CH 18

Is this the power of the original heroine?

I didn’t even do half of the consolation that Estelle did in the original, but he calmed down.

Eventually, Jansi’s painful moaning gradually died away, and only a rough breathing could be heard.

“Haahh……”

Slowly raising his head, Jansi’s hazy eyes turned to me. Jansi clenched his lips with difficulty and let out a voice soaked with exhaustion.

“…..What. Go away.”

I had wondered why these words didn’t come out sooner.

I wasn’t surprised at Jansi’s true self, who didn’t pretend to be going through it for the second time.

I already knew he was this kind of person.

A person who is different from the outside and never shows off his dislike for others.

“Disappear, please.”

“Yes, I’m going.”

“Go away.”

“Yes, yes. I will go after a while.”

He wouldn’t even remember it anyway, but I roughly responded to Jansi’s words and kept patting him on the back.

Jansi kept muttering “Go away, and disappear” a few more times, but couldn’t otherwise control his limp body.

Fortunately, there was no sign of a power outburst, but there was another problem.

‘Should I stay like this until morning?’

I followed Jansi because of a debt to him, but I didn’t know how long I should stay like this.

I came out during the meal. What if they find us?

Jansi wouldn’t want others to see him like this. As the successor to the family of Perdia, he always wants to display the perfect appearance.

‘I’m really tired anyway.’

It was when I was patting Jansi’s back endlessly because I couldn’t come up with a countermeasure.

Jansi’s gaze, staring blankly at the floor, turned to me again, and his handsome face distorted a little.

“……..Elodie?”

Did he come to his senses? This wasn’t what I expected.

In the dark, it was Jansi, the original.

I didn’t know what he would do to me if he found out that I had seen his weakness.

Jansi slowly raised his upper body while touching his forehead and forcibly raised the corner of his mouth. 

“What happened?” He asked.

Jansi’s question, disguised as usual with his fake kindness, put my mind at ease.

‘As expected, you don’t remember anything when you lose your control, do you?’

Otherwise, there would be no reason to put up this facade to me again.

I took a step back, pretending I didn’t know anything, and spoke worriedly.

“Ah. I came out a little while ago because I was frustrated with dinner, and I found that my brother had passed out.”

“That’s it?”

“Yes, of course. Are you all right?” I glanced at Jansi.

He didn’t seem to be out of breath or in pain, but his eyes were still blurred.

“I’m all right. Thank you.”

Jansi replied with a smile as usual.

However, it was still the night of the lunar eclipse and there was quite a bit of time left until the sun came out, so it bothered me to leave it alone.

“I could call someone else-” I started.

“No.”

“Then…”

“It’s all right, so go now. You don’t have to worry. No, there’s no need to worry.”

I nodded. “Okay. Then I’ll tell them that my brother went back to his bedroom because he was tired.”

“Yes.”

Jansi looked strangely bewildered, but he looked fine as the conversation went well.

“Well, if you are under a lot of stress, getting enough sleep and exercise is essential. Don’t worry, just go in and rest. I’m going back now!”

I left the scene after roughly talking about enough sleep and exercise, which is by far the best, most unhelpful advice.

As I hurried toward the main mansion, I realized that I had left the lamp to light up in front of me. Just like that time 6 years ago.

I was too lazy to go back, so I walked carefully using the light leaking from the main mansion as a guide.

‘At least now at this rate, I’ve definitely paid off my debts.’

***

Jansi Perdia.

Others were envious of his power with a strong direct lineage.

The ability to annihilate what touches your hands is more suitable for the nature of destruction.

However, to Jansi, this power was a curse.

Since it first blossomed.

The power of extinction was too much for his body, so it was very difficult to control.

If his mental strength weakened even a little, or his attention was distracted, the control of power weakened, and the thing he was holding would disappear immediately.

It was fortunate if it was an object, but if it was a person, it would cause fatal wounds.

Jansi lived in anxiety that his hands could kill someone at any time.

But he couldn’t reveal that fact to anyone.

‘Because I’m the heir of Perdia.’

He was the direct descendant of Perdia, who sealed the sin of gluttony, and the next head of Perdia, who would inherit the seal of sin.

Jansi never forgot his duty for a moment.

Except for the night of the lunar eclipse when the moon was completely consumed by darkness.

Every day that the night of the lunar eclipse returned, Jansi managed to hold out.

He secretly hid in a place where no people were around and waited for the sun to rise, struggling against his power, trying to calm down and not run wild. 

But this year there were variables.

Normally, the Duke of Perdia did not schedule anything on the night of the eclipse, but this year, he declared a family meal on that forsaken night.

Jansi had no choice but to attend because he had no option to refuse his father’s order.

But as the meal continued, Jansi couldn’t stand it at all.

He didn’t know how many times he almost destroyed the tableware he was holding.

“I’ll wash my hands for a second.”

His last intact memory was leaving the dining room with a smile on his face. 

Since then, memories had been cut off.

While walking in the dark garden, he instinctively collapsed in a corner where people did not frequent, and struggled to suppress his raging power.

It felt like a fire was set in his heart.

He twisted his body, as he groaned at the pain that felt like it was eating all his organs.

