How to Run Away from Obsessed Men

Episode 56

Even though you missed me, why didn’t you come to see me even once during all that time?

“I’m sorry, but I’ll be leaving the Riken Duchy soon. I’m a bit tired, so may I go inside?”

“Yes, please go in. I must have made someone who traveled such a long way even more tired.”

Lindsey stood up.

Then, without any hesitation, she moved away, clearly showing that she had no desire to deal with Kalia any longer.

Kalia watched as Lindsey left. When she first saw Lindsey, she couldn’t hide her surprise.

She resembled her so much. Almost like the daughter she had lost in her youth.

“Come in.”

At Kalia’s words, a man with a sturdy build entered the drawing room. It was Heis Riken, the eldest son of the duchy.

Heis spoke, his voice filled with displeasure.

“That cleric’s behavior is extremely insolent. Why are you allowing her to stay in the duchy? I heard what she said to you in response to your request.”

Under normal circumstances, such insolence would warrant her immediate expulsion from the duchy. Refusing the lord’s hospitality!

“Heis, you know the reason.”

At Kalia’s words, Heis fell silent. His younger brother, Gerard, was unaware, but Heis knew why Kalia’s heart had softened.

Kalia’s face contorted with pain, and her once-strong shoulders began to tremble.

“That child is dead. But that cleric… she resembles the child I imagined her to be.”

The expression on Kalia’s face as she uttered those words was chilling, enough to send shivers down Heis’s spine.

This was a completely different side of Kalia than the fragile figure she had appeared to be in front of Lindsey just moments ago. Heis was furious as well.

“That damned bastard…”

His eyes turned red.

The thought of their long-lost half-sister, whom his mother had been forced to give up in the distant past, resurfaced in his mind.

In his youth, Crain had attended the academy of the Asen Empire in an effort to foster peace between the Rohan and Asen empires.

However, relations between the empires quickly soured, and eventually, Crain returned to the Rohan Empire.

Back then, Kalia had fallen in love with Crain, a love she would regret for the rest of her life.

She never imagined that Crain was such a monstrous person. Crain had stolen her daughter from her.

But that wasn’t all.

He had even threatened her with the family register passed down through the Marquisate of Kesion.

“If you come looking for her, the child will not survive.”

“It will be the same if you spread rumors elsewhere. Don’t you want to protect her?”

Kalia was forced to remain in her territory, unable to leave. Even when she wanted news, all she received from Crain were cold, sharp replies.

Crain wanted to completely sever the bond between Kalia and her daughter.

“I’ll raise her well, so don’t worry.”

“Do you think you’re capable of raising her properly? You’ll probably just teach her swordsmanship and let her grow up rough. The imperial law clearly states that daughters should be raised by their fathers.”

The time Kalia endured to save her child only led to betrayal.

She never even got to see her daughter’s face properly. Kalia hadn’t even been able to be there in her daughter’s final moments. The moment she heard the news of Lindsey’s death, she sent people to investigate.

She wanted to know how her daughter had lived. Why she had thrown herself off that cliff.

The truth she learned plunged her into despair.

“They called her filthy blood and treated her with contempt.”

“She wasn’t provided with proper meals or clothes.”

“She lived a life worse than that of a commoner.”

“She was chased by assassins during a hunting tournament and threw herself off a cliff.”

“In her final moments, she said she was exhausted…”

Kalia’s eyes began to burn with fury. She had never trusted Crain, but she believed he would at least treat Lindsey with basic decency.

If he were human, that’s what he should have done.

If a mother and child were forcibly torn apart, that’s what should have been done. But Crain had been even worse than she had imagined.

She had suppressed her longing to see her daughter. She had endured the agony of those years, believing it was the only way to keep her child alive.

“You’ve heard too, haven’t you? About the life Lindsey has lived.”

“…”

“How could anyone do that to another person?”

As Kalia spoke, she staggered as if in agony. Heis tried to support her, but Kalia shook her head.

Kalia, who was known as the ruler of the Northern Empire, appeared incredibly fragile at this moment.

To Heis, Lindsey was a sister he had never met.

He, too, could not contain his anger, but there was no way for him to fully grasp the depth of Kalia’s pain.

