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Chapter 23: Trace (2)

I hesitated for a moment, unsure whether to sit or leave. However, leaving wasn\'t an option. In fact, meeting her now might be better. Josephine was bound to cause trouble sooner or later. It was safer to deal with her in an unexpected moment of daily life than to face a critical blow at a crucial time.

I took a seat and looked at Yulie. She looked back at me with eyes that reflected a mix of confusion and a hint of apology. Yulie had no reason to feel sorry for me.

"Yulie is my sister, but she is truly beautiful, and you, as a fellow man, are quite handsome yourself," Zeit said, who had entered right after and was making some comments. I didn\'t pay attention to them. My focus remained solely on Yulie.

"What do you think? How does Yulie look today?" Josephine suddenly asked.

I shook myself out of my daze and nodded and replied, "She looks beautiful."

For a moment, I was mesmerized. Even in her usual armor without makeup, her beauty was striking. Today, she appeared more beautiful than anyone I had ever encountered. Perhaps this was the effect of Defamiliarization.

"Hahaha! Exactly. She is my sister, after all!" Zeit said, laughing heartily.

"By the way, it\'s been almost three years since the engagement. When do you think the wedding should be?" Zeit asked, already holding a knife and fork even though the appetizers hadn\'t arrived yet. He seemed ready to cut through the table itself. Such an impatient man.

"Uh, brother—"

"This is a matter between the elders of the house," Zeit declared. Yulie, startled, tried to speak, but Zeit\'s large hand silenced her. "Yulie, you stay quiet."

Yulie pouted her lips in silence. At that moment, I noticed a faint red aura starting to spread. At first, I thought the aura of Villain\'s Fate was coming from Yulie, but that couldn\'t be right. It was actually from Josephine, the woman smiling warmly at me.

"When do you think is a good time for the wedding, Deculein?" Zeit asked.

"Yes, please tell us. We will follow Professor Deculein\'s opinion," Josephine added.

Josephine was the personification of deceit. She spoke kindly, without revealing even a hint of the murderous intent she harbored. The sign of Villain\'s Fate was so subtle that it could easily be mistaken for a speck of dust. By now, the aura had already vanished, masked by her facade that could deceive even the keenest observer.

"Bitro Sygien. Grucious, Kigirln," the chef said as he entered, speaking what sounded like alien words while serving the appetizers.

Zeit took a piece with his fork and ate it in one bite. Despite his gluttony, he maintained a certain warrior\'s elegance.

"... I plan to leave the decision about the wedding entirely to Yulie."

"Leave it up to her?" Zeit asked after swallowing.

I chose my words carefully, but my attention remained on Josephine. I knew her true nature better than anyone. Beneath her beautiful exterior lurked a monster capable of consuming even demons.

She was a cold-blooded, ruthless sociopath who would stop at nothing to achieve her goals, a wolf in sheep\'s clothing and nearly as powerful as Zeit. Yet, she genuinely loved only one person in this world—her sister, Yulie.

Because of this, she was an enemy to Deculein. She had the power to kill him and controlled a network that spanned the entire continent. This wasn\'t a metaphor; it was literally hers. The organization she controlled, Shadow, spread like a web across the continent\'s underworld. The reason she hadn\'t killed Deculein yet was a mystery known only to her or the game\'s writer.

"Deculein, what are you thinking about?" Zeit asked.

"... I was just lost in thought for a moment."

This potential death variable was particularly dangerous because Josephine, usually so adept at hiding her intentions, had momentarily slipped. But I had no idea how to counter this. Josephine was unpredictable and elusive, like a true shadow.

"I know one thing," I finally said.

I promised myself that I would no longer cause any harm to the Yulie he loved. This was my vow, not as Deculein, but as Kim Woo-Jin.

"What do you mean, you know? Know what?" Zeit asked.

"I know Yulie has doubts about this engagement. I have no intention of forcing her into a marriage she doesn\'t want."

"... What do you mean, you have no intention of forcing it?" Zeit asked, his brow furrowing in concern.

"Everyone knows me as a spendthrift who wasted two hundred million in one night in Luten. If we break off the engagement, everyone will blame me," I explained.

"So, you wasted all that money at the auction intentionally for Yulie?" Zeit asked, incredulous.

"Not exactly," I said, shaking my head. "But don\'t worry. Even if Yulie wants to break off the engagement, the alliance between Yukline and Freyden will remain strong."

Yulie lowered her head, and I initially thought it was out of gratitude. But I quickly realized she was trembling with barely suppressed anger. Beside Josephine, the red aura of Villain\'s Fate flickered briefly before disappearing. I was wrong. I moistened my parched mouth with cold water.

"No, no, no. How can you speak so lightly of breaking off the engagement?" Zeit said, shaking his head in disbelief.

