How to Run Away from Obsessed Men

Episode 66

“My name is Karen.”

He said this while staring intently at Lindsey.

“And who might you be?”

Lindsey hesitated for a moment. How should she introduce herself?

Han Ji-yoo? Lindsey Kesion? Or perhaps she should say Lindsey Riken?

After a brief pause, she answered.

“My name is Lindsey Riken.”

At her words, Karen’s eyes lit up with surprise. Felia, too, turned to Lindsey with a shocked expression. They had not expected her to reveal her identity so readily.

“Well, this is quite the rare sight. Who knew the Riken family had a daughter?”

Karen remarked, only to feel the edge of Felia’s blade press against his throat as she scowled.

“Speak carelessly again, and I won’t let it slide.”

“I assure you, I’m a man who knows when to hold his tongue.”

He said this with a face that betrayed his unease.

“I’m well aware of how fiercely Kalia Riken protects her family… and just how ruthless she can be.”

His words made Lindsey frown in confusion. The Kalia she knew had never shown a hint of cruelty. In fact, she had seemed almost fragile at times.

Karen turned back to Lindsey, eyes probing.

“What is it that you wish to know?”

“I want to know what happens when someone attempts dimensional travel.”

“You’re planning to cross dimensions?”

Karen asked, shaking his head.

“Don’t do it. The Duke of Riken would oppose it. He would stop you, no matter the cost.”

“Just answer my question.”

Lindsey’s tone was firm, leaving Karen no choice but to shrug and mutter something under his breath about her being truly the Duke’s daughter.

“If one attempts dimensional travel, there’s a high probability they won’t survive. The soul gets torn apart, scattered across dimensions.”

Lindsey listened intently to his words.

“And what happens to a shattered soul?”

This was what she most wanted to know.

Had Baek Ji-hyuk succeeded in his attempt to cross dimensions? And if he had failed, did that mean he had perished?

“By all accounts, one should die. The body crumbles to dust, and the soul is torn apart.”

Karen’s words weighed heavily on her.

It was likely that Baek Ji-hyuk was truly gone. She had turned a blind eye to this reality because she wasn’t ready to face it.

She knew the truth deep down. But she needed to be certain that his death had not been in vain.

She wanted to find some trace of him in this world, some proof of his existence.

Lindsey clutched the hem of her dress tightly.

“But there are those who sometimes defy common sense. Those with strong souls can even come back to life in this world.”

“Come back to life?”

“Yes, but it would never be a pleasant life. The resurrected lose their emotions and live as if they are not truly alive.”

“They lose their emotions…”

Lindsey froze. A person came to mind, lingering briefly before fading. The one everyone spoke of as being devoid of emotion.

Mikhail.

Lindsey had often wondered if he could truly feel emotions.

People said he had been that way since he was very young.

She dismissed the thought with a sense of disbelief.

That seemed too convenient, far too optimistic for her to believe.

‘That doesn’t make sense. Are you saying Baek Ji-hyuk died and became Mikhail?’

Lindsey tried to push the thought away. No matter how much Mikhail stayed on her mind, to think he was Baek Ji-hyuk…

It was a ridiculous notion.

“Even so, do you still intend to attempt dimensional travel?”

Lindsey steadied her turbulent emotions.

“If I were to go through with it, if I ended up reborn as someone new, would there be a way to recognize me?”

“There isn’t.”

“If I attempt dimensional travel magic, what are the chances of success?”

“Almost none. There are no recorded successful attempts.”

Lindsey silently listened to his words.

“If you use dimensional travel magic, there is almost a certainty that you will die. Even your trace would vanish.”

⋆★⋆

The Riken Ducal Residence during Lindsey’s brief absence. Kalia had gathered her sons.

“Where is Sister Lindsey?”

It was Heis who answered Gerard’s question.

“She said she had some personal matters to attend to.”

Kalia wore a serious expression.

Lindsey kept many things hidden from her family.

“Sister Lindsey hides far too much.”

“It’s only natural that she wouldn’t trust us completely.”

Kalia was also aware that Lindsey had gone to meet with a transcendent this time.

