The Villain Is Obsessed With His Fake Wife

13. Wasn’t I too late?

Anton shouted as if it were absurd.

“What the-!”

“I may look foolish, but even if he is an evil human being, I want to believe in the Duke I saw once more.”

She looked squarely and looked for something to defend against. Surprisingly, there were only pillows on the bed.

“The Duke is not necessarily a good person. But the Duke I know is not like that. There must be a reason.”

“Even if the Duke and Duchess of Libertan are desperately looking for the young lady?”

At her calm response, Anton distorted his face to the point of disgust.

“This is a marriage arranged by my parents, so they will understand me.”

Finally, Anton shouted.

“Now do you know what that man did to your parents? As soon as-“

“I don’t want to hear it!”

She answered sternly.

“I will listen to my husband’s story myself. Until then, I have no intention of listening to anyone demeaning my husband.”

To be honest, she was so nervous. When was he coming…

“You stupid girl.”

Then Anton strode forward, gritting his teeth terrifyingly.

“I treated you like a lady, but can’t you understand the situation?”

Eventually, he threatened with a dagger and grabbed her wrist tightly.

“Ugh, this.”

Then Anton contorted his face as if he had been set on fire. Indeed, Anton suffered burns on his hands.

‘Really…?’

Anton yelled as if he had been betrayed.

“They took a street orphan and fed her and treated her like a daughter. How dare you, a mere orphan, betray the Duke of Libertan!”

The gleaming brown eyes drew closer. It was scary, but he couldn’t touch her body again.

“Stop talking and follow me!”

“No-”

“Damn it!”

Anton was about to swing his dagger at her. 

Knead, Knock. 

The hand he was trying to wield with his dagger snapped bizarrely.

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”

Pain crept into his red eyes, where the veins were all bursting. Anton rolled on the floor, biting into crab foam. The thrown sword flew off and hit the ground. Before long, the man’s black shoes trampled on the blade. There was a sound of hard steel shattering. 

Kwa-jik! 

The world became quiet for an instant. John was standing. A man with black hair, red eyes, and a cool and beautiful man like a devil. She barely opened my mouth and called him.

“…Duke?”

John was wearing a black suit and black gloves on his hands. Even though he would have been buried in the atmosphere of the dark room, the moment he appeared, it seemed that there was only John in the world. John looked at me and gave me a languid smile.

“Hi, madam.”

The thick scent of blood hit the familiar muskwood scent. She didn’t even notice the broken blade he was stepping on. Those mischievous gazes were directed only at her. She could feel the madness in his eyes that was so deep that she could feel it.

“Am I very late?”

His eyes shifted away from him and turned to Anton, who was rolling on the floor. John twisted his mouth gracefully with contempt as if he were looking at a worm.

“I missed a little mouse.”

The remains of the daggers on the floor turned into black smoke and disappeared. She felt intense madness in John who was walking slowly. It was on a different level from Anton’s madness. John’s madness was so deep that he seemed to know no end, and he was even sensual as if he was bewitching people.

“This little rat tried to hurt my wife.”

He twisted his foot slightly and lightly pressed Anton’s bloody wrist. However, it was the power that had broken the dagger just before. Anton couldn’t stand the force and struggled.

“Quaaaaaagh! Merci, merci!”

“I don’t even know the subject.”

A pair of shoes gently pressed against his wrist. This scene never appeared in the original story. In the first place, Anton kidnapped Estelle, but she died cleanly without being punished. Because that was the best award John gave. Therefore… she was given a prize because she moved according to the purpose. His eyes seemed to be full of anger and murder, as if he had suddenly thought of something.

“You didn’t even know it was going to happen.”

Blood leaked from Anton’s wrist. Anton gritted his teeth and shook his body. John recited in a languid tone.

“It’s so much fun that you still don’t know where you stand on the loose rat subject.”

“Ke-kke! please-!”

“Don’t worry. You won’t die easily.”

John looked at him and smiled brightly.

“Because I have to deal with everything that happened to my wife.”

