* * *
“Your body isn’t well yet, so stay at the mansion.”
This was because the banquet planned for the three people who came from Epentel was proceeding as scheduled.
Since he was the main figure of the banquet, Carlyle’s attendance was unavoidable.
The difference in their recovery speed was natural, making it a very suitable excuse to prevent Eren from attending the banquet.
Eren obediently saw him off with a smile.
Carlyle looked back with a lingering expression, as if he didn’t really want to go, but Eren knew and still waved his hand at him.
Why was he staring like that instead of just leaving quickly?
Eren was very displeased that Carlyle was acting this way with Ashard’s appearance in front of him, but he had to suppress the rising anger every time they were together.
‘Just hurry up and get lost, you bastard Carlyle.’
The moment the carriage left the mansion, the smile vanished from Eren’s face.
His expression was noticeably serious, but because the servants were bowing their heads to see him off, no one could see it.
The Firentium mansion, decorated identically to the Fridit estate.
While the interior could be similarly imitated, it seemed to have been impossible to make the exterior exactly the same.
This was apparent since he was seen off only at the front door, presumably so Eren wouldn’t notice.
Eren walked down the corridor, clenching his teeth.
To leave him alone in the mansion, even with servants present.
If the reason for this ignorance was the layout of this mansion, it was understandable.
“I will be in the office, so please go about your respective duties.”
The servants lined up behind him bowed in unison and left their posts.
Eren was startled when he saw the face of the maid at the very end, but he did not show it and headed to the office.
‘Did he not just imitate it, but completely recreate it?’
It was a familiar face.
It was exactly the same as the maid who had tipped him off about being the protagonist of the oracle a few days ago.
It wasn’t strange.
Since Carlyle was also completely imitating Ashard’s appearance, he must have used the same method.
If Eren had firmly believed he was the real Ashard, he wouldn’t have suspected a thing.
‘Ashard-nim… must be very worried.’
He planned to leave, but not like this.
He had intended to come up with a simple excuse, like a vacation, so that Ashard wouldn’t search for him.
If the Ashard he knew was real, he would definitely be frantic trying to find him right now.
If Ashard were to find out he was at Carlyle’s mansion, it would be a huge problem.
The only solution was to deal with these guys as quickly as possible before Ashard found out, and return to his side.
Eren quickened his steps.
Reaching Carlyle’s office, Eren flung the door open and entered.
At the sight that met his eyes the moment he opened the door, Eren let out a quiet curse.
“Crazy bastard.”
Even the office was identical to Ashard’s office.
The furniture used, the placement, and even the sequence of the books lined up on the shelves.
He didn’t know when he had entered the office, but it was beyond absurd.
Whatever method was used, it seemed to be Julius’s ability, just as Carlyle had the ability to manipulate monsters.
The ability was chillingly like Julius himself, and a sense of dread permeated his whole body.
It looked perfect upon a cursory glance, but if he had to choose one flaw, it seemed that Julius could only mimic things he had seen and experienced.
He must have known that Ashard was injured after meeting Anasil, but since he didn’t know the exact location of the scar, he couldn’t replicate it.
Well, it was all speculation, but while there was no physical evidence, there was sufficient circumstantial evidence.
[Did I not tell you? ‘Fair’.]
That was the man’s answer when Eren asked if he could gain more abilities.
It meant that power would not unfairly concentrate on one person, nor would that power be omnipotent.
“…”
Eren silently looked down at the back of his hand.
A faint pattern began to appear on it.
Specifically, a pattern that looked like a pair of elaborate wings.
[The left wing signifies his life force, and the right wing signifies his soul power. The more the white wing is stained black, the more that is diminished, My child. This is the extent of the benevolence I can bestow.]
The left wing was stained about 10% black.
Conversely, the right wing was 90% like the abyss.
Seeing it with his eyes made it even more real.
The help he had received until now was actually diminishing Ashard’s soul.
“Snap out of it.”
Slap—
Eren raised his hand and struck his own cheek, and a sharp friction sound echoed in the room.
