When the Villains Unite - Chapter 15; Part 5

I  flinched.

He looked around the room, then swept a large hand through my hair like he was petting a puppy. I was so stunned and unable to correct his behavior.

The strong smell of alcohol on his breath snapped me back to my senses. He was trying to get me to become intoxicated with his touch, just as he was intoxicated with alcohol. Out of the three of us, I was the weakest drinker and I had never seen Bellamy nor Damian drunk before. But Damian… was he the type to do this?

“You’re drunk, go to bed.”

He wouldn’t even remember this the next day.

He smirked at my cold words.

“Yeah, let’s sleep together.”

His next words caught me off guard. Is he really, casually, asking me to sleep with him right now? What kind of nonsense is this…

I wasn’t sure if he was too drunk to think straight because he seemed sober on the surface.

I shook my head ‘no’ and started back up the stairs. Then, my vision flickered as Damian lifted me up in his strong arms. The next thing I knew, I was looking at his broad back as he spun me around.

“You! What do you think you’re doing!”

I shouted in disbelief, but he acted as if he couldn’t hear me. He ascended the stairs without answering, taking us to his bedroom.

I wasn’t sure if he meant literally sleeping or something else, but either way, it was unwelcome. I slapped him on the back the entire time, screaming for him to let me go, but he was unyielding.

Eventually, his door opened and Damian threw me onto the bed. The recoil made the bed shake and my body bounced up once more.

“Ugh…”

Drowsily, I tried to sit up, but Damian didn’t give me a chance. He grabbed my ankle with one hand and pushed me down by my shoulder. Gone was his drunken glow as he stared at me with an expressionless face and watched me struggle beneath him. Unable to resist his strength, I half gave up and decided to wait and see what he would do. But all I saw was him locking eyes with me, his hand holding my left ankle.

I don’t know how much time had passed before I heard his voice.

“I think I’ll just lock you up.”

“… What?”

He slowly tightened his grip on my ankle. My eyes widened at the pain and I tried to deny the obsession in his words. It sounded so much like… something Damian would say in the original.

In fact, the original Damian had kidnapped Aria and tried to cut off her ankle, though the Crown Prince put a stop to that.

Right now, his expression was so serene, but there was a hint of madness in his clear, golden eyes.

No, get a grip. He isn’t like the original.

I was sure Damian wouldn’t cut my ankles enough, but the man in front of me emitted an aura so similar to what I would imagine he would’ve been like. The fears of what I don’t know about were rising within me.

“Hey, get off… you’re losing your mind,” I shouted. My face was turning red in anger, and he finally broke his blank stare with a smirk.

“If I let go…”

“….”

“Will you lock me up instead?”

Damian looked at my face and slowly removed his hand that was around my ankle. His hand immediately came to my face and I instinctively closed my eyes, but I never felt it touch me. When I slightly opened them, he traced the contours of my face. I twitched at the ticklish sensation as his fingers continued to brush across my cheeks.

Just when I thought his gaze was lingering on my lips, Damian collapsed on top of me. My breath caught in my throat as his weight pushed me down. But his body didn’t compare to his next words.

“… I think it’s the only way I can live.”

“… Why….”

Why would he say that?

I asked, but he didn’t answer.

So he’s going to die if I don’t keep him locked up?

“Damian, wake up and tell me. What does that mean?”

“…”

“Damian?”

He didn’t stir at my call; he just leaned his head against my shoulder.

You have completely disturbed me with your talk of life and death, but now you are going to fall asleep?!

“Ha…. Fuck…”

I vigorously shook his shoulder and flipped him onto his side. The tightly closed eyes and regular chest movements proved he was asleep.

I’m an idiot for freaking out over a drunk kid.

I sighed at the sight of him completely stretched out. I removed his uncomfortable outerwear and unbuttoned his shirt. I pulled off his shoes and tucked him under the blanket before leaving his room.

Once I left, I sighed again knowing that I was the reason he was so distraught. Like Damian, Bellamy had been abusing his body since that day. Once or twice, it seemed as if the silence would end only after one of us died. I secretly felt the same. I knew I couldn’t keep avoiding them forever, and I knew it was time to face them.

The next morning, I left the room early for the first time in a long while. After last night’s confrontation, I had a lot on my mind and couldn’t sleep so easily. I eventually left without sleeping a bit, so I feel like a zombie.

At 8 A.M., I went down to the first floor to wait for them to leave for work. As I pressed two fingers firmly against my temples in a dazed state, the Orca brothers descended to the first floor.

When did they stop eating breakfast? It looked too natural for them to come down here right on time like this.

Their eyes were so fierce that they looked like they were going to fight. The dark aura emitting from the two could easily strike fear into the hearts of anyone passing by.

By the way, does Damian remember what happened yesterday? From the looks of it, it looks like he doesn’t at all.

When spotted me, he tensed up. It looked as if this was our first time meeting in two weeks instead of last night.

“…”

They found me at the bottom of the stairs and they slightly eased up. Still, the servants were tense, heads bowed, looking at Bellamy and Damian. Judging by their reactions, it was easy to tell their moods weren’t just a single-day occurrence. For everyone’s sake, I had to make the first move.

“Free up some time this evening. I need to talk to you.”

My voice was slightly cracked, so I cleared my throat and explained the reason. They didn’t reject my one-sided statement, but the way they looked at me was as if they didn’t understand.

It was the first time I saw such a look on their faces. It was almost nervous like they thought something was about to fall apart.

“Then go.”

I turned and walked up the steps with their eyes on my back.

Even if the time for conversation seemed to have come and gone, I knew better than to prolong this quarrel. Even the grace period had been delayed by my own preparation, and it was right to end it.

Still, their looks were a bit too much. It was human nature to think the worst of any situation. I just hoped they didn’t spend the rest of the day thinking about it because it wasn’t their job.

“What is this…”

My eyes are red, aren’t they?

I guess I’m not the type to stay up all night, either in my past life or now. In my previous life, when I was a college student, I used to pull all-nighters for exams and my eyes would be bloodshot…

Before I went to sleep, I looked in the mirror at my dressing table and saw myself. My eyes were as red as a rabbit. No wonder Bellamy and Damian froze at the sight of me. I looked like a ghost. I’d look better after a little bit of sleep.

I got into bed and pulled the covers over my head, hoping at least to fall asleep before they got home. My eyes closed and drowsiness overtook me.

I woke up long after dinner time. As soon as I woke up, I looked out the window at the dark sky and the wall clock alerted me it was way past the expected time to awaken.

I was only supposed to sleep for a few hours…

I must have slept like I was dead from the built-up exhaustion. I felt refreshed, but today was the day I was supposed to talk to the Orca brothers. I scrambled to my feet and roughly organized my hair. As I was getting ready, I felt someone’s eyes on me.

What the hell? Were they already here?

“If you’re here, just wake me up. Why were you waiting?”

They were standing side by side for who knows how long. It was like they were waiting for me to wake up.

“What do you want to talk about?”

Kofi