How to Run Away from Obsessed Men

Episode 31

Sylvia grabbed Lindsey’s hands and sobbed.

“I can’t accept this broken engagement. It just doesn’t make any sense.”

What exactly didn’t make sense?

“You liked Azhet. Sure, you couldn’t awaken your divine powers and haven’t accomplished anything until now, but still.”

She could have left out that last part. Lindsey looked at Sylvia with an incredulous expression.

“But an engagement cancellation? I can’t allow it. You have to repay everything for the damages you caused.”

“Damages?”

“Yes, the luxuries you enjoyed while staying with our family and the compensation for the servants you mistreated.”

As Sylvia spoke, she tightened her grip on Lindsey’s hands. Lindsey raised her eyebrows.

Sylvia squeezed so hard that red marks appeared on Lindsey’s hands.

Azhet still showed no interest in Lindsey, and Kenyan looked uncomfortable with Sylvia’s behavior.

“I never indulged in any luxuries. It was you who did.”

“You?”

“Yes, you. And you were the one who mistreated the servants, so why are you blaming me for it?”

“What nonsense are you spouting?”

Sylvia narrowed her eyes. Lindsey boldly met her gaze.

‘She couldn’t even make eye contact with me before.’

Was it because she had awakened her divine powers?

Sylvia found Lindsey’s newfound brazenness utterly detestable.

‘How dare she talk back to me?’

Azhet glanced at Sylvia, intrigued by Lindsey’s words. Sylvia began to feel desperate.

‘Azhet surely knows.’

He must have known about her little schemes all along. He just didn’t care enough to intervene.

But if it caused trouble for the family, Azhet would never forgive Sylvia.

Sylvia opened her mouth, trying to sound conciliatory.

“But I’ll forgive everything. Just come back home. Ending an engagement like this is the height of rudeness!”

“Rude, you say?”

“Yes, rude. If you insist on breaking off the engagement, what do you think will happen to Azhet’s honor? Even if there is a breakup, you should be the one who suffers for it!”

Sylvia’s face turned red, as usual, unable to contain her anger. Lindsey wondered why she was acting as if she had been holding back.

‘Her true colors are finally showing.’

Sylvia clearly couldn’t stand that Lindsey had asked to break off the engagement.

It wasn’t even surprising anymore.

Lindsey forcefully shook off Sylvia’s hands.

This filthy blood?

Sylvia’s eyes widened. She hadn’t expected Lindsey to brush her off like that, and her face showed utter shock.

“Sylvia Radian. Stop making a scene.”

“W-What did you just say? Sylvia Radian?”

“My decision to break off the engagement was made between our families. It was Sir Kenyan who vouched for it.”

“……”

“You’re behaving in a manner most unbecoming of a noble.”

Sylvia was stunned.

Did Lindsey just talk back to her? Sylvia had expected Lindsey to beg for forgiveness the moment she saw her.

But instead, Lindsey looked at her boldly. Not only that, this girl—this filthy blood—was daring to lecture her about nobility!

‘Does she think awakening her divine powers makes her something special now?’

Sylvia could not tolerate it.

“You filthy wretch!”

*Smack!*

In a fit of rage, Sylvia swung her hand without thinking. A loud slap echoed, and Lindsey’s head turned with the force of it.

Lindsey cupped her cheek and stared at Sylvia.

Even after being slapped, Lindsey didn’t seem intimidated in the slightest. She glared at Sylvia with defiant eyes, making Sylvia feel as though she had been the one struck.

Sylvia grabbed a fistful of Lindsey’s hair, unable to control her anger.

“Mother!”

Kenyan shouted as he rushed forward. His face was twisted in anguish, as if he himself had been the one slapped.

He stepped in between Lindsey and Sylvia.

“Kenyan, what on earth are you doing?”

“Mother, what do you think you’re doing? You slapped her!”

“You never cared before about what happened to this wretch!”

Sylvia’s words made Kenyan’s face contort even more in pain. Her callousness cut deep, reminding him of how little he had once cared.

“Enough, Mother. Lindsey Kesion is no longer part of our lives.”

“Who said so?!”

Sylvia felt as though her chest would explode. Kenyan’s constant defiance filled her with dread.

“Absolutely not. Who said this engagement is over?”

“What is going on here?!”

It was then that Raysis and Rosalyn burst into the room.

