How to Run Away from Obsessed Men

Episode 84

Azhet’s point was crystal clear.

It meant that Flute had brought the Eastern Empire’s forces to invade the imperial palace.

“The capital’s defenses are at their weakest right now. The Eastern Empire’s elite knights must have already reached the palace.”

“……”

“They’ll kill the emperor and seize the imperial seal. By the time Princess Rebecca returns, it will all be over. With the seal in his possession, Flute will become the emperor.”

At Azhet’s words, Kenyan let out a cold smile.

“Flute… what a pitiful man.”

It was nothing surprising.

Flute must have finally come to terms with his reality—that as long as Princess Rebecca existed, he could never ascend to the throne.

And if the pragmatic Princess Rebecca became the emperor, she would never let Flute live.

Of course, things wouldn’t go as Flute planned. That much, Kenyan was certain. Turning his gaze to Azhet, he asked calmly, “Then why are you here?”

Azhet looked up, puzzled by his brother’s question.

“You serve Princess Rebecca, don’t you? This isn’t where you should be,” Kenyan continued.

“When the Eastern Empire’s knights invade the palace, Princess Rebecca will understand. She’ll see what my actions meant when I tried to arrange that engagement with the Eastern Empire.”

“You want Flute to become the emperor, don’t you?” Kenyan’s voice carried an edge.

“Yes. Because the Radian family matters to me,” Azhet replied without hesitation.

Kenyan stood, his expression cold as ice. His piercing gaze locked onto Azhet, who instinctively reached for his sword.

When Kenyan moved to leave, Azhet stepped in front of him, blocking his way.

“Where do you think you’re going, Kenyan?”

“To stop this, of course.”

“What?”

“I can’t just stand by and watch Flute become emperor, can I?”

“If Princess Rebecca becomes the emperor, she won’t leave our family unscathed!”

“That won’t happen,” Kenyan replied firmly.

“……”

“Because I will become the head of the Radian family. And Flute will never become emperor.”

Azhet let out a hollow laugh, meeting Kenyan’s unwavering gaze.

Kenyan had always been the one who detested the idea of becoming the family head. He’d always said he wanted to live freely.

To him, the position of head of the family was nothing more than a shackle.

“Let someone else take the title of head. I’ll be traveling across the continent, living my life as I please,” he used to say.

There was no way Kenyan’s feelings about the position had suddenly changed. He still had no interest in becoming the head of the family.

There was only one reason Azhet could think of for why Kenyan had drawn his sword.

“Don’t tell me… this is about her, isn’t it? Are you planning to take the headship from me because of that dead woman?”

Azhet couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

He muttered to himself in disbelief, his voice tinged with despair.

“Kenyan… how could you do this?”

In the end, Kenyan had crossed the point of no return.

All for the sake of her.

Kenyan’s expression softened into a bitter smile as he spoke.

“Lindsey was right.”

“……”

“She said we’d regret it. Isn’t that so?”

Azhet’s face darkened.

Just as Kenyan said, a heavy regret began to weigh on him, consuming him.

Drawing his sword, Azhet stepped forward to face Kenyan directly.

⋆★⋆

Crain stared at Mikhail with a twisted smile.

He could assess Mikhail’s condition at a glance.

The man standing before him was no longer the unstoppable Mikhail he once knew. Even moving seemed to take an immense effort for him.

‘What a fool.’

If Mikhail had been in his prime, Crain wouldn’t have stood a chance. No, it wouldn’t have even been a matter of winning or losing—no one here would have survived. But now, Mikhail looked weaker than ever before.

‘It’s not as if the cleric is unskilled.’

Yet, Mikhail’s condition showed no improvement. It was like trying to pour water into a shattered vessel.

It was a symptom often seen when transcendents began to break down.

A sense of triumph flashed across Crain’s face. That’s right—Mikhail was being consumed by the goddess’s power.

Perhaps he was on the verge of losing control entirely.

‘I need to kill him before he goes berserk.’

If he started to lose control, taking him down would become significantly harder.

With that thought, Crain approached Mikhail. He watched as Mikhail raised his sword, pointing it at him.

Crain frowned. Even in his pitiful state, Mikhail still had the strength to lift his blade. It was almost admirable.

