NOVEL NEXT Chapter 242
TLed by NolepGuy
Chapter 242
-Drip.
Red blood dripped onto the floor.
The pain that should have been felt in the abdomen scattered between tightly shut eyes, and the overwhelming sense of injustice dissipated into the night breeze.
Mikhail slowly lifted his heavy eyelids.
Red hair.
A black butler uniform.
Broad shoulders that blocked his entire view.
That unique scent of perfume tickled Mikhail’s nose, greeting him.
“I was worried.”
Ricardo’s low voice resonated briefly, inquiring about his well-being. Without asking anything, Ricardo, who had silently grabbed the blade thrust at him, stood firm like a rock.
Mikhail spoke in a trembling voice. Without even having time to react to the news that the quest was completed, he looked at Ricardo, who had grabbed the blade with his bare hands, and asked.
“How…”
“How, you ask? The Secret Girl sent me a telepathic plea for help.”
Ricardo, leaving the flustered Mikhail behind, spoke in a dark voice as he looked at the man before him.
“Don’t we have some unfinished business to discuss?”
“…”
“It feels like we could talk all night and still not be done.”
Ricardo’s chilling voice sent shivers through Yung’s entire body, even though it was devoid of inflection.
With each syllable Ricardo uttered, his voice pierced Yung’s skin like an awl, causing Yung to shake his head and burst into laughter.
“Puhaha… Puhaha! Ha… I really picked the wrong day for this. I didn’t expect there to be a bodyguard knight.”
“I think today was the perfect day.”
“Ha…”
Yung cut off his sticky laughter and lifted his head. Yung’s sharp gaze clashed with Ricardo’s in the empty space, then fell away.
“Today, I just dropped by to say hello. I wondered if you’d forgotten me. After all, that friend of yours is quite the famous person. So, I thought I’d remind you that someone like me exists.”
“Do you greet people with a blade?”
“Heh heh heh… Well, that’s true.”
Hearing Ricardo’s cold voice, unlike anything Mikhail had heard before, Mikhail’s hands turned icy cold.
“…”
Yung awkwardly laughed and slowly stepped back.
“I was planning to turn that kid into a fool… Just cluelessly calling out ‘Father, Father’ before—bam!”
“What a vile hobby you have. Makes me want to kill you.”
“…Should I just do it now?”
Yung gave a chilling smile as he stared at Mikhail, who was hiding behind Ricardo. His words, laced with threats, seemed to imply he truly wanted to go through with it if he could. Ricardo responded with a faint smile.
“Can you even do it?”
“…”
The spreading red aura began to constrict Yung’s breath. Even as the ominous red aura extended like the open gate of the underworld, Yung seemed unwilling to back down, unable to release the dagger in his hand.
“Everyone lets their guard down at some point. Me included, and you too.”
“…”
“This mister here has some skills, you know.”
Ricardo awkwardly laughed as he released the hand gripping the dagger.
“It was a joke.”
He could easily kill him.
He could disable his dark magic.
[A Restriction is Applied.]
└Mikhail’s mental state is highly unstable.
└The longer the time spent with ‘Yung,’ the more the restriction wavers.
└If you kill ‘Yung,’ Mikhail’s awakening will be delayed.
Because that’s not what the gods want.
After being made to meet Mikhail, Ricardo muttered a few irreverent words toward the gods who were likely watching from somewhere. Then, he withdrew the red aura that had been reaching toward Yung, moistening his dry lips.
“It seems today is not the day.”
“…I almost died.”
“Leave before I change my mind.”
“I suppose I should…”
Yung disappeared into the darkness, glaring at Mikhail as if he wanted to kill him, and gave a parting remark.
“Kid, see you next time.”
Ricardo also addressed Yung with a farewell.
“Next time we meet, I won’t let you leave so easily.”
“I don’t want to see you again either.”
With those words, Yung vanished.
*
An eerie silence filled the alleyway.
Mikhail lowered his head, staring at Ricardo’s bleeding hand. He didn’t know what to say. He knew he should thank him, but the words wouldn’t come out.
Ricardo silently wiped the blood off his hand. Taking a handkerchief from his jacket’s inner pocket, he pressed it against his palm. Then, he nodded and slowly walked toward Mikhail, speaking.
“Are you okay?”
“…”
“You weren’t hurt, were you?”
“…”
Mikhail swallowed the questions rising from within along with the night air. There was so much he wanted to say.
Starting with the question of why Ricardo had helped him, to asking if he was okay. He tried to suppress the questions welling up inside him, but one particular question left him speechless, forcing him to swallow a dry breath once more.
