Fanora believed she ruined everything by thinking Aloken’s temperament could be corrected. But in reality, Aloken’s inherent nature was more of a problem than Fanora thought. It couldn’t be fixed.
From a very young age, he abused small animals that couldn’t resist him, and a few days later, he set fire to the servants’ quarters, watching people running away with amusement. The famous doctor eventually called him ‘moral insanity.’
The sudden accusation from Aloken’s younger brother, Rose Jalier, revealing this flaw was an unexpected issue. But even when his fiancée had come to know about this condition, Aloken showed no hesitation at all.
“It has always been hard for me to understand others.”
“…”
“Even when my father yelled with a red face, I couldn’t understand what he was trying to express.”
“It’s the first time I’ve heard of such an illness.”
“It’s not an illness.”
Aloken didn’t admit his flaws in the first place. No, he rather mistook himself for being superior to ordinary people without feeling guilty. He wasn’t particularly intelligent; in fact, he was just a short-lived man whose functions were all intact.
Aloken used his status and personality to do anything he could. Thanks to that, he performed better than anyone else in short-term work, and people evaluated him as ‘cruel but competent.’
“Can’t you be my first love?”
Aloken didn’t stop courting until he was sure that Fanora liked him. He made sure to check their distance and sometimes even made skinship with her. However, no matter how much they held hands, Aloken was in a situation where he couldn’t feel affection.
It was one winter. Aloken sat at the bedside of his sick lover, who was attacked by bandits and was bedridden. And when Fanora reached out to console herself, he flinched.
“Are you okay?”
“No, I’m just not used to it…”
“Because I don’t think I ever received a loving touch from anyone.”
Now looking back, he could even tell this was a blatant lie. Why did he react consistently surprised when Fanora reached out her hand first? It was natural to feel uncomfortable when someone you didn’t like touched your body without permission. But he had already become so accustomed to lying that he could deceive Fanora as easily as water flows.
Since he had gained her favor like this, the rest was simple. Aloken began to cut off people who were closely related to her one by one. His first target was Carl Andras.
“First of all, I’m her fiancé. If you don’t like me, what right do you have to stand by her side?”
“…”
“Why do you bother to keep your friendship with her?”
Aloken took his time trying to isolate Fanora. It was obvious who she would lean on if she had no friends to talk to in this desolate society. As she had a bad relationship with her family and only had her beloved fiancé left, she would give up everything for him to avoid being abandoned.
Thinking so, Aloken kept Carl in check. Once he finished this task, he believed he could smoothly marry her and strip away all Fanora’s advantages down to the bone. All he needed was to maintain this position.
Everything was going well.
But in the end, his lies were found out.
Vasago, that woman has a lighter mouth than I thought.
It was a bigger problem than it seemed that Fanora began to doubt his love. Due to his own nature of lying easily, even on meaningless things, once he was suspected, things become complicated like a rolled snowball.
How many more new lies would be needed just to cover up the deception he had sowed all this time? Lies call for more lies, and eventually, he gets caught in a web of deceit.
That’s why, in the end, Aloken decided to bring down the play early. This moment, where a little piece of Fanora’s heart still remains, would bring him to a meaningful ending.
…Eventually, the story came back to reality. Aloken had revealed that the affection he had shown so far was a planned lie. Not only that, but he also calmly explained why he had done it.
“But most of all, I liked watching you.”
His low voice echoed softly in the old-fashioned office. The woman standing on the carpet with a complex pattern lowered her head while listening to his voice.
“You mistakenly thought I liked you and was all nervous and anxious about it alone…”
“…”
“All the process of a woman who claimed to dislike me but in the end, falls for me.”
Aloken bent down and stared at Fanora’s face. Then he said this. “It’s funny, really funny…”
This was an obvious mockery. In addition, he smiled broadly, contrary to his expression so far. It was a bright smile without wrinkles, like a boy’s. When Fanora saw it, she could see that this was the expression Aloken made when he was really happy.
“…”
And seeing this smile gave her goosebumps. At the same time, a feeling of betrayal welled up in her heart. The emotions turned into tears and flowed down her cheeks.
“It’s my first time seeing you cry like this.”
Aloken raised her laughter as she began to cry.
“As expected, I’m glad I said it now.”
If she had known this would happen, she would have listened more carefully to what his younger brother had said. Fanora regretted it bitterly.
The reason Aloken revealed and ridiculed her at such an unexpected moment was that he wanted Fanora to suffer even more from learning his secret when she loved him so much. No, it would have been meaningless if it had happened at any other moment. Once Fanora’s suspicions arose, the longer he delayed, the more her love would be clouded and mixed with doubt.
