PAHKE 74

Chapter 74

Thud.

It felt as if my heart had fallen to the ground.

I didn’t want to be shaken by such a ridiculous lie.

But I couldn’t hide the anxiety rising inside me.

What if… what if Adriel was really dead…?

I quickly shook my head.

No. Don’t think such nonsense.

There’s no way Adriel is dead.

The novel isn’t even over yet.

There’s no way Adriel, the villain of the novel, would die already.

So… so…

“Let’s stop talking about other men now.”

My stomach churned as if I was about to throw up.

“Being jealous of someone who’s probably already on the road to the afterlife? That’s a little pathetic.”

As soon as Lucian spoke in a bored tone, I could no longer endure it and ran toward the window.

“Teacher…!”

I heard Echo calling me, but his voice didn’t register in my mind.

I immediately called out to Wit, who was outside the window.

“Please, Wit. Save Adriel.”

“Master, that human is dangerous. If Wit goes, Wit can’t protect Master. Hehe.”

Wit glared at Lucian without lowering his guard.

“I’ll be fine. That man is crazy, but he won’t kill me. You know that too. So please, find Adriel right now.”

“No, Master! Wit can’t leave Master behind!”

There wasn’t any time for this.

At this very moment, Adriel might be dying.

“Please… I’m begging you, Wit.”

I gently held both of Wit’s cheeks and looked into his eyes. Wit’s lips puffed out like a duck’s, and his eyes widened.

“M-Master…”

“I desperately need your help.”

Wit kept hesitating. But in the end, unable to resist my trembling voice, he tightly shut his eyes.

“I’ll only look for a little while! I won’t go far, so wait for me, Master!”

After confirming that Wit flew upward, I turned around again.

Lucian was leaning casually against the doorframe, looking at me with ease, while Echo stared at me with confused eyes.

“Teacher… who were you talking to?”

Fortunately—or maybe not—from where Echo was standing, my body had blocked his view, so he hadn’t seen Wit.

“Looks like Echo is curious about your secret friend. Why not tell him?”

Knowing perfectly well that I couldn’t answer honestly, Lucian teased me.

I glared at him before walking over to Echo.

“Just now… it was a friend who came to help me.”

“Your friend…?”

I nodded.

Echo looked at me in surprise.

Well, I wasn’t exactly lying, so I decided to brush it off.

“I expected Echo would come looking for you.”

I looked up again as Lucian continued speaking.

“But I didn’t expect you to come in such a reckless way.”

“…You somehow knew I’d come.”

Lucian smiled with his eyes.

“Did you think I wouldn’t know you?”

I really wished he’d stop knowing me so well.

I let out a small sigh and pulled Echo behind me.

Watching me with amusement, Lucian made a suggestion.

“Although this is technically trespassing, we’re all gathered here anyway. So why don’t we settle this cleanly once and for all?”

Settle it.

He meant ending the bet by having Echo choose between us right here.

I looked down at Echo.

Until Lucian appeared, I had been trying to persuade him.

Since we hadn’t had enough time to talk, I honestly wasn’t confident that Echo would choose me.

“Teacher…?”

Perhaps sensing the tense atmosphere from Lucian’s words, Echo tightly grabbed my sleeve.

I bent down to meet his eyes.

“I have something to tell you, Echo.”

Surprised by my much gentler tone, Echo looked at me with wide eyes.

“As I told you before, I want to become your family.”

“Me… with you, Teacher?”

Echo’s mouth fell open in disbelief.

I smiled softly at him.

“We may not be brothers by blood, but you’ve trusted me like real family. And I think of you as my little brother.”

Echo’s eyes widened in shock before slowly filling with tears.

I carefully held out one hand toward him.

“So… will you become my little brother?”

“Teacher…”

Tears rolled down from the child’s reddish-purple eyes.

His chest trembled with emotion as he slowly reached out his shaking hand.

Just then—

“Think carefully, Echo.”

Echo froze before he could take my hand.

So this was what it meant to throw cold water on a moment.

I slowly raised my head and glared at Lucian, who had instantly ruined the atmosphere.

“Of course she’ll say everything is fine now. But once she’s left with nothing, you’ll be the first person she resents.”

