How to Run Away from Obsessed Men

Episode 55

Gerard thought of his mother, Kalia Riken, the ever-icy duchess who had shown her first signs of being shaken when she saw Lindsey.

It had been strange enough that she brought Lindsey, a suspicious-looking stranger, into the estate. The more Gerard looked at Lindsey, the more his mother’s actions began to make sense.

“When I first saw you, I was surprised,” Gerard admitted. “You look so much like my mother.”

“Black hair is common in the Eastern Empire,” Lindsey responded calmly.

“But yellow eyes aren’t.”

He was right.

Instead of replying, Lindsey remained silent.

“I called you here because I have a request,” Gerard continued.

“A request?”

“Yes. Could you stay here at the estate for a while?”

“Why would you ask me to do that?” Lindsey asked, her confusion growing.

“My mother seems to have taken a liking to you. She said she’d like you to stay. You’re a wandering cleric, aren’t you? Staying here wouldn’t be a bad option.”

Lindsey let out a soft, bitter laugh.

“Why would the duchess favor someone like me?”

At this, Gerard’s expression tightened. His gaze never wavered from her.

“I can’t claim to understand her thoughts. By the way, do you eat?”

“Eat?”

“Why are you so thin? Are people from other empires always this weak?”

Of all the things to say in this moment…

Lindsey felt her mood sink even further as she observed Gerard’s confident, unbothered demeanor. He belonged to a world entirely different from hers, one filled with nobility and privilege.

She clutched the rough fabric of her skirt. Despite Felia’s help in finding her new clothes, she was still dressed like a commoner, hiding her true identity.

The rough cloth beneath her fingers reminded her of the rags she used to wear before proving her worth at the Kesion Marquisate. At the time, she had never once resented her fate.

It had seemed only natural to her then—she was “dirty blood,” and that was how she was treated.

“Let’s get you some food first,” Gerard suggested. “After that, we’ll go see my mother and brother.”

Lindsey couldn’t bring herself to respond. Gerard was someone from a completely different world, exuding the air of a noble through and through.

‘If Duchess Riken is really my mother, then this man must be my brother.’

The fates of those born with the same blood had diverged so greatly.

Rosalyn, Raysis, Gerard… her half-siblings.

What was the difference between them and her?

Lindsey couldn’t figure it out.

⋆★⋆

Felia looked at Lindsey with a puzzled expression as they sat together.

“Why are they treating you so kindly?”

Felia had a point.

The Riken family had been unusually kind to Lindsey. She and Felia were currently sitting in the estate’s dining room, being served by the staff.

“Maybe I didn’t need to disguise myself after all,” Felia remarked, glancing at Lindsey. The plain clothes Lindsey had been wearing had been replaced by elegant attire befitting someone of noble birth.

“It’s strange, even to me,” Lindsey admitted.

“Just look at the room they’ve given you,” Felia pointed out. “It looks more like a princess’s room than a guest room. It’s too childlike to be a standard guest room.”

Felia was right. The duchess had no daughters, and yet the room Lindsey stayed in seemed to have been prepared for a young noblewoman.

‘What could they be thinking?’

Lindsey couldn’t understand why they had put her in such a room or why they were treating her so lavishly.

‘Do they know who I am?’

Her face hardened at the thought.

If they knew who she really was, surely Duchess Riken would have cast her out immediately.

‘They seem to be living well here.’

Lindsey thought it was possible that her mere presence here, like some foreign contaminant, might be irritating to them. Maybe her mother wanted her out of the way, having discarded her once before.

She couldn’t help but resent Mikhail for sending her here. It would have been better not to know the truth.

Seeing the mother who abandoned her living happily was like a knife twisting in her gut.

‘I’m not a good person.’

Lindsey wanted to confront Duchess Riken.

She wanted to tell her, ‘I’m your daughter. Didn’t you abandon a daughter long ago?’

She wanted to ask, ‘How does it feel to live happily after abandoning your child?’

“You haven’t touched your food,” Gerard said suddenly.

“I don’t have much of an appetite,” Lindsey replied.

The table was laden with a sumptuous meal, but Lindsey couldn’t bring herself to eat.

Every time she tried to take a bite, a heavy sense of discomfort settled over her.

The fine clothes she wore, the luxurious room she stayed in—it all felt alien, out of place with who she was.

