough on one side, and Cassian was pressing the back of Locke’s neck down, shoving his face into stagnant rainwater that had pooled there.
“……”
Locke showed no reaction, as if he had already lost consciousness.
Cassian, seemingly further enraged by the lack of response, pulled a dagger from his waist.
“Where should I cut so that rag of a face finally looks hideous?”
He laughed, grabbing Locke by the hair and pulling his head up.
That lunatic!
Knowing full well that facing Locke would trigger an unpleasant mission, I had no choice but to push the door open and rush in.
“Brother!”
I scrambled to grab Cassian’s wrist just as he was about to swing the dagger.
“What?”
For a moment, anger flared in Cassian’s eyes.
He was the type of person who, like a contrarian, would torment Locke even more out of spite if someone tried to stop him.
After a moment’s hesitation, I realized that Eclat would be boarding her carriage about now.
“Why are you here, brother!”
“What does it matter to you where I am?”
His temper seemed even worse than before the regression, but maybe that was just my imagination.
I shook off the thought and continued, acting urgent.
“It’s not that—Eclat is about to leave!”
“What? She’s leaving already?”
The moment Eclat’s name was mentioned, his attitude changed completely.
Cassian’s reaction was a good sign.
If I nudged him just a bit more, he would leave this place.
“With such a lack of delicacy, you’ll be stuck in a one-sided love forever.”
By the time Cassian reached the mansion, she would likely be gone.
If he complained later, I planned to play dumb and say, ‘That’s why I told you to go quickly!’
“Son of a…”
As if getting one last vent of frustration, Cassian raised his boot toward the slumped Locke.
I hurriedly hung onto his arm.
“Hurry! The carriage is going to leave at this rate.”
Cassian quickly straightened his clothes, snapped at Locke to consider himself lucky, and slammed the door as he stormed out.
I rushed over to Locke.
“Are you okay?”
Whether he hadn’t been unconscious or had just woken up, he slowly lifted his head.
Even though he was drenched in filthy water, his striking face was still the same. In fact, the added tragic vibe made him look almost pitifully beautiful.
Locke rubbed his forehead as if he had hit it on the trough and muttered lowly.
“What on earth is this… Hah.”
“Are you hurt? Let me see—ugh!”
The foul smell emanating from him stung my nose.
The stagnant water must have been truly rotten.
Worried that the dirty water might get into his eyes, I reached out with my sleeve to wipe his face.
Locke’s eyes widened, and with a stiff face, he grabbed my arm with all his strength.
Beneath his feet, a whip and a single red rose lay crushed miserably.
Seeing that, I thought Locke, having been beaten by Cassian, was afraid of my hand out of trauma.
“Seriously, brother and his nasty temper.”
I picked up the whip and threw it far away.
“Can you walk?”
For a fleeting second, my eyes met Locke’s.
He stared at me so intensely it felt like he was drilling a hole through me.
He didn’t even blink.
The moment I saw those eyes filled with rage, I instinctively shrank back.
Just looking at his amber eyes made my knees weak and my body ache.
‘A few days ago, his gaze wasn’t like that……’
The anger meant for Cassian must have been directed at me.
Look at this.
I cursed Cassian inwardly, wondering what would have happened if I hadn’t come.
It was lucky I found him before something worse happened, but if a blade had actually scarred Locke’s face……
I recalled the face of Cassian from my past life—beheaded by Locke’s hand, unable to even close his eyes in death.
The mere thought sent a chill down my spine.
It was only after I sat far enough away that he couldn’t reach me even if he reflexively reached out that I finally felt some peace of mind.
I was sitting more than 50cm away, fearfully reading his expression, but I felt I should at least help him up, so I tentatively held out my hand.
Locke stared blankly at my awkward hand floating in the air and let out a huff of a laugh.
He was someone who lived with his head down until he returned as Emperor.
And yet, a scoff?
Had he really hit his head on the trough so hard he’d lost his mind?
Or was he laughing because my behavior—acting friendly now after bullying him all this time—was just that absurd?
“I-I was trying to help you up. Why are you laughing……”
“What are you doing here…… after all this time.”
Did he mean I arrived too late?
“You can’t stay here. Cassian—I mean, my brother—might come back soon. Let’s go out first and talk. I’ll support you.”
“Why are you supporting me?”
“Huh?”
“Didn’t the young master hate me?”
“What?! What are you talking about? I don’t hate you!”
I was so shocked that I forgot I was being cautious and yelled at him.
But I truly never hated Locke even once.
I only followed the missions the scenario gave me because I wanted to live.
Whether my answer was unexpected, Locke stared at me silently.
Having shouted reflexively out of surprise, it didn’t take long for me to realize how absurd my words must have sounded to him.
Who would believe someone who says they don’t hate you after constant bullying?
If I were Locke, I wouldn’t have believed it either.
Suddenly, there was a crack—the sound of something snapping.
It sounded like a twig under Locke’s hand.
I flinched and lowered my head deeply.
It had become a situation where the servant was staring down the master, and the master was bowing his head like a sinner.
Though I didn’t know how it was before the possession, in this life, the status between Locke and me was as different as heaven and earth.
Nevertheless, because I knew him as the Emperor, my body reacted automatically.
“I-I’ve been acting very prickly lately, haven’t I? Actually, there was a reason. You see, as you know, I don’t have much longer to live.”
I made excuses as quickly and desperately as I could, even sounding pathetic to my own ears.
“Maybe because of that, my mood swings are a bit severe. Think about it. Wouldn’t you be gloomy and scared if you didn’t know when you’d die? I keep losing weight in my face, and my eyes are getting hollow. I just keep getting uglier…… while you keep getting healthier and cooler and more handsome. I guess I was a bit jealous.”
Sorry!
The excuses poured out without end.
Even though I kept prattling on for a while, Locke said nothing.
He just twitched one corner of his mouth as if the situation was beyond belief, then rubbed his neck and let out a short click of his tongue.
The feeling of dissonance from his unfamiliar demeanor lasted only a moment.
Seeing the scratches on Locke’s neck, I immediately pulled a jade ointment jar from my robe.
“Brother did that, right? Look at your neck.”
Opening the jar revealed a yellowish ointment.
Now that I had decided not to follow the system windows, whenever an excessive mission appeared, I would check my heart count and click ‘Decline’ if it felt too wrong.
Each time, I suffered a seizure as a penalty and ended up with bruises or injuries from falling.
This was a medicine my mother had specially made for me through an Imperial healer.
When I put some ointment on my index finger to apply it to his neck, he recoiled as if I were a bug.
“Have you truly gone mad?”
* * *
