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Chapter 51
Have you already forgotten that I just sent that jerk, who was mouthing off to you, flying?
It wasn’t intentional, but still — that was basically revenge on your behalf, wasn’t it?
Jade’s eyes, blazing with fury, were now filled with a sharp intensity.
“You’ve got to be kidding me…”
Now that his vision had cleared, Harris’s eyes looked slightly curved in amusement.
Talking about dying… Well, setting that aside, Jade had just almost accomplished a feat no one else in Si Cheon Gwi had managed to achieve.
“Why would I—”
“Who shoves someone with a cart just to shut them up?”
“….”
Wait, so he knew? Jade stammered out an excuse.
“It… wasn’t on purpose…”
“Really? So if there had been another way, you wouldn’t have shut him up?”
Well… no, that wasn’t possible.
That vile mouth that only made Harris angrier had to be shut somehow.
Even if it was violent, if it was to prevent an even greater act of violence…!
When Jade was left speechless, Harris only pulled him in tighter.
This was necessary.
This was what he wanted.
Just touching him seemed to calm the raging storm in his mind.
It was obvious now — he was losing control of himself, becoming addicted to one single person.
And yet—
It feels good.
The scent that clung to Jade was unbearably sweet. There was simply no way to reject it. He didn’t even want to reject it.
You always appear like a miracle.
Which only made him more suspicious — he knew he couldn’t trust, shouldn’t trust.
But somehow… it didn’t matter anymore.
It shouldn’t be like this.
Resting his forehead against those slender shoulders, Harris chuckled for a while.
“Really, Jade. There’s no one in the world stranger than you.”
“….”
Don’t laugh while insulting me, you bastard…
The words rose up to his throat, but Jade didn’t open his mouth.
“Is it because you’re really from another world?”
Harris’s smiling face was so beautiful, so alluring that Jade felt like he could hand over his heart and soul.
He didn’t want to extinguish that smile. He wanted to keep looking at it.
If possible, for a lifetime.
Ah, so this is how you smile.
The curved eyes, the slight dimples at the corners — Jade stared blankly until Harris’s gaze met his. Startled, Jade flinched and tried to pull away.
“…!”
But at some point, he’d ended up leaning against Harris’s body. When he tried to move away, Harris held him firmly in place.
“What.”
The smile vanished instantly.
Jade froze, and when Harris grabbed his wrist, he let out an involuntary “Ah.”
“You’re hurt.”
“…Pardon?”
Snapping out of his daze, Jade quickly looked up.
Harris’s large hand held his trembling wrist, prying open the clenched fist one finger at a time.
“…!”
The palm, scraped raw and red, was the result of gripping the cart too tightly in panic.
Thinking about it, it was obvious.
He had thrown his whole weight against a runaway cart, and even collided with the body of a grown man. There was no way he could be unharmed.
My stomach aches a bit too.
Still, considering there was someone who’d been thrown into a wall by that same cart, he didn’t feel like he had the right to complain.
“That’s a bad injury.”
“….”
Not really, though.
Tsk. Harris clicked his tongue in pity.
“If that bastard hadn’t body-checked a stationary cart, your hand wouldn’t be this hurt.”
It wasn’t stationary.
And I was the one who hit him.
But Harris’s expression was serious, and his tone was full of displeasure.
What kind of bizarre blame-shifting was this? He wasn’t Duke Godwin…
This is all Norman Godwin’s fault.
Jade’s resentment flared anew.
That guy passed on bad genes to my Harris. The root of all evil!
“L-Lord Harris! That maid just assaulted me—!”
Ivan, belatedly protesting, didn’t get to finish.
“…?!”
Jade flinched at the sudden, ominous chill crawling up his spine.
Shhh— A soothing voice pressed gently against the back of Jade’s head.
Trapped against Harris’s shoulder, Jade couldn’t see or hear anything.
Beeeep—
Only a sharp, foreboding sound rang in his mind for a moment.
And then—
“Guhhh—!”
Ivan coughed up blood as though his spine had been twisted.
He wasn’t the only one.
The man who had tried to stab Jade was instead skewered by his own blade, and the one who tried to fire a gun now clutched a bleeding thigh.
“To think you would smuggle assassins into Duke Godwin’s estate and attempt to attack me.”
No — clearly they’d been trying to attack me. When had the target changed?
Blinking in confusion, Jade realized he was still in Harris’s arms as Harris rose to his feet.
“Suspicious. There must be someone behind this, wouldn’t you agree?”
“…!”
Only then did Jade notice the knights that had entered the room.
“M-My Lord!”
And the former duke.
