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Chapter 8
To calm my enraged father, I first lowered my eyes in a submissive posture. My father doesn’t like rebellious attitudes.
“Father, I’m sor—”
“You! You out‑of‑your‑mind thing!”
Before I could finish my quick apology, Father roared like fire. My eyelids trembled every time his voice rose.
Annoyingly enough, bad memories seem to engrain themselves in the body far more easily than good ones, making them hard to erase. But because I was so used to this, I was confident I could handle it skillfully.
Father grabbed my shoulders and thrust his face close to mine as I spoke. Startled by the sudden closeness, I swallowed hard.
With eyes flashing, he ground out his words between clenched teeth:
“Be still. Keep quiet for a while. Duke or no Duke, does it make any sense for someone to drag you off by force? We can use that as an excuse to get compensation. I don’t even expect marriage, but at least that much will help our situation. Isn’t that so, my daughter? Just stay put.”
A surge of anger welled up inside me.
He didn’t even ask what had happened to me or about my circumstances—his eyes were fixed only on money.
My father was a man who wasn’t worth persuading anyway. Having lost any reason to endure, I pushed at his shoulders. But he didn’t even budge.
“…Lena, why are you acting like this? I’m your father.”
Viscount Clinton put on a gentle face, smiling in a way that was utterly revolting.
I was about to kick him when suddenly his grip loosened.
Because I already had one foot raised, the sudden loss of pressure caused me to lose my balance and slide down onto the floor.
The Viscount also collapsed in front of me. His face was right before mine, but he wasn’t actually looking at me.
‘…What’s with him?’
In that brief moment he looked as if he’d seen something truly terrifying, drooling in a pitiful display of fear.
Even the servants who had come to intervene from behind us froze in surprise and then quickly stepped aside.
I blinked at my father, then shoved him hard. His large body toppled backward. At last I could breathe.
Behind me came a voice dripping with mockery.
“So at least the daughter has some class.”
The owner of the voice—Sian—strode quickly over to stand beside me, looking down at my father. His eyes were so dark they seemed to burn red.
He didn’t even glance at me but jerked his chin toward my father.
“What’s this mole‑like thing?”
“…My father. For now.”
He had surely heard everything already, so he wasn’t really asking. Yet my answer only made him laugh in disbelief.
“This kind of trash.”
“…Unfortunately, yes.”
The Viscount lay trembling in terror.
‘So this is that power.’
It still didn’t affect me, but I knew instinctively. I didn’t know why Sian had helped me, but his whim felt like a stroke of luck.
I clasped my shaking hands together, closing and opening my eyes as I focused on steady breathing. My body wouldn’t stop trembling.
‘I didn’t want to be scared of someone like him…’
Meanwhile Sian approached my father, then—crack!—stomped down beside his face.
A vulgar shriek escaped my father as Sian bent low over him, pressing with a cold voice:
“Do you take it as a challenge to our family to treat someone personally acknowledged by the Duke of Hilberg like that? She already has the Duke’s permission. Your judgment isn’t needed.”
His tone was as icy as if that earlier bickering with me had never happened.
“And a man like you has no right to summon my father over something so trivial. Compensation money? Hah. Try to keep your troublemaking moderate.”
‘Is he really a kid?’
The only thing that showed me he was still young was the respect for his father and the pride in his family that colored his words.
In the novel, Duke Sian had been sick of his family. And his father had coldly let him die—no need to even mention that.
Then, after a brief silence, to my shock the Viscount began babbling his excuses in a shrill voice.
“T‑t‑the coachman! Said he saw Elena riding in the Hilberg Duke’s carriage. I thought if she’d been taken by force, I could squeeze some money out of it, j‑just once, that’s why I did it…”
His pitiful tone made my face burn. How wretched to have to introduce such a man as my father.
“Spare me, spare me. Let me go.”
“I never caught you. Go if you want.”
My hands trembled again, this time with fury. I strode toward him, not hiding my footsteps.
Sian quietly stepped back. I bit my lip, seized the Viscount’s collar like a fistful of his lapels, and shouted through clenched teeth:
“How much lower do you have to sink before you’re satisfied? I was going to leave like you wanted—why go this far?”
All he ever wanted was money anyway.
“If it’s money, I’ll send it somehow. Just give up on me. That was your plan from the start, wasn’t it!”
I spat the words like a scream, gasping before I raised my head. Seeing my blazing eyes, the Viscount opened his mouth, then shut it.
“I’m not going back. Even if I die here.”
I pronounced every word clearly.
“I will never return to your shadow.”
As his pale face reached for my hand gripping his collar, I shook him off.
Even with his face twisted in a fake pitiful look, his eyes still gleamed with greed as he stared up at me.
“Lena, that—”
But he broke off, eyes going wide. His gaze fixed over my shoulder, then his eyes rolled back and he collapsed.
Thud—. A dull sound echoed. I stared blankly for a moment, then whirled around.
Sian was looking at the Viscount with cold eyes, then flinched and turned away when our eyes met. He lifted a hand as if to cover his eyes and turned completely around.
“…Did you see?”
“See what?”
“My eyes.”
‘Of course I did. Isn’t that the power you used?’
Even after stepping back, Sian still hadn’t fully withdrawn his power. That was why my father had collapsed too.
He hadn’t meant to hide it from me, so why was he acting like this now? Watching him shut his eyes and struggle to calm himself, I realized:
‘He can’t control it properly.’
He must not have wanted to scare me like he had my father.
Blinking at this unexpected side of him, I turned and slowly walked up beside him, staring quietly.
Sian quickly turned his head the other way again. Somehow that made me feel calmer.
“Go away.”
“It’s okay. It doesn’t work on me.”
“…What?”
“The Duke acknowledged me, so it must be true. That’s why he decided to keep me here.”
Still Sian stubbornly turned his head. He must hate the idea of terrifying others when he wasn’t in control.
“Sian, thank you. Really. So you can look at me.”
After a pause, Sian slowly turned his head toward me, his hand still raised. Through his fingers he glanced at me, eyes meeting mine for a while.
His hand slowly dropped.
He peered into my eyes as if to see his reflection there. Then, after a moment, he blinked as usual and spoke again in his blunt tone.
“You came to my house carrying something like this?”
Thinking he’d finally returned to normal, I gave a wry smile and answered lightly:
“I came here because I carry something like this. This is the only place that would face a father like mine without a word.”
‘Of course, I didn’t expect the male lead himself to fend him off.’
“…Well, that’s true.”
He nodded readily, seeming to understand at once—clearly this Sian still had immense pride in his family.
“Surprising. I thought you were living in some carefree flower garden.”
‘What? Which part of me?!’
I hadn’t relaxed for a single moment since entering the Duke’s household—well, maybe I had acted a bit childish with Sian.
I shot him a sharp look on impulse.
“But what can I do. Like you said yourself, I’m already one of you, right?”
Since your father chose my guardian, I’ll just grit my teeth and endure.
Smiling brightly at him with that meaning, he glared back and replied:
“…Annoying. I should’ve just sent you off with him.”