Strangely enough, the laid-back look made her feel the rough savagery on the other side. Brutal violence that could easily break and destroy anything. Anton did not get discouraged by John and glared at him with venomous eyes.

“The part that- touched that woman-? Queue.”

If it were her, she would have surrendered a long time ago. She was stunned by the brutal sight. And maybe what Anton was trying to say was that John was strange for Estelle, the daughter of the enemy. It was information that a spy would have known.

‘It’s really strange.’

To be honest, it’s not the right thing to do. It was certain that Anton would die if left alone. John didn’t kill him easily, so he wouldn’t die of excessive blood loss, but he would die really painfully. But she still… She didn’t have the confidence to see people die.

‘At least in my eyes.’

Of course, it didn’t matter how he died behind the scenes.

“Wait a minute, Duke.”

Before she knew it, she put aside the pillow she was trying to wield as a shield and stood close to John. She grabbed John’s hand with both hands.

“You can’t kill him like that.”

“You want to leave him alone?”

John’s red eyes were stained with an unknown light.

‘I didn’t want to be in danger instead.’

John grabbed her hand and suddenly asked a strange question.

“Are you sure you have sympathy for that?”

Huh?

“Or, you finally got scared.”

* * *

The plan went awry.

“So, he suddenly disappeared?”

“Sorry.”

“Looks like I’ve been slacking on housekeeping for a while.”

The servant who hastily delivered the report noticed John’s anger and bowed his head.

“Even after letting this happen, I thought about raising my head.”

The plan, which had apparently been ordered to be cancelled, was implemented.

‘It must have been Patricia.’

John slightly frowned. If you look at the original subordinates, this kind of thing happens invariably. So John was used to this. He had to get used to it.

‘Estelle is in danger.’

That obvious proposition gave him a completely different, miserable feeling than usual.

‘The location is…’

If he had been inside the Duke’s mansion, he would have been able to go to rescue Estelle right away. However, he was currently in a situation where he had arrived at the imperial palace late at night after sending Erich on a mission.

‘If I use black magic in the imperial palace, there will be side effects.’

Black magic always comes with a price and a reaction. In particular, it could run out of control if it was executed without any preparation. John’s head was meticulously calculating how serious the side effects and outrage of the black magic would be. However, his body had already arrived at the mansion by magic. To Estelle. She was a very difficult woman to get to know. There were times when he thought she was a simple, easy-to-understand person. He also thought she was nice to hang on and play with innocently. But it was only a momentary illusion.

‘She secretly avoids my touch.’

Sometimes she said she liked it, but at times like this, she avoided him. Of course, her appearance was cute, like a rabbit with her eyes wide open and looking at a predator. But even though he knew it, she was still the wife he didn’t know. It’s suspicious, so it’s so lovely when her eyes were taken away.

‘Why am I like this?’

There were clear signs of this situation. He was also somewhat self-aware. But he didn’t think so.

‘Wasn’t it all for revenge?’

So he decided to completely destroy her.

‘Fake lily project.’

It was before Estelle came to this mansion that Anton was chosen. When a person faces a great threat to his/her personal safety, he tends to rely on the people around him. Conversely, it was the same even if he was caught running away as planned. Because he’ll stop thinking about running away.

“I’m looking for Anton for now, but if I have to, I’ll go to the Duchess’s bedroom…”

The moment he heard that Estelle was in danger as planned, John became very anxious. It seemed that the source of this heart was not revenge. He didn’t want to see Anton go after Estelle or she getting hurt. Although he tried to mentally drive her to escape.

‘It’s fine.’

He didn’t want to see that brightly smiling face stained with sadness. Arriving at the mansion, he called the servants.

“What about that bastard?”

The servants bowed their heads.

“Sorry, master.”

“I tried hard to find it, but I couldn’t find it anywhere else, so I sent someone to the Duchess’ bedroom.”

John’s lips hardened.

‘Is it because I haven’t been working in this mansion for a long time?’

Seeing that he didn’t come out even after searching the whole mansion, it seemed that he was still hiding well and running away.

‘Still, there’s no signal yet.’

