There Is No Hidden Villain in This Novel Chapter 126

“Do you not want to hold my hand?”

“No. That’s not it.”

“Are you really not going to hold it? When I’m saying I want you to.”

Eventually, Ryuseong strained his hand until the veins on the back of it stood out, then slowly lowered it.

At that moment, I realized that Ryuseong had been desperately trying to hide his blushing cheeks. He was frowning to hide his pounding heart, but it was obvious from his eyes that he had fallen for me all over again. It seemed like Ryuseong fell for me every time he saw me.

“…Damn it, give me your hand.”

I felt a smile coming on for no reason and held back, refusing to give him my hand. When I pulled my hand back and stuck out my tongue playfully, both my wrists were caught and bound behind my back in one of his hands. With the professor rambling on at the podium, I couldn’t even use mana, so I was completely caught. Ryuseong then smiled crookedly as if he were pleased, looking ridiculously pleased with himself. Annoyed, I kicked him in the shin in revenge.

“Ugh.”

Even while we were playing and fooling around like this, Professor Dohyun’s praise for me never ceased. What was he on about now? He was blathering on about how I had become a hero, the hope of all of Russia.

‘He’s going this far? Why?’

It seems I definitely need to hear about that power struggle among the parents he mentioned.

“Which family’s parents could possibly be pulling strings? I’m right here.”

“Your family’s parents.”

What? I have parents? Is he talking about the ugly Head of House or my great-grandfather?

‘Ah, wait a minute.’

Come to think of it, Cassis de Millang did have them.

‘…A mother and a father.’

Alright, I managed to recall that much. But Ryuseong, frustratingly, didn’t answer easily. When I glared at him, urging him for an answer, Ryuseong finally met my eyes.

With that peculiar, strange gaze he’d been giving me lately.

As if he were pitying me.

The sight of it made something come to mind.

“…Is it my parents?”

Suddenly, the rims of my eyes felt hot.

The ones I met at the formal family meeting, and the ones I encountered in the form of memories when I witnessed Cassis de Millang’s past through the forest spirit’s trick.

The very parents that the now-nonexistent Cassis had loved so desperately…

‘What if they don’t attach any meaning to Cassis de Millang whatsoever?’

A sorrowful laugh escaped me.

“Why, don’t tell me they wish this body would just disappear?”

I would rather die than endure such a miserable fate.

“It’s not like that. They have nothing to do with this. What are you talking about?”

Ryuseong urgently grabbed my shoulders. He seemed to say something, but anyway.

…I need to get a grip. Cassis de Millang is not me. Because he is not me, whatever happens to him has nothing to do with me. It’s none of my business even if his deepest wounds are twisted and squeezed. Therefore, Ryuseong’s pity is misplaced. It is wrong. Its direction is off.

In short, he had no right to pull this crap with me.

‘Why are you looking at me with those eyes? There’s nothing wrong with me. Why don’t you quit before I gouge your eyes out?’

If I had been pitied a few days ago, I might have gotten angry and said just that. But I forced myself to swallow the intense emotions welling up inside me. Because I was sick of it.

‘I’m sick of feeling a sense of kinship with the pathetic-looking Cassis de Millang.’

I was not pathetic. So there was no need to feel any kinship with him.

“My… parents. Fine. That’s good. There are others besides my parents, right. Yes.”

Finally understanding Ryuseong’s words belatedly, I nodded as if I had at last accepted reality. Though I was only answering now after barely managing to suppress my inner rage.

In any case, I couldn’t have a conversation like this without putting up a barrier.

Slice.

“Is it the Head of House? Is it my great-grandfather?”

I said after lightly cutting my fingertip and casting a sound-blocking barrier around us.

“If someone were to take my side, it would probably be my great-grandfather… but hyping me up in such an ignorant way seems more like a way to screw me over.”

When I said that, Ryuseong spoke with a strange expression.

“It’s the Head of House. I heard he sent a request to Damyeon.”

“That man lacks creativity. In what way did he ask you to ruin me?”

“The order was to tarnish your reputation and your achievements in Araea’s name.”

“Aha.”

“To be precise, it was a request to shout all over town that, for all that, you’re just a brat with no ‘title’ and an unqualified, low-level novice.”

Having grasped the situation, I nodded my head up and down.

“Why not just do that? Why gild a lily and embarrass a person like this? It wasn’t even that big of a deal, so why make such a fuss all over the neighborhood…”

“Excuse me, but are you insane?”

Just then, Ryuseong provoked me with an annoyed expression. I mean, I was already distraught and stressed out, so I wondered why this guy was acting like this. But then he said.

“Why would the Principal listen to that in the first place, and you, can’t you comprehend what you’ve accomplished?”

Ah, what’s this? Was he talking about my contributions and achievements? Isn’t that something I have plenty of counterarguments for?

Though I couldn’t care less why the Principal is acting that way.

“Well, you did it too, didn’t you?”

“You did almost all of it.”

That’s because I was showing off to hog all the fame. If Ryuseong had done it, it would have been finished much faster and more cleanly, without any damage to the natural environment.

