Chapter 83
Nikolai looked down at the city, enveloped in light and darkness.
The distant lights of the dam and the splendidly shining small kingdom he had built stood out in front of him. It had been a long-cherished dream and aspiration. With this, a perfect kingdom was established for himself and his descendants.
Pavel’s gaze wavered as he looked at Nikolai with a satisfied expression.
“Your grandfather’s words aren’t being listened to anyway. Owen isn’t qualified to be the master of this place.”
“Very rational. That’s why he’s been placed in this position.”
Acknowledgment alone wouldn’t be enough to survive in this world. Owen was a grandson who had everything. Perhaps even to his deceased inadequate sons, Nikolai couldn’t entrust Eden City without worry. Like a loyal dog that doesn’t do anything against its owner, Nikolai transferred his ideals to his grandson here.
Nikolai’s hand, looking out the window, stroked the spot where the light lingered.
Watching the affectionate gesture from the side, Pavel bit his lip.
“In any case, it’s a burdensome place for you.”
“Do you have any thoughts about what to entrust to me?”
“You might want to consider quitting your addiction.”
With a chuckle, Nikolai turned away from the city. The old man with his back to the city still looked imposing. But he was also aging enough to need to search for a successor. Before Nikolai’s reputation wavered, it was clear to everyone that the succession had to be settled before any hyenas dared to emerge.
Pavel knew he couldn’t ascend to that position.
Nikolai had always said that Pavel wasn’t as clever as Owen, and despite using his wits to gain people’s trust, he couldn’t gain the trust of those below him. Everything had to be based on trust. After painstakingly elevating him to a high position, would he let him be stabbed in the back by the closest person?
Nikolai’s gaze at Pavel contained a hint of displeasure but also love.
Even if his sons were alive, Nikolai knew he would have chosen Owen.
“What are you so worried about?”
Nikolai read the anxious look on Pavel’s face.
The forced smile on his face still looked boyish. Nikolai had always enjoyed seeing Pavel make opposite expressions with the same face as Owen’s. They were born from the same womb but could be so different.
“Why are you so anxious? Just…”
“Are you afraid of catching fear over such a small thing?”
Nikolai’s rough words made Pavel’s severed finger joint throb. When he was conscious, all he could think of was revenge as the pain repeated. Pavel hesitated as he looked down at the still bandaged area. Owen’s warning came to mind again. Then he looked back at Nikolai.
“Grandfather.”
“I suppose we need to find the cause and pull out the roots clean. Then new things can grow in that place.”
He understood what Nikolai meant in one word.
“What if Owen doesn’t stay quiet?”
“If he doesn’t, what then? Anyway, what he brought out of that cesspool was me. I raised him as the one who gave him his grace.”
Nikolai stared at Pavel with a gaze that couldn’t be understood.
By breaking his own rule so easily at his convenience, he was imposing that rule on Owen.
“How dare you even think about cutting open my belly.”
“Can my belly be cut open?”
“You save a life, you must repay it. But if you tell me to take out my grandson’s healthy liver, then that’s a reason for me to just get rid of you.”
Nikolai looked down at Pavel with a tone of anger. The massive body trembled with rising anger, as if all this turmoil had happened because of him, seeing Pavel’s pitiful belief that he must repay a woman even though he had saved her life, Nikolai sighed.
He only wished for the drug’s influence to disappear completely, and it would take time to check again. He only wished for the child inside to die. But seeing Owen give his liver to the child made him curious. Unconsciously, Pavel’s lips stretched into a smile.
He would never give his liver to anyone.
There must be something else on his mind. The fact that his beloved Owen, the seed of his dynasty, would give his liver to that child, Owen, despised by him, was so repugnant. Pavel held back the laughter that was about to burst out.
“The child will die anyway. Owen would never give his liver to someone else, so don’t worry.”
“Yeah. He’s so protective of his own body. But apart from that, having a woman who makes you say such things beside you will soon become a source of anger.”
Nikolai had seen countless men fall apart because of women. Kirill was a prime example, and although he didn’t know if Owen was a similar fool, Nikolai believed it was necessary to cut off such appearances caused by women from the beginning.
