Translator: Muffles
Editor: Pierce
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Elena had no intention of being with Killian.
‘Because he was at the top of the shit list.’
If there was a ranking in terms of ‘the shittiest people’, Killian would surely take the first spot, or even sitting in the 0th place wouldn’t be enough.
So Elena had no plans to get involved with him.
A life where she could extract herself from the original novel and do whatever she wants. That was her ultimate goal.
‘But…’
Elena looked at the paper and bit her lips.
She had set her ultimate goal, but there was something that bothered her.
‘I am a member of the Halos Duchy.’
Elena’s eyebrows narrowed.
Elena was certainly grateful to the Duke of Halos, but that was before she recalled the memories of her previous life several hours ago.
Because as soon as Elena was wholeheartedly adopted by the Duke, it would lead to a disaster as foreordained by the original novel.
The original would only proceed when Elena Respell join the Duke’s household.
“Sigh.”
Since she would live in the Duke’s home, she would inevitably bump into that bastard.
She felt like she wanted to escape the Halos Duchy at once, but Elena was still young. It wouldn’t be easy for a thirteen-year-old child to survive in the world alone.
‘Dad, why did you have to leave me alone?’
Suddenly, her deceased father came to mind.
Unlike her previous life, where she didn’t have a family, she has one in this life. Although her mother died early because of an illness, she had a loving and kind father.
But she also lost her father.
For the first time, when she heard her father’s passing, she cried as if her world has collapsed. Even now, she would still feel upset whenever she thought of her deceased father.
Elena wiped away her sorrows.
‘Anyway, I’m still young, so I need an adult’s protection.’
And it was the Duke of Halos, who had superseded that as Elena’s guardian.
Therefore, it was practically the best protection she could ever have in the Empire. Moreover, the wealth of the Duke of Halos was substantial.
‘If I were an adult, I wouldn’t know, but I’m still young.’
It was too much of a waste to escape from all these privileges just because of that shitty bastard.
Of course, Elena also had a fortune left by her father. But it wasn’t a lot.
‘I can live for 2 or 3 years without doing anything.’
However, it was difficult to guarantee the future. Then, the only way left was…
‘I’ll have to make a way to defend against that bastard as much as possible and prepare for adulthood.’
If one could enjoy the privileges of being part of the duchy, then one could find a way. If it didn’t work out… being “it” wasn’t too bad either.
By using the power of Elena, which she originally had in the novel.
‘Anyway, for me to properly block the male lead, it would be best to ignore him.’
Regrettably, it would be troublesome to ignore the Duke’s successor. Since she was living off in their resources.
But a few years later, he would lose the successor’s seat to his younger brother.
So she just has to build an iron wall in the meantime since Killian would fall on his own anyway.
‘Although it depends on how the heroine will appear.’
Elena sighed.
‘What should I do?’
She was troubled.
The original novel was about regret.
The regrets of Killian, the shit of the century.
But that was still several years later.
‘Can I ignore Jane, the female protagonist, being harmed by the male lead right in front of my eyes?’
In her previous life, Elena had a crush on Jane, the heroine. There were many frustrating parts but she has her convictions.
She didn’t want to see Jane suffer again by being entangled with her fiancé, Killian.
‘Yeah, I’m removing myself from the original story anyway.’
‘Then let’s save the heroine as well from that bastard.’
Elena’s lips gently rose.
If Elena would counter Killian with her iron wall, then save the heroine from him, Killian would no longer have a place to mix in.
If he would be ousted from his position, he would also fall on his own.
Elena got up from her seat, satisfied.
Knock, knock.
‘I wonder who could that be?’
Elena became wary without realizing it.
There weren’t many people that would wander to and from the mansion. Usually, it would be the servants or the family of the Duke.
“Yes?”
Elena unconsciously clenched her fist.
After Elena gained her memories of her previous life, she couldn’t help but be nervous meeting someone for the first time.
As she swallowed her saliva, the door suddenly opened.
“Hi, Elena.”
“…Hello.”
The people who came in were no other than Killian, the bastard, along with his younger brother, Lexion.
Killian smiled, pleasantly approaching Elena.
‘You look especially handsome.’
Elena couldn’t take her eyes off of Killian.
Even though it was her first time meeting him, she could immediately recognize that he was the male lead, Killian Halos.
His golden hair and blue eyes appeared to be soaked in sunlight, a dashing prince from a fairytale. Moreover, he was only 14 years old but he was already taller than his peers of the same age.
