Chapter 19

“… What, what did you say?”

“I killed him. No, the curse you gave birth to killed him.”

The duke’s face turned white. At this moment, his protection had disappeared.

“You, you are a beast I have tamed! You’re a dog! You dare bite me?”

“Is that so?”

Desian looked at him with indifferent eyes.

“But I am a disciple who killed his master.”

He laughed slightly. The duke looked at Desian with eyes wide open.

“You, you’re going to kill me?”

It was at that moment, the duke’s fingers began to twist bizarrely.

“Ahh! Ahhhhhh! This, this. Ack!”

The duke felt pain and tears all the way up to his shoulders.

*Tuk.*

The whip fell from his grasp. The object that put Desian in pain fell on the floor just like that.

Desian looked at the whip dully.

“What should we do with this?”

While looking at the duke who was struggling in pain and squirming on the floor like a worm, Desian bent down and slowly lifted the whip that was once owned by the duke.

“Do you know what this feels like?”

The duke was shaking with his gaze down. Desian slowly struck the whip at the duke with little force.

*Smack!*

After being struck, he hugged his legs and curled up like a ball. His pathetic look really resembled a bug.

Desian stood before a man who, for so long, had constantly devoured his self-consciousness, but he felt no resentment. He just felt freedom.

“This is no fun.”

“You, you, you bastard! I-I’m going to burn you in the annex! I’m going to burn your ass into ashes! Crazy bastard!”

A long blaring shriek rang out. Desian frowned.

Burning the annex. Although it’s a word that wasn’t offensive, nor does it even matter whether it was set on fire or not, but she is in there.

He briefly confirmed the number of people in the outer residence.

It was also where Citrina was staying. Although he put on a noise barrier beforehand, she might still find out.

Because Citrina was a special person.

He recalled the conversation they had in the garden..

‘She hates it when someone is killed.’

But if the duke was spared, the world of Citrina and Desian would end.

‘What do I do?’

He is deeply interested in Citrina. The desire and the unknown emotion towards her is growing as it also is gradually being unravelled.

Should I kill him or cover it up? He was conflicted.

Desian looked down with cold eyes at the duke who is still in pain, and whipped him again lightly.

The duke was already heavily wounded for mind control magic. Using mind control on an unhealthy body would lead to death.

It’s fair to end the life of anyone who could harm Citrina.

He slowly swept his tongue on his lips.

He made a decision.

“Well then.”

Desian gently touched the duke’s body. It was a completely different feeling from the time he touched her.

The few seconds he touched him, it only felt unpleasant.

Desian’s hand began to quietly take away his life.

“Hyuk! Heo Eok, Hyuk…”

The duke suffered from the overwhelming pain as he started to suffocate. Desian just watched him slowly die.

He clearly doesn’t feel anything for his so-called father.

Desian looked at the duke with eyes that seemed like it was looking at a worm. The duke wriggled one last time before being motionless.

Now, he can’t feel a shred of life in him. Desian thought as he rubbed his ringing ear.

‘He’s dead. With this, our world would be perfect. And for the first time, I protected someone, Citrina.’

For the first time, he had someone he liked as he protected the world that has her in it.

His heart started to beat faster.

Desian looked at the duke with joy on his face. The face where one cannot find a shred of sympathy.

‘But now… what should I do?’

Citrina hates when someone is killed.

‘…I don’t want to be hated by her.’

At that moment, he got a little worried, but it wasn’t long before Desian’s face blossomed with a smile.

A good idea came up.

***

Desian’s plan was simple.

It wasn’t long after the duke’s departure that a plague hit the Northern area and information of the duke being ill came around creating a ruckus. It is also rumoured that the disease was unknown. So the emperor sent an imperial doctor to look for a treatment.

Many high-ranking nobles wanted to visit the emperor, but they were dismissed due to the contagious nature of the disease.

