How to Run Away from Obsessed Men

Episode 62

Mikhail stood before Raysis, both of them in the training ground.

Raysis had his sword pointed toward Mikhail.

“Since you’ve lent me your strength, it’s only fair that I repay you by helping as well.”

He had agreed to be Mikhail’s sparring partner, aware that Mikhail had not received proper healing.

Crain believed that Rosalyn’s divine power had grown stronger, but that was far from the truth.

‘Rosalyn would never admit the truth to Crain.’

Raysis had come to understand just how deep Rosalyn’s greed ran.

She would never reveal that her divine power wasn’t enough to fully heal Mikhail. Unless Mikhail himself spoke up, no one would ever know.

Mikhail didn’t refuse Raysis’s offer.

After all, Rosalyn’s clumsy healing had caused the divine energy inside him to become unstable.

Her inadequate healing was nothing short of torture for him.

As Mikhail raised his sword, he looked at Raysis. The only reason he cooperated with him was Lindsey.

Because it was something she wanted—nothing more.

‘Why can’t I stop thinking about her?’

In order to erase Lindsey’s name from the family registry, the head of the household would have to change.

Crain would never remove her name willingly.

Mikhail lifted his sword.

“Go easy on me. You know how much work we have ahead of us,” Raysis joked, shrugging.

As Mikhail looked at him, a storm of emotions surged and faded in his mind.

He wanted to destroy the Kesion Marquisate. He wanted to eliminate Raysis too, despite his current cooperation.

They had all made Lindsey suffer.

As the thought of her suffering flashed in his mind, a wave of killing intent rose within him.

‘Perhaps I should’ve wiped them all out earlier.’

It wasn’t impossible for him to kill everyone in the Kesion household.

If he had slaughtered them all and torn up the registry, Lindsey would have been free. She wouldn’t have had to endure such pain.

“Don’t be so hostile toward people.”

“You’re a good person.”

“Stop focusing on me so much.”

But she had always hated the thought of innocent people bleeding.

Mikhail’s sword swung toward Raysis. Raysis barely managed to block the blow, sweat dripping from his brow.

Clang!

The sharp sound of their swords clashing echoed through the air.

Raysis’s face turned pale as he felt the raw killing intent behind Mikhail’s sword.

He began to retreat slowly.

Mikhail watched him with calm, yet piercing eyes.

His thoughts remained focused on one thing.

‘It’s strange.’

Lindsey Kesion.

Only she could stir him like this. Memories he couldn’t quite place tormented him.

Whose memories were they?

He had felt this way from the first time he saw her.

Instinct had warned him strongly.

If he didn’t get rid of Lindsey, he would only grow more unstable.

Why was he so blindly drawn to her? Up until now, he had lived a passive life, following what was expected of him.

Though he didn’t have to obey Crain Kesion’s orders, there had been no real reason not to either.

Resisting Crain had always seemed bothersome.

He had tried to avoid Lindsey, going on long, distant missions just to stay away from the Kesion household.

All to forget her.

But at some point, that became impossible.

Specifically, from the moment Lindsey returned home after breaking off her engagement with Azhet.

The moment she healed him.

Mikhail had realized it then.

‘There’s no escaping this.’

It was a familiar yet overwhelming feeling, like reuniting with someone he had been waiting for a long time.

‘Who are you?’

It was as if Lindsey was someone entirely different from the girl he knew. As soon as that thought crossed his mind, he found it hard to control himself.

Raysis smirked at him.

“Mikhail, are you planning to kill me?”

Mikhail frowned as the headache intensified. Rosalyn’s healing caused him constant pain. Every time her hands touched him, nausea would rise in his chest.

And yet he had endured it all.

All to achieve what Lindsey wanted.

He didn’t even fully understand why he was doing it, yet he moved for her sake.

Mikhail paused mid-swing.

“Han Ji-yu.”

Unconsciously, he murmured a name. It was the name of a woman who had started appearing in his dreams recently.