It was definitely the outstanding growth power of a male protagonist.
On the other hand, Lexion, who was standing next to Killian, was smaller than his peers. He was nine years old this year but he looked like an eight-year-old.
His hair was the same brilliant gold as Killian’s, but his eyes were different.
Killian’s eyes were blue, while Lexion’s were red.
‘In the original, Lexion’s appearance was described a few times but it wasn’t particularly detailed as he was just an extra.’
Still, she had known that when he became an adult, he would become one of the most handsome men in the Empire.
Furthermore, it was also mentioned that he played an outstanding role on the battlefield.
‘That’s why he was able to overtake the seat of his older brother.’
Elena tried to observe Lexion a little bit more, recalling the brief description of him.
The child was startled and avoided her gaze instead. Only then she had realized she did something wrong.
She couldn’t believe that she just stared at them in their first meeting, without even saying hello.
No matter how much she wanted to be disrespectful to the bastard, Elena still hurriedly fixed her expression and greeted the two.
“Hello, young masters. My name is Elena Respell.”
After greeting them with a slight bow, she met Killian’s eyes that were twinkling brightly.
Charmingly blinking his eyes, he said:
“Nice to meet you, Elena. I’m Killian Halos; this is my younger brother, Lexion.”
“Ah, yes.”
Elena replied with an awkward smile.
Killian took a couple of steps towards her and looked at Elena with strange eyes as if he was scrutinizing her.
‘What is it?’
For a moment, Elena’s mood worsened and her brows slightly narrowed. However, Killian soon smiled brightly and spoke in a sweet tone.
“You’re so pretty.”
For a moment, due to his attractive smile and voice, she almost felt thrilled by the compliment.
‘This guy knows his strength too well, no?’
Killian surely knew how to make use of that face as the male protagonist.
‘A normal person would have already been entranced by that beauty, but no, I’m not that easy.’
No matter how handsome he was, Killian was still a child to Elena. He was just a 14-year-old kid.
Elena replied to Killian, wearing a cunning smile.
“Yes, I know.”
In the original novel, Killian’s taste in women was quite simple.
A beautiful, innocent woman; A woman who would blush at his every word.
However, Elena has no intention of becoming Killian’s ideal type.
It didn’t match her original personality.
In her mind, she wanted to ignore Killian, but he was the Duke’s heir. So Elena still responded as politely as she could, but in a way that he surely wouldn’t want.
‘Now, how will Killian respond?’
It was around this time that Elena’s heart was pounding with anticipation.
For a while, only silence lingered in the air until Killian grabbed his belly and began to loudly laugh.
“Puhaha! You’re really fun.”
“…Yes?”
The confused Elena asked back. Then Killian, who was laughing hard, smiled softly again and whispered.
“Well, it’s true. You’re exceedingly pretty.”
‘Haaa’, Elena swallowed her sigh.
‘I think with this kind of beauty, this level of being a narcissist seems to be okay.’
Soon after, Killian smiled and slightly stepped back from Elena.
“I heard you don’t have an important schedule today, Elena.”
Killian winked and said,
“Would you like to have tea with me in the garden?”
‘Just the two of us?’
Elena looked at Lexion, who had his head still down and was standing behind Killian.
‘If you’re going to make such a proposal, then why did you bring Lexion?’
Killian spoke as if he had read her thoughts.
“Oh, don’t worry about this guy. I’ve brought him here to say hello because father said so. Now then, why don’t the two of us have a friendly conversation?”
Killian smiled mischievously and extended his hand towards her.
The elegant posture was really like that of a Duke’s successor.
However, Elena’s attention was directed to Lexion, and not Killian.
This was because with his head bowed down, there were visible black bruises on the back of the child’s neck.
‘No way…’
Elena automatically frowned at the disturbing situation that quickly came to mind. Then, she immediately corrected her expression.
‘It must be my imagination.’
Maybe it was because she had seen a lot of articles like that in the past.
The sons of the noble families received various swordsmanship training at an early age, so it could be a wound from that time.
“Elena?”
As she stared at Lexion for a moment, Killian summoned her back to reality.
‘Ah, I was staring at Lexion again.’
Elena smiled as if she never got distracted, and then looked at Killian.
“Yes?”
“Come on, let’s go to the garden.”
Killian reached out his hands and urged her.
But Elena shook her head.
🙂
🙂
🙂