‘...Damn it.’
‘You’ve got to be kidding me.’
Zeldryn could only stand there in silence after realizing just how messed up the situation had become.
What was he supposed to do?
Earlier, he thought he was facing a gun pointed directly at his head.
There was a cliff behind him.
Moving forward was wrong.
Backing away was also wrong.
But apparently...
Zeldryn had misunderstood the situation from the very beginning.
It wasn’t just a gun.
There had been a sniper aiming a scope directly at his head this whole time.
And even worse...
The bullet had already been fired.
“...”
‘This is completely fucked.’
Zeldryn tried to remember how he had even ended up in a situation like this.
His original intention had been very simple.
Find Kera.
Ask about mana.
Find out why he had vomited blood after trying to control sixteen particles at once.
Done.
But halfway there, he ended up hearing a nasty rumor about himself and Hera.
Because he thought the rumor would interfere with his life in the mansion, Zeldryn decided to deal with it.
And now...
It seemed like he had only made everything much worse.
‘Before this, maybe it was still fifty-fifty.’
Hera had already told several servants that nothing happened last night.
Some might believe her.
Some might not.
There was still doubt.
There was still a possibility that the servants thought Hera really was telling the truth.
But after Zeldryn himself came into the kitchen and openly asked Hera to clarify everything...
Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.
“...”
Zeldryn’s expression grew even more strained.
‘Doesn’t it look one hundred percent like I’m the one forcing her to say it now?’
He almost wanted to slam his head against the wall.
‘Ah, fuck...’
‘This is so damn frustrating.’
Zeldryn had only been in this world for a little over twenty-four hours.
Twenty-four hours.
Yet somehow, the number of problems he had to think about already felt like a pile of work that would never end.
Mana.
The Giorry family.
Anna.
Kera.
Zorin’s birthday party.
The writing system of this world.
The language he somehow understood automatically.
The old Zeldryn’s reputation.
And now the rumor about Hera.
‘I’ve only been in this world for a little over twenty-four hours, damn it.’
Zeldryn was genuinely starting to question his fate.
‘If all of this is happening because I’m some kind of protagonist and there’s actually someone out there writing my story...’
He gritted his teeth.
‘I hope that bastard gets to feel what I’m feeling right now someday, damn it!’
Zeldryn remained standing in place.
Several seconds passed.
The servants were still watching him.
No one spoke.
Hera also just stood in front of him with a slightly confused and nervous expression.
Meanwhile, Zeldryn...
Had completely run out of words.
What else could he even say?
Explain further?
The longer his explanation became, the more it would sound like he was defending himself.
Deny it?
Same thing.
Order Hera to explain it one more time?
Even worse.
In Zeldryn’s analogy...
The sniper bullet had already gone through his head.
He just hadn’t fallen to the ground yet.
But in the middle of that silence...
One of the female servants suddenly raised her voice.
“B-but...”
!!??
Zeldryn immediately turned toward her.
The servant looked nervous after realizing she had just spoken in the middle of the situation.
But she continued anyway,
“Wouldn’t... that actually make a little sense?”
Zeldryn frowned.
The servant swallowed.
“Because something strange really did happen to Lord Zeldryn last night...”
!!??
‘Huh?’
Zeldryn immediately felt that something was wrong.
‘What now?’
One problem had just smashed into his head.
Now it felt like another one was coming at him while carrying a hammer.
Zeldryn turned slightly toward the servant.
“What do you mean?” Zeldryn asked.
The female servant immediately tensed.
Fear appeared on her face.
“I-I’m sorry, Lord!”
She hurriedly lowered her head.
“I didn’t mean to offend you!”
Zeldryn almost wanted to curse.
‘Tch, damn it.’
‘Please.’
‘Don’t suddenly get scared at a time this important.’
He genuinely needed information right now.
Zeldryn tried to keep his tone from sounding even more intimidating.
“Tell me.”
The servant still kept her head lowered.
“What did you mean by that?”
The female servant slowly raised her head.
She briefly looked at the other servants around her.
Several of them exchanged glances.
As if they all knew the same thing.
Eventually, the servant looked back at Zeldryn.
“Y-yes, Lord.”
Zeldryn waited.
The female servant took a small breath.
“Actually, there was a commotion last night.”
Zeldryn immediately focused on her.
“One of the servants found you in a state where...”
She seemed to struggle to explain it.
“Your body had turned bla...”
!!??
Suddenly...
Zeldryn felt something.
Mana.
A fluctuation of mana appeared around them out of nowhere.
The female servant’s voice abruptly became stuck.
Not because she stopped speaking.
But the sound that should have come out of her mouth seemed to be blocked by something.
Zeldryn immediately froze.
‘Huh?’
‘What the hell now?’
And before he could understand what had just happened...
A very familiar voice came from the kitchen entrance.
“Yo, brat.”
Everyone immediately turned around.
The voice continued in a casual tone,
“What are you doing in a place you seem to hate so much?”
Zeldryn turned his head toward the door.
!!??
The person he had actually been looking for from the very beginning had finally appeared there.
‘Huh?’
‘Kera?’