For someone like him, who didn’t feel emotion, this moment when others were in pain was somewhat stimulating and entertaining to watch. So Aloken couldn’t take his eyes off her tearful appearance.
“You beast…”
Were her bloody tears looking that fun? She cursed at her fiancé’s behavior.
Then Aloken looked around and said as if he was the victim. “Why are you so upset? This is your mistake.”
“…”
“You’re the one who saw me so closely during the engagement but didn’t notice the truth.”
Aloken looked at her with great pity. “Why on earth did you believe in yourself and act so carelessly?”
“…!”
“A person who can’t put forward anything, not even your look or your family.”
“…”
“A perfect duke falls for a poor young lady who is cold to him. It’s very classic. In reality, such a cold attitude only irritates me.”
He lightly brushed the hand that touched Fanora’s hair. Fanora felt her pride falling to the ground as he acted like he had touched something dirty.
“…”
Even at this moment, words to respond to him swirled in her head. However, the sentence was not organized at all, so it didn’t come out of her mouth.
“Celsius, you too have become a shallow person who judges others based on appearances. Wipe that sad expression on your face.”
“What?”
“If I were ugly, would this situation have happened?”
Aloken has been saying more aggressive things, the more unstable she looks. In general, he said that Fanora was the culprit behind all of this. It was as if he was scolding the person who had been deceived, saying, ‘This is your fault for being deceived stupidly.’
“After all, you gave your heart because I’m a young and charming duke.”
However, she was able to reply clearly this time. Fanora exclaimed at his last words. Unlike her fiancé, who only lied to her, she was being sincere.
“Even if you were the most charming duke in the world, you have an arrogant look all over your face!”
Her tears came out constantly, even at this moment.
“Even if you were not human at all! If you had truly loved me, I would have married you…!”
Her voice was gradually silenced. Her heart felt stuffy as if weighed down by a heavy stone. Her eyes stung, and her head felt dizzy. She felt like she was trapped in a nightmare.
It can’t be. He’s the whole reason.
How did she make up her mind about this marriage? Even at this moment, she remembered the sweet time she had spent with Aloken. Each time, Fanora felt a sharp pain in her chest.
“Fanora.”
Aloken looked at his fiancée, who couldn’t answer properly and was only dripping tears. He immediately reached out his arm and put his hand on Fanora’s cheek. There was no resistance.
“Since we’ve been playing around for a long time, shall we go back to the main topic?”
“!”
“You have a holy relic, don’t you?”
Aloken moved his hand slowly and lifted Fanora’s side hair. Fanora’s ears, exposed, had no accessories.
“…I have no such thing as a holy relic.”
“If you don’t have it yourself, you probably have at least some useful information.”
“It has nothing to do with…”
Aloken’s almond-shaped clear eyes scan her face.
“You still don’t understand the situation.”
When Fanora denied it, Aloken looked at her gently. A few seconds later, Fanora felt an intense pain in her right scalp.
Thud! By the time she heard the sound, her eyes had already turned upside down. Moments later, Aloken grabbed her by the hair and slammed her on the nearby table.
“…?!”
She was more shocked at the fact that he harmed her rather than the pain she felt right now. So she blinked and stiffened her body because she didn’t know what to do.
“You’ve really been interacting with Carl without Europa?”
“Al, loken…!”
Right. She knew from the beginning that this human had dirty hands. But why didn’t she think that his violence would be directed against her? Fanora suddenly regretted it. He was a rotten human being from the very beginning.
“I say I don’t know! You’re mistaken! Even if I know something, would I let you know after you treat me like this?!”
She soon raised her head and staggered her feet.
“Annul our engagement right now! If you stop me, I’ll tell them what you’ve done to Rose and me…!”
Fanora looked at him with venomous eyes, but the reaction that returned was sour. Aloken nodded his head roughly in a ‘yeah’ attitude.
“Tell them? Think carefully, Fanora.”
“…?!”
“Will the people of the world believe the words from the duke. Or…”
However, she didn’t expect this to come out of his mouth.
“A murderer like you?”
Fanora stopped her anger and took a deep breath. She didn’t mean to, but cold sweat ran down her back instantly.
What? Murder? Why is that word coming out here now?
She couldn’t hide her expression. It might have been different if she had been mentally prepared, but her sensitive nerve is being touched suddenly right now.
“What nonsense are you talking about?”
Fortunately, Aloken didn’t pay much attention to his fiancée’s expression change. However, he seemed to have no intention of changing the topic of conversation that he once brought up.
“Naverius, the only heir to Demangdwi. You killed him.”
