How to Run Away from Obsessed Men

Episode 54

Lindsey couldn’t believe she still harbored expectations about her parents, even after staging that ridiculous act to escape the hellish Kesion Marquisate.

Just then, a commotion broke out, and people began murmuring on the streets.

Felia immediately stepped in front of Lindsey, shielding her from view.

“A noble must be passing through,” Felia observed.

The crowd’s attention turned toward a group of black-haired individuals.

“In contrast to the Rohan Empire, where we come from, I’ve heard that black-haired nobles are common here,” Felia said, glancing at Lindsey’s hooded figure, particularly her hidden black hair.

In the Rohan Empire, there were occasionally people with black hair, but they were always commoners. No noble there had such a feature.

But Lindsey barely noticed Felia’s gaze as she focused on the two nobles on horseback and the carriage they were guarding.

Her heart began to race.

Inside the carriage, someone was looking directly at her. Their eyes met.

In that moment, Lindsey immediately understood why Mikhail had said she would learn about her mother here in this duchy.

Felia leaned in and whispered, “That noblewoman… she looks just like you.”

Indeed, the woman in the carriage bore a striking resemblance to Lindsey.

“Yes, she does.”

Lindsey’s fingers trembled slightly.

‘How foolish of me.’

She could tell at a glance.

The woman in the carriage was her mother.

It wasn’t just the similar appearance; every clue pointed to the fact that this woman was her mother.

There was no reason for Crain to have harbored such intense inferiority toward a commoner. Now, it made sense why Mikhail had sent her here, to learn the truth.

“Your mother was a dreadful woman. That filthy black hair and yellow eyes you inherited from her? They’re her marks.”

“You don’t look anything like me.”

‘That’s why.’

Now, Lindsey understood why Crain had felt so inferior. Her mother hadn’t been a commoner but a noblewoman.

Lindsey’s eyelashes fluttered as she processed the truth.

Why had she been forced to live as “dirty blood” all this time?

Crain had often said that Lindsey resembled her mother, spitting the words like venom.

Even before knowing the truth, Lindsey had felt an odd sense of recognition the moment she saw the woman in the carriage. Her heart raced, as if she were witnessing a secret she wasn’t supposed to know.

But knowing the truth didn’t change anything.

Her mother had abandoned her. She had never once come for Lindsey after she had been sent to the Kesion Marquisate.

Lindsey’s body swayed.

“Lady Lindsey? Are you alright?” Felia asked, concerned.

The weight of the truth bore down on Lindsey, overwhelming her. Her head spun as cold sweat dripped down her face.

She tried to respond, to tell Felia that she was fine.

But before she could, darkness claimed her, and she lost consciousness.

⋆★⋆

After coming to terms with the reality of her mother’s abandonment, there had been moments when Lindsey had worried about her mother.

If Lindsey, with her half-noble blood, had lived such a miserable life, how much harder must it have been for her mother, a commoner?

Lindsey had once mentioned these thoughts to Rosalyn.

“Are you an idiot? That woman took a lot of money from our father. She sold you off,” Rosalyn had sneered.

“…”

“You really don’t have time for such pointless worries, do you?”

Even in the face of Rosalyn’s cutting words, Lindsey had worried about her mother, believing that she must have had her reasons.

She had wanted to believe that her mother had made the only choice she could in a life full of hardship.

But.

‘She was a noble.’

Her mother had been a noblewoman.

Lindsey still didn’t know why Crain had lied to her about being “dirty blood” or how he had crossed paths with a noblewoman from the Asen Empire.

But the crucial truth was that her mother hadn’t been forced into a terrible situation that led to Lindsey being taken away.

Lindsey’s eyes fluttered open.

The first thing she saw was Felia’s concerned face.

“Are you alright? You collapsed all of a sudden.”

“Clerics often faint, you know.”

It wasn’t uncommon for clerics to collapse after using their divine power.

But Lindsey hadn’t used her powers recently. Could the mental shock have been enough to overwhelm her? A bitter smile tugged at her lips.

She looked around.

