How to Run Away from Obsessed Men

Episode 57

Kenyan frowned.

The person who entered his room was Raysis. He was looking at Kenyan with a clean, composed face.

He truly looked as if nothing was wrong.

Still, Kenyan thought that Raysis would at least share a similar sentiment. He assumed Raysis would feel some sorrow over Lindsey’s death. But unlike Kenyan, Raysis had become even more active in social circles after her funeral.

He carried out his duties and family responsibilities without missing a single task, as if he hadn’t been affected at all.

Rumor had it that the Marquis of Kesion had started to trust Raysis even more.

“How did you get in? I told them not to let anyone in.”

“Lord Azhet gave me permission.”

“Pointless meddling…”

Kenyan stared at Raysis with a disgusted expression. He hated him but lacked the energy to even throw a punch.

He took a sip of the strong rum next to him, but he had to put it down after only a few sips.

That was because Raysis had snatched the bottle from him.

“What on earth are you doing?” Kenyan asked.

“Do you have time for this?”

“What?”

“Didn’t you care about Lindsey?”

Kenyan’s expression stiffened at Raysis’s words. Raysis, without hesitation, poured the rum over Kenyan’s head.

Drip, drip.

Kenyan’s eyes lowered. It reminded him of when his mother had done the same thing to Lindsey when she left the Radian family.

He recalled Lindsey, soaked and dripping, her eyes filled with fury.

“That’s what Lindsey went through,” Raysis said.

“I know.”

“How does it feel to experience it for yourself?”

“It feels disgusting.”

At Kenyan’s words, Raysis smiled.

“I have no intention of forgiving a single person involved in Lindsey’s death.”

“…”

“Get a grip. Stop lying here with that stupid look on your face. It’s time for revenge.”

Revenge.

At the mention of that word, a glint appeared in Kenyan’s eyes.

⋆★⋆

Raysis returned to the Kesion Marquisate.

He had expected Kenyan to be in a pitiful state, but seeing him wasting time in such a lethargic manner was even worse than he had imagined.

Raysis hadn’t even had the luxury to grieve Lindsey’s death.

At this point, the insufferable version of Kenyan would have been better.

As he was lost in thought, a noise that irritated him reached his ears.

“Clear it out quickly! Get rid of everything before Brother Raysis returns!”

Lindsey’s room had been preserved under Raysis’s orders.

From the humble room she used before she manifested her divine power, to the one she used afterward—he had kept all traces of her intact.

Yet here was Rosalyn, tearing through Lindsey’s room.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Raysis asked.

“O-Oh, Brother?”

Rosalyn turned to face him, startled. She had assumed it would take much longer for him to return, given that he had gone to the Radian household.

His sudden appearance caught her off guard.

But her surprise was brief.

With a steely gaze, Rosalyn addressed him.

“I’m going to use this room now.”

“You?”

“This is the room meant for the person with the strongest divine power in the Kesion Marquisate.”

“…”

“Lindsey’s gone now, so isn’t it only right that I use it?”

Raysis glanced at the servants who were handling Lindsey’s belongings.

“Stop.”

At his command, the servants froze.

“No, don’t stop!” Rosalyn shouted, but the servants didn’t move. Raysis was currently the most favored son of the Marquis of Kesion.

His words held far more weight than Rosalyn’s, whose standing had fallen after several incidents.

Raysis roughly pushed Rosalyn down into a chair.

“Everyone, leave.”

At his words, the servants bowed their heads and exited the room. His furious gaze turned back to Rosalyn.

“You’re not allowed to touch anything, Rosalyn.”

Rosalyn tried to protest but fell silent at the cold look in Raysis’s eyes.

“You’ve taken everything that should have been Lindsey’s.”

“No, no! She was the one who took what was mine!”

“You’ve tormented Lindsey all this time. You even deceived me.”

“No, that’s not true!”

“You won’t take anything from Lindsey ever again.”

Rosalyn wanted to scream that it wasn’t true. How could she have taken anything from Lindsey?

It was Lindsey who had taken everything. Everything that should have been hers, Lindsey had snatched away. Rosalyn genuinely believed that.

“Rosalyn, you’re still under house arrest. You know that, right? Go back to your room and stay there.”