Josephine, still smiling, added, "How considerate of you, Professor Deculein. You are indeed a remarkable man~" Despite her smile, it was clear she didn\'t truly accept my sincerity.

"The elders will never approve of breaking off the engagement for such a trivial reason. Your willingness to end it only makes us want to keep you even more," Zeit continued, his tone firm and unwavering.

I sighed inwardly. Breaking off an engagement between noble families involved too many complications, especially for large families with thousands, if not millions, of members. The elders of Freyden, those who Deculein had already won over, would be shocked.

I could almost hear Yeriel saying, "First, you wanted to get engaged, and now you want to break it off? Fine, but you\'ll take full responsibility. What? You still want us to cooperate after breaking the engagement? No way! Why should we help that margrave? Once the engagement is off, we\'re strangers. Now give me back the two hundred million elne!"

"... Brother," Yulie said just as the main dish, steak, was being served. "Please, let us be alone in this room. I ask this as a favor."

She looked at me with clear, earnest eyes. Sensing her seriousness, Zeit spoke, "Deculein, if you permit it."

"It\'s fine."

"Alright then. Josephine."

"Okay~"

The two of them stood up and left. Well, Josephine pretended to leave, but then she poked her head back in from the doorway.

"Have a nice conversation~," Josephine said. With that, she finally departed. Or rather, pretended to. I knew her well enough to expect she had set up some means to eavesdrop. But fortunately, she didn\'t know that I was aware of her true nature.

"... You\'ve become more clever," Yulie muttered first, her lips jutting out as she clenched her teeth.

"Clever, huh?" I said, nodding.

Indeed, I hadn\'t been very clever before. I knew all about Deculein\'s simplistic evil deeds, not just from the game, but from all the rumors circulating in this world.

Before the formal engagement, Deculein used family connections to force the engagement, promising various benefits to Freyden, persuading vassals and elders, and having them constantly pressure Yulie.

He kept her off the battlefield, citing the dangers of combat, and out of jealousy, expelled her fellow knights, intimidated her superiors using the family\'s influence, and isolated her within the Imperial Knights Order.

Eventually, Yulie quit the Imperial Knights Order, damaging her career. Shamelessly, Deculein promised her the position of Grand Knight in Yukline\'s Hadecaine Knights Order. When she refused, he spread malicious rumors about her in the social circle.

Even when Yulie stood up again on her own merit, he schemed to prevent her from joining any other knights orders, thwarting her every move.

He harassed her, made her cry, and angered her until she sought help from Josephine. He continued to torment her, mistaking his obsession for love, wanting her to depend solely on him by destroying everyone around her.

I knew all this. So, I understood Yulie\'s hatred. She despised Deculein, not me.

"It seems you can\'t break off the engagement as you please. No, from now on, we can\'t do anything as we like. We\'ve come too far," I said, cutting into my steak nonchalantly. "Why didn\'t you refuse from the start?"

Yulie trembled, then glared at me with intense anger.

"Are you starting this all over again?" Yulie asked, her voice shaking as if she were on the verge of tears from the torment she\'d endured.

"What do you mean? Do you want me to pressure your new knights order? I heard they are doing well lately," I said.

The knights order Yulie founded with her colleagues, Freyhem, was only a year old but had already gained a strong reputation due to her character and the knights who admired her.

"Ah, god!" Yulie exclaimed, gripping her fork in reverse and stabbed her steak. "You really forced me into this situation!"

She tore into the steak and shoved a large piece into her mouth, causing the sauce to splatter onto her lips, dress, and the table.

"This dinner wasn\'t arranged by me. Zeit was the one who—"

"You forced it!"

She continued to devour the steak aggressively, clearly doing it to spite me. Her petty revenge was surprisingly effective, as the sight of sauce flying everywhere began to unsettle me and disturb my mental composure.

"Stop—"

"This is how I always eat!" Yulie said defiantly. "So delicious!"

I closed my eyes. The sounds of her chewing and slurping made my eyebrows twitch, but I quickly regained my composure and opened them again.

"Yulie, I won\'t do this anymore."

"I don\'t trust you!"

"I know I\'ve cornered you, and that your family has been cornering you too."

"... What did you say?" Yulie said, her aggressive fork-wielding finally stopped as she glared at me, her mouth smeared with sauce and oil.

"What are you trying to say—"

"I\'m saying I\'ve been in the wrong all this time," I said, picking up a napkin. Yulie\'s expression twisted oddly. "But it\'s not just me. Your sister and brother are also very insistent."

Yulie clenched her teeth. "...No, they—"

"If they\'re not so insistent, then why are they stopping us from ending the engagement?"

I knew the situation well. I probably understood the Freyden family better than Yulie did, as she was always sacrificing herself for them.

"Obviously, because you want to marry me!"

"I assured everyone in the room that I would leave the decision to you. Does that still seem like a lie?"

