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Episode 55. Abandoned

He spoke hesitantly.

"Strong?"

"…."

His expression, as if tears would fall with a single tap, left me speechless.

Why was he like that? I'm the one who wants to cry right now.

"I shouldn't cry."

Luigi, as if showing tears was humiliating, spat out harsh words repeatedly. Then he kept glancing at me and placed his hand on my thigh.

"Sister was right."

Unable to move due to the binding spell, I had no choice but to accept Luigi's touch.

"The heir's position required not just effort, but tremendous effort."

He pushed his tear-stained face close to mine.

"I was weak, and Luca couldn't endure it! So we need you."

"Since I can't read your mind, just tell me straight."

"We need your blood. A massive amount of it."

Blood?

"They say your blood can create a potion that maximizes mana."

"…Are you sure?"

"Probably."

He smiled, contorting his face.

"In the end, Ohan didn't need me or Luca."

"…."

"Lucy Ohan. They need you."

---

For an hour, Lapin had been standing in the same spot.

"…."

Lucy wasn't coming.

"…."

Just moments ago, several carriages had been leaving for home, but now even that had quieted down.

Had she abandoned him?

Whenever that thought arose, Lapin vehemently denied it.

Something must have happened. Or maybe the party had ended later than expected, and she was having trouble.

'Should I use the tracking spell now?'

A carriage appeared in the distance.

"Lucy?"

Lapin looked up, his eyes widening at the blonde hair visible through the window.

'Is that Lucy?'

His heart pounded like a child opening a gift.

If Lucy got out of that carriage and ran to him saying, "Sorry I'm late!" he knew he would forget the long wait. His heart was already ahead of him, ready to smile warmly and say it was okay.

Forgetting his frozen body, he would whisper in her ear, "I didn't wait long at all. Are you okay, Lucy?" If she allowed it, he would kiss her forehead. Suppressing his urge to kiss her, enduring, enduring, and enduring again… .

He'd also prepared an earnest confession.

He planned to gauge Lucy's reaction, then kneel and confess sincerely. If that didn't work out, he'd postpone the confession and take her to eat the meat she liked.

Everything had been calculated perfectly.

All that was left was Lucy.

Creak.

The carriage finally stopped in front of Lapin, and the door opened.

What came out was Lucy with her blonde hair, breathtakingly beautiful. Lucy, eyes sparkling and bright as a child. Lucy, calling his name cheerfully — but it wasn't.

"Are you alright?"

It was an unfamiliar woman.

One of the nobles who had attended the party, judging by the jewelry dangling from her ears and neck, and the deep-colored dress she wore.

"Are you lost?"

Lapin's face went cold upon seeing her.

"Goodness. Your hands are red."

No matter how he looked, this woman was not Lucy.

"You're freezing. If you don't mind, would you like to come to my manor? It's not far from here."

"…Is the party over?"

Lucy hadn't come.

His gloomy voice made the woman flinch.

"Yes. I think all the guests have returned to their homes."

"Was there any trouble?"

"At the party? Aside from a noble lady of high status being present…"

"I see."

The woman gazed blankly at Lapin's bitter smile.

"I'm fine, so please go on your way."

He trudged out of the village entrance and untied the horse from the tree.

'Lucy turned me away.'

With trembling hands, he slowly undid the knot and looked down at his bloodless hands. The cold, frozen body reached into his heart.

'She rejected me.'

But his heart ached more than his body.

Had Lucy been on one of the many carriages that had passed him? Opening his mouth in futility, his cloudy breath spread like his hazy heart.

No, he didn't know yet.

Lapin finally activated the tracking spell.

The mana he'd placed on Lucy was moving rapidly toward the Bendon Guild. Judging by the speed, she was traveling by carriage.

Having grasped the situation, Lapin stood frozen like a trapped snake.

'Why?'

He regretted his desperate confession made in front of her. If he'd been more composed and spoken tenderly, she might have come.

'Kind Lucy.'

You cherished and cared for me like a real brother.

'I never once thought of you as a sister.'

He'd known from the start that Lucy didn't feel the same way. He'd confessed anyway, hoping she would become aware of him. So he'd spoken without preparation, kissing her fingers in desperation. The result was… pitiful, but he didn't regret it.

Lucy, now of marriageable age, shone even in the eyes of other men. Not only was she beautiful, she was kind to everyone. Watching men fall for her and make advances, Lapin grew increasingly consumed.

The ones that came to mind right now: Triton, Damian, Jamie… .

And several others whose names he didn't know.

That's when Lapin realized — he didn't have much time left to keep Lucy by his side using pity alone.

But what worried him most was Lucy's free spirit, like the wind.

Could he truly possess her, someone not yet bound by love, who wandered here and there?

If not him, if some other man appeared and captured her heart, he'd have to let her go without ever confessing.

He hated that. He truly hated it.

What Lapin wanted wasn't pity, but a deeper bond with Lucy.

A deep covenant, raising beloved sons and daughters together, watching them grow, and being together until death. A perfect ending where both he and Lucy could be happy.

He wanted to stay by Lucy's side in that ideal relationship.

'I can't live without you.'

If that wasn't possible, he'd use other feelings to stay by her side.

Lapin's eyes turned blood-red.

To stay by Lucy's side, he had to eliminate the Tulda family. If they discovered his existence, they wouldn't leave his precious Lucy alone.

How strange, Lapin thought. The Tulda bastards, who had been the object of his fear since childhood, no longer scared him.

Instead, he planned to use them. If he got severely injured trying to kill them, wouldn't Lucy come running to his side? Feeling pity for him, pushed to the brink of death, he could use that emotion to confess again.

If rejected, he could just get hurt again.

If he became disabled and Lucy stayed by his side forever — then love, he could compromise a hundred times over.

Lapin, struggling to mount his horse, stroked its mane.

If he rode fast, it would take three days to reach the Tulda estate.

He checked the sword at his waist, gauged his mana, and grasped the reins.

'Lucy.'

Just before departure, he looked back.

He briefly checked if any other carriages were coming down the road. It was quiet. Only lonely darkness remained, pushing at his back.

"…."

Lucy wasn't coming.

Lucy wasn't coming.

So he would eliminate the obstacle, Tulda, and see her with a clean slate.

With a thunderous sound, the horse cut through the wind.

Not westward, but toward the southern manor where Lapin's rage was directed.

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