Fanora believed she ruined everything by thinking Aloken’s temperament could be corrected. But in reality, Aloken’s inherent nature was more of a problem than Fanora thought. It couldn’t be fixed.
From a very young age, he abused small animals that couldn’t resist him, and a few days later, he set fire to the servants’ quarters, watching people running away with amusement. The famous doctor eventually called him ‘moral insanity.’
The sudden accusation from Aloken’s younger brother, Rose Jalier, revealing this flaw was an unexpected issue. But even when his fiancée had come to know about this condition, Aloken showed no hesitation at all.
“It has always been hard for me to understand others.”
“…”
“Even when my father yelled with a red face, I couldn’t understand what he was trying to express.”
“It’s the first time I’ve heard of such an illness.”
“It’s not an illness.”
Aloken didn’t admit his flaws in the first place. No, he rather mistook himself for being superior to ordinary people without feeling guilty. He wasn’t particularly intelligent; in fact, he was just a short-lived man whose functions were all intact.
Aloken used his status and personality to do anything he could. Thanks to that, he performed better than anyone else in short-term work, and people evaluated him as ‘cruel but competent.’
“Can’t you be my first love?”
Aloken didn’t stop courting until he was sure that Fanora liked him. He made sure to check their distance and sometimes even made skinship with her. However, no matter how much they held hands, Aloken was in a situation where he couldn’t feel affection.
It was one winter. Aloken sat at the bedside of his sick lover, who was attacked by bandits and was bedridden. And when Fanora reached out to console herself, he flinched.
“Are you okay?”
“No, I’m just not used to it…”
“Because I don’t think I ever received a loving touch from anyone.”
Now looking back, he could even tell this was a blatant lie. Why did he react consistently surprised when Fanora reached out her hand first? It was natural to feel uncomfortable when someone you didn’t like touched your body without permission. But he had already become so accustomed to lying that he could deceive Fanora as easily as water flows.
Since he had gained her favor like this, the rest was simple. Aloken began to cut off people who were closely related to her one by one. His first target was Carl Andras.
“First of all, I’m her fiancé. If you don’t like me, what right do you have to stand by her side?”
“…”
“Why do you bother to keep your friendship with her?”
Aloken took his time trying to isolate Fanora. It was obvious who she would lean on if she had no friends to talk to in this desolate society. As she had a bad relationship with her family and only had her beloved fiancé left, she would give up everything for him to avoid being abandoned.
Thinking so, Aloken kept Carl in check. Once he finished this task, he believed he could smoothly marry her and strip away all Fanora’s advantages down to the bone. All he needed was to maintain this position.
Everything was going well.
But in the end, his lies were found out.
Vasago, that woman has a lighter mouth than I thought.
It was a bigger problem than it seemed that Fanora began to doubt his love. Due to his own nature of lying easily, even on meaningless things, once he was suspected, things become complicated like a rolled snowball.
How many more new lies would be needed just to cover up the deception he had sowed all this time? Lies call for more lies, and eventually, he gets caught in a web of deceit.
That’s why, in the end, Aloken decided to bring down the play early. This moment, where a little piece of Fanora’s heart still remains, would bring him to a meaningful ending.
…Eventually, the story came back to reality. Aloken had revealed that the affection he had shown so far was a planned lie. Not only that, but he also calmly explained why he had done it.
“But most of all, I liked watching you.”
His low voice echoed softly in the old-fashioned office. The woman standing on the carpet with a complex pattern lowered her head while listening to his voice.
“You mistakenly thought I liked you and was all nervous and anxious about it alone…”
“…”
“All the process of a woman who claimed to dislike me but in the end, falls for me.”
Aloken bent down and stared at Fanora’s face. Then he said this. “It’s funny, really funny…”
This was an obvious mockery. In addition, he smiled broadly, contrary to his expression so far. It was a bright smile without wrinkles, like a boy’s. When Fanora saw it, she could see that this was the expression Aloken made when he was really happy.
“…”
And seeing this smile gave her goosebumps. At the same time, a feeling of betrayal welled up in her heart. The emotions turned into tears and flowed down her cheeks.
“It’s my first time seeing you cry like this.”
Aloken raised her laughter as she began to cry.
“As expected, I’m glad I said it now.”
If she had known this would happen, she would have listened more carefully to what his younger brother had said. Fanora regretted it bitterly.
The reason Aloken revealed and ridiculed her at such an unexpected moment was that he wanted Fanora to suffer even more from learning his secret when she loved him so much. No, it would have been meaningless if it had happened at any other moment. Once Fanora’s suspicions arose, the longer he delayed, the more her love would be clouded and mixed with doubt.
