Translated by: Miss Ruby
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It was a somewhat familiar shade of blonde hair. Not only that, even the back facing Yuri was familiar.
‘Lakis?’
Because it was the same back she saw every day, there was no way she could mistake it.
‘But he should be in Carnot right now, why is he here?’
Yuri unconsciously started walking forward like she was possessed.
“Arachne? There’s someone there…”
Odin spoke with a start, but his words did not reach Yuri’s ears. Eventually, Yuri stepped into the more secluded alley where the blonde man was.
The man whose back was facing Yuri stopped walking when he felt a presence approaching him. Soon, he turned around to face Yuri in the darkness.
“Mr. Lakis.”
Seeing the face before her, Yuri subconsciously opened her mouth and called out a familiar name.
Instantly, Odin flinched.
‘What? Lakis? Could it be Lakis Avalon?’
Suddenly, his mind was wracked with a splitting headache. Odin staggered, suppressing a groan. His mind was once again filled with confusion like he was trying to remember something or not remember.
Odin, who was only poking his head out of Yuri’s pocket, covered his head with his wings and collapsed inside. At the same time, Yuri stopped at the gaze meeting hers in the air.
The moment their eyes met, she seemed to see an unknown light flash in the man’s blue eyes for some reason.
The man in front of Yuri certainly looked exactly like the person she knew. With golden hair that shone brightly even in the dark, a face with delicate features, and even the brilliant pair of light blue eyes that made a chill run down her spine, they were all familiar to her eyes.
However…
“…Lakis, you say?”
It was not him. This person was not Lakis. He could never be Lakis. The moment the man opened his mouth, her certainty grew.
“For you to call me by that name.”
Horrifyingly enough, even the man’s voice was the same as Lakis. But it definitely felt different.
“I see, so you know ‘me’.”
A chilling light flashed in his deep blue eyes submerged in the shadows.
“And you’re a mutant.”
But it was soon covered with a smile and disappeared.
“Well then…”
Tak.
The man took a step forward to approach Yuri.
“I shall take you for now.”
A voice low enough that it seemed like he was talking to himself clung to her ears. The man stretched his hand out of Yuri, who stood there like she was frozen.
Yuri instinctively tried to avoid the man.
‘Huh…?’
But for some reason, her consciousness dimmed right away and she was unable to do anything. Her powerless body fell down. As she fell, the man’s hands caught her.
The last thing Yuri saw were unfamiliar blue eyes shining vividly in the pitch darkness.
* * *
“Welcome back, Lakis-nim!”
Meanwhile, Lakis was in Carnot like Yuri expected. If he had gone as planned, he should have arrived a little earlier but because he stopped somewhere on the way, he was a little later than expected.
Step.
He entered the castle in Carnot for the first time in a long while. At that, the subordinates gathered at the door hurriedly bowed their head to greet Lakis.
Of course, the person whom the subordinates rushed out to greet was Milliam, the fake bastard who was playing King while Lakis was gone.
A crooked smile spread over Lakis’ lips.
—These punks have all lost their mind. No, how can not even one bastard tell the difference between a fake face and a real one? You have to just **** them and **** their eyes and for them to come to their senses…
Perhaps the bug felt the same displeasure as Lakis because it enthusiastically continued to let out a string of curses in his mind.
Judging by how they were greeting Lakis without any question, it seemed the fake bastard was not around right now.
Lakis looked down at the dozens of heads bowing to him and smiled coldly. The thought that they must have bowed this respectfully to the fake as well made his stomach churn.
“Oi.”
“Yes, Lakis-nim!”
“All of you, get your head on the ground.”
He felt the urge to cut off all their heads and hang it outside the window since it were for decoration.
However, Lakis was feeling specially merciful.
“Yes, Sir!”
Just like before, his men threw their heads to the marble floor and lay, flat without asking a question.
Whack! Thwack!
“Uck…!”
Whack!
“Kh!”
Lakis kicked their lined-up round heads one after the other.
Whenever a kicking sound rang out, his men grabbed their head, groaned and rolled to the side. They couldn’t figure out why Lakis was in a bad mood. But even though they were curious, there was no one with big enough courage to ask Lakis directly.