“It would be best to just leave the woman…”
“Are you afraid of catching fear over such a small thing?”
Pavel finally brought up the words he least wanted to say. Just at the hospital, he had thought he might have to see the sight of women begging, but the moment he saw Owen waiting for him in the same room as Nikolai, he felt his blood run cold. It was a grim premonition that warnings never ended as mere warnings.
The moment he laid a hand in any way, it was a foretelling that what had long been ignored would be scorched even more harshly. Compared to himself, who turned white in an instant, he felt a sense of ease from the man who smoothly passed by his side.
Pavel ran his hand around his neck. Suddenly, cold sweat was pouring out thickly.
Why did he feel like Owen had his throat in his grip? Surely this situation was no different for both of them, like being tied to a whipping post, so why was he the only one feeling suffocated?
“Has your calculation ended with that finger, and are you afraid of what Owen might do to you again?”
“No, it’s not that…”
He couldn’t continue speaking. Nikolai, who seemed to think he was afraid because of his severed finger, clicked his tongue. It was the words of someone who believed he could give himself up because he trusted that the one he defended would return the favor.
But admiring someone and trusting them were two entirely different things.
“You were born as my grandson, yet you’re so fearful.”
Pavel was also his grandson. From a young age, he carried his power on his back, harmed countless lives, and committed evil deeds. The only person Pavel resisted against with the same appearance was Owen. As long as it wasn’t Owen, there was nothing to fear.
From the moment he began to reveal a different character with the same face, Pavel disliked him.
Pavel realized he needed to leave before Nikolai laid a hand on a woman. Since Owen knew somehow to involve him, it was better to leave quickly.
Owen strangely never demanded my liver. I never actually thought he would ask for a liver transplant, but just the thought of stabbing a knife into that perfect body from afar satisfied me.
For now, leaving this place is a priority.
Pavel’s gaze briefly turned to the deep lake at the exit of the city.
As soon as Sarin woke up and got up, the first thing she did was to check the adjacent seat.
Confirming the absence of a man, she swept her hand over the smooth sheets with no trace. Her mind was clear. After sleeping deeply and waking up, her body felt light and her mind clearer than usual.
When she came out to the reception room after taking a leisurely bath and changing clothes in Owen’s familiar bedroom, she hesitated without realizing it. Already perfectly dressed in a suit, the man was scanning through documents on the table in a frenzy. The documents he checked were collected by Yuri and immediately incinerated in the metal waste bin.
“Good morning.”
Owen opened his mouth without even looking at Sarin.
Thinking he must have gone somewhere, she hesitated for a moment before answering.
“Good morning.”
Yuri nodded slightly while looking at Sarin. The three dogs around him blinked their eyes brightly when they saw her come out. Seeing that his hints weren’t working and that they couldn’t rush towards her, he quickly sent a glance to them to head towards her.
She approached the dogs and stroked them one by one in order of rank.
If she didn’t stroke them in order of rank, a subtle energy circulated among the dogs. That’s why it was always Blue first, Pink, who was last, liked to moisten her palm with her wet nose as she enjoyed it.
While petting the dogs, she noticed Owen’s gaze towards her, and he pointed with his finger at the purple stool in front of him.
The documents he had been looking at turned back towards Yuri.
Sarin’s gaze, which had been focused on Owen while sitting on the chair, soon turned to the documents on the table. Looking at the documents with unknown numbers, she felt strange thoughts coming to her mind. It seemed unnecessary for him to bring her inside and deal with his own affairs.
She felt a slight heat on her face, feeling as if it was all because of her.
“It’s an analog method, but it’s the most convenient.”
He carefully explained his work to Sarin, which she wouldn’t understand.
“You don’t have to tell me everything.”
The maid who was in the kitchen brought out the freshly made warm dish onto the clean table.
“Let’s go out together today. I’ve been waiting for this.”
“To the hospital…”
“Today will be busy anyway.”
At the recommendation to eat while it’s warm, Sarin looked at Owen as she put the soft omelet into her mouth. His gaze was directed out the window.
