How to Run Away from Obsessed Men

Episode 32

Lindsey had spoken at a precise moment, seemingly on purpose to provoke Sylvia.

No, it was certain.

‘She did it deliberately.’

Sylvia felt her entire body tremble with rage. Somehow, Lindsey must have known that Raysis would enter at that very moment.

That’s why she had provoked Sylvia with such a brazen expression. Sylvia couldn’t believe that she had been toyed with by Lindsey.

‘Absolutely no to the engagement break. I need to keep her close and re-educate her!’

She swore to herself that she would break Lindsey, slowly and painfully. Just as she clenched her fists with that determination—

“We must end the engagement.”

Sylvia turned around, her face full of betrayal. The one who spoke was Kenyan, who had been standing with a grim expression the whole time.

“After all, my brother has no interest in that woman, does he?”

Kenyan’s words were true.

Azhet had no interest in Lindsey. But that wasn’t the point.

Azhet narrowed his eyes and looked at his younger brother.

There was something off about Kenyan’s reaction to Lindsey.

Azhet asked with a hint of suspicion.

“If that’s the case, why are you interested in her?”

⋆★⋆

On the way back to the Kesion Marquisate, Lindsey felt the heavy gaze of Raysis on her.

“I’ll talk to Father and make an official complaint to the Radian family.”

Raysis said, his voice full of frustration.

Lindsey responded with a detached expression.

“Do what you want.”

“You…”

Raysis started but couldn’t finish.

Lindsey’s indifferent attitude shocked him deeply.

“Have you been living like this all this time, being treated that way?”

“More or less,” she replied nonchalantly.

“How can you act like it’s nothing?”

Rosalyn, who had been watching their exchange, pouted. She was unhappy with the attention Raysis was giving Lindsey.

“Why are you reacting so sensitively, Raysis? This doesn’t need to become a bigger issue between families.”

Rosalyn’s words only intensified Raysis’ frustration.

“Are you really saying that after seeing how Lindsey was treated?”

“But Lindsey’s dirty blood, isn’t she?”

That comment pushed Raysis over the edge.

“Rosalyn. Stop. I don’t want to talk to you anymore.”

Rosalyn looked at him with shock. No matter how many times she saw it, she could never get used to the look of disdain on his face.

‘I didn’t even say anything wrong!’

It made no sense for the family to stand up for someone of filthy blood like Lindsey.

Even if Lindsey had awakened her divine powers, her lowly status wasn’t something that could just disappear.

And yet, Raysis was siding with her.

It reminded Rosalyn of the time when Raysis had cared for Lindsey, and that infuriated her.

‘I worked so hard to break their bond.’

And yet, here they were again, back to how it used to be.

Rosalyn couldn’t understand how things had ended up like this.

⋆★⋆

After snapping at Rosalyn, Raysis turned to Lindsey with a conflicted expression.

Not long ago, after speaking with Lindsey, he had ordered an investigation into the servants who had once worked at the Kesion Marquisate. Specifically, he was searching for those who had testified that Lindsey had stolen his mother’s keepsakes when they were children.

‘Something must have happened.’

As a child, he had been powerless, left with no choice but to believe the servants’ words.

But now that he had started digging deeper, strange things were beginning to surface.

‘All the servants involved have disappeared?’

Servants rarely changed in the Kesion household.

Training and mentally conditioning them to serve the family was an arduous task.

Yet somehow, all the servants involved in the incident from his childhood had vanished.

With more and more suspicious details coming to light, Raysis couldn’t treat Lindsey the way he used to.

“Lindsey, I admit I’ve been indifferent to you until now. As a child, I was devastated by the loss of my mother’s keepsakes,” Raysis said seriously.

“But if you give me one more chance, we could return to the way things used to be—”

Just then, the carriage came to a halt.

Before Raysis could finish speaking, Lindsey stepped out of the carriage. Her eyes were filled with contempt as she glanced back at him.

Raysis watched her leave with a hollow expression.

⋆★⋆

Return to the way things used to be?

Lindsey ignored Raysis’s words. He still thought of her as the little girl who had once craved his shallow affection.

A child who would long for his attention with a single gesture.

Now, Raysis’ attempt at acting kind only disgusted her.

Rosalyn, at least, was consistent. She had always been the same kind of person, from beginning to end.

