There Is No Hidden Villain in This Novel Chapter 14

After sounding each other out with aristocratic remarks, both of us let out a sigh without anyone having to say a thing. The family head rubbed his brow with his fingers as if he were tired.

“I flew here in a hurry on a plane, so I am not feeling well.”

“Oh dear, instead of coming to see me, why did you not go to the hospital first?”

“Stop wasting time with such nonsensical talk and be honest, Cassis de Millang.”

“Yes, Grandfather. If you wish, I will do so.”
(Interpretation: If you are going to drop the honorifics and use my name, then I will call you Grandfather instead of Family Head, you bastard. Are you mad as hell? Are you losing your mind?)

I was just being faithful to the original work; I did not have a hobby of teasing old men. It was because the relationship between Cassis and the family head was like this from the beginning in the original story. After teasing the old man with a sly grin, I finally wiped the smile off my face.

“Surely you did not come all this way swayed by some ridiculous rumor. Did the Bong-tang family lodge a protest?”

“You know well.”

“What did they say?”

“Do you think you have the right to know? What you must do is provide an explanation.”

“Aha.”

It was a little funny.

“So that is how it was.”

“……What is so amusing?”

That the life of Cassis de Millang, the ill-tempered nobleman everyone fears, is also a bit tragic?

‘In the original story, it was developed from Ryuseong’s point of view, so I had no idea it was like this.’

I chuckled while covering my mouth, then lowered my hand. And with a faint smile still on my lips, I spoke.

“The Bong-tang family is a bomb that will explode soon. It would be best to cut ties with them now.”

“Do you think you have the authority to decide that?”

“They say it is a master’s virtue to be fond of a dog that shows its belly and wags its tail, but is it not also the duty of the one who raises a guard dog to cut off its head without mercy if it oversteps its bounds? That scion was one I was raising, so I was the one who struck him down. Is there a problem?”

“He was a guard dog I entrusted to you. Not yours.”

“Yes, that is correct. It is important to know clearly one’s own rights of ownership and their limits!”

I said so and laughed brightly. The white-haired old man was staring at me fiercely with eyes as sharp as frost.

“Therefore, I am saying there is no need to keep alive a son of a bitch who steals what belongs to his master.”

Aha. Judging by his reaction, which showed not even a twitch, it seems this fellow already knew about the Bong-tang family’s embezzlement. If that is the case, let’s move on to the next exposé.

“Especially if he is a traitor who dares to pass de Millang’s information to ‘monsters’.”

Colluding with monsters. That is an absolute taboo that, as a human, one must not commit.

Just the fact that Cassis has acknowledged Bong-tang’s betrayal will become a political burden for the head of the de Millang family. Because it means that I, of all people, know that you have kept your mouth shut.

“What is your basis for thinking so?”

“Oh my, is there any reason why I, the Young Lord, would not know what you, the Family Head, know……?”

From the information given to me, the relationship between Cassis and de Millang is extremely ambiguous. Currently, the Young Lord of de Millang is Cassis, but because Cassis’s heart is weak, no one knows how long he can remain the Young Lord.

However, there is no talent to replace Cassis either. That is why the family head, while despising Cassis, cannot abandon him. And he feels that this good-for-nothing cripple is threatening his position.

The family head does not want to have his power taken away. In short, to the family head, Cassis is not a grandson but a beast coveting his position. And now, that very being has just told you that he has your information network all figured out.

‘Then you’ll go and screw over your own faction by yourself, won’t you?’

This has been a lecture on how to disrupt an information network by making them doubt themselves.

‘Simple, isn’t it?’

While it is not impossible to monitor or assassinate me within Araea Academy, it is certain that it is an environment where he cannot openly deploy his professional information network. This is because while insiders can go out, outsiders are forbidden from entering.

‘If I don’t stir up trouble now, when will I?’

Of course, the family head also has a brain, so he will be suspicious as to why Cassis revealed this fact.

But what can you do? I have not planted any of my forces on his side. No matter how much you tear apart your own forces and interrogate them, there is no reason. I just said it because I felt like it.

What’cha gonna do?

‘Causing confusion in the opponent’s camp is a fundamental of warfare.’

I smiled brightly and rose from my seat.

“If you are finished speaking, may I get up now?”

The family head glared at me, but I gave an elegant aristocratic bow and turned around. It was a successful Cassis-like parting shot.

And as time passed, the sun set, and dawn arrived.

“You are here?”

I smiled brightly at Ryuseong, who had just come in late, well into the dawn, into ‘our’ room, which was decorated in a modern style with white and black, befitting the White Tiger dormitory.

Ryuseong seemed to have thought I would be asleep, and he appeared to freeze stiff in the shadows as soon as he heard my greeting, but well, that was none of my business.

What was important was that he and I were about to have our first night together.

Ah, as roommates, of course.

I do not have even the slightest ulterior motive. I swear.

‘……Probably?’

Anyway, I sat perched on the side of Ryuseong’s bed, crossed my legs, and narrowed my eyes. I had been waiting for this night with such a fluttering heart. I fully intended to get ample compensation for the night I had wasted waiting for this sly fellow.

“To be left all alone on our first night. It is sad.”

“You…… why do you talk like that?”