How much time had passed?

All the weeds touched by the tips of Jansi’s fingers lost their vitality and withered.

The gloves he always wore were the first to perish and had long since disappeared.

The time when he was enduring the torment all alone felt like an eternity.

But then.

Pat Pat. 

Hands began tapping regularly on his back.

“It’s all right.”

“It’s all right.”

His clouded mind began to clear up.

Slowly as if it was being smudged away.

However, Jansi was not yet in a state where he could speak out while thinking.

“……What. Get lost.”

Only the sense of crisis that he shouldn’t show this weak appearance filled his head.

“Go, please. Go away.”

Sharp words constantly flowed out of Jansi’s mouth, which had been stripped of the kind mask that had always covered him.

In the meantime, the patting continued, and surprisingly the pain gradually subsided.

Eventually, the raging power calmed down.

Like the sea after a storm.

Finally, Jansi was able to recognize the owner of the hand that constantly comforted him.

“…..Elodie?”

Elodie Perdia.

That child was in front of him.

He blinked his eyes.

Looking back at it, Jansi recalled the words he had uttered.

He said go away, go away.

What was Elodie’s face like when she heard that?

‘How could I do that?’

She, who only thought he was a kind older brother, should’ve spat out abusive language when she heard that, but she didn’t get hurt at all.

As if she had no expectations.

Even more, she stayed by his side and patted him on the back.

Saying it’s okay.

“It’s alright.”

Without even knowing, without knowing anything that was causing him pain.

But why?

Elodie’s words eased his tension. He really thought it would be fine.

He couldn’t understand.

All he did to Elodie was to be a little friendly when they met.

However, this child only patted him on the back with a calm face, regardless of whether he spat out abusive language or not.

The more that touch continued, the more certain Jansi was.

It was unbelievable, really, nonsense…….

Every time Elodie’s hand touched him, the rampaging power was really controlled.

“–I’m going back now!”

Elodie ran back quickly.

After a while, there was a bright lamp in front of Jansi, who was now fully conscious.

It was a sense of déjà vu. There was a time when something like this happened.

Six years ago, on the night of the lunar eclipse, a single lamp was placed in front of a boy crouching in a backyard where the sun was rising.

Elodie.

‘……Was that you, too?’

Thump, thump, thump.

He thought he could hear his heart beating.

***

I was on the verge of neurosis now.

“Lili.”

“………”

“Lili?”

It was a Lili-induced neurosis!

‘Jansi Perdia is crazy.’

It was a lot of crazy, too.

I stared at Jansi with cold eyes as he sat down in my bedroom, talking to me all day.

‘What’s wrong with him?’

A human who normally wouldn’t even walk toward the annex suddenly came in to see my face, and then settled there.

Since Jansi wouldn’t leave, there was no time to make an antidote.

Once I made it, I would have to lie down for a few days, in case they got suspicious.

“A lot of time has passed, brother.”

“Your brother is coming to see his younger sister, so can’t he?”

I resisted the urge to glare and said, “Yes.”

“Cold Lili is lovely, too.”

“….haha.”

I smiled awkwardly and turned away from the burdensome gaze.

I could roughly estimate the reason for all this absurdity. My prediction was that it may be related to what happened on the night of the eclipse. 

‘His memory must have come back.’

That was why he was looking for an opportunity to silence me. 

‘If you remove me, no one will know your secret.’

If it was that original gloomy and dark man, he would have done that.

The more absurd he acted, the more I had to pretend I didn’t know.

“Brother. Aren’t you busy at work?”

“Are you worried about me? Our Lili is also sweet.”

“No, it’s not that……!”

I was going to say something because I was angry for a moment, but I managed to hold it in. It was because I thought that I shouldn’t do anything to get caught by that terrifying Jansi.

“Yes, I’m worried. So go ahead and work.”

At my words, the smile disappeared from Jansi’s face in an instant.

“Lies.”

“……”

“You’re not worried.”

He was kind, and now he shows his bare face without hesitation.

I was sure at that moment.

‘You remember everything.’

He must have been watching me. That was probably why he was showing his true self and looking at my reaction.

‘I’m doomed.’

What the hell is he trying to do to me?

I couldn’t keep up with Jansi’s change.

When his sister couldn’t open her mouth and clenched her lips, Jansi smiled again and talked to her.

“You know, Lili. I’d like you to do me a favor.”

“What is it?”

“Can you give me your hand?”

I was embarrassed by the sudden demand for a physical offering, but I held out my hand without showing my embarrassment.

Then, wasn’t Jansi going to be grabbing my hand?

“………!”

Is he trying to annihilate me?!

Jansi smiled softly at me, who was nervous.

“……. I knew it.”

Oh, I knew it!

Does that mean that neither mice nor birds should know about it?

Apparently, I was taken by Jansi Perdia’s hold.

It was at the time when I couldn’t even remove my hand and simply stared in confusion.

“What, what is that? What are you two doing………?”

Carlot, who suddenly came, looked shocked for some reason.

He wore a face that seemed like it had witnessed the scene of a turbulent affair.

I closed my eyes, clinging to my last thread of patience. 

‘What is wrong with him……?’