“Mikhail Dweisi, what exactly is your goal here? You’ve lived as my loyal subordinate, haven’t you?”

At Crain’s question, Mikhail’s face stiffened. It was an expression Crain was very familiar with.

That unsettlingly blank face.

A face so devoid of emotion that one might wonder if he was even human.

“What turned you into this?” Crain asked, his voice laced with disdain.

“……”

“You fool. If you’d just waited, I would have handed you power on a silver platter. But instead, you threw it all away…”

“I couldn’t care less about that.”

Crain’s face twisted in irritation.

Mikhail’s words were true. He had always worn that same indifferent expression, never showing any interest in the rewards Crain had promised him.

But now, something was different.

Crain’s expression darkened as he noticed something unusual in Mikhail’s face.

Emotion.

It was faint, but it was there—relief.

‘What’s this? Why is he showing that expression?’

In this situation, there was no reason for Mikhail to feel relief.

“Why did you hate Lindsey so much?” Mikhail asked abruptly.

Crain blinked, caught off guard by the question.

Hate Lindsey? The words didn’t make any sense to him.

“What are you talking about? I’ve never hated that child,” Crain replied, his tone perplexed.

“……”

“I simply gave her what I thought was fair treatment.”

“Lindsey’s mother wasn’t a commoner.”

“Dirty blood is still dirty blood,” Crain spat, his eyes bloodshot with anger.

“Does any of that matter right now? Why are you even bringing it up? She’s dead, isn’t she?”

Mikhail’s gaze didn’t waver. “Did you ever, even once, think of Lindsey as your daughter?”

Crain shrugged indifferently.

“Never. Not even once. She’s nothing but a stain I needed to erase.”

The moment those words left Crain’s lips, Mikhail turned to look behind him.

Lindsey stood there, her expression calm, almost indifferent. She shrugged her shoulders as if to say she had expected this all along.

Her lack of reaction confirmed it for Mikhail.

To Crain, Lindsey had never been anything at all. There was no reason to hesitate anymore.

This was the moment Mikhail had been living for.

From the moment he regained his memories—memories of being Baek Ji-hyuk—everything had led to this.

It wasn’t just the fact that he remembered he was Baek Ji-hyuk.

He also realized he had arrived in this world far earlier than he had initially thought.

But even with all his memories intact, Mikhail had never told Lindsey the truth.

Because telling her wouldn’t change anything. He couldn’t stay by her side, no matter how much he wanted to.

‘This time, I’ll die for you.’

Every choice, every step he had taken, led to this moment.

He had come back for this—to protect her, even if it cost him his life.

Today, in this place, Mikhail knew he would meet his end.

⋆★⋆

“Sir Mikhail, is he really getting better? He looks much stronger than before,” Felia murmured anxiously, gripping Lindsey’s hand tightly.

Knights were closing in on them, but they fell quickly at Mikhail’s hand, one by one.

“What are you doing?! Kill him already! How can you not take down someone in that state?!”

Crain’s desperate shouts echoed through the air, but the number of knights in front of him was dwindling rapidly.

Even the transcendents from the Eastern Empire hesitated to approach Mikhail.

Just as Felia said, Mikhail looked noticeably better than before.

But Lindsey knew the truth.

Mikhail’s condition wasn’t improving. He was burning through the last remnants of his life force.

Even his very vitality was being consumed to fuel his strength.

Lindsey muttered nervously under her breath, “No… this can’t happen.”

She focused her energy on healing Mikhail, but her divine power no longer worked on him.

It was incomprehensible.

For her holy power to have no effect meant that Mikhail’s body was already in the worst possible state.

“Out of my way! I’ll handle this myself!”

Unable to watch any longer, Crain charged toward Mikhail, sword in hand.

Clang! Clang!

The sound of steel meeting steel rang out clearly as their blades collided.

Unlike the knights before him, Crain lasted longer. He managed to hold his ground for a time.

But it didn’t take long before Mikhail began to overwhelm him as well.

“Arghhh!”

Crain’s agonized scream filled the Kesion Marquisate, echoing in the air.

At that moment, Lindsey realized something with horrifying clarity.

The more Mikhail pushed Crain into a corner, the closer Mikhail came to his own death.