The white cheek was red from how hard he hit it.
He didn’t have the luxury to be consumed by guilt for dragging Ashard into this now.
What was done was done and couldn’t be undone.
He just needed to snap out of it and save him.
That’s all that mattered.
Eren repeated only those words, as if speaking to himself.
Eren turned to the desk and pulled the bottom drawer.
It only rattled without opening, as if it was locked with a password.
He had expected it wouldn’t be left unlocked.
Unlike the ignorant Helid, Carlyle was rather meticulous, so he would have secured everywhere valuable items were kept with a password.
However, there was one thing he was bound to overlook.
‘I know you guys much better than you think.’
Perhaps the real Eren wouldn’t, but he was different from a fool who was only capable in one area.
If he read a piece of information once, he could remember it automatically without trying to memorize it.
There was no need to figure out Carlyle’s password, which had only appeared once in the original novel.
He entered the password he knew, and the drawer opened with a clear sound.
As soon as a transparent orb rolled out from inside, Eren snatched it up and stared blankly at it with lengthened eyes.
He wished there was some information he could have used more effectively.
Despite being an R-rated novel, Eren complained about the original work, which was focused only on explicit content from start to finish.
“Should I even bow and thank him for writing down the password?”
The fact that Carlyle’s password was written in the original novel was not through a normal route.
During their relations in the office, Carlyle made a proposition to Eren: he would stop if Eren could guess the password he set on the drawer.
Even while being abused, Eren managed to figure out the password somehow, but of course, Carlyle didn’t stop.
That would have been fortunate.
True to the original male lead, who had no decent qualities, he even activated the communication orb inside the drawer to further humiliate Eren.
Just as the title was ‘The Humiliation Flower,’ all the male leads who appeared had the keyword ‘Humiliation Male Lead,’ so that said it all.
‘Stop. Don’t think about it.’
Eren violently shook his head to shake off the constantly surfacing contents of the original work.
He carefully activated the communication orb and set the recipient list to Helid.
He subtly crafted a message, as if he had mistakenly sent a message meant for Julius, allowing Helid to realize that he was in the Firentium mansion and that Julius and Carlyle were in an alliance.
After sending the message, Eren erased the records so Carlyle wouldn’t notice later, put the communication orb back in its original place, and locked the drawer.
Then, he slumped down onto the sofa, pretending to have only been reading books in the office until Carlyle returned.
Carlyle, being meticulous, would never set the recipient incorrectly, but the foolish Helid would not even suspect and would readily take the bait.
And soon, he would take the opportunity to break into the mansion.
However, he had no intention of being smoothly captured by Carlyle.
Unlike Carlyle, who was leaving him alone for some reason, Helid was the type of guy who would drop his pants and rush in immediately.
Moreover, unlike Carlyle and Julius, whose abilities he knew, he knew nothing about Helid, so being captured without a plan was a foolish idea.
The best approach was to use Carlyle here to deal with Helid.
He had heard from Elyrion that Carlyle was incredibly furious when Helid had broken Eren’s ankle before.
Carlyle’s obsession with him was sheer madness.
Unlike the two men whose goal was a single night, Carlyle was a human overflowing with possessiveness.
It was obvious that he would lose his mind if Helid showed up and tried to take Eren away.
Whether this was due to his influence as the main male lead or the influence of the twisted original story, Eren didn’t know.
He gripped his fist hard, causing his pale hands to turn stark white.
No emotion was visible on Eren’s face.
The blue eyes that always sparkled in front of Ashard were cast downward.
‘I miss Ashard-nim.’
He missed Ashard’s smile, and the gentle touch of his hands stroking his hair.
He wanted to escape right now and run to him.
He tried to endure it, but the uncontrollable longing kept stirring within him.
He had simply returned to the way things were.
He had enjoyed a long, happy, pleasant dream and had just woken up.
He only needed to hold on a little longer.
Eren repeated the words to himself countless times.
His lowered gaze seemed to wander far into the past as he stared straight ahead.
* * *
