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Chapter 60
Nine Breads. Shit Is Shit, It Can’t Become Soybean Paste (10)
“Ahhh!”
It felt as if her scalp was being torn off. Ellie curled up and struggled, but the man just snorted in annoyance and lifted his arm.
“What’s this? Huh? Never seen this face before.”
“Ellie! No, put her down!”
“Damn it, wait your turn. Pretty, pretty… you’re so distracted by beauty you can’t see a thing, huh?”
Irene tried to tear Ellie away from Mark’s arms, but Mark wasn’t going to be fooled twice. He kicked Irene in the stomach with his booted foot.
“I told you to wait.”
“Ugh…huh…”
Irene flew backward like a sheet of paper, tumbling helplessly. Mark briefly loosened his grip on Ellie’s hair, only to twist her neck again.
“So this is a maid, huh? Perfect timing. If I dealt with that woman directly, I might accidentally kill her. Still, I have to keep her alive until my brother makes the decision.”
“Ugh… st… stifling…”
“Gained a bit of weight… doesn’t matter. As long as there’s somewhere to hit.”
Even as she struggled for air, curses bubbled up in her throat. Ellie flailed, but her strength gave out, leaving her trembling. Tears welled in her eyes, and her face burned red.
‘He’s a real mad dog!’
Ellie couldn’t deny it; the Duke McClure’s description was accurate. No, calling him a dog would be an insult—he was just a lunatic. Ellie clawed at the rock-hard back of his hand, digging in with her nails. The man didn’t seem tickled, but when blood smeared his sleeve, his eyebrows twitched.
“You’re hurt? Huh?”
“Ugh…huhhh…”
“Kinda my type, though.”
The man licked his lips with his tongue and finally set the nearly-fainting Ellie down on the floor. She tried to run the instant her feet touched the ground.
But the man was faster. He twisted Ellie’s arms behind her back, holding her in one hand, then kicked the fallen Irene.
“How long are you going to stay a girl? You need to follow your husband, right?”
“Ugh… Ellie…”
“Ellie, Nelly… if you want to stay alive, stand up straight.”
Irene shivered but managed to get to her feet. Her advantage from the previous attack had helped, and his momentary surprise made it possible.
There was no hope standing directly against him. Irene didn’t even have a weapon.
“Let go! My arm… it’s bent! It’ll break! Argh!”
“I said be quiet.”
Mark threw Ellie onto the bed. The impact was so strong it made a loud thud despite the cushions. Ellie quickly rolled backward to distance herself.
Her palm was cut, her scalp ached. Her arm had been twisted, and she couldn’t properly use her shoulder or elbow.
But more than that, the man approaching her with a disgusting smile terrified her.
“Behave, and I might let you live.”
“Leave Ellie alone! It doesn’t matter…!”
“I told you to shut up. I’m so excited I might just kill you. If I kill you, my brother will punish me, so I’m holding back! Don’t you get it? It’s all your fault.”
Even trembling with fear, Ellie felt disgusted by his words.
Trash always says the same things.
Just like Duke McClure had taken out his anger on her because of her weight and ugliness, this man claimed his actions were caused by her.
Unbelievable. Really.
The man seemed pathetic. Ellie, driven by the thought that she could break her twisted ankle, bounced off the bed to escape.
She had to call someone. Anyone.
“Hey, damn it, where are you going!”
Luckily, her hair wasn’t grabbed, but she couldn’t get far. Rolling on the floor, she vowed she wouldn’t die getting beaten by this bastard. She glared at him.
Mark smirked and swung his foot.
“Not Ellie!”
Irene lunged again at Mark’s ankle, but his fist was faster. A crack echoed as Irene collapsed.
“Irene!”
“Worrying about each other… how touching.”
“D-Don’t come… I… I’ll scream…”
“You’ve been screaming all along. Keep it up. No one’s coming anyway.”
Who could stop her? Mark added with a sly grin, then picked up Irene’s fallen dagger.
“Running around is annoying. Let’s start with your ankle. Come here. If you come willingly, I’ll just cut the tendon.”
“N-no… no…”
Why was she here, suffering like this by her own choice?
She knew she shouldn’t have acted on instinct and shouldn’t have left Irene behind. Ellie hiccupped in fear, regretting and blaming herself.
But then she saw Irene had fallen trying to protect her and bit her lip.
Reckless, immature, selfish, innocent as if a flower had bloomed in her head, clueless…
Yet always approaching her, secretly waving, smiling like she had found treasure.
Ellie had tried to think of Irene as just a character in a novel, but she had known her for a long time, blood or not.
Even knowing the danger, she couldn’t pretend not to see it. That wasn’t human.
Ellie was human. Irene was human.
‘Even if I didn’t want to admit it…’
Irene had thrown herself to protect Ellie.
She couldn’t deny it. Too much had changed from the story.
Her ankle was twisted, strength gone, energy depleted. Running was impossible. And with Irene unable to rise, hope for help was gone. If no one came amid all this commotion, the same would happen for hours.
Could they survive?
No matter the humiliation, survival mattered. But that madman clearly didn’t plan to let Ellie live.
He wanted to take out his anger on Ellie to preserve Irene.
If she had to die, she didn’t want to beg pathetically. Ellie took deep breaths, trying to calm her rapidly beating heart. Maybe if she stayed still, he’d stop sooner…
“Giving up already? Boring.”
“Crazy bastard. Totally different from your brother.”
If he was Prince Yan, he’d be Demian’s brother—how could there be such a difference?
Ellie spat a mocking laugh, and Mark’s gaze shifted. He didn’t get angry, instead he smiled calmly.
“Crazy to want to die, huh?”
“People scratch when you tell them the truth. Got scratched, huh?”
“Damn it…!”
Ellie didn’t close her eyes. She would remember the face of the one who tried to kill her until her last moment, ready to curse them for generations.
If she could, even minnows’ souls combined might be enough to cast a curse.
Then, someone burst through the door Ellie had left open.
Ellie thought she was seeing things. The face behind the man was familiar.
Familiar, yet strange.
Maurice? Could it be?
Maurice’s face was a mess—sweaty, panting, hair disheveled.
Most strikingly, usually calm Maurice looked anxious, scanning for something, his light brown eyes trembling.
Ellie moved her lips slightly. Maurice?
Maurice spotted Ellie.
His eyes widened, and he lunged toward her as if protecting something precious.
“Ellie, damn it, Eddie! Quickly!”
Maurice grabbed Ellie, and the dagger Mark swung plunged into his arm. Ellie, blocked by Maurice’s chest, couldn’t see what happened.
Her strength drained instantly, almost fainting.
“Hurry, quickly! Ellie, don’t pass out!”
“…Huh.”
“Ellie, no! I told you not to go alone!”
“Yeah…”
Consciousness flickered. Ellie squeezed her eyes shut and opened them.
You seem like a complete stranger. That’s so funny…
She couldn’t say it aloud, so she just laughed softly, deflating like a balloon.
It was funny. She looked like someone who had almost lost something precious.
Even amidst this, it made her happy. It was just too funny.
