Thought It Was 'The End', Only to Return to a Changed Genre - Chapter 22
“Hey, it’s fine to laugh and all, but could you do that after moving your foot away from my head?”
“…Did I laugh?”
“Yes, you did. Annoyingly so.”
Shane looked down calmly at the man beneath his feet.
The man named Lucian was the rat king, so nicknamed by Edwin because he was adept at hitting and running away like a rat, hard to catch because he scurried so well.
But that was only when methods and means were considered.
Shane didn’t choose methods or means when it related to Adeline. Whether she was there or not.
“Where have you hidden Adeline?”
“I don’t know, cough!”
A groan burst out as he forcefully stomped on the skull with his boot.
“I’ll spare your life if you talk willingly.”
“Damn it, I really don’t know! Lloyd has hidden her away tightly!”
“Find her.”
“I tried contacting her through the newspaper’s notification section, but I can’t even confirm if she’s seen it, and even that was cut off over three years ago.”
He had tried to track her, but Lloyd was too cautious, that frustratingly capable brat.
Lucian looked up at the man who could smash his head in any moment.
Not a single expression could be seen on his neat, clean face. If Lucian were to say that he couldn’t, this man would kill him right there.
Those blue eyes appeared cold but beneath that, a whirlwind of madness, similar to fury, swirled.
Lucian knew well that no words or logic would work on someone who had eyes like those.
A type with no interest in anything but their own singular goal.
He had heard plenty of times that he himself was crazy, but…
This was the real deal.
‘Piss him off and I’m fxxxing screwed….’
This madman possessed status, power, and wealth in equal measure.
If such a person topped the empire, the world must truly be mad.
If Adeline had sensed Shane’s true nature and tried to escape, Lucian could somewhat understand her desperation.
“So, you can’t do it?”
Even in such a crisis, provoking a big shot like Duke Blanchard had no benefits. Rumors had been around since five years ago that he had become particularly violent.
Lucian quickly changed his mind.
“There is a way, though.”
Outdated gratitude and friendship, who cares about that?
“It’s gonna cost money.”
A lot of money was needed for a new play to draw out the hidden Adeline.
*
As her bright golden hair fanned out on the white sheets, he gathered it up and removed the veiled hat.
Shane touched his finger under Adeline’s nose.
She was still breathing.
“She’s alive…”
Even seeing her move with his own eyes didn’t feel real.
But the breath touching the tip of his finger was real. The body temperature was warm.
You’re alive.
Shane exhaled deeply and covered his eyes with his hand.
It felt like he could finally breathe after five long years.
Adeline, sleeping peacefully, was still beautiful. Nothing had changed.
Adeline, who must have forgotten everything about him and lived happily.
‘Did you want to run away from me that much?’
Just how terrible had it been.
She told her to forget, to be happy.
If that was Adeline’s last wish, he would have tried to fulfill it in any way.
But he couldn’t forget her—not for a single moment.
Of course, he couldn’t be happy.
Adeline was still lovely and adorable, but at the same time… he felt an urge to strangle her.
If Adeline had never appeared before him, Shane’s life would have been dry but not painful.
He might not have been happy, but he wouldn’t have lost anything, and while obtaining everything he wanted, he could have lived a rich and fulfilled life.
Not like now, feeling despair as if he was at the brink of hell…
‘But you.’
Still smiling well, playful, and beautiful.
If you had just told me to disappear because I’m too terrible.
Or if you had threatened to kill yourself rather than marry me.
Even though Shane might have pleaded through tears, he eventually would have respected Adeline’s plea.
Because he was weak only for Adeline.
But Adeline died right in front of him.
He made him lose the person he loved right before his eyes.
He pushed Shane into the abyss in the cruelest way possible.
He couldn’t leave her in peace alone.
He didn’t know whether she hated him so much that she wanted to run away, even if it meant throwing everything away.
“Time to get up, Adeline.”
You’re caught in my hands again.
You can’t go anywhere now.