Unable to suppress her anger, Lindsey quickened her pace. It wasn’t until Raysis was out of sight that she finally touched her cheek.

Sylvia certainly knew how to slap someone hard.

And on top of that, Lindsey hadn’t fully recovered from the curse yet.

Her body was in terrible shape. After pushing herself to break the engagement, she felt even worse.

It felt like the sky was spinning around her.

‘Am I going to collapse…?’

Just as Lindsey was about to hit the ground, she tightly closed her eyes.

But the expected impact never came. Instead, all she felt was the warmth of someone’s body.

Slowly, she opened her eyes.

And the sight of a strikingly handsome face left her speechless.

‘Mikhail? Why on earth is he here…?’

Mikhail was holding her by the waist. No matter how many times she saw him, his beauty was something she could never get used to.

“Are you all right?” he asked.

“I’m… fine…”

Lindsey couldn’t finish her sentence.

It was because Mikhail leaned closer and asked another question.

“Why did you come back?”

Come back?

“You said you hated this place.”

Lindsey found herself completely unable to comprehend the man in front of her.

His speech was simple, unrefined for a noble. Rumor had it that he had been too busy roaming battlefields since childhood to properly learn noble etiquette. Or perhaps he didn’t bother because he never had to.

“Lindsey Kesion, answer me.”

Without realizing it, Lindsey’s response came out sharp.

“I didn’t want to come back.”

“……”

“Wherever I go, it’s the same. It all feels like hell…”

Lindsey stopped herself. She didn’t understand why she was feeling so emotional.

It felt as if she had just woken up from a dream about Baek Ji-hyuk. Perhaps it was because Mikhail was the only one who had ever told her not to guide him.

‘This man isn’t Baek Ji-hyuk.’

She was tired of hoping and then being disappointed. Especially when it came to a man like Mikhail, who likely didn’t even understand what emotions were.

No one was kind without reason. Not a single person in Lindsey Kesion’s life had ever been.

It was then that she felt it—a hand, hotter than that of an ordinary person, touched her cheek.

“Why are you hurt again?”

Mikhail’s firm hand was still supporting her body.

With his hand on her cheek, their bodies were even closer now.

Her heart began to race. Lindsey stared into Mikhail’s eyes.

His eyes resembled a deep abyss. They were the same shade of yellow as hers, yet the feeling they conveyed was entirely different.

“You’re asking why I came back? It’s because I got hit where I just left.”

That was it.

The words came out with a hint of bitterness.

As soon as she said it, Lindsey felt ashamed of herself. She had been slapped by someone else, and now she was taking out her anger on the wrong person.

‘How am I any different from Sylvia like this?’

The fact that she was venting to someone like Mikhail, a man who barely had any emotions, was ridiculous.

Lindsey tilted her head in confusion as Mikhail’s hand slowly moved away from her.

A faint light emitted from his hand. Lindsey’s eyes widened in surprise.

“It seems so.”

The pain she had felt on her cheek disappeared completely. Lindsey realized that he had used his healing ability on her.

‘Why…?’

Without another word, Mikhail turned and walked away. Lindsey stood there, staring blankly at the place where he had disappeared.

⋆★⋆

Rosalyn, who had been following Lindsey after she got out of the carriage, witnessed everything.

From the moment Lindsey nearly fell, to her being caught by Mikhail, and finally, Mikhail healing her.

“Sara, you saw that too, right?”

At Rosalyn’s words, Sara nodded. Rosalyn’s face twisted in fury.

‘I liked him first.’

Rosalyn had been the first to fall for Mikhail. The moment she saw him when he first appeared at the Kesion Marquisate, she had fallen in love at first sight.

She still vividly remembered the feelings from that time. It didn’t matter that Mikhail hadn’t paid her any attention.

He was indifferent to everyone, after all.

‘Why is it always you?’

Rosalyn had always gotten what she wanted. To her, Lindsey was no more than dirty dust.

‘Now that I’ve turned Raysis away from you, is it Mikhail next?’

Just like she had once taken Raysis from Lindsey, this time would be no different.

As Rosalyn thought about this, she glanced down at her sleeve. There, she wore a bracelet she always kept with her.

It was a keepsake from Raysis’ mother.

The incident that had driven a wedge between Lindsey and Raysis had been orchestrated by none other than Rosalyn herself.