Chapter 2

Elena had no intention of hanging out with Killian.

‘Because he was at the top of the shit list.’

If there was a ranking in terms of shitty people, Killian would surely take the first spot, or even sitting in the 0th place was not enough.

So Elena had no plans to get involve with him.

A life where she goes away from the original novel and do whatever she wants. That was her biggest goal.

‘But…’

Elena looked at the paper and bit her lips.

She set her own biggest goal, but there was something that bothered her.

‘I am a member of the Duke of Halos.’

Elena’s eyebrows narrowed.

Elena was very grateful to the Duke of Halos, until she recalled the memories of her previous life several hours ago.

Because she, an orphan, was accepted by him without hesitation. However, this was all foreordained by the original novel.

The original will only proceed when Elena Respell join the Duke’s household.

“Sigh.”

She sighed again.

Since she will live under the same roof, she had to somehow bump into that bastard.

She felt like she wanted to escape the duke immediately, but Elena was still young. It was not easy for a thirteen-year-old child to survive in the world alone.

‘Dad, why did you leave me alone?’

Suddenly, her deceased father came to mind.

Unlike her previous life, where she didn’t have a family, she has one in this life. Although her mother died early because of an illness, she was with a loving and kind father.

But she also lost her father.

For the first time, when she heard her father’s passing, she cried as if the world is going away. Even now, she still felt upset whenever she think of her deceased father.

Elena wiped away her sorrows by pressing down her hot eyes by her hands.

‘Anyway, I’m still young, so I need an adult’s protection.’

It was no other than the Duke of Halos, who became Elena’s guardian.

In other words, it was practically the best protection in the Empire. Moreover, the wealth of the Duke of Halos was considerable.

‘If I were an adult, I wouldn’t know, but I’m still young.’

It was too much of a waste to escape with all these privileges just because of that shitty bastard.

Of course, Elena also had a fortune left by her father. But it wasn’t a lot.

‘I can live for 2 or 3 years without doing anything.’

However, it was difficult to guarantee the future. Then, the only way left is…

‘Let’s make a way to defend myself against that bastard as much as possible and prepare for adulthood.’

If you enjoy the privileges of the duke, you will see a way. If it didn’t work out… being “it” isn’t too bad either.

By using the power of Elena, which she originally had in the novel.

‘Anyway, in order for me to properly block the male lead, it would be best to ignore him.’

In fact, it would be hard to ignore the duke’s successor. Since she was in the position to live off him.

But a few years later, he will lose the successor’s seat to his younger brother.

So she just have to build an iron-wall, since Killian will fall on his on anyway.

‘Although it depends on how the heroine will appear.’

Elena sighed.

‘What should I do?’

She was troubled.

The original novel was about regret.

The regrets of Killian, the shit of the century.

But that was still a few years later.

‘Can I ignore Jane, the female protagonist, being beaten by the male lead right in front of my eyes?’

In her previous life, Elena had a crush on Jane, the heroine. There were many frustrating part but she has her own convictions.

She didn’t want to see Jane suffer again from being entangled with her fiancé, Killian.

‘Yeah, I’m going out of the original story anyway.’

Then let’s save the heroine as well from that bastard.

Elena’s lips rose softly.

If she hits Killian with an iron-wall, then saves the heroine from him, Killian will no longer have a place to mix in.

If he loses his position, he will also fall on his own.

Elena got up from her seat with a satisfied smile.

Knock, knock.

It was then she heard a knock.

‘Who was it?’

Elena was wary without realizing it.

There weren’t many people going to and from the mansion. The servants nor the family of the duke.

“Yes.”

Elena clenched her fist without realizing it.

After recalling the memories of her previous life, she can’t help but be nervous meeting someone for the first time.

When she was swallowing her saliva, the door suddenly opened.

“Hi Elena.”

“…Hello.”

The person who came in is no other than Killian, the bastard, along with his younger brother, Lexion.

Killian smiled brightly and approached Elena.

‘You look so handsome.’

Elena couldn’t take her eyes off Killian.

Even though it was her first time meeting him, she could immediately recognize that he was the male lead, Killian Halos.

His golden hair and blue eyes that soaked in the sunlight looked like a prince from a fairytale. Moreover, he was only 14-year-old but he’s already taller than peers of his age.

