Quietly Hiding that I am a Man chapter 39- Fake Death

* * *

After quickly tying up my hair, I checked myself in the mirror.

I quietly admired the result. Unless I was under a bright light, the bruise would be well-hidden.

As soon as I opened the door, I locked eyes with Jerome.

His gaze lingered on my rouged lips.

There was something strange about the way he looked at me, and it made me feel oddly tense.

After staring for a moment, Jerome held out his hand, as if offering to escort me.

For once, he was acting normal.

But at the end of the hallway, I saw Duke Michael watching us.

Without a word, I took Jerome’s hand.

“Your new bottom teeth…”

“…”

“Aren’t they itchy?”

His question caught me off guard as we walked down the hall.

Though I didn’t show it, the area where my new molars were coming in was indeed itchy, just as Jerome said.

It was driving me crazy. I replied irritably.

“They itch. They’re uncomfortable.”

Jerome let out a quiet chuckle and murmured in a calm tone.

“I wish I could be like that for you.”

“…”

“I want to make you itch, to be on your mind all day long… every night, I want you to think about me and get excited. You’d touch and stroke the places you want me to, waiting for me to come.”

Despite staying up all night studying ancient texts, Jerome didn’t seem the least bit tired.

If anything, it was his lewd words that made me feel mentally exhausted.

The moment we were out of the servants’ sight, I let go of his hand.

Rubbing off the rouge, I responded.

“Please, just keep quiet until we reach the carriage.”

✽ ✽ ✽

We headed to the lake in the carriage that Ber had prepared. The lake behind the duke’s mansion was called “Maron’s Spring.”

It was where, centuries ago, the great sage Maron had disappeared while battling a monster.

Maron’s Spring was also a notorious spot where bodies regularly turned up—a sort of suicide site.

The dense trees made it shady, even during the day, and the eerie fog that lingered added to the sinister atmosphere.

It was the worst place for a date but the perfect spot for a heretic to show up.

“Here.”

As boredom set in during the carriage ride, Jerome suddenly offered me a rose made from a handkerchief.

Surprised, I took the rose and muttered.

“You’ve always had good hands.”

“Must be in my genes.”

“Genes?”

I asked curiously, but Jerome only smiled faintly in response.

I studied him with a puzzled look, then rested my chin on my hand. I spun the intricate fake rose between my fingers and thought.

“No wonder he’s excited. It’s probably the first freedom he’s had in years.”

Jerome, who had been gazing out the window, stretched his hand out to touch the outside air.

He looked like someone savoring freedom after a long time. U

nder his rolled-up sleeve, I noticed the crude holy sigils engraved on his arm.

“Jerome said he sealed Mephisto, but… since he technically made a pact with a demon, he can’t receive Maya’s protection.”

All humans in this land are born with Maya’s blessing.

Those blessed by Maya were not easily tainted by malice.

No matter how much fear or threats were imposed, humans would not fall into corruption, so the demons devised another method—exploiting human desire.

Demons, eager to expand their power by making contracts with more humans, tapped into their most primal desires: ‘I want to live. I want to die. I want to possess.’

Humans who succumbed to the demons’ temptations and lost Maya’s blessing became what is commonly referred to as heretics.

Jerome, who had already lost Maya’s blessing once, was an uncertain case; it was unclear when his heretical transformation might begin again.

“Jeanne, have you ever been to the Maron’s Spring?”

I shook my head as I watched Jerome smile innocently.

While I was tormented by the thought of Jerome’s potential fall into heresy, Jerome himself seemed completely unconcerned.

After hesitating for a moment, Jerome spoke cheerfully.

“Then it’ll be your first time going with me.”

“……”

“I’m glad to be the one who gets to experience another first with you.”

“You’ve never received anything from me.”

I leaned my head against the window, expressionless.

In truth, the Maron’s Spring was not a place I looked forward to.

‘In the original story, it was a place where Jeanne almost died.’

In the original, Jeanne searched for the Maron’s Stone to create a love potion for Carlisle.

There was a notorious legend surrounding the Maron’s Spring, claiming that the body of the great sage Maron was buried at the bottom of the lake, and somewhere by the shore, a mana stone with immense magical power was said to be hidden due to the concentrated mana from his remains.

Jeanne, who was not skilled in magic, set off alone to find this mana stone, only to be chased by a heretic who appeared at the lake.

It was then that Luke, the main character, arrived to help Jeanne.

“What are you doing? Run to the other side!”

Luke grabbed Jeanne’s delicate shoulders and shouted so fiercely that veins stood out on his neck.

There was something about Luke’s fearless expression that made Jeanne feel strangely bitter.

‘Perhaps it’s that face Carlisle loved. A heart that prioritizes others even in life-threatening situations.’

Jeanne was different—he would sacrifice others without hesitation to survive. Biting his lip, Jeanne snapped irritably.

“Why do you always save me in situations like this?”

“……”

“You could just leave me behind. It’s not like I can do anything, so why bother saving a useless woman like me?”

“Regardless of who it is, my convictions remain unchanged.”

Luke handed Jeanne a dagger from his belt.

Jeanne took it, looking up at him in bewilderment, while Luke stared at him with a blank expression before speaking.

“I save the weak and the vulnerable.”

“……”

“I’ll buy you some time. Take that dagger and run far away.”

With that, Luke turned his body. Jeanne, panting heavily, suddenly realized what he had been feeling toward him. It was nothing less than a suffocating sense of inferiority.

‘I could never be a saint like him. I’m someone who values myself more than others.’

The image of his mother choosing his younger sister over him flashed in hismind.

Even Carlisle’s gaze, quietly reproachful whenever he badmouthed Luke, resurfaced.

The once clear sky had grown cloudy, and rain began to fall.

A raindrop slid down Jeanne’s cheek as he lowered his head with a hollow laugh.

‘So that’s why I’m not loved.’

At first glance, Jeanne and Luke seemed to be polar opposites. Jeanne felt this strong inferiority whenever Luke risked his life to save him.

But there was something Jeanne didn’t know—Luke was also searching for the mana stone Jeanne had been after.

Furthermore, if Jeanne, the adopted daughter of the Efilia family, were to die, Luke’s plan to use him would collapse.

Luke wasn’t a saint who sacrificed himself to save the weak.

He was simply a strategist who cleverly manipulated others for his benefit, far more cunning than Jeanne.

‘Thanks to that, Luke gets both a rechargeable mana stone and the event of Carlisle visiting the sick. A rechargeable mana stone, huh. I wish I could find it before Luke does.’

Lost in thought, I was interrupted by a rustling sound.

I glanced down to see Ber, who had turned into a baby dragon, fluttering up from a picnic basket.

He seemed unusually excited.

“What’s all that?”

“It’s a picnic basket! It’s our first picnic together, isn’t it? Of course…”

Ber glanced at Jerome, who was still staring vacantly at his own teeth.

After a brief silence, Ber growled under his breath.

“But there’s an annoying nuisance who deserves to be torn apart.”

“……”

“Are you sure it’s okay to keep that mutt by your side? No matter the reason, with the evil Mephisto inside him, he’ll betray you someday.”

“You could betray me just as easily.”

Ber, looking stung, turned away. I pressed on Ber’s cheek as I spoke.