The Nerd Turned Out To Be The Tyrant Chapter 110

The man was standing on the border drawn by sunlight.

 

Luce, who was staring at the illuminated body and the shadowed face, raised her hand and covered his eyes. 

 

“It’s strange.”

 

Even though it was dark, his eyes were dazzling. Even her own muttering voice seemed to come from far away.

 

“Is what I see an illusion?”

 

She can’t believe he appeared in front of her like a lie when she thought of him.

 

It’s funny that nostalgia for him consumes not only memory but also sight and even hearing. If she lowered her hand again, he would be gone. Luce wished to delay this uncertain situation for a bit longer. She wanted to leave it as a story about a cat in a box, neither alive nor dead. She didn’t want to be aware of his absence, which would be noticed as an empty shadow the moment she checked again.

 

However, Luce, who was taking a deep breath, slowly lowered her hand. She opened her sad eyes and opened the box.

 

The book she was holding started to roll down the floor. The black cat was still in front of her. It had green eyes.

 

“Rev.”

 

The man, who was smiling the same way as before, lost his expression when he heard the call.

 

Rev, who walked into the light as if calling his name was permission, clenched his empty hands. As he breathed with Luce’s hand on his lips, he was thirsty and desperate, as if he had come out of the water after being submerged for a long time.

 

“You haven’t forgotten me, Luce.”

 

His unfiltered words poured into her ears.

 

“You didn’t… abandon me, right? You’re not going to do that, are you?”

 

It was an unseemly statement from someone who had left her. 

 

But Luce put his words on hold for a moment. Instead, she slowly stroked his black hair. As soon as she touched him, joy and relief slowly spread across his trembling face like a flower water. 

 

He spoke in a hushed voice. Those were words she wouldn’t have heard if she hadn’t been held in his arms.

 

“So it’s not an illusion.” 

 

It seems she was also a cat in a box. The difference is that he opened the box lid and came out. 

 

Luce received the body heat he shared quietly. His breath was hot, but his hands were a little cold. 

 

Emotions were flowing, but the reality was slow, like a distant tsunami. It felt like something was blocking her chest. Luce, who was opening and closing her lips, carefully spoke. 

 

“…how have you been doing?” 

 

The words scattered like water, but she was at a loss for what to say first. So, she asked what she was most curious about. Luce looked straight ahead, waiting for an answer.

 

This is where Rev led her because he said it was a quiet place. It was a small house not far north of the imperial palace library. She doesn’t know why a place like this was in the imperial palace, but the garden with lots of weeds and trees looked exactly like Xenon. 

 

The red, rusty watermill swayed in the wind. Luce turned her attention to her friend, who still hadn’t answered after a long time of hearing loud bursts and grasshoppers.

 

“That’s a difficult question.”

 

Rev answered slowly while his eyes were fixed on Luce’s face. He added without taking his eyes off Luce for a moment. 

 

“I didn’t expect you to be the first to ask how I was doing.”

 

“So what did you think I was going to ask you first?”

 

“Why did you leave and what were you doing all this time?”

 

Luce let out a ridiculous laugh. He is still the same. As they talked like this, she seemed to have gone back to the past. 

 

“Of course, I’m curious about why you left. If we’re talking about it, that’s probably the most I can talk about. But the moment I saw your face… I wanted to ask that first thing. Are you okay and are you doing well? Of course, when you meet the friend you’ve been looking for, no matter how you feel, you’re happy and curious about their well-being.” 

 

The corner of his mouth that was trying to rise helplessly stopped.

 

“If you were feeling that way before, were you angry?”

 

“I would be lying if I said I wasn’t angry. How could you do that without saying a word to me? I thought it was too terrible for the news I received the day after my birthday.”

 

That being said, she couldn’t just give in to her feelings. Luce spoke softly, recalling information about the nobles, especially for Count Bradbury.

 

“It suddenly occurred to me that it might not have been your choice. Since then, I’ve been worried about you.”

 

Rev, who had been listening quietly, answered the previous question. 

 

“I wasn’t doing well.”

 

Is Rev’s family, as she suspected, using him to bring down Bradbury? Are they exploiting Rev’s invention, as he showed up wearing his cufflinks? 

 

Although the words that followed were far different from what she expected, her heart sank.

 

“I couldn’t have been doing well without you.”

 

He smiled sadly.

 

“It’s just as you said, Luce, leaving you was something I didn’t want to do either… I wanted to stay by your side. Your Rev.”

 

Rev muttered softly. 

 

“But in order to exist as your Rev, there was something I had to solve. I had a problem with the door, I had a problem with my situation. There was someone who offered to help. Even though I was skeptical and suspicious, I had to hold his hand. This is what I’m doing now. He said that once it was over, he and I would be free.”