“The chef is quite skilled,” Gerard remarked.

It was then that she heard the familiar sound of his voice. Gerard stood at the doorway, watching her.

“I’ll make sure the chef knows to pay more attention next time,” he added, noticing her untouched food.

“You haven’t eaten much.”

“Why are you doing this for me?” Lindsey asked suddenly.

Gerard fell silent at her unexpected question. Lindsey’s confusion was understandable. Even he didn’t know why he cared about this woman before him.

From the moment he had first laid eyes on her, he had been inexplicably drawn to her. Seeing her leave her food untouched made him feel uneasy once again.

Why was she so small?

Why wasn’t she eating?

“For now, let’s go see my mother.”

With that, Gerard began to walk away, and Lindsey followed.

They arrived at the duke’s office. When they entered, Lindsey froze as she saw the cold-faced woman inside.

It was none other than Kalia Riken, the Duchess of the estate.

And just like Gerard, Kalia looked so much like her. The resemblance was undeniable.

“Please, sit,” Kalia said, her face looking visibly strained, as if in pain.

Lindsey hesitated. ‘Isn’t she supposed to be a powerful transcendent?’ she wondered. It was rare for transcendent beings to fall ill, but it wasn’t unheard of. Sometimes, when divine healing was insufficient, the goddess’s power could overwhelm a body, causing illness.

‘Could Kalia be suffering from something similar?’

Lindsey suppressed her thoughts. She didn’t want to feel concerned, as though she cared.

‘This woman abandoned me,’ she reminded herself.

She clung to that fact. If Kalia Riken, a duchess of the Asen Empire, had wanted to, she could have visited Lindsey. She could have reached out to her in so many ways.

But she hadn’t.

Lindsey had grown up not even knowing who her mother was, while Kalia had continued to live her life here, building bonds with her sons that Lindsey had no place in.

Even now, Gerard looked at his mother with concern in his eyes.

‘When you’re sick, there’s always someone to care for you,’ Lindsey thought bitterly. When she was sick, the Kesion family had only looked at her with disdain.

“Useless and sick, too.”

“If you’re sick, you should stay hidden in your room, not come out and bother everyone.”

Whenever Rosalyn was sick, however, the marquisate went into an uproar. Crain even fetched skilled doctors from the imperial palace.

“Our precious Rosalyn.”

“Our dear, irreplaceable Rosalyn.”

Lindsey had to swallow her tears during those times.

She had never experienced true concern from others. She didn’t know what family love or affection even felt like.

Kalia looked at Lindsey closely before speaking.

“You really do resemble me.”

“…”

“May I ask where you’re from?”

“The Eastern Empire,” Lindsey answered.

It was true that black-haired people were more common in the Eastern Empire. Kalia might be trying to trace Lindsey’s origins.

But by the time that became an issue, Lindsey would be long gone. She had no intention of staying here for long.

She didn’t respond further, despite the many thoughts running through her mind. She chose silence over the urge to say something.

“I heard you didn’t finish your meal. Was the food not to your liking?” Kalia asked.

“No, it was fine,” Lindsey replied, her expression tightening.

Kalia looked at her with a soft, almost sorrowful gaze, and that unsettled Lindsey.

‘Why is she looking at me with pity?’ Lindsey wondered, feeling more and more uncomfortable. The sadness in Kalia’s eyes—was it regret? Longing?

‘You can’t possibly miss me.’

There was no way Kalia knew who Lindsey really was. She probably just thought she was a simple cleric.

Kalia gave a faint, melancholic smile in response to Lindsey’s words.

“Would you consider staying at the estate for a while? There’s no safer place in the duchy than here.”

“…”

“As long as you remain here, Roana, you won’t lack for anything.”

Lindsey exhaled sharply, trying to control the flood of emotions building inside her.

“Why are you being so kind to me? I’m just a simple cleric.”

At Lindsey’s question, Kalia fell silent, simply gazing at her for a long moment. After what felt like an eternity, she finally spoke.

“When I look at you, I’m reminded of someone I’ve missed for a long time. But… that can’t be.”

Someone she missed?

Lindsey’s hands clenched involuntarily. ‘Missed?’ Kalia had the audacity to say she missed someone?

Lindsey felt her insides churn with anger.