But before I could say anything, Ryuseong gestured with his hand, telling me to look around.

…Only after following the direction he pointed in did I realize that everyone was watching the recording of the dungeon raid, trembling.

I heard Professor Dohyun shouting something during the scene where I had declared what was right.

‘But I was lying about everything.’

Nevertheless, everyone clapped and saluted. As nonchalantly as possible, I took off my hat and bowed to them. It felt strange, the way my chest was bubbling up. I didn’t deserve a salute like this, yet for some reason, I couldn’t suppress the pounding of my heart.

Next, when the battle scene played, everyone swallowed dryly, filled with awe.

Not a single person could take their eyes off the thaumaturgical board.

There was even someone who messed up his own hair in frustration, unable to follow the movements with his spiritual sight even with the playback speed reduced. That’s right. They were Awakened, and they were aspiring Clearers. The cadets didn’t seem to dislike being compared to me. Rather, almost all the cadets seemed to want to follow in my footsteps, with a sense of admiration that went beyond a fighting spirit.

Perhaps I had been dismissing them too much?

Had I mistakenly assumed they would all react predictably, just because they were nothing more than one-dimensional characters?

Moreover, it wasn’t just the cadets. Clearers and civilians passing near Gyeongju were also looking at me in surprise before bursting into cheers. Shouting that the hero was right there.

In that moment, I suddenly felt ashamed.

‘I, I didn’t do anything special.’

There’s no reason for you all to think so highly of me…

“You did it. Enjoy it.”

Ryuseong said. And at that moment, it felt like a heavy stone had been placed on my chest, but the weight of it wasn’t bad.

I thought that perhaps this was what an anchor stone felt like. An anchor, so to speak. An anchor to keep me from scattering into space… an anchor that makes me want to stay in this world.

The people who welcomed me, the people who cheered for me.

I felt a desire to protect their daily lives. I wanted to create a peaceful world. So that no one would fall apart like I did.

‘And so that a beautiful person like you can smile.’

Ryuseong smiled, handing me my own feelings, which I hadn’t been able to face, like a bouquet of flowers.

The daily life I now wanted to protect shone lovingly in my eyes, like a cluster of delicate wildflowers or small stars, as numerous as the people living here.

And in the center of it all, there was you. The star that shines brightest, by the name of love.

‘Ryuseong. What are you going to do with yourself, acting like this?’

My only gravity was here.

“Alright! Cassis de Millang is this awesome, so you guys fight on, too! Got it?!”

“Yes, sir! We got it!”

Thinking about it again, it truly is a strange thing. Dohyun’s propaganda had worked, and the cadets were now perfectly disciplined. However, I was currently in a very pure-love mode. Noble and devoted, you could say. You know, like a good wife and wise mother who chastely guards her virtue.

‘Huh? Hasn’t your virtue already been lost?’

Shut up. It’s enough to guard my spiritual virtue; what’s with all the nagging in the 21st century?

Of course, since Jung Ian is me, one could say my spiritual virtue is already ruined. Because I have a lot of experience. But I mean, does being promiscuous necessarily mean I have no virtue? If I haven’t loved anyone until now and have come to love only Ryuseong, that’s enough. Judging virtue solely by physical relationships is too conservative, isn’t it?

I muttered such things that a faithful Confucian boy should never say, but only in my head. Not that I was ever a Confucian boy when I lived as Jung Ian in the Republic of Korea, but anyway.

Ryuseong had become even more precious to me. That was a pretty big deal for me. It was all the more so because of the considerable number of things I had set in motion.

‘Alright, let’s think about this one by one.’

About the chess pieces I’ve secretly placed to deal with the Head of House without Ryuseong’s knowledge.

If you were to ask anyone why ‘Cassis de Millang’ visited the den of criminals in Incheon, a hundred out of a hundred would think it was for ‘Cassis’ to use Incheon’s criminals. To go against the de Millang family. And I actually did just that.

It wasn’t a big deal, I just hired them for my protection, and I invested heaps from the balance in my bank account, which was piling up with money as if from a bottomless pot.

Even for me, the youngest son of a chaebol family, it was the first time in my life flexing like that.

And as expected, my spy planted in Incheon, Kirill, sent word.

‘De Millang has contacted all the hired men! Black money is being passed over in crates, packed in apple boxes! The treacherous bastards are plotting to assassinate you, my lord!’

Yes, why would they keep their mouths shut?

This is what I was aiming for.

To wipe out Sodom and Gomorrah completely, except for the ark I allowed to escape.

I gently revealed a vulnerable side.

‘To make myself look like someone they could mess with.’

I deliberately acted rash and hasty, daring those wolf-like bastards to come at me.

Because I judged that only then could I take down the ‘Head of House’ on my own—!

‘Ryuseong. Even if I seem suspicious, just bear with me for a little while. I’ll propose to you soon with the Head of House’s head.’

Oops. Is that a bit much?

‘Hmm, would it be okay as a wedding gift?’