She had even secretly assigned guards to follow Lindsey, just in case.

‘She’d feel burdened if she knew.’

Heis’s concern was understandable.

He wondered if Lindsey had approached them with something to hide.

He suspected that the news of her supposed death had all been Crain’s scheme.

‘Crain is that kind of man.’

Crain had never liked Kalia. He had always harbored feelings of inferiority toward her.

‘Simply because I was more accomplished.’

Such a petty reason.

He approached her, trampled on her love, and took her daughter away.

“I never loved you. I only thought that our union would produce an exceptional child.”

“I didn’t expect to end up with a half-wit.”

Kalia couldn’t accept her sons’ mistrust toward Lindsey.

If not for Crain, none of this would have happened. Lindsey could have grown up, cherished and loved more than anyone, in her care.

She had never wanted Lindsey to endure such a painful past.

“I could have loved and raised that child, even if she had been an ordinary one.”

Kalia couldn’t control the tremor in her body.

Her sons flinched at the force of her presence. What had happened with Crain had made her strong.

The fragile Kalia of the past no longer existed. She had grown stronger for the sake of her distant daughter.

Kalia gripped her sword. Heis watched his mother’s determined movements.

Lindsey had returned.

And Crain was unaware of it. This meant he couldn’t use the family registry to threaten Lindsey’s life.

“Crain Kesion. Why did he take Sister Lindsey?”

At Heis’s question, Kalia glared fiercely in the direction of where Crain might be.

“He believed she would manifest as a transcendent or a cleric.”

The Kesion Marquisate, with its power over the registry, valued their bloodline greatly. They even brought illegitimate children into the family.

Once one reached the position of head, they could use them as their hands and feet.

Crain thought that a child of his and Kalia’s would surely be exceptional.

So, he took Lindsey from her. The end of Kalia and Crain was nothing but disastrous.

Kalia had fought to keep her daughter, but in the end, she could do nothing.

“Don’t you want to save your daughter? Then you’ll have to follow my words.”

After taking Lindsey, Crain often made unreasonable demands.

Kalia had been powerless to resist his demands.

“If you don’t, what do you think will happen to Lindsey?”

“It’s all for Lindsey’s sake. Everything is for her.”

He even prevented her from learning about Lindsey. Every time she tried to find out about Lindsey’s situation, Kalia faced threats.

‘All to hide how Lindsey was living.’

She couldn’t understand it.

How could someone be so cruel?

Because she was his daughter, Lindsey had lived her whole life in suffering.

“There’s a New Year’s banquet coming up in the Rohan Empire soon, isn’t there?”

Kalia’s eyes gleamed with a chilling light. She now intended to make Crain pay for his sins.

⋆★⋆

Crain sat in front of Prince Flute. The foolish prince fidgeted, glancing around anxiously.

Crain clicked his tongue.

“Your Highness, you do realize how important this New Year’s banquet is, don’t you?”

“But… can I really gain more attention than my sister?”

“It’s entirely possible. I will assist you.”

At Crain’s words, Flute’s face brightened. But soon, as a certain person came to mind, he spoke with a trembling voice.

“But Marquis Crain, I am a little concerned. Isn’t Raysis also expected to attend?”

“Raysis is loyal to Your Highness.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“My children do not defy me. There’s no need for concern.”

Crain shrugged as he spoke. To him, Flute’s worries were pathetic. He couldn’t understand why the prince fretted over someone like Raysis.

Flute, meanwhile, felt a sense of frustration.

‘That’s because he hasn’t seen the look in his eyes.’

Raysis’s serpent-like gaze always made him feel small. Although Raysis seemed to comply with Crain’s every word, Flute knew the truth. He knew that Raysis despised him.

And it wasn’t just that.

Kenyan Radian and Mikhail were also among those he found unsettling.

‘All because of Lindsey Kesion.’

If not for Lindsey, Raysis might have followed him sincerely. Or perhaps Kenyan Radian wouldn’t have turned against Sylvia either.

Had that been the case, he could have relied on the Kesion Marquisate and the Radian Ducal House to threaten Rebecca.

Flute bit his lip in anger.