There was no place in this mansion beyond John’s sight. Wherever he was, he could quickly find it. So this would be something that never happened. It was then. [Intruder.] It was a magic barrier felt near Estelle’s room. Without thinking rationally, he immediately moved to the fact that Anton had invaded.

‘Estelle shouldn’t already know the truth.’

Because it’s difficult.

‘Why? You originally wanted her to collapse.’

But deep inside, he kept thinking that it would be nice if Estelle didn’t know the truth.

‘Duke.’

He hoped that the voice that whispered affectionately would continue. And right across the door, he heard Estelle’s voice defending herself. Indeed, Estelle’s voice was right.

“But still, I will not follow you. I will meet and talk with my husband, the Duke, to see if that is true.”

So stupid.

“I may look foolish, but even if he is an evil human being, I want to believe in the Duke I saw once more.”

It was an absurd thing to say without even knowing her own situation.

“The Duke is not necessarily a good person. But the Duke I know is not like that. There must be a reason.”

Estelle had no reason to defend John. If there was a reason, it was only because John was Estelle’s formal husband. Such a stupid woman. Even when the knife was right in her throat, she was making stupid noises.

“I will listen to the Duke’s story myself. I have no intention of listening to anyone demeaning my husband.”

John immediately entered the room. The moment he saw the scene where Anton aimed a dagger at Estelle in the room he entered before long.

‘Something like that.’

Intrusive or not, he was angry inside. He didn’t know why. He didn’t want a sight like this. He didn’t want to see those dirty hands heading towards Estelle. In that moment, the idea that Estelle was his fake wife just flew away. He couldn’t even calculate that Estelle might tremble in fear at the sight of John’s own cruelty. So, he became worried later. However, Estelle’s reaction was completely different from what he expected.

* * *

John’s voice fell low. This was a sign of a serious situation. ‘Sympathy’ she never expected to hear such nonsense. Anton was the one who even tried to harm her. Her sympathy was too expensive to give to a guy like that.

“It’s not like that.”

She shook her head. It was important from now on.

“No?”

John’s eyes deepened. He seemed to be contemplating which side her denial was on. But the most effective response was through action. Then you won’t think nonsense. She mustered up the courage to look back at Anton, who seemed to be drowning in blood.

‘In the original story, I ran away with Anton.’

Even seeing John’s cruel deeds, she even said that it was not necessary to kill people so cruelly. When John saw it, he began to despise it even more. It’s disgusting to see them live upright lives without even knowing what their parents did. That noble aspect must have been the achievement her enemy wanted to achieve. John tilted his head and smiled twistedly. Did that mean he wanted to hear it? Suddenly, Anton, who had been rolling around, shouted in a fit of fuss.

“Right now, Libertans are half-!”

The moment he did, she stepped out and slapped him on the cheek. 

Match-! 

And hit him on the shin with a shoe. 

Puck!

“I will be punishing him for insulting my husband.”

Hit him once, hit him twice.

‘Should this be enough?’

She only hit the opponent who was still, but because her hand was too soft, it was rather red and swollen and painful.

‘I shouldn’t hit them with my hands from now on.’

At least she would have to use some tools. Because humans were tool users. Looking at Anton, who was barely maintaining his reason, she calmly opened her mouth.

“I don’t care what you do to me. Because I’m still a good person. But don’t insult or put down the Duke at will.”

As if he hadn’t expected this situation at all, Anton looked blankly at her as she was stepping on him. For some reason, she felt an obsessive, hot gaze on her side face. She couldn’t understand the meaning, but it seemed like John’s move was out of calculation. So, with all the more energy, she tried to beat and step on Anton for a long time. This one step might save her life. But the harder she worked, the more red her hands burst, and her ankles started to hurt.

‘My body, why is it so glassy?’

It was to the point where she thought it was amazing how she had endured all the hardships of the original.

‘When I think about it, it’s a bit strange that I’m still alive.’

After whining for a long time, she looked back at John.

“Duke?”

For some reason, John’s expression felt a little different from what she usually saw. An obsessive gaze that was bizarrely cold and frightening.

‘Did I do something wrong?’

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Translator Note:

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