I Give Up on the BL Novel's Male Leads - Chapter 68
Illein shook her head.
“Then did you get engaged to Melias because you love him?”
She shook her head again. Then Damon exhaled, looking very relieved.
“Do you want to marry Melias?”
“I don’t know.”
Damon thought that was enough for him to understand. He was not a fool, and he knew Illein’s parents were workers for Damon’s own parents.
They were quite capable people, though their professional demeanor tended to disappear in front of Illein.
“Has there been a big change recently?”
“My mother is pregnant.”
“…Is it a boy?”
“Yes.”
Damon’s expression chilled instantly. He could well imagine how Baroness Thierry, with her delicate appearance, must have pressured Illein.
It would be the more so if she was pregnant with a son.
“And she told you that you’re useless?”
Illein started to sob at those words, and Damon, flustered, wiped her tears.
“I’m sorry!”
“Huh!”
The drunk Illein struggled to control her emotions. She recalled what her parents had said.
‘Actually, Mother is pregnant.’
‘What?’
‘They said it’s a boy. So, how about you drop out of the academy and become the wife of the Young Marquis?’
Trying to dismiss those words had been nearly impossible for Illein. They trampled all over her efforts. Only she knew how much those words had hurt.
Illein tried to focus on her studies to ignore the pain.
“Illenas…!”
“I’m, I’m useless…!”
As she cried out, Damon felt a surge of anger.
“Should I scold someone for you?”
“My mother?”
“Yes.”
“No, you can’t do that. It’s not right for Young Duke Candelaria to intervene.”
“Alright.”
“How will you scold them?”
“Well… I can use illusion magic. I can punish privately.”
“Aah.”
Illein reacted positively to that. As her tears stopped, Damon sighed.
“Should I help you break off the engagement?”
“I hesitate because Melias seems like a good person.”
“What about him?”
“I don’t know. It feels like we get along well.”
Damon chuckled lightly as Illein responded honestly.
“Wouldn’t you say we get along better?”
“That’s…true, but…”
“Between Melias and me, who do you get along with better?”
“You, Damon.”
“And who are you closer to?”
“You, Damon.”
“And who makes time pass more enjoyably?”
“That would be you, Damon.”
“So you’re saying you feel closer and more comfortable with me, right?”
At Damon’s words, Illein looked bewildered and confused.
“Ah, is that so…”
Damon laughed softly.
“Yeah, that’s right.”
Just as Damon was about to take her hand.
–Thump!
“Ugh…!”
Someone had struck Damon from behind. It was a magic attack.
Damon collapsed, knocked out. Illein, who was heavily intoxicated, reacted slowly and just held him in a daze.
“Ah…”
She groaned, unable to comprehend what was happening. The person she saw then was…
“Edwin?”
He smiled sinisterly as he dragged Damon away with one hand and then pushed Illein down onto the sofa.
“What if you find solace in another man?”
“…What?”
“Did you forget that I hate that?”
“Edwin…?”
As he smirked, trying to conceal his anger, he seemed unhinged.
“Why do you drive me mad? I told you not to do that.”
As Edwin turned strange, Illein, despite her confusion, realized something wasn’t right.
“Right? Illein.”
That he called her name correctly made her breath catch.
Illein felt so drunk that the ground seemed to rise up to meet her. Her vision swirled, making it difficult to tell what was real and what wasn’t.
All she knew was that something about this situation was decidedly not normal.
She thought maybe she was just too drunk and had passed out, dreaming all this.
But she also couldn’t rule out the possibility of an illusion spell.
Edwin had taken out a wand, and she momentarily thought it looked slightly different from the plain, transparent wand she had seen before.
Illein knew that Edwin’s wand didn’t have any decorations. Edwin’s formidable power and the depth of his magic made additional items on his wand unnecessary.
In fact, it was more common for controls to be placed on it to manage its power.
Therefore, when she noticed that the wand appeared slightly bent, she doubted whether it was truly Edwin’s. Yet, there was no question that the man before her was indeed Edwin.
Under the influence of alcohol, Edwin seemed even more enigmatic and mysterious.
