Chapter 142
Once the weekend passed, Jaeha visited again. Heesu, who had been glum, thinking he might never come again after two days without a visit, was unintentionally excited and rushed over. However, as soon as she opened the door, she screamed as Jaeha thrust pizza, chicken, and a hamburger into her arms. This was a comprehensive bomb, both in terms of flavor and calories. It was a disaster.
“I can’t eat this much!”
“You’re all eating it together anyway.”
“Still!”
“Eat.”
Jaeha stared calmly at Heesu, who was looking at him with an exasperated expression, and then spoke, almost tossing the words out.
“I won’t be able to come for a while.”
“Huh? Where are you going?”
“I have to go abroad for something.”
“Abroad? Are you going on a trip?”
“Something like that.”
“That’s nice…… Take me with you.”
“Are you crazy?”
At the merciless reply, Heesu pouted.
“Seriously, would it kill you to speak nicely for once…….”
“Yeah. It would.”
Jaeha chuckled as he replied, and a gentle breeze blew, ruffling his fringe. Heesu gazed at him as he tidied his fringe with his long, beautiful fingers. Perhaps because the sunlight was soft and the wind was gentle that day, his eyes also seemed subtly soft. His always-disagreeable face felt strangely unfamiliar.
“How long will you be gone?”
“I’m not sure. At least a fortnight, I guess.”
“That’s quite long……. What about the tutoring you were doing?”
“Huh?”
Jaeha was momentarily flustered. He was tongue-tied because she asked what he would do about the tutoring he wasn’t actually doing.
“I-I quit.”
“Oh, really?”
He worried that he might be caught because he was obviously flustered and even stuttered, but thankfully, Heesu nodded, accepting his explanation.
“Ah, so that’s why the tutoring family kept giving you all those delicious things. As a thank you for your time.”
She even spontaneously accepted a part of the explanation beyond what he’d said. Jaeha scratched his head awkwardly.
“Well, something like that. Take care. Be careful.”
“Yeah. You be careful and have a good trip, too.”
“Right.”
Despite saying he wouldn’t be back for a fortnight, Jaeha turned his back as if he had no lingering attachment whatsoever. Heesu, feeling somehow disappointed, watched him head to his car and then sighed, walking inside. Even though she was holding all sorts of greasy and delicious things in her hands, she somehow didn’t have an appetite.
“Huh?”
Heesu looked towards the kitchen and made a puzzled expression. Violen, who had definitely been there moments ago, had disappeared somewhere. Even the food and household items he had been tidying up were left as they were. Since this was the first time this had happened, Heesu tilted her head and muttered,
“Where…… where on earth did he go?”
***
“Your Highness.”
The moment Jaeha reached to open his car door, he frowned sharply and turned around at the sound from behind him.
That kid was there. Judging by the fact that he was sitting on the low wall, he must have been there for quite a while, yet Jaeha hadn’t noticed him at all. He conceals his presence well, Jaeha thought. He glared at him with a displeased expression.
“Don’t call me that.”
“Yes. Then, Master’s younger brother, Lord Jaeha.”
“…….”
Jaeha frowned even more. He was still an aggravating brat.
Violen, completely unconcerned by the ominous magical power Jaeha was emitting, got off the low wall and walked toward him.
“I heard you took a list of dangerous individuals scattered across the human world from Izzen.”
“So?”
“Are you really planning to travel all over the world to find and cut them down?”
“I am.”
“They could be your subjects.”
“I don’t need trash like that.”
‘If they pose a threat to Heesu.’
Reading the answer he didn’t speak aloud, Violen quietly looked at Jaeha.
There was, in fact, only one way for Jaeha to protect Heesu.
To subjugate Heesu to himself.
Instead of that simple and easy method, he deliberately created and chose a different one.
A method so incredibly cumbersome and difficult that it was beyond the imagination of creatures like Izzen or himself.
So, he couldn’t help but ask about the very thing he feared.
“Why aren’t you subjugating Heesu?”
“…….”
Jaeha remained silent at the question.
Is he not going to answer? After a silence that was long enough to make that thought surface, he finally replied,
“Younger brothers shouldn’t do things like that.”
“Are you truly planning to remain only as family with Heesu for the rest of your life?”
“I am.”
“Even if someone takes her away?”
“Is there anything to take away? She’s not mine to begin with.”
“Are you that afraid of being hated by Heesu?”
“…….”
At that, Jaeha fell silent again.
Is that the answer……? Violen smiled bitterly.
You are a coward.
If I had your strength and qualifications, I wouldn’t hesitate.
What does the other person’s heart matter? After all, doing that makes her completely mine. No matter how much she hates it, no matter how much she struggles, she would never be able to escape me for the rest of her life.
But even so, you…….
“You’re a really annoying bastard.”
Jaeha spat out, glaring at Violen.
“We have something in common. I feel the same way.”
Violen replied with a bright smile. Jaeha, who continued to glare at his smile with a displeased expression, soon turned his back as if he couldn’t bear to look at him anymore.
Is he leaving just like this? As Violen watched his retreating back.
“Still, you’re the strongest among them right now.”
The retreating figure, standing still, said in a reluctant voice.
“So, watch her carefully. If you lose her again, I’ll really kill you this time.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Jaeha got into the car, started the engine, and drove away.
Violen chuckled, watching the car disappear into the distance.
Can he really afford to say that? If he leaves her to me, I might just snatch her away in the meantime.
Even with such a sneer, he couldn’t shake off the heavy sense of defeat settling on his shoulders.
Not only had Jaeha rescued Heesu, whom he couldn’t save, but now he was trying to protect Heesu using a method that Violen hadn’t even considered. Violen envied the fact that Jaeha had the power to do so without a second thought. He was unbearably envious. But what he envied even more was…
He himself didn’t know how to love.
Jaeha must have been just as clueless about how to love.
But while Violen was repulsive because he didn’t know, Jaeha was so radiant because he didn’t know.
That made him deeply resentful.
So, he had to admit it. He was now a dog that had been defeated in a fight that hadn’t even begun, with his tail tucked between his legs, yapping away.
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