Chapter 44
“Will the child be able to thrive here? Safely, securely,” Sarin’s voice felt distant, as if she were painting a far-off picture. Yuri, rubbing his tired eyes, casually responded.
“Well, since Owen agreed to take responsibility, I suppose so.”
“It looks dangerous.”
“Is it Eden City? Or Owen?”
“Both. Isn’t it risky for the child to grow up here? That’s why I couldn’t speak up until now.”
With visible corpses on the streets, murders due to gunfire, drugs, gambling—none of these were suitable for a child. It wasn’t originally a city meant for children.
“Owen looks dangerous because of the way he was raised, and there’s also Pavel as a worse example.”
“Ah…”
“Pavel may have turned twisted due to having too much but he’s never not gotten what he wanted.”
“Will Hayan grow up like that too?”
“Actually, Owen might be the better option.”
In the face of the worst or the less evil, Sarin faintly smiled in a crossroads of choices. Yuri’s mouth was dry.
“Owen…”
For a moment, Sarin’s gaze, which seemed to be somewhere else, slowly returned to Yuri.
“He grew up in Ireland until the old folks took him. There was a dog kennel in the basement, but it was all just a garbage dump. When we found Owen, he was there with the dogs. He probably grew up there.”
“My earliest memory after I was born was being thrown into the iron bars of a cage with dogs.”
Suddenly, Owen’s words came to mind. What was once dismissed as a joke now flashed through her mind.
Looking at Sarin’s crumbling face, Yuri couldn’t help but laugh bitterly. It wasn’t a secret. There had always been a lot of talk about Owen’s birth, and those who tried to undermine him always had nothing more than barroom gossip to share.
Yuri’s heart was torn in two.
“I didn’t want any conflict or turmoil between Elder and Owen. I just wanted Owen to stay put and eventually inherit everything from the Elder. It was clear from the beginning that even Nikolai, who had attached himself to Owen, had that in mind.”
This woman is the seed of discord. Owen always stuck to his routine meticulously. He didn’t engage in spontaneous actions. He didn’t keep her around because he didn’t trust her. So Nikolai’s only concern was whether Owen would not leave an heir.
Wealth and power are passed down through generations. If the Elder chooses Owen as his successor, he hopes it will continue for generations to come, even to Owen’s children and their children. He wanted to establish a solid lineage.
Like when Nikolai married his daughter to the young MP Velopf, who aspired to the presidency.
If Owen’s birth was as the son of an Irish prostitute, then the position of spouse is even more important. Even though it’s a group made up of the flesh and blood of others, it can be offset by the spouse’s lineage.
“…I thought it was a joke.”
Yuri’s eyebrows raised at Sarin’s faint response. It was surprising that Owen had brought up that story.
“Don’t do anything that will make him lose interest. Then he’ll soon lose interest.”
“What if he loses interest?”
“He might go back to his homeland with the child. With a considerable amount of money.”
She couldn’t figure out why he was saying this because Sarin had no room to reflect on her actions. Yuri’s words only felt daunting to Sarin.
Then the front door opened.
The wind rushed in suddenly. It was only then that Sarin realized it was raining outside. Although she distinctly remembered looking out the window, she had no memory of the outside scenery. The scent of wind, rain, and the still unwashed smell of blood filled the air simultaneously.
There were deep water marks wherever footsteps touched the wooden floor.
Owen’s indifferent gaze casually glanced over Sarin and Yuri.
“Even if it’s just about me.”
He asked, half-jokingly, as he looked at Sarin’s pale face.
“No…”
“Why? Curious to know how much you’ve heard about me being the son of an Irish prostitute?”
“Owen!”
”Can anything be hidden from this man?” Sarin stuttered and then closed her lips firmly. Yuri, startled, called out to Owen from behind. As Owen approached, he wiped Sarin’s face with the palm of his hand. Rainwater pooled on her face.
“Just think pretty thoughts, okay? Don’t roll your head with shitty thoughts.”