Rosalyn bit her lips hard. Raysis was right—she was currently under house arrest.

She thought it would be lifted after Lindsey’s death, but Crain hadn’t released her from it.

She felt resentful.

She couldn’t understand how her position, once the most cherished in the Kesion Marquisate, had become like this. If she returned to society in this state, she would undoubtedly be ridiculed.

She thought that once Lindsey disappeared, she could regain her position, but that still hadn’t happened.

“It’s so unfair.”

Rosalyn stormed out of Lindsey’s room, her face flushed. Raysis quietly watched her leave.

Rosalyn was sulking simply because things weren’t going her way. The treatment she was currently enduring was nothing compared to what Lindsey had gone through as a child.

The servants were still polite to Rosalyn, and even Crain remained lenient with her.

In time, Rosalyn would brush off her disgrace as if nothing had happened and reclaim everything she’d lost.

It was unfair.

After Lindsey’s death, Raysis began to uncover exactly what Lindsey had been through.

“Under Lady Rosalyn’s orders, she often slept in the stables.”

“In the cold winter, she had to wash Lady Rosalyn’s dresses by hand. She was no better than a maid, they said.”

“She was frequently starved as punishment for not taking proper care of Lady Rosalyn.”

Saying that he hadn’t known was just an excuse.

He had known Lindsey was being mistreated but had never imagined it was this severe.

‘Do I even have the right to condemn Rosalyn? I was no different.’

He had also been cold toward Lindsey.

Why had he acted that way?

He didn’t know.

If only he had been as kind to Lindsey as he was to Rosalyn…

Without knowing what Lindsey had gone through…

‘If I could go back, I wouldn’t have treated her like that.’

But it was a futile regret.

Time could not be reversed.

Raysis sat down in the chair Rosalyn had been sitting in. In the middle of Lindsey’s disordered room, he covered his face with his hands.

⋆★⋆

Mikhail was sitting in a tree, looking down at Lindsey.

How had he come all the way here? The Rohan Empire, where she had been, was far from this place.

“How did you get here?”

“I ran.”

Lindsey shook her head.

By now, she knew better than to expect common sense from him.

“Come down.”

At Lindsey’s request, Mikhail obediently climbed down from the tree.

Lindsey observed him.

‘Did he come all the way here because he couldn’t get healing?’

Mikhail certainly didn’t look well.

‘Sylvia should have been at the Kesion Marquisate.’

With Lindsey gone, Crain would have assigned Sylvia to take care of Mikhail’s healing again. But there were no signs of healing on Mikhail.

Lindsey frowned in dissatisfaction. This was why she couldn’t leave so easily.

Lindsey looked around.

Mikhail’s face was well-known, even in the Asen Empire.

If anyone saw them together, it would certainly raise suspicions.

Sensing her unease, Mikhail spoke up.

“There’s no one around.”

Only then did Lindsey relax and take his hand.

“You came here for healing, didn’t you?”

As usual, Mikhail shook his head. Lindsey asked in an annoyed tone.

“Do you not want my healing?”

Mikhail’s face twisted, a rare expression for him.

“What are you talking about?”

“Isn’t that it?”

“I didn’t come to see you for healing.”

“Then why are you here?”

Mikhail didn’t answer Lindsey’s question right away. He didn’t fully understand why he had come to see her either.

Seeing his conflicted expression, Lindsey shook her head and smiled. It was clear he was struggling to answer.

“It’s fine. I didn’t expect an answer anyway. You’re always so secretive.”

“……”

“Then can you answer this at least?”

Lindsey took Mikhail’s hand and led him to a place where they wouldn’t be seen.

Then she asked him.

“Is the Duke of Riken really my mother?”

“Yes.”

Unconsciously, Lindsey’s grip tightened. Hearing the confirmation from Mikhail made her feel even more hollow.

So, she really was my mother.

Even though she hadn’t stayed long, the Riken Duchy seemed peaceful. If not for her presence, that peace would surely continue.

Whether at the Kesion Marquisate or here, Lindsey was better off being absent.

“Why did you tell me to come here?”

“I thought you needed to know the truth.”

Lindsey let out a bitter laugh at Mikhail’s response.

“And what’s the truth? That in the end, I’m just someone who was abandoned by my mother too?”