Amongst them, there were a few of his men who implicitly felt that Lakis had strangely changed since a while ago. So they were confused to be tasting Lakis’ footwork because felt like they had once again returned to be past.
Anyways, in that manner, Lakis coolly passed his men and headed inside the castle.
—Hey, just kicking them once is enough? Grind their mind to pieces![1]
‘I’ll do it even if you tell me not to. But not now, later.’
Lakis’ gaze sank with even more dreariness.
Only then was the bug satisfied while the men behind Lakis trembled as an eerie chill suddenly ran down their spine.
Lakis’ black shoes stepped past marble floor which sparkled so much that you could practically see it. The floor was cleaned and wiped every single day and not a single dust could be found.
‘If the fake bastard was here, I would have dealt with him immediately, what a pity.’
But since the fake was away, he would deal with it like it was empty, so it didn’t matter much. Just because it was delayed didn’t mean that the fake’s beating would change.
‘That said, I should find out where he is right now.’
Lakis climbed up the stairs while wondering who he should call to find out the whereabouts of the fake bastard.
‘Seeing as he dared to climb over my head and send pursuers, I don’t think it will happen, but it will be annoying if he figures out his place and runs away.’
Bright sunlight seeped in through the window next to the stairs. Lakis’ room was at the top of the castle, but it was in a shade where the sun did not really reach.
There was a sun-lit room a little further down, and now that he thought about it, Yuri would probably like that room. Then since her bedroom would be there, it would be better for Lakis to move rooms.
Plus, seeing as Yuri like to watch the sunset on the river from her house in the East, it would be nice to make a lounge with a window facing west.
Like he had done so many times since arriving here, Lakis thoughts flew to Yuri who was in the east before he knew it.
He felt satisfied by the idea of bringing Yuri to the castle. Of course, he was yet to even get Yuri’s consent but Lakis had already began to make several blueprints in his mind. If Yuri knew Lakis was having this kind of thoughts, she would probably grow speechless.
—What are you thinking about that your bad mood is gone? Does the thought of beating up the fake turd make you that happy?
Just when he was immersed in a sweet dream, some noise pollution suddenly butt in. Lakis’ face crumpled.
‘Your specialty is simply just spoiling things.’
—What the! What did I do now to be treated like this?
‘Shut up, don’t talk till I give permission…’
“Gasp, Lakis-nim?”
Just then, someone breathlessly ran over to the bottom of the stairs Lakis was on. Lakis’ icy gaze fell on where the voice came from.
“You’re back earlier than I expected! I thought there would be at least two more days before you came back!”
The man hurried till he was in front of Lakis and bowed at the waist to apologize.
“I’m so sorry! I know I should have been on standby to meet you right away! I was thoughtless…!”
Lakis’ cold eyes looked down at the head which was just as round as his other men and he wanted to kick it like earlier. Although the face was familiar, he couldn’t remember the name because this was not the usual guy he had by his side. And judging from what he said, he seemed like the closest aide to the fake bastard…
Was he a bastard who rose to success when Milliam began to imitate Lakis? That seemed very possible.
‘I suppose we have one thing in common.’
After all, if Lakis was the one in the other position, he would never use an aide which had been touched by the fake bastard.
‘Just thinking of the fact that he worked for that bastard makes my insides burn.’
In other words, the man standing in front of Lakis was surely going to cross the Jordan River sooner or later.[2]
“But I finished everything you ordered by this morning. Would you like me to give you a report now?”
The man who didn’t know that fact yet was drenched in cold sweat and snuck glances as he tried to grasp Lakis’ mood. But as soon as his eyes met Lakis’ frosty light blue eyes, he flinched and hurriedly lowered his head.
Lakis once again stared at the round head before him, then he curled his lips and smile.
Only
“Alright.”
His eyes shone coldly, like a frozen lake in winter.
“Let me hear it, this report of yours.”
Translator’s Corner:
[1] I’m not sure if the bug means this in the literal sense.
[2] Not sure why it’s the Jordan river but you can probably tell it means nothing good.
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