Wow… the old duke’s expression is no joke.
It seemed Amia, whom Jade had sent ahead before arriving at the annex, had smoothly delivered the situation to Count Redian.
Armed strangers in his home, without his permission.
“Artugo, Letos, whoever… Do they take me for some decrepit old man locked away in the back room?”
The former duke curled his lip into a dangerous smile.
“Bind them all.”
“…?!”
“My lord, no!”
“We were just passing through—!”
Despite their pleas, the former duke’s tiger-like roar silenced everyone.
“Take them all away.”
“My lord—!”
Even the household staff who had gathered to watch were dragged off.
That… was resolved really fast.
Jade was still a little stunned.
Well, at least nothing too big happened…
But Harris definitely seemed like he was about to lose control… Was he guided somehow?
No way it was just because he found me funny.
Her gaze shifted to the calming potion rolling on the floor, and to the pendant around her neck — Adrian, the stone.
Hmm… It had to be one of the two.
Please, let it be the potion.
That was her livelihood. If it worked even on guide-insensitive Harris, it would be a massive breakthrough.
With Nate in the mix, success was already likely, but there was no harm in hoping for an even bigger win.
The former duke, surveying the now-cleared room, approached them with a stern face. But before he could speak, Harris said—
“Manage your household better. What is this?”
He held up her reddened palm.
This… really isn’t a big deal.
It was embarrassing to make a fuss over it, especially when the redness was already fading.
“….”
But why did the old duke’s face look so grim? Like when she’d come back from a dungeon.
He once barged in unannounced, insisting I eat tasteless restorative foods because I’d been slow to recover.
He hadn’t left until she finished them, and even sent more afterward…
“Ugh.”
The memory of those disgusting meals made her grimace.
“…!”
Seeing her expression, the old duke’s face stiffened even more.
“Is it… very painful?”
He even asked cautiously.
“Here, hold some ice. It’s swollen.”
And Harris — what are you doing now?!
“You can’t just hand it over like that. Wrap it in a towel first.”
And the old duke — why are you giving advice?!
“Oh. How unusually considerate of you.”
And Harris — why are you nodding seriously at that?!
“Yes, I am considerate. Unlike someone who just tosses ice to their guide.”
“Of course, unlike someone who doesn’t even notice their guide’s hand is red until it’s pointed out by someone else.”
Enough with the pointless power struggle, both of you!
In the end, she held the cold towel-wrapped ice in her hand and blinked in disbelief.
Are these people insane?
Meeting her gaze, Harris nodded solemnly.
“Keep at it even if it’s too cold. You need to keep icing it.”
“….”
She was pretty sure she was the least injured person here.
Being carried toward the east wing in Harris’s arms, Jade couldn’t help but worry.
Her Harris… hopefully he hadn’t actually lost it while laughing earlier…
That night.
While Jade slept, the dark pink stone dangling from her collar trembled.
From within its gem-like depths, light flashed and a thick darkness poured out like smoke.
And then—
“Phew…”
As the smoke settled, a silhouette emerged.
Long, deep pink hair. Vivid violet eyes. A striking, androgynous beauty radiating a mysterious, dreamlike aura.
“…To finally materialize now.”
Adrian murmured, flexing his fingers.
It had taken far too long.
And even now, it wasn’t complete — he couldn’t hold this form for long.
Haiju Stone.
That was what he needed. His delicate brows furrowed.
“Mmm.”
At the sound of a faint snore, Adrian stood by the bed, looking down at Jade.
In the dark, his lips moved slightly.
“…Jade.”
That astonishingly beautiful face was utterly expressionless, like a void.
It held so many emotions that none could be read at all.
But Adrian didn’t linger. Turning away, he moved quickly.
The Godwin estate was practically in the palm of his hand. He’d wandered it countless times.
He knew not only the servants’ paths but also the guards’ patrol routes by heart.
In the dead of night, without drawing attention, Adrian reached the prison.
More precisely—
“Khh… hhh…”
To Bona, who lay unconscious, drooling, her body shrouded in a black, ominous energy.
Harris Godwin’s work.
It was a pitiful sight, objectively speaking, but Adrian felt nothing. He knew exactly why she’d ended up here.
Not killing right away, but drawing out the suffering with prolonged torture — that was Harris’s specialty.
Probably because he’d endured it himself for so long.
Foolish.
Adrian, who had lived as a vengeful ghost far longer, assessed coldly.
If something was a threat, you didn’t retaliate emotionally. You eliminated it immediately.
Like now.
Do Not Obsess Over the Fake Tranquilizer, Villain