 

“…Your situation?”

 

“I don’t take medicine anymore because I don’t trust the people who give me it.”

 

“Are you okay?”

 

“I’m holding on.”

 

Luce’s eyebrows raised as she focused on a single word out of many. 

 

He knows how it will sound to her, who is passionate about pharmacology enough to come to the Imperial Library. In the first place, he opened the imperial palace library to reunite with Luce. Nevertheless, Rev didn’t stop saying things that were true but not true.  

 

Luce had to remain unaware. Only then will she be safe. Didn’t Chelsea ask for it?

 

“But, in comparison to the tears she will shed while playing in Menelik’s hands, I can assure you that they will be very light.”

 

He tried his best not to get her involved with people like Menelik. Also, he will do everything he can to prevent it from being taken over by Delmar. 

 

Rev thought about the owner of the small house they were in. His mother, Anais, lived in this shabby, a house that couldn’t even be called a villa or an annex.

 

He couldn’t make Luce like his mother, who withered and died in a rock cave called Hadasa. Didn’t he even touch Luce’s memories to avoid that? He did that stupid and cowardly thing with his own hands. 

 

So, I hope you wait and do your job in a better world. I’ll get my hands dirty, but I hope you’ll still stay warm and friendly.

 

After that, I, Rev, not Aurelio, will return to you.

 

It was a good idea. Rev, who could only guess and not know Luce’s whereabouts during the period when she wasn’t wearing the pendant, anticipated and prepared for the reaction of the Luce he knew. He prayed and hoped that she would do the same this time because she usually believed what he said, which varied between truth and lies.

 

His heart felt like it was on fire the whole time he was thinking about it, but Rev knew that his feelings were just vague anxiety. He was tormented even more by the strange feeling he had after seeing the mad emperor lost in his own fantasy, so it was probably anxiety. The product of a vague imagination is that the emperor, who succeeded the blood, gave in to the mania so hopelessly that what would happen if he also had the mania.

 

Perhaps, if he were to become maniacal, he would see Luce’s image, a remnant of a fleeting delusion. 

 

It was a feeling that faded away as Luce brushed his hair.

 

But now, when Luce’s eyes started to tear up, that uncomfortable feeling came back.

 

“I think I can help, Rev.” 

 

Luce, wiping the corners of her eyes before the tears could flow, suddenly grabbed his hand. The eyes were determined. She didn’t stop there, she hugged him and patted his back. Luce’s small hand rubbing his back made his body go numb as if it had been touched by powder.

 

“First of all, about your medicine. It’s not the medicine, but the person giving it, that’s the problem, right? I asked Assistant Yohan to bring me the medicine that was in your house. I thought it might be helpful when I meet you someday, so I tried to research it, but it just so happened to be great. It’s okay. I’ll do my best.” 

 

“…Luce.”

 

“And you said your family is the problem. I think I can help with that too. Can you tell me exactly what family it is?”

 

“How can you help?”

 

It just didn’t come together. Rev couldn’t see Luce’s expression as she patted his back. She paused for a moment and whispered in his ear. 

 

“I’ve been studying history because I’ve developed an interest in it these days. They say history always repeats itself. If you look for previous cases, you may find cases similar to the trouble you’re experiencing now.”

 

He wanted to say, “That won’t happen.”

 

A child born outside of marriage with magical abilities couldn’t have worked with a wizard to try to destroy the royal family.

 

But he didn’t enjoy the moist voice that fell directly into his ear or the way the hugging hand withdrew. With his face buried in Luce’s shoulder, Rev swallowed his words along with his breath. Luce asked in a slightly trembling voice. 

 

When asked if he was staying at the imperial palace, he said yes. When she asked what to do if she missed you, she said to talk to her with her pendant. When asked if you didn’t tell me the door because you didn’t trust me, he couldn’t tell if it was a joke or a special case, so he couldn’t answer. As if that was the answer, Luce nodded her head. 

 

She seemed to have noticed something even in these vague words. Franz’s words from the Duke of Ximen came to mind. 

 

“Why are you hiding it from that kid? You know this because you’ve talked to that kid too, right? That kid is not that tactless, but it’s weird. It’s like… you’re always trying. It’s like she’s closing her eyes to avoid facing your differences. So, it’s not that she doesn’t know. She knows instinctively. There’s a lot of dirty things you’re hiding. She has an intuition that if she finds out, it’ll all be over.”

 

Are you struggling right now?

 

What am I to you?

 

Rev moved his lips slightly. I’m sorry. The dry words didn’t make a sound. Rev closed his eyes and stared at his words, which had fallen to the floor rather than reaching Luce.

 

Just as I can’t measure you, I hope you don’t know me either.