It was a little while after the rumors started that Citrina, who was staying in the outer residence in the mansion, heard of the duke’s illness while she was in the library.

Recently, she has developed a habit of finishing a simple lunch before coming to the library to read.

But these days, she’d been feeling exceptionally light-hearted. She hasn’t seen Desian’s face recently as the duke’s arrival is nearing.

‘How are things going? How is Duke Pietro?’

Although she was doing her usual routine, Citrina was feeling anxious at the moment as if she’s having a mild fever.

It was Aron’s visit to the library that relieved her anxiety.

“Citrina, you’re reading again today?”

Aron entered the library without knocking. The excitement in his voice is evident. She felt something was amiss.

Opening her eyes, she asked, “Yes. Did something happen?”

“Did you know? The duke is sick, Citrina.”

“…Ah.”

Citrina blanked out for a moment.

He’s not dead, but sick? Desian didn’t kill him?

Unaware of Citrina’s thought, Aron started talking about the duke’s condition.

“I heard that he returned a while ago, but since he went to the North, he got sick… I’m not sure, but I heard the North was very cold.”

“Oh, it might just be a mild illness.”

When he heard of the word ‘mild’, Aron looked up.

Seeing Aron’s movement, it doesn’t seem to be just a mild illness. Her thoughts began spinning.

“The duke contracted a dangerous disease?”

Then it could have been Desian’s doing. But killing would be much easier than covering it up by making him ill.

‘There is no reason for Desian to lie about the duke being ill. That’s a lot of hassle.’

First of all, a lot of things seem to have changed in the original plot from her memory.

The situation is quite promising.

‘The news that someone contracted a disease wasn’t contained.’

“I don’t know. His Majesty sent an imperial doctor to examine him, so the symptoms must have been serious.”

“How did you know that?”

“I overheard the servants. And also, the disease seems to be contagious. But the doctor said that the disease may not really be contagious and that he had a feeling that the duke might have been casted with mind control.”

“…Oh. I see.”

“Do you know what this means?”

Aron’s eyes sparkled. Citrina had an ominous premonition.

“N, no… What does it mean?”

“It means that we can finally have our freedom, Citrina!”

“Huh, um, freedom?”

“If the Duke of Pietro dies soon, I… I can get out of here.”

‘Despite the name cursed twin of the Pietro household, Aron has always wanted to leave.’ Citrina nodded.

“And since surveillance has disappeared, even if you secretly go out, no one will know.”

‘No matter how sick the duke is, the servants won’t just sit idle.’

Aron, as the male protagonist, also has amazing senses. To the point that he made such remarks, then the surveillance on the outer residence must have really been lifted.

Countless questions swirled in her mind. It was when Aron spoke that she regained her focus.

“Citrina, have you ever been to the capital’s square?”

Aron’s gaze turned to Citrina. Citrina’s gaze turned to Aron, blinking her eyes several times.

“Uh, a few times.”

“Oh, I’ve never been out before… I wonder what the outside world is like.”

“I see.”

In Citrina’s mind, there is the thought of ‘I shouldn’t be too close’ and ‘I’m leaving soon anyway’, but also ‘I want to make good memories before I do’.

‘If the original plot changed because of me, Aron’s future may change, so let’s not be too cold/distant.’

Citrina felt a little uncomfortable. She scoured the original plot, so Aron’s future is also uncertain.

‘While I’m here, it’s better to make good memories. I’ll be somewhere far away for a few years anyway, I’m the one who will naturally be forgotten.’

After thinking of this, Citrina smiled.

“Then shall we go out?”

“When? When will we go out?”

Aron quickly recovered his vigor and answered with his cheeks dyed red.

“How about tomorrow?”

“Not today?”

“No. Let’s go tomorrow?”

“Okay, let’s go tomorrow! Oh, how about we go out with my brother?” Aron asked with his lively voice.

Citrina couldn’t reply immediately. After a brief silence, her brows slightly frowned.

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