I Was Adopted by the Villain Grand Duke Who Killed My Favorite Character - Chapter 47

I feel weak.

Tristan’s confinement period still had a few more days left. What reason could Tristan have for sitting on my windowsill in the middle of the night?

I rubbed my bleary eyes and muttered.

“I must be seeing things.”

“What?”

I struggled to close the window, but it wouldn’t budge. When I looked up, Tristan was holding the window frame with a grim expression.

The growling voice in my ear was too vivid to be a dream.

“Do you really want to be punished?”

“Is that really Tristan?”

“Of course it’s really me! Do you know how much trouble I went through to get here?”

“That can’t be…”

I grabbed Tristan’s cheeks, which had turned pink from the wind, and pulled. When I applied force, his cheeks stretched, making his already fierce eyes look even sharper.

‘This seems to be real.’

Cold sweat broke out at the thought that I had disturbed the original villain crazy dog (Tristan).

“Are you really crazy?”

I let go of Tristan’s cheek in shock. I had pulled quite hard, leaving my handprint clearly on his white cheek.

“Why are you here?”

Deliberately acting brazen to hide my bewilderment, one of Tristan’s eyebrows shot up. Irritably ruffling his hair, he spoke surprisingly calmly.

“For that.”

“That?”

What Tristan pointed to was the doll I was holding. Could he possibly know that this doll was a magical tool inhabited by a spirit?

When I hid the doll behind my back with an ominous feeling, a crooked smile formed on Tristan’s lips. Tristan spoke in a tone suggesting he was doing me a great favor.

“Choose. Will you have it taken by force? Or will you hand it over to me quietly?”

“Are there no other options?”

“No.”

“Can’t you reconsider?”

Coming here uninvited and demanding I hand over my precious spirit—this was the very definition of a thug.

‘He couldn’t have figured it out.’

I only knew it was a magical tool because I had made something similar. Even a genius couldn’t discern that at a glance.

Then was he making such a proposal simply to torment me?

How could someone be so nasty?

“Not the doll.”

“Well, I didn’t think you’d give it up easily.”

Despite my outright refusal, Tristan’s mood seemed to improve.

‘What a strange kid.’

He looked exactly like someone who had hoped for my refusal. I stared dubiously at his eyes that shone with a peculiar gleam.

Tristan snapped his fingers toward the air, and jewels came tumbling down from nowhere.

“Normally, I would threaten you, but I’m in a good mood today.”

“So sparkly.”

“Yes. I’ve collected only the finest quality ones.”

Tristan picked up one of the jewels and threw it to me. Reflexively catching it with both hands, I found it was a ruby the size of my fist.

‘How much is this worth?’

With wide eyes, I examined the condition of the jewels piled on the floor. As he said, they were flawless, large premium stones.

“How about exchanging all these jewels for the doll? With just one, you could buy hundreds of such dolls?”

Tristan confidently wiggled his finger as he watched me, mesmerized by the jewels’ brilliance.

‘How rich is he?’

As someone who had been a magician, I knew the value of those jewels. But giving up a spirit for a pile of jewels would be foolish.

Thinking I was hesitating, Tristan’s voice whispering in my ear became as thick as a demon’s.

“It’s very simple. Hand over that doll.”

“….”

“You can sell the jewels and make new friends. Throw away that dirty doll.”

“He’s not a dirty doll, he’s Mr. Daebak.”

“Kid. This is the last time I’m being this humane. Aren’t you afraid of what I might do to you?”

It seemed he wouldn’t accept refusal.

I needed to call someone for help before Tristan snatched the doll. Seeing me gradually moving toward the door, his lips twitched.

“Stop right there while I’m still asking nicely.”

“No.”

I pressed myself against the wall right next to the door. Tristan’s face crumpled when he read the determination to flee on my face.

Gathering courage, I glared at him and shouted as loudly as I could.

“I will never give you the doll!”

Suddenly, magical power gathered around Tristan, and a wave of heat surged through the air.

“You idiot!”

Wind made of magical power whirled around, making his robe flutter.

Tristan, surrounded by flames of magical power, reached out with a threatening aura.

“Hand it over!”

Would it be possible to dodge his attack and run to the Grand Duke’s office? Biting my lip, I charged straight at Tristan.

‘If I can’t avoid it, then…’

With a whatever-happens-happens mindset, I headbutted him in the stomach. With a thud, Tristan’s body tumbled to the floor.

“…Ugh!”

Simultaneously, Tristan’s magical power, which had been concentrated in one place, lost control and exploded.

BOOM!

Pushed by his magical power, I floated in the air before hitting the wall. Despite the force of impact, I didn’t seem seriously injured.

“Serves you right! That’s what happens when you charge in without thinking…”

Tristan, who had been speaking triumphantly, stared at my forehead with widened eyes. When I raised my hand to touch my forehead, something sticky came off.

