When the Villains Unite - Chapter 17; Part 3

I stood up and turned toward the door.

“We all starve the same, but Damian, that asshole, gets special treatment…”

At Bellamy’s disgruntled voice, I frowned and pointed out his words.

“You can’t be full all the time, Duke.”

“Rose, are you sure about this?”

He scrambled to his feet, trying to catch me as I turned to leave his office, but I moved faster.

I don’t hear Bellamy following me, perhaps because he knows my stubbornness can’t be easily broken. Or maybe he’s up to something even worse…

I don’t think it’s the latter because I firmly believe Bellamy is not that kind of man. Even with that knowledge, I can’t help but wonder why my anxiety is creeping up on me.

It must be my mood.

As planned, I’m lying in Damian’s room, leisurely munching on a cookie.

Damian had gone to the rehearsal hall after dinner and hadn’t come back for a while. It was almost eleven o’clock already. I had a feeling that if I waited any longer, I’d be the first to doze off.

I quietly slipped out of the room, throwing a thin shawl over my shoulders, and went to his indoor training. It was only a short walk away, but Damian was nowhere to be seen.

Had he gone outside because it was a beautiful day?

It was odd because normally he would have been making good use of this room.

There was a separate rehearsal hall outside for the Duke’s knights, but usually the only time Damian was there was to lead a drill.

I cautiously descended the stairs and made my way outside. The day had considerably warmed up, but the nights were still chilly, so I tightly wrapped my shawl around me and went to the rehearsal hall.

In the past, the Ducal Manor had been quite eerie at night, but now, thanks to Bellamy’s magic, it was lit up with many lights, giving a cozy atmosphere.

Also, the greenery that is growing as summer approaches is blowing in the breeze. I thought it would be even more beautiful in the daytime. How about I suggest going outside tomorrow?

“Huh?”

There was a loud sound on my way to the performance hall that didn’t sound like the wind rustling the greenery; the sharp burst of sound was of someone swinging a sword.

I turned to see Damian, shirtless and alone in the moonlight, practicing his swordsmanship.

It’s only natural that his gaze would turn to me as soon as he sensed my presence.

He swept his sweaty, golden hair back. His body was drenched in sweat as well, and I swallowed hard at the sight of him naked, thinking about him in bed at night like it was a different kind of seduction.

It still hurts to see the scars on his body, but I had been influenced by the brothers, so I couldn’t hide the sinister thoughts in my mind.

I quickly asked a question before he noticed my gaze.

“… Why aren’t you coming to bed?”

“Why is my sister here?”

He didn’t bother to answer my question but gave me a curt reply as if I was the one in the wrong.

Was this how he was when doing drills with Bellamy?

No. He’d only just got out of bedrest, so it would have been less than a week since he began to use the training fields.

I walked over to Damian and lifted my shawl to wipe the sweat from his face.

He tried to duck his head to dodge the shawl but quickly gave up at my insistent touch.

His face glowed in the moonlight as he obediently closed his eyes. His hair, like his skin, was pale in color, so even the slightest bit of light made him look bright and dazzling.

“I wanted to be with you tonight, so I waited in your room, but you didn’t come.”

“I thought you would be with brother.”

“Why would I? There were always three of us.”

“…”

“Let it go. It’s not nice when brothers fight for too long.”

“No.”

“Why are you both so unwilling to listen to me?”

I sighed at Damian’s stubborn attitude and put my hand on his head.

My intention was to run my fingers through his hair, but Damian tried to dodge, familiar with the situation, and took a step back. With his long legs, he only took a few steps but was quickly moving away.

My hand stopped in mid-air, and I couldn’t help but let it fall back down. I jerked my head toward Damian, and he urged me to hurry to the mansion, walking with me for a few steps.

Damian took my shawl to wipe away his sweat and draped his own uniform coat over my shoulders.

“Let’s go to the mansion. I’ll be right back to wash up.”

I felt the cold air touch my skin, but it was soon warm again. Damian walked a step away, and I turned to look at him.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Just… wondering who taught you to smoke.”

Damian flinched as if stung by my words, and then his gaze shifted to the air.

I didn’t want to blame him, but a mischievous grin crossed my face as he looked away. I realized that the Duke and Duchess’s absence, who I’d only briefly seen as a child, had a great effect on a day like today.

I tugged on his hand while he thought about what to say.

“I’m curious, tell me.”

“I don’t think you should be curious…”

“Still.”

Damian stared at me. Standing with his back to the moon, the shadow on his face made it hard to see his expression.

He looked down at my hand and brushed his thumb over it a few times before he spoke.

“The Commander on my first demon slaying.”

“What?! You were a minor then!”

I was stunned to hear that he started smoking not long after leaving the outbuilding. I assumed he started at least as an adult, or after a conflict with me.

Damian faintly smiled, anticipating my reaction.

It wasn’t that I didn’t understand. There was a saying in Korea that you learn to smoke in the army. I heard that in times of physical pain, cigarettes can give your brain a temporary dopamine rush, making you feel a little more free.

No matter how much of a Sword Master Damian is, slaying demons at such a young age must have been hard for him at first.

“Why did you keep that from me?”

“I didn’t think my sister would like it.”

“Hah… then what?”

I let go of Damian’s hand and crossed my arms.

“What’s the next thing you hid?”

“Other than that, nothing really.”

“If you don’t tell me on the count of three, I’ll assume you just want to sleep with your brother today?”

“I told you I can’t remember, and I didn’t say I forgave him…”

“One, two…”

“That thing under your bed! The book, I snuck a peek at it. Other than that, I didn’t really…”

If he is hiding something, would that be the only thing? There are plenty of other plausible secrets, like he might enjoy gambling, or dealing drugs, but to sneak a peek at my hidden pornography?

As I looked at him, Damian looked at me with a hint of resentment.

I spun on my heel and apologized for prying it out of him. He paced back and forth, trying to placate me, but my next words hardened him.

“It’s just… never mind.”

“I didn’t really look at it because I wanted to. It was under the bed and I thought I’d put it up….”

“It’s my turn.”

I walked ahead of him and glanced back.

Damian was relieved that my feelings weren’t hurt, but he still listened, expecting what was going to come out of my mouth would be bad.

“I wanted out of the house when I was a kid.”

“I already know that…”

Despite his remark saying he knew, Damian pursed his red lips. If he had a conscience, there was no way he didn’t know that the reason was him and his brother.

“There’s another secret.”

“…”

“Actually, I didn’t feel any grief over the Duke and Duchess’s death back then.”

“Why are you suddenly talking about that…”

“I’m trying to be honest. At that time, I was a stranger and rejected by everyone else in the house. Even though I knew they loved me, I only thought in my head that I had to survive, so I couldn’t pay anything back even with their affection. Nevertheless, the reason I never left was because…”

“…”

“The Duke and Duchess had filled the void left by the loss of my parents. I felt it was only right that I should play a part, even though I had nowhere else to go.”

Kofi