For someone like him, who didn’t feel emotion, this moment when others were in pain was somewhat stimulating and entertaining to watch. So Aloken couldn’t take his eyes off her tearful appearance.
“You beast…”
Were her bloody tears looking that fun? She cursed at her fiancé’s behavior.
Then Aloken looked around and said as if he was the victim. “Why are you so upset? This is your mistake.”
“…”
“You’re the one who saw me so closely during the engagement but didn’t notice the truth.”
Aloken looked at her with great pity. “Why on earth did you believe in yourself and act so carelessly?”
“…!”
“A person who can’t put forward anything, not even your look or your family.”
“…”
“A perfect duke falls for a poor young lady who is cold to him. It’s very classic. In reality, such a cold attitude only irritates me.”
He lightly brushed the hand that touched Fanora’s hair. Fanora felt her pride falling to the ground as he acted like he had touched something dirty.
“…”
Even at this moment, words to respond to him swirled in her head. However, the sentence was not organized at all, so it didn’t come out of her mouth.
“Celsius, you too have become a shallow person who judges others based on appearances. Wipe that sad expression on your face.”
“What?”
“If I were ugly, would this situation have happened?”
Aloken has been saying more aggressive things, the more unstable she looks. In general, he said that Fanora was the culprit behind all of this. It was as if he was scolding the person who had been deceived, saying, ‘This is your fault for being deceived stupidly.’
“After all, you gave your heart because I’m a young and charming duke.”
However, she was able to reply clearly this time. Fanora exclaimed at his last words. Unlike her fiancé, who only lied to her, she was being sincere.
“Even if you were the most charming duke in the world, you have an arrogant look all over your face!”
Her tears came out constantly, even at this moment.
“Even if you were not human at all! If you had truly loved me, I would have married you…!”
Her voice was gradually silenced. Her heart felt stuffy as if weighed down by a heavy stone. Her eyes stung, and her head felt dizzy. She felt like she was trapped in a nightmare.
It can’t be. He’s the whole reason.
How did she make up her mind about this marriage? Even at this moment, she remembered the sweet time she had spent with Aloken. Each time, Fanora felt a sharp pain in her chest.
“Fanora.”
Aloken looked at his fiancée, who couldn’t answer properly and was only dripping tears. He immediately reached out his arm and put his hand on Fanora’s cheek. There was no resistance.
“Since we’ve been playing around for a long time, shall we go back to the main topic?”
“!”
“You have a holy relic, don’t you?”
Aloken moved his hand slowly and lifted Fanora’s side hair. Fanora’s ears, exposed, had no accessories.
“…I have no such thing as a holy relic.”
“If you don’t have it yourself, you probably have at least some useful information.”
“It has nothing to do with…”
Aloken’s almond-shaped clear eyes scan her face.
“You still don’t understand the situation.”
When Fanora denied it, Aloken looked at her gently. A few seconds later, Fanora felt an intense pain in her right scalp.
Thud! By the time she heard the sound, her eyes had already turned upside down. Moments later, Aloken grabbed her by the hair and slammed her on the nearby table.
“…?!”
She was more shocked at the fact that he harmed her rather than the pain she felt right now. So she blinked and stiffened her body because she didn’t know what to do.
“You’ve really been interacting with Carl without Europa?”
“Al, loken…!”
Right. She knew from the beginning that this human had dirty hands. But why didn’t she think that his violence would be directed against her? Fanora suddenly regretted it. He was a rotten human being from the very beginning.
“I say I don’t know! You’re mistaken! Even if I know something, would I let you know after you treat me like this?!”
She soon raised her head and staggered her feet.
“Annul our engagement right now! If you stop me, I’ll tell them what you’ve done to Rose and me…!”
Fanora looked at him with venomous eyes, but the reaction that returned was sour. Aloken nodded his head roughly in a ‘yeah’ attitude.
“Tell them? Think carefully, Fanora.”
“…?!”
“Will the people of the world believe the words from the duke. Or…”
However, she didn’t expect this to come out of his mouth.
“A murderer like you?”
Fanora stopped her anger and took a deep breath. She didn’t mean to, but cold sweat ran down her back instantly.
What? Murder? Why is that word coming out here now?
She couldn’t hide her expression. It might have been different if she had been mentally prepared, but her sensitive nerve is being touched suddenly right now.
“What nonsense are you talking about?”
Fortunately, Aloken didn’t pay much attention to his fiancée’s expression change. However, he seemed to have no intention of changing the topic of conversation that he once brought up.
“Naverius, the only heir to Demangdwi. You killed him.”