‘…Blood?’

A dull pain washed over me a beat later, making me wince. It was just a small cut on my forehead, and not much blood was coming out.

‘Is the doll safe?’

The doll I had dropped from the impact was too far away to grab. I kept my eyes on Tristan while speaking.

“I can give you anything else. But not Mr. Daebak. He’s my friend.”

“You’re bleeding…”

“Please. Don’t take my friend away from me.”

“That’s not what’s important right now!”

Despite trying to take the doll using magic, he was now wearing a worried expression. Placing hope in that expression, I prostrated myself on the floor.

Hoping this plea would move Tristan’s heart.

“Tristan, please.”

I heard the sound of him trying to calm his anger above my head, and then a gentle breeze blew, unlike before.

‘I got through safely.’

When I straightened up, Tristan had already disappeared from the window. I carefully closed the wide-open window and picked up the doll.

Thankfully, it seemed I had successfully protected the spirit.

***

My expectation that Tristan would soon return, using the doll as an excuse, was wrong. After that day, Tristan never came back.

‘He acted like he would take the doll…’

I recalled his face, which seemed more shocked than I was after he attacked me.

“Being a genius isn’t always good.”

I could clearly see what Tristan, born with stronger magical power than ordinary people, must have gone through.

There must have been times when his uncontrolled magical power accidentally attacked those around him, leading to isolation. After all, magicians are beings who live with both admiration and fear.

That doesn’t excuse the violent behavior he showed me, though.

“He does have a bad personality.”

“Who has a bad personality?”

Sen, who had overheard my muttering, asked with a curious voice.

“Tristan.”

“Have you seen Young Master Tristan separately recently?”

“No, but I’ll have to meet him soon.”

“The Grand Duke will be there, so don’t worry!”

Well, I wonder if it will be as safe as expected.

I thoroughly concealed the fact that Tristan had visited at night and attacked me with magic. I rubbed my forehead, which still had a scar.

‘It was good to say I fell out of bed.’

Apart from fluffy carpets being placed under the bed after I got hurt, everything went smoothly. If I had told the truth, Sen’s worry would have been through the roof.

“I hope nothing goes wrong.”

“Don’t worry too much. The Grand Duke has made arrangements. What would you like to wear today?”

“Something comfortable.”

I chose a blue dress suitable for the increasingly chilly weather. Time had passed, and the season was changing from summer to autumn.

Sen spoke with a tense face, like someone seeing off a person going to a dangerous battlefield.

“Make sure you win!”

Today was the reconciliation day with Tristan, supervised by the Grand Duke himself. Originally, we were supposed to meet on the day Tristan’s confinement ended, but the date was postponed because of my forehead injury.

Having finished preparing to go out, I picked up the spirit-inhabited doll.

‘It’s better to take it.’

Although I was worried about Tristan lunging at me again, I decided to trust the Grand Duke.

And the moment I saw Tristan at the meeting place, I immediately understood why Sen had told me not to worry.

‘What kind of state is that?’

Tristan was tightly bound in chains, writhing on the floor. Like that, he couldn’t even move a finger, let alone reconcile.

“Mmph! Mmph mmph!”

The Grand Duke pressed down on the squirming Tristan’s back with his scabbard.

“Welcome.”

“I understand the chains, but why the gag?”

“This ill-mannered fellow was spewing words too difficult to repeat, so I gagged him.”

I thought this was supposed to be about reconciliation.

Having expected at least some mutual agreement, I checked Tristan’s condition. Even a beast in a cage would seem less fierce than him.

“Mmph! Mph!”

Even if the gag were removed, it seemed unlikely that an apology would come from Tristan’s mouth. The Grand Duke lifted Tristan’s nape as he tried to escape.

“Nod your head up and down if you’re going to say what you promised your brother.”

After a moment’s hesitation, Tristan’s red crown moved slowly up and down. The Grand Duke ordered someone to remove Tristan’s gag and chains.

Having barely regained his freedom, Tristan shouted at the Grand Duke through gritted teeth.

“How dare you bring me here in such a state!”

“Do you want to be tied up again?”

At the Grand Duke’s calm threat, Tristan’s head whipped around. When Tristan, with his eyes wide open, looked at me, an inexplicable chill ran down my spine.

“Hey, kid.”

“Yes?”

“I’m sorry.”

“Huh?”

“I said I’m sorry.”

What did I just hear?

Could the self-willed Tristan actually apologize?

“If you understood, I’m leaving.”

Tristan’s gaze lingered on my forehead before turning to the floor.

Leaving behind the stunned Grand Duke and me, Tristan floated away using magic.

The Grand Duke, looking down at me, frozen in shock and fear, slowly wiped his mouth.

“Did something happen between you two?”