“I’m already struggling with my own debts. And I have no intention of coming back home.”
“Unhyuk-ah.”
“I don’t care what Mother does with the house, so whether you take out a loan or sell it, do as you please. But I’d prefer it if those people didn’t come looking for me.”
His stepmother’s face twisted grotesquely. Still, she had nothing more to say and stood up from her seat.
“I’m leaving. Next time those punks come looking, I’ll call the police. Because it has nothing to do with me.”
“Are you really going to be like this?”
“Yes.”
“How can you do this.”
“I can do this.”
“You!!”
“Thank you for everything until now. Mother. Take care.”
Nothing had been resolved, but he bowed his head in greeting and turned around without regret. Something flew from behind and passed by his head. What shattered against the bedroom door was an alarm clock.
“……?!”
When he turned around in surprise, this time a pillow came flying at him.
“Get out, get out. Ungrateful for being raised. How can you say such heartless things just to save yourself. What about us, how are we supposed to live.”
Screaming voices rang out shrilly. Pillows and cushions flew wildly and hit his body. He felt like the blood was draining from him, but he had no desire to stop her. He just opened the bedroom door and escaped.
Standing in front of the door was Eunhye with a pale face. He passed by her, pretending not to notice.
“Oppa?!”
“I’m leaving.”
“Wait, do we really have to sell the house? Then what about my study abroad? I’m supposed to go in the summer, won’t I be able to go?”
In a situation where the house had to be sold, his thoughtless younger sister only worried about what would happen to her study abroad. In the end, what mattered most was herself.
I, too, mattered most to myself.
“I don’t know. Ask Mother.”
“Oppa!!”
He turned to look at Eunhye, who was screaming in a shrill voice. His younger sister’s face, which resembled their mother’s, had turned red with anger.
“I didn’t even know you were going to study abroad. I don’t know why Mother took out private loans either. So what am I supposed to do?”
“Aren’t you even worried?”
“If we sell the house, it’ll be resolved quickly.”
“You’re really completely selfish!”
“I know.”
Truly selfish, he thought, wishing he could feel nothing at all, and turned around.
He felt like shit.
* * *
Finding the suite room to change clothes was an unavoidable choice. All the useful clothes, including the ones Rashanin had bought him, were at the hotel. The clothes he was wearing now weren’t bad, but to face a terrifying vampire, he needed to be properly armed.
Standing in front of the door, he took a long deep breath. He had steeled himself mentally, so he was confident he could remain composed even if he ran into Rashanin.
However, what awaited him beyond the door he opened with the electronic card wasn’t Rashanin but Elisabeth and Manuel. They were sitting on the living room sofa as if they owned the guest room. Having entered the room and taken only a few steps, he froze in place when he met Elisabeth’s blue eyes. In contrast, Elisabeth looked at him with a brightly smiling face.
A smile as radiant as blooming flowers, but he wasn’t fooled.
Two days ago, hadn’t she approached with a sweet smile that seemed to enchant people, only to deliver a body hook to Rashanin?
“You’ve arrived?”
Manuel greeted him with his usual stiff face. Following Manuel’s guidance, he walked toward the living room somewhat bewildered. Rashanin was sitting in an area not visible from the entrance. Manuel stood in the middle and introduced him and Elisabeth.
“Your Highness. This is Mr. Lee Unhyuk. Mr. Lee Unhyuk, this is Lady Elisabeth von Schwaben.”
“Hello. I’m Elisabeth.”
Elisabeth smiled brightly and extended her hand first. Unlike their first meeting when she wore a white suit, today she wore a black evening dress with her hair down. It was hard to take his eyes off the seductive beauty with red lips added to the ensemble.
He hesitated about whether to shake the white hand with its sparkling pearl-colored nails, then steeled himself and shook hands.
“Pleased to meet you. I’m Lee Unhyuk. Your Highness.”
“Elisabeth is fine. I can call you Unhyuk too, right?”
“Yes.”