It was definitely the outstanding growth power of a male protagonist.

On the other hand, Lexion, who was standing next to Killian, was smaller than his peers. He is nine-year-old this year but he just looked like an eight-year-old.

His hair was the same bright gold as Killian’s, but his eyes were different.

Killian’s eyes were blue, while Lexion’s were red.

‘In the original, Lexion’s appearance was described a few times but it wasn’t very detailed as he is just an extra.’

Still, she had known that when he became an adult, he would become one of the most handsome men in the Empire.

Furthermore, it was also mentioned that he played an outstanding role in the battlefield.

‘Well, that’s why he was able to overtake the seat of his older brother.’

Elena tried to observe Lexion a little bit more, recalling the brief description of him.

But the child was startled, and avoided her gaze instead. Only then she realized she did something wrong.

She can’t believe she just stared at them in their first meeting, without even saying hello.

No matter how much she didn’t want to be polite to the bastard, Elena still hurriedly fixed her expression and greeted the two.

“Hello, young masters. My name is Elena Respell.”

After greeting with a slight bow, she met Killian’s eyes, which were smiling brightly.

Folding his eyes beautifully, he said,

“Nice to meet you, Elena. I’m Killian Halos, and this is my younger brother, Lexion.”

“Ah, yes.”

Elena replied with an awkward smile.

Then Killian took a couple of steps towards her, and looked at Elena with strange eyes, as if observing her.

‘What is it?’

For a moment, Elena’s mood worsened and her brow narrowed slightly. But Killian soon smiled brightly and spoke in a sweet tone.

“You’re so pretty.”

For a moment, due to his smile and voice, she almost felt thrilled with the compliment.

‘This guy knows his strength too well, no?’

Killian surely knew how to use the face of a male protagonist.

‘A normal person would have already been entranced by that beauty, but no, I’m not that easy.’

No matter how handsome he is, Killian was still a child to Elena. He’s just a 14-year-old kid.

Elena replied to Killian, while wearing such a sly smile.

“Yes, I know.”

In the original novel, Killian’s taste in women was very simple.

A beautiful, innocent woman. A woman who blushes at every word he says.

However, Elena has no intention of becoming Killian’s ideal type.

Of course, it doesn’t match her original personality.

In her mind, she wanted to ignore Killian, but he was the duke’s heir. So she still responded as polite as she could, but in a way that he surely didn’t want.

‘Now, how will Killian respond?’

It was around the time when Elena’s heart were pounding with anticipation.

When only silence lingered for a while, Killian grabbed his belly and began to laugh loudly.

“Puhaha! You’re really fun.”

“…Yes?”

The confused Elena asked back. Then Killian, who was laughing hard, smiled softly again and whispered.

“Well, it’s true. You’re really very pretty.”

Haaa, Elena swallowed her sigh insider her.

‘I think with this kind of beauty, this level of narcissism seems to be okay.’

Soon after, Killian smiled and stepped back slightly from Elena.

“I heard, you don’t have an important schedule today, Elena.”

Killian winked and said,

“Would you like to have a tea with me in the garden?”

Just the two of us?

Elena looked at Lexion, who’s still bowing and standing behind Killian.

‘If you’re going to make such proposal, then why did you bring Lexion?’

Killian replied, as if he read her thoughts.

“Oh, don’t worry about this guy. I’ve brought him here to say hello just because father said so. Then, why shouldn’t the two of us have a friendly conversation?”

Killian smiled mischievously and extended his hands towards her.

The elegant posture was really like of a duke’s successor.

However, Elena’s attention was directed to Lexion, and not Killian.

This is because when his head was bowing down, there were visible black bruises on the back of the child’s neck.

No way…

Elena’s forehead frowned automatically at the bad situation that quickly came to mind. Then, she immediately corrected her expression.

‘It must be my imagination.’

Maybe it’s because she had seen a lot of articles like that in the past.

The sons of the noble families received various swordsmanship training at an early age, so it could be a wound from that time.

“Elena?”

As she stared at Lexion for a moment, Killian summoned her back to reality.

‘Ah, I was staring at him again.’

Elena smiled as if she never did, and then looked at Killian.

“Yes?”

“Come on, let’s go to the garden.”

Killian reached out his hands and urged her.

But Elena shook her head.