‘Why.’
Why are you doing this?
Ricardo shouldn’t have any connection to me. To him, I’m no different from a stranger. So why are you doing this? Mikhail clenched his fists, suppressing the questions rising within him.
‘This isn’t like you.’
The woman who caused trouble at our first meeting—that’s the ‘me’ Ricardo sees now.
Not a close friend, not someone with a deep connection—just a stranger. That’s all I am to him.
So why are you stepping in?
It would have been easier to just turn around and walk away, with no one knowing and no one to blame.
And yet.
‘Why are you helping me?’
The Ricardo I remember.
The Ricardo who avoids losses and seeks gains. The Ricardo who acted like a troublemaker at the academy. He would have coldly ignored me and dismissed me.
Why…
‘Are you trying to be a hero?’
Mikhail voiced the question he had been holding inside. He couldn’t move on without an answer.
“Why…”
The countless doubts he had harbored began to surface with a faint pulse.
“Why did you save me…?”
“…Ah.”
“You’re someone who avoids losses. So why did you save me?”
Because that’s the kind of person Ricardo is. Because other students disliked and hated Ricardo. Judging by the image he had painted in his mind, Mikhail clenched his fists, questioning his misunderstanding.
“That’s not the kind of person you are.”
“…”
“You’re not someone who helps strangers and asks if they’re okay.”
“…”
“So why are you acting like a good person?”
“Why… Why…?”
Ricardo let out an empty laugh and spoke to Mikhail.
“Because you’re beautiful.”
“…”
“I admit, I do have a strong bias between men and women.”
Mikhail clenched his fists and retorted.
“What exactly is beautiful?”
“…”
“I’m dull and can’t even dress up. What part of that is beautiful?”
“…”
“Not a single thing is beautiful. I know it when I look in the mirror. No charm, just ugly. You think the same, don’t you? Dull, fierce, and like a man.”
Mikhail shouted at Ricardo, clenching both fists.
“Don’t lie.”
Ricardo chuckled softly and shook his head.
“What can I do? My eyes say you’re beautiful.”
Mikhail, wearing an incredulous expression, spoke to Ricardo, saying he was truly strange.
“Are you really a troublemaker?”
“…”
“The troublemaker who wreaked havoc at the Academy? This feels like a completely different person.”
Ricardo smiled faintly again and spoke to Mikhail.
“It’s because I was immature.”
“…”
“At the time, I thought it was the best way. I believed that if I was bad, others would like me more.”
Ricardo crouched in front of Mikhail and tied the loose laces of Mikhail’s sneakers, speaking in a small voice.
“And I wasn’t entirely wrong.”
Mikhail closed his eyes tightly and spoke to Ricardo.
“I still don’t like you.”
“That’s a rather arrogant thing for a disciple to say to their master.”
“Even so, I don’t like you.”
“…”
Mikhail tightly clenched his fists and spoke to Ricardo, who was standing up.
“Ha…”
“Misa.”
“What…?”
“My name.”
“…”
“It’s Misa.”
Ricardo nodded with a faint smile.
“It’s a beautiful name.”
*
Back at the dormitory.
Mikhail lay on the bed, covering his tired eyes. His thoughts were tangled, and his body was exhausted. He avoided greeting the dazzlingly bright moon.
Many thoughts came to mind.
Why did he reveal his name?
Why did he tell him the name ‘Misa’?
Mikhail, overwhelmed by his emotional decision, let out a deep sigh.
“Ha…”
-I was worried.
If you dislike someone, why say such things? And what if those words are sincere?
Covering his eyes with his hand, Mikhail muttered softly about the emotions he felt today.
“I don’t understand.”
I don’t know what kind of person he is.
A kind person.
A good person.
A bad person.
Ricardo’s demeanor, so different from what he had shown at the Academy, made Mikhail run his hand over his face and sigh deeply.
I can’t tell which side is his true self. What is certain is that my thoughts about Ricardo have changed a little.
From the worst to slightly less than the worst.
Mikhail slammed his fist onto the bed, frustrated with himself for thinking about Ricardo.
“Annoying.”
As his restless thoughts and questions persisted, preventing sleep—
-Ding.
A cold greeting, ringing with a ‘ding,’ waved through Mikhail’s weary ears.
[Would you like to receive your quest reward?]
Mikhail nodded in response.
And then.
He could hear the truth he had long wished for.
[Side Story. To the Original Form.]
If you—
The things that happened because of you—
On the day it all ends with one person’s responsibility—
You couldn’t endure it.
A cold breeze swept through.