Yulie fell silent and watched me closely, as if trying to see through my intentions.

"I am not an honest person," I confessed. "I am devoid of loyalty, and my convictions are weak."

Yulie looked at me with a mix of surprise and curiosity, her round eyes and cheeks making her appear endearing.

"I am not the upright person you wish for. I am quite the opposite—a typical mage who does not suit you at all," I continued.

The Deculein of the past would have vehemently denied anything that could tarnish his reputation. He would never have spoken such words himself. That is, if this body were still the same Deculein.

"But Yulie, don\'t you want the position of Guardian Knight?"

Her eyes widened in shock, filled with immense surprise and disbelief. It was a dream she had never expressed, something she kept entirely to herself.

"How did you know—"

"To become a Guardian Knight, you need your family\'s approval, but they will likely stand in your way,"

"No, that\'s not true. My family—"

"To become a Guardian Knight, you have to leave your family. You know that, which is why you\'ve kept it a secret," I explained.

Yulie fell silent. The Guardian Knight is the pinnacle of knighthood, the highest honor for a knight, known as the Empire\'s Best Swordsman. However, a Guardian Knight has no family. They can marry, but they cannot belong to any house.

Their sole duty is to protect the Empire. While this is a great honor for the knight, it is a prestigious yet impractical position for their family. Protecting the entire Empire means they cannot intervene in family disputes and have no political power. This conflicts with the ambitions of the politically-driven Freyden family.

"Alright, here\'s what we\'ll do," I said with a smile, as if struck by a brilliant idea.

"We\'ll keep the engagement but not marry. Though I wish to truly set you free, various interests prevent that. So, use my name as a shield until you achieve what you want," I proposed. "If you\'re with me, and if it appears our relationship is good, they won\'t stand in your way."

"Until then, I\'ll maintain the engagement and wait. After all, I have no other suitable partner,” I continued. I added a mischievous remark, almost as a joke, "Who knows? Maybe in time, your feelings might change."

"... What are you really up to? Why are you saying this now?" Yulie asked, finally looking serious.

"I\'m not up to anything. If you want, we can make an oath," I replied.

Yulie looked even more shocked at the mention of an oath and said, "That\'s not necessary! I don\'t expect anything in return for trust. I just want to know what you want. But if it\'s my body or something like that, then absolutely not! Never!"

A slight blush appeared on her cheeks. I understood her concern all too well.

"... What I want, huh."

I wanted nothing from her. I just wanted to spend this time together and eventually break off the engagement. I didn\'t want her or her loved ones to be the ones to kill me. But if she insisted on doubting my sincerity, I supposed I should give her an answer.

“Well,” I said, looking at Yulie.

She seemed tense. I noticed how quiet the restaurant was. There was no noise, no interruptions—only the sound of Yulie swallowing nervously and the faint presence of a shadow somewhere, listening and relaying our conversation.

“Well...”

Knowing that Josephine was likely listening nearby, I prepared my lines.

“Okay, this will work.”

Let\'s not misunderstand; this was a performance to gain Josephine’s favor and eliminate a potential death variable. It was nothing more than that.

“Once a day.”

That’s how it should be, but my voice strangely carried a tone of seriousness. I stroked my chin, trying to understand why.

“No, once a week.”

Surprisingly, in front of Yulie, I found that I could do anything. I could laugh, relax, and even let my guard down a bit. The reason was simple.

“If it is absolutely impossible to find the time, then at least once a month...”

Deculein truly loved this woman, so much so that his affection had become an integral part of his character.

“... Just smile for me. That’s all I ask,” I said, smiling gently.

And then, silence. Yulie said nothing. She just blinked at me, staring blankly for a long time before innocently asking, “Wh-what? Smile?”

She wasn\'t even asking for clarification. The fragmented words that slipped from her parted lips, ending with a cute squeak, were simply adorable.

“What are you...” Yulie stammered.

Yulie only moved her lips silently before lowering her head. Her hair lifted slightly, as if raised by static electricity. Her honest reaction, like that of a startled animal, was endearing. However, there was no agreement in her silence, no affection. It was a cold burden and a chilling silence. I didn\'t mind and let out an unconscious sigh.

Yulie visibly reacted to my sigh. Her lowered head trembled, and through her white hair, the top of her head turned red like a tomato. I handed her a napkin. She glanced up at me and quietly used it to wipe her mouth. I just smiled.

“What-what are you laughing at? I won’t be fooled,” Yulie grumbled, furrowing her brows slightly.

“Believe it or not, it\'s up to you. I’ll do as I said,” I replied.

"Even if you say that, I won’t be fooled..."

Clink, clink.

After that, the only sounds were those of the cutlery. Well, except for one more thing.

[Villain\'s Fate: Overcame Death Variable]

◆ Reward Obtained: Store Currency +2

Finally, my store currency surpassed 10 coins.