“Like what? You were the one who made your roommate, who was waiting so virtuously, feel lonely, Mr. Ryuseong……”

Soon, with a thud, the sound of a heavy load being put down, Ryuseong strode out of the shadowy area as if he could not listen any longer.

Perhaps he had been training until this early hour, as he was wearing a black training uniform that was a marvelous mix of techwear and hanbok. As the well-built, sweating man approached, I felt a sense of scorching heat. The sizzling, heated air washed over me just from his approach.

Because Cassis de Millang’s natural body temperature is cool like a snake’s, it was an even more difficult sensation to endure.

‘Ah, is this why the original Cassis hated it so damn much when Ryuseong came near?’

But I love it. Thinking that, I smiled brightly at Ryuseong, who had come closer. Ryuseong was drawing me in with his deep gaze, making it impossible to know what he was thinking. Then, he held out his hand.

More precisely, he extended it as if about to crush something and gripped the area around my nape. And he rubbed my skin suggestively.

‘……Oh?’

Everywhere he touched, a rush of body heat poured in. Ryuseong’s hand was so hot it felt like it would burn me. His gesture looked like a forceful caress, and also like a desperate struggle to suppress the desire to strangle me.

Perhaps it might have been a threat.

“……”

The one looking down at me was, in fact, feeling threatened by me. It is an emotion that is hard to describe in words or letters; you can only know it by seeing it up close.

The one who could seize my breath was Ryuseong, but the one who shouldered the fear was also Ryuseong.

“……Why do you not avoid it?”

“Because I am curious about what you are thinking.”

It was several times more enjoyable than I had imagined, so I replied immediately, without leaving even a little space. At that, Ryuseong seemed to be at a loss for words.

“Do you think that even makes sense? Right now, I am……”

“It is a simple whim. Something anyone can have. Just as you are.”

As I tapped his shin with the tip of my foot and whispered with a playful rhythm, as if reciting a line of poetry, he contorted his handsome face.

Oh my, even this is erotic. Making it impossible to give up. And from that moment, his grip tightened. The sensation of his rough, bony fingers fiercely gripping around my Adam’s apple and the scorching heat that felt like it would burn me washed over me, my breath tightening in my throat……

Ah, I did not know you were into this sort of thing.

“If you are going to do it, you have to do it properly.”

“—What?”

If I could just get a chance to hook up with Ryuseong, there was nothing I would not do to match his tastes.

I lived wantonly for years; you think I cannot handle one of you?

I let out an arrogant smile, bewildering him, and pulled him by the collar. And I dragged him down to where I was. Was he surprised by the unexpected act? Or did he want it?

‘He definitely could have avoided it.’

He fell on top of me.

Defenseless, yet feral.

Blue eyes, as if he would sink his fangs in if I gave him even the slightest opening. A glint in his eyes like a bird of prey. I do not know if it was a light reflected from me or if it was your own.

‘The only thing that is certain is that I’m going to get on top of you.’

The bed that received two men creaks. I wrapped my arms around Ryuseong’s wide, thick back and pulled his upper body further down, whispering to him as if a cunning serpent were seducing a human with the fruit of sin.

“If you are going to let me go all the way, you can ruin me as you please.”

For a moment, silence flows.

“You, do you even know what you are saying……”

“If I did not, would it not be difficult to call myself an adult?”

Unlike me, who found him amusing and let out a chuckle, Ryuseong seemed confused.

“Were not your family’s traditions strict?”

“Yes, but that does not mean I do not wish to enjoy a little deviation. The reason for pursuing abstinence is for the preservation of the bloodline, but between men, there is no conception, so it is convenient.”

“……”

It was not for nothing that Logan Esteban mentioned having no-strings-attached fun. In the classical era, noble bloodlines secretly considered it a virtue to have relations with men rather than take the risk of sleeping with a woman, so it was understandable.

I intended to use this custom to maintain Cassis’s character while getting on top of Ryuseong.

Just when I thought something akin to understanding had dawned on Ryuseong’s face, the hand that had loosened its grip began to tighten around my neck again. Ryuseong’s face was bleached expressionless, as if the contortions he had shown until now had been a lie. As he choked me in that state, he truly looked as if he harbored murderous intent.

Right. This guy is not just a gentle protagonist.

As befits the protagonist of a modern fantasy novel that is close to being a power fantasy, his personality is fucking weird.

‘Although for a power fantasy, the novel has an awful lot of frustrating parts…….’

Still, my promiscuous life in my previous world was not for naught. Of course, this body is the very picture of innocence, but the person that I am was originally someone who used to enjoy all sorts of play in various ways.

So I was looking up at Ryuseong’s audacious display of affection with sparkling eyes.

“……Ha.”

Suddenly, Ryuseong was hit by a reality check.

To be precise, he abruptly released his grip, contorted his expression into a complete mess, then covered his own face and let out a sigh. And he pushed himself up from my body, which he had been crushing.

As he moved away, a sudden rush of cold air swept in. I tilted my head, unable to process the rapidly changed situation, but Ryuseong was different. He stumbled backward as if he were frightened of me, then ran into the bathroom.

……Hmm. This is probably that, right?

‘I tried something too rough from the start, and he got scared and ran away?’

It seems I was not considerate enough of a beginner’s fragile glass heart. As I fell into contemplation about how to make Ryuseong feel more at ease, only the sound of water pouring could be heard from the bathroom.