Echo flinched at Lucian’s words.

“Y-You’re wrong, Brother. Teacher wouldn’t do that…”

“Oh, Echo. My poor little brother. I can already picture you getting hurt by people.”

Echo lowered his head, his eyes trembling with uncertainty.

“But don’t blame my dear one for it. That’s just how people are. Once they’re cornered, even feelings that seemed unchanging can disappear.”

That bastard…

Biting my lip, I hurriedly called out to Echo.

“You don’t need to listen to him!”

Echo’s wide eyes turned toward me.

“The important thing is that you—”

Hiss—

At that moment.

A chilling sound came from directly above my head.

It was a familiar sound—the threatening hiss of the venomous snake Lucian had once sent to kill me.

My eyes naturally lifted upward.

“Teacher…!”

“…!”

Our eyes met with a gigantic snake wrapped around the ceiling light, slowly lowering itself toward us.

My heart nearly stopped from fright, but I couldn’t move.

If I made a careless move, it felt as though the snake would swallow me whole.

“Let’s do this, Echo.”

My body stiffened from tension.

Looking calmly at me, Lucian spoke to Echo.

“If you leave with her now, your teacher dies.”

“N-No…”

Echo trembled pitifully under Lucian’s threat.

Terrified, the child began letting go of my hand as thick tears streamed down his face.

“T-Teacher… I’m sorry…”

I barely tore my eyes away from the snake and looked down at Echo.

“Sob… I… I can’t go…”

At last, Echo burst into tears.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Lucian watching us as if he were enjoying a show.

He thought everything was going exactly as he wanted.

I clenched both fists.

Never.

I would never let that happen.

“Echo.”

As I wrapped my arms around Echo’s back, his sobs grew even louder.

He was such a small child, small enough to fit completely in my embrace.

I didn’t want someone so small to be hurt anymore.

“If you don’t want to stay here, then come with me.”

“B-But then you’ll…”

“It’s okay.”

Echo, who had rested his head against my shoulder, slowly looked up at me.

I whispered to him more seriously than ever before.

“Everything will be fine.”

Because I’ll make sure it is.

Believe me.

Echo stared at me silently for a long time.

But when I felt him tighten his grip around my hand, I knew he had made his decision.

“How unfortunate.”

Apparently, Lucian realized it too.

“My dear has worked her magic again. How did things end up like this?”

Still holding Echo’s hand, I slowly stood up.

“It’s settled now.”

With Echo’s choice, the bet was over.

“Hmm. So you’re really leaving just like this?”

“That’s a strange question.”

All that remained was taking Echo back to Count Perial’s estate.

“Really?”

But it seemed Lucian had no intention of letting me leave so easily.

“What a shame.”

Smiling in a way that revealed nothing of his thoughts, Lucian let out a whistle.

At the same time, the venomous snake hanging from the ceiling opened its enormous jaws toward me.

I shouted in disbelief.

“The bet is over! What are you doing?!”

“Shh. It might hurt a little, but bear with it. I have the antidote, so don’t be too scared.”

Shielding Echo behind me, I slowly stepped backward.

But the distance between me and the snake never grew any wider.

“As if I’d ever kill you.”

“You lunatic…!”

“Teacher…!”

When I backed all the way to the window, I felt the cold wind against my back.

Wit…!

The snake’s mouth lunged toward me.

The moment I pulled Echo into my arms—

Thud!

The sound of something being pierced echoed through the room.

“…?”

Slowly opening my eyes, I saw the snake’s head pinned to the floor by a sword.

Holding my breath, I lifted my head.

My eyes met Adriel’s cold, expressionless face.

“Are you alright?”

Breathing heavily, he called out to me.

Adriel kept speaking to me with a grave expression, but my mind had gone completely blank, and I couldn’t hear a single word.

A moment later, tears welled up in my eyes.

Through my blurry vision, I saw Adriel standing frozen in shock before his expression gradually twisted into a fierce scowl.

“What’s wrong? Don’t tell me that bastard did something to—”

Before he could finish speaking,

I ran toward him with all my strength and threw my arms tightly around his neck.