“Where am I?”

“We’re inside the Riken Ducal Estate.”

“Inside the estate?”

“Yes, after you fainted, the Duke found you and brought you here to the estate,” Felia explained.

“Why would she do that?” Lindsey asked, bewildered.

Felia shrugged. “I’m not sure. But after the Duke saw you, she seemed rather unsettled.”

“…”

“I don’t know what your purpose is here, but I thought it was safer for us to stay at the estate. It’s the safest place within the duchy.”

Lindsey nodded in agreement.

Felia’s decision had been wise. The estate was undoubtedly the safest place in the duchy, but what puzzled Lindsey more was why Duke Riken had taken her in.

‘Was it because of my status as a cleric? Or because I resemble her so closely?’

Even if they looked alike, what did it matter?

Lindsey stood up and stepped outside the room.

She sensed Felia following behind her.

The Riken estate radiated a peaceful and warm atmosphere, quite the contrast to the constant unease she had felt at the Kesion Marquisate.

There were none of the barbaric, dreadful people Crain had always spoken of.

The decorations inside the estate were opulent and obviously expensive.

Felia, sensing Lindsey’s unfamiliarity with the Asen Empire, began explaining the Riken Duchy to her.

“Duke Riken is one of the wealthiest nobles in the Asen Empire, as well as a renowned transcendent.”

“…”

“Even the emperor of the Asen Empire can’t treat her lightly.”

Lindsey felt a wave of discomfort wash over her.

The fact that her mother was a noble only added to her confusion.

She would have preferred not to know.

‘Why did Mikhail tell me all of this?’

Mikhail had been a loyal ally to Crain. For reasons unknown, Crain had wanted to hide Lindsey’s mother’s true status.

Lindsey herself hadn’t wanted to know how her mother was living. She would have preferred to remain ignorant, labeled as “dirty blood.” If her mother had been powerless, Lindsey would have understood.

She might have even felt sympathy.

‘Mom must have struggled, just like me.’

Lindsey could feel anger welling up inside her.

It was an emotion she had thought long buried.

‘That must be it. I wasn’t abandoned after all.’

She had never wanted to accept the truth that she had been discarded.

‘But I have to face it.’

No one in this world had ever loved her.

“Are you fully awake now?”

The unfamiliar voice drew Lindsey’s attention. She turned to see a boy with black hair and yellow eyes.

He was strikingly handsome, with a face that immediately caught her attention. Lindsey instantly recognized him as a powerful transcendent. Felia leaned in and whispered to her.

“That’s Gerard Riken, the second son of Duke Riken.”

Gerard stared at Lindsey with a mix of curiosity and wariness, though his gaze was complicated.

He spoke.

“Can we talk alone for a moment?”

What could they possibly need to talk about?

Lindsey felt puzzled. He was a noble of the Asen Empire, and she was just a passing cleric.

An unknown cleric, at that.

Normally, there wouldn’t be any reason for them to converse. Felia whispered once again.

“What should we do? If you want, we can run. It’s impossible to kill him, but escaping would be easy.”

Lindsey frowned. Felia, it seemed, wasn’t just any ordinary knight.

“No, I’d like to talk.”

Lindsey nodded toward Gerard.

⋆★⋆

Gerard studied Lindsey carefully. There was something strangely familiar about her.

Unconsciously, she had started to occupy his thoughts.

‘I don’t like how she looks so worn out, just like me.’

Had she been on the run?

Her appearance was suspicious.

‘She doesn’t look healthy either, especially after collapsing like that.’

And she was so thin.

Most women of the Asen Empire were strong and healthy, with light brown skin, a trait of their people.

Lindsey, on the other hand, looked completely different from the people of the Asen Empire.

Her pale skin and frail appearance made her seem delicate, as though she might collapse again at any moment.

‘She’s definitely not from around here, but what is she?’

She resembled him in an unsettling way—black hair, yellow eyes…

But it wasn’t just that. Even the finer details of her face mirrored his own.

‘No, that’s not right. She doesn’t resemble me.’

No, she looked like his mother.