⋆★⋆

Raysis looked at Lindsey in shock, his eyes filled with confusion.

Her face was swollen and red, and her hair was a complete mess.

“What… what is going on here…?”

Raysis seemed at a loss for words. He couldn’t comprehend the situation.

Did Lindsey… get hit?

By Sylvia?

Raysis’ gaze shifted toward Azhet. Azhet, as if completely indifferent to the situation, was simply lifting his teacup.

When Raysis first heard that Lindsey was to stay with the Radian family, he had thought it was for the best.

After all, the Azhet Radian he knew was a transcendent with integrity and someone who was always polite to everyone.

But now… he wasn’t sure if the man he was looking at was the same Azhet he once knew.

How could he be so calm, even though Lindsey was his fiancée?

“Sylvia Radian, what on earth are you doing?” Raysis’ voice was laced with anger. Sylvia lifted her head, unfazed, as if she had done nothing wrong.

Lindsey stood still, holding her cheek, not moving an inch.

Seeing both Sylvia and Lindsey’s reactions, Raysis realized that this kind of thing must have happened regularly.

‘Has she always been treated like this?’

Lindsey seemed used to the situation. She didn’t even seem angry about being hit.

Raysis recalled what he had said to Lindsey when she returned.

‘I told her to go back to the Radian family.’

Now he understood why Lindsey had refused to return.

Her life there might have been even worse than in the Marquis of Kesion’s house.

In both the Kesion Marquisate and the Radian Duchy, Lindsey had been isolated.

So much so that she was used to being beaten!

To Raysis, the sight of Lindsey holding her cheek and staring at Sylvia was heartbreaking.

Though Lindsey’s gaze toward Sylvia was anything but submissive—sharp and fierce—Raysis did not notice.

Lindsey had been seriously ill not long ago. The anger deep within Raysis began to boil up.

“Answer me!” he demanded.

“I only did what was necessary to teach a lesson to someone who was being disrespectful to the family.”

Sylvia replied arrogantly.

Raysis’s expression became cold, almost terrifying.

“So you’re saying you struck someone from the Marquis of Kesion?” he asked.

Sylvia hesitated.

She glanced around the room.

Even Azhet was watching Raysis with a look of surprise.

“The Kesion Marquisate does not forget insults,” Raysis said coldly.

Sylvia shuddered.

She hadn’t expected Raysis to react so strongly, let alone bring up the family name.

‘Weren’t they on bad terms?’

Lindsey’s status in the Kesion household was obvious to anyone.

She was from lowly blood, someone no one cared about. Even when she appeared at social gatherings, she was always dressed in outdated, ridiculous outfits.

And yet, here was Raysis, acting as though he had been personally insulted.

As if he cared about Lindsey. This was something Sylvia hadn’t anticipated at all.

“Azhet Radian. I trusted you.”

Raysis said, turning toward Azhet.

“……”

“I thought the Radian family would at least treat Lindsey with basic decency.”

“Basic decency, you say…”

Azhet chuckled as if amused.

“You’re acting quite surprised, Lord Raysis. But wasn’t it the Marquis of Kesion who neglected Lady Lindsey?”

“……”

“I remember what the Marquis told me when I asked to break off the engagement.”

Azhet elegantly lifted his teacup and continued.

“He said he didn’t care if I took a mistress or even had illegitimate children. All he asked was that I keep her around for appearances.”

“……”

“I’ve simply done as the Marquis requested. Kept her around, nothing more.”

Raysis clenched his teeth. He had no words to refute that. Knowing his father, Crain, it was entirely plausible.

“It’s a relief that Lindsey is finally breaking off the engagement with you.”

Raysis said, tightening his fist. His sharp gaze swept across the room.

“I see no reason to continue this conversation. We demand the engagement be annulled. If you have any objections, we’ll see you at the imperial court.”

⋆★⋆

After Lindsey left, only the members of the Radian family remained in the parlor.

Sylvia began smashing everything within reach.

“That insolent girl! How dare she be so arrogant!”

Azhet and Kenyan were still present, but Sylvia couldn’t control her anger.

The defiant look in Lindsey’s eyes and the smirk on her face as she stood behind Raysis haunted her.

Lindsey had clearly been mocking Sylvia. And that smirk—it was something only Sylvia had seen.

In front of the family, Lindsey acted frail and wounded, but in front of Sylvia, she revealed her true, vile self.

‘She deceived me!’