“If my daughter had lived, would she have grown up to be like Cleric Roana?”

The thought of her, wounded and bristling with thorns, weighed heavily on her mind.

Just looking at her evoked a deep sense of pity. It was already difficult enough to focus on avenging her daughter, so why was this cleric bothering her so much?

Kalia sank into deep sorrow.

She had no way of even knowing what her daughter looked like. She had been searching for portraits of Lindsey, but even the stored portraits were difficult to find.

She had no way of knowing how Lindsey had grown.

⋆★⋆

“How long do you plan to stay here?” Felia asked.

Lindsey remained silent, her face troubled as she looked up at the sky.

Unlike in modern times, the stars were clearly visible. They seemed to shine brightly, unlike her current state.

“I’ll be leaving soon. I’ll spend some time here and look for a suitable estate to stay in.”

Lindsey thought it was foolish to remain here any longer.

‘Thinking that Mikhail sent me here for a reason was just an excuse.’

In truth, she missed her mother. She thought she had forgotten everything, but it seemed she hadn’t.

‘How foolish of me.’

Crain had always drilled a particular phrase into her.

“That woman abandoned you.”

Since Lindsey’s mother had abandoned her, Crain whispered that Lindsey would have nowhere to go if she left the Kesion Marquisate.

Lindsey hadn’t denied Crain’s words either. It was true that her mother had abandoned her.

Even though Lindsey had no way of leaving the Kesion Marquisate, Crain always seemed anxious.

But there was something Crain didn’t know.

‘If his goal was to make me miserable, it would have been easier to tell me that my mother was a noble.’

If he had done that, young Lindsey would have been even more broken.

She would have been more devastated than she was now.

“Sir Felia, may I spend some time alone?”

Felia looked at Lindsey’s face, then reluctantly nodded. Though she didn’t want to leave Lindsey alone, it seemed Lindsey needed time to herself.

After Felia left, Lindsey sighed. Her goal was simple.

To leave the Kesion Marquisate, no matter what. Then, to find a clue about dimensional magic.

If she could learn what had happened to Baek Ji-hyuk…

What would she do next?

“Why are you alone?”

Lindsey slowly turned her head.

She heard the voice of someone who shouldn’t be here.

“Mikhail?”

⋆★⋆

Kenyan had lost his purpose in life.

After Lindsey’s death, he couldn’t even remember what he had been living for.

He would sit idly, often recalling the first time he met Lindsey.

When she first saw him, Lindsey had shyly smiled. Then she spoke to him.

“Hello, I look forward to working with you.”

His face had turned pale.

Because he remembered the words he had said to her in reply.

“Don’t talk to me, you filthy blood.”

He regretted not being kinder to her.

No, that wasn’t it.

He regretted saying anything at all.

If he hadn’t spoken, his heart wouldn’t ache like this now.

After Lindsey’s funeral, Azhet had visited him a few times, but eventually, he gave up.

Kenyan no longer sought healing. Whenever he received healing, Lindsey’s face came to mind even more vividly.

“Kenyan, Lady Sylvia has sent you a letter.”

“Throw it away.”

Kenyan responded coldly to the butler who had addressed him.

After Lindsey’s death, Sylvia had sent him several letters.

Sylvia had been with Lindsey during her final moments.

At first, when Sylvia’s letters arrived, Kenyan had read them. He had hoped to find some clue about Lindsey’s death.

But Sylvia’s letters were full of meaningless words.

“Forget about that filthy blood, Kenyan. It must have been using dark magic on you.”

“Think about it. If that wasn’t the case, there’s no way you would be so devastated over someone with filthy blood.”

“Do you know how much people are gossiping, asking if you were in love with that filthy blood?”

“Please, return to being my proud son.”

Since then, Kenyan had stopped reading Sylvia’s letters and burned them instead.

His mother wasn’t wrong.

He had loved Lindsey.

Yes, he had truly loved that filthy blood.

The butler bowed his head and left the room.

Kenyan lowered his head again, lost in thoughts of Lindsey.

It was then that he sensed an all too familiar and unpleasant presence. Someone he knew well was stepping into his room.

“How pathetic you are.”