Despite her haughty appearance, she was so friendly that it actually made him more wary, but he couldn’t exactly tell her not to call him that.
When he nodded, Elisabeth withdrew her hand and smiled brightly. If Rashanin’s smile was a thin smile like wearing a mask, Elisabeth’s seemed to be a bright smile.
“I’m sorry about the other day. I missed the timing to stop my hand. I heard there were no major issues, but does your head hurt? Why did you get discharged after just one day? I went to visit with flowers but you weren’t there, so I was disappointed.”
Her friendly, smiling manner of asking left him completely flustered.
“I’m fine. I can move around well enough.”
“That’s a relief. I was worried. I asked the Duke to check on how you were doing, but he refused, saying it was late at night. He’s really a narrow-minded person who won’t grant a lady’s earnest request. The Duke is.”
Despite Rashanin sitting right next to her, Elisabeth kept a smiling face and thoroughly badmouthed him. She was a scary woman.
But Rashanin had come to find him that night. And he’d said Elisabeth had sent him, at that. Could it be that Rashanin hadn’t said anything? Various suspicions arose, and he glanced at Rashanin. He was quietly setting down his teacup without even looking at Elisabeth.
“You’ve become quite nasty since I last saw you. Do you even tattle about such things?”
“My, is it proper to eavesdrop on conversations so inelegantly?”
“It seems the elegant Princess has forgotten that the person in question is sitting in the same place—have you developed amnesia?”
Rashanin’s eyebrows twitched as he bared his teeth as if ready to fight right then and there. His well-shaped lips, pulled taut, reflexively brought back memories of last night’s incident, and he quickly turned his head.
Right. We kissed. Damn it.
He should pretend not to know, but his face felt hot.
“My, your face is red. Do you have a fever?”
Elisabeth smiled brightly at him, not paying any attention to whatever Rashanin was saying. He shook his head.
“No. I’m fine.”
“Then shall we move since everyone’s gathered?”
“Ah, I need to change clothes now.”
“Observing etiquette is good. Actually, if you’d said you were going like that, I would have been disappointed. Your appearance hardly seems fitting for someone who’s been invited. I’ll wait, so don’t be late.”
Elisabeth was just like Rashanin. The way she smiled while saying whatever she wanted without reservation was similar. Though he was embarrassed by the criticism that he looked terrible, he calmly smiled and said he’d go change clothes before moving away.
It was a day where he’d stopped by Incheon where his friend’s funeral was being held, had a fight with his stepmother, and was completely drained. To him, struggling with debt and financial hardship, the two vampires didn’t feel real.
But what could he do. This too was his shitty life.
*
When splendor exceeds its limits, it becomes poison. Looking at Elisabeth and Rashanin sitting on either side of him, such thoughts naturally arose.
“Does it not taste good?”
When he didn’t touch his wine glass, Elisabeth asked what was wrong. Actually, he was in a bad mood due to Namsu and his stepmother’s matters, but he had no intention of getting drunk in front of two accomplished vampires. Especially after last night’s incident.
“I drank too much yesterday, so I’m trying to restrain myself as much as possible.”
Elisabeth nodded, saying “I see?” but didn’t ask about the reason for his excessive drinking.
The beautiful young lady sitting on his left was Elisabeth von Schwaben. And the handsome man sitting on his right was Ilya Mikhalovich Rashanin. Their beauty was so outstanding that it felt like he was sitting between rare golden roses on either side.
But to enjoy the pleasure of looking at them, their identities were too formidable. Vampires. And they were high-ranking vampires that didn’t exist in Korea.
“How is being the Duke’s guide?”
“He’s a good person. He’s not picky, and he doesn’t make unreasonable demands, so it’s comfortable.”
“Ho ho ho, what a thing to see in my long life. For someone to appear who praises the Duke as a good person. He’s so extremely picky that those who served him have suffered quite a bit of torment.”
“Talking behind others’ backs is not elegant behavior. Princess.”