Every time Lindsey healed him, that name came to mind. Especially after their most recent conversation, the dreams had become more vivid.

A woman with black hair, someone he had never met before, appeared in his dreams.

He didn’t know why.

Han Ji-yu.

It was an utterly strange name.

Even calling it a name felt odd. It didn’t sound like a name from the empire at all.

“Baek Ji-hyuk, you have to remember no matter what.”

I don’t know who you are.

I don’t know why that name keeps coming to me.

But every time I hear it, I feel an overwhelming sense of guilt, as if I’ve committed an unforgivable sin.

“I need to remember…”

Mikhail’s sword cut through Raysis’s long hair.

“Mikhail, get a grip!”

Raysis shouted, bewildered.

He looked at Mikhail with wide eyes.

It felt strange to see Mikhail, usually so composed, swinging his sword with visible emotion.

It didn’t even seem like Mikhail was looking at him.

He seemed to be staring off into some faraway place. Raysis swallowed nervously.

“Can’t you wait a little longer? Once everything is done, I’ll disappear too.”

“…”

“We still need to remove Lindsey’s name from that cursed registry!”

Mikhail finally halted his sword.

The burning rage inside him cooled.

Raysis was still useful.

Mikhail lowered his sword from Raysis’s neck. His cold voice echoed in Raysis’s ears.

“You better keep that promise. Or I’ll make sure you don’t live to regret it.”

⋆★⋆

“What did you just say?”

Felia asked, her face showing clear surprise at Lindsey’s words.

Felia shook her head repeatedly, as if she couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

“So your mother wasn’t a commoner after all?”

Lindsey nodded.

She was explaining to Felia why people’s attitudes toward her had suddenly shifted.

‘Felia will be accompanying me, so she needs to know.’

Of course, it wasn’t confirmed yet that she was Kalia’s daughter.

The paternity test results could still come back saying she wasn’t Kalia’s child.

‘Then I’ll know if Mikhail was telling the truth.’

Lindsey didn’t fully trust Mikhail’s words, even though she and Kalia resembled each other quite remarkably.

Everything pointed to the likelihood that she was Kalia’s daughter, but Lindsey always prepared for the worst.

‘There could still be an unexpected result.’

Mikhail could have been deceiving her all along.

‘It’s a habit I’ve developed.’

Because of what she had experienced at the Kesion Marquisate, Lindsey found it difficult to trust people. Even when she did, she always harbored doubts.

Of course, based on everything so far, it seemed Mikhail wasn’t lying.

‘If he were going to lie, he would’ve done it already.’

At that moment, a soft knock interrupted their conversation.

“Cleric Roana, may I come in?”

It was the butler of the Riken Duchy. Felia’s eyes widened as she looked at him.

“The Duke wishes to have dinner with you.”

Felia immediately realized that Lindsey’s story was true.

Although the Duke had always been kind to Lindsey, now he was treating her as if she were a daughter of the Riken household.

Lindsey nodded and stood up to leave.

After she left, Felia shook her head in disbelief.

She knew some nobles were strange, but Crain Kesion exceeded her imagination.

‘Why on earth did Crain hate Lady Lindsey so much?’

⋆★⋆

Kalia gazed at Lindsey with eyes full of affection.

Lindsey felt uncomfortable under that gaze.

By today, the results of the paternity test should arrive. They had sent samples of her and Kalia’s blood to the Mage Tower, so it would soon be confirmed whether she was truly Kalia’s daughter.

“I hope the food is to your liking,” Kalia said warmly.

Lindsey felt her stomach churn at Kalia’s kind tone.

She wasn’t used to this kind of kindness.

Heis, still watching Lindsey with disapproving eyes, remained silent.

His expression showed he still doubted her.

Lindsey, maintaining her composure, sliced her steak and took a bite.

Heis, his eyes dark and brooding, finally spoke up.

“Mother, when will the results of the paternity test be ready?”