How did he know?
Her mind wavered briefly at Yuri’s words. But Owen’s hand was soon withdrawn, and he spoke to Yuri.
“Send what’s in the warehouse to Orbis.”
“…Yes.”
Yuri glanced at him with a cold voice. Seeing Owen, who spoke coldly, as if he already knew everything, he sighed and got up from his seat.
After Yuri left the entrance, Owen approached the fireplace and revived the dying embers. Sarin still stood awkwardly, watching him rebuild the firewood.
His black shirt clinging to his body tightened every time Owen reached for firewood. From his waist upward, the absence of fat, and below, his pants showed the muscles of his thighs clearly.
As Owen slowly stood up, Sarin, who was taken aback, turned her gaze away.
“Are you afraid I’ll strip naked and devour you just by looking at that?”
Owen, who sat on the sofa where Yuri was sitting, asked slowly.
“Sorry. It’s just… you caught my eye…”
Unconsciously conscious of Owen, it was hard to look away from him. Images of his bare body also flickered through her mind as Owen mentioned it.
He flicked his fingers.
As Sarin hesitantly approached, Owen lightly brushed the firm thigh where her gaze lingered the longest. It was a gesture that clearly implied she should sit there.
“Are you afraid I’ll lick you again?”
His eyes softened, but the low temperature in his eyes indicated that he wasn’t in a particularly good mood. His gaze, still filled with longing, gently tapped his thigh.
“Oh, please sit in front, or behind…”
”Face each other and sit down?”
Sarin asked fearfully as he approached her, but he grabbed her and sat her on his thigh. Her legs were forced apart. It became a posture where she hugged him while facing each other. Sarin’s hesitant hand grabbed his waist.
“You’re good at talking nicely.”
Owen burst into laughter at Sarin’s somewhat nonsensical question. He couldn’t believe she was worrying about such trivial matters. The smell from her still-unruly hair was similar to the rain falling outside. His lips descended as if they were going to kiss her forehead.
“The leather is quite usable. I’ll polish it and give it to you as a gift.”
Owen felt the pressure in the hand that was holding his waist. The sounds of various breaths couldn’t hide the tension. She sat on his thigh with her legs spread apart, looking uncertain.
Even though he tried to let it go nicely, it was amusing to reveal it so blatantly.
“Yuri must have blabbed, but why does it look like it’s your fault, Lee Sarin?”
He lifted her chin with his fingers, not looking at her. Her small face and shaky gaze were clearly visible. Her eyes, so pretty that he wanted to lick them every time he saw them.
“…I didn’t know.”
“If you knew, would anything change?”
Whether Sarin knew everything or not, it wouldn’t change the years she had lived for Owen. It meant nothing to him, and he never thought of it as his own flaw. So, this situation, Yuri’s intentions, was just uncomfortable for him. Clearly, when he tried to take a side, the arrow veered off in the wrong direction.
The moment he entered through the entrance and saw Sarin’s face, he sensed what kind of conversation had transpired. Since everything would be written all over her face regardless of what he said.
“Hmph.”
As if holding Sarin’s waist with one hand wasn’t enough, he slid his hand down under her spine and caressed her hip bone suggestively.
“You sleep so uncomfortably and prettily, I can’t sleep.”
Liar.
He was the one who woke her up when she started to fall asleep in the beginning of their relationship. Owen’s lips sounded cocky as he spoke without even wiping the drool from his mouth.
“So?”
“I wish Lee Sarin would put me to sleep now.”
In the same way.
The low, secretive whisper that sounded like it could be heard or not sent shivers down her spine. It was a signal only they knew. It wasn’t just a childish request for a lullaby; it was a clear demand to enter the gap between the buttocks he was touching.
“Here…”
“I’ve never tried to choose a place when I want to do something.”
Even though Yuri could always open the front door and barge in, the arrogant words about never trying to choose a place echoed back. The sound of dry saliva swallowing was unusually loud. Owen, who heard the same sound, burst into laughter.
