I Don’t Want the Obsession of a Twisted Archduke

Chapter 19 – The Second Male Lead (2)

In fact, Sejan had never really considered Kyle his master. To Sejan, Kyle was more than just a commander. The only reason he did not leave these troops was because of his close attachment to Kyle.

Sejan was the first person to go berserk and leave for the palace following Kyle’s death. His swordsmanship is also unrivaled.

In the midst of my recollections, Sejan opened his mouth after scanning me up and down.

“Giving them the freedom to pick their own weapons?” he whispered to himself. “It seems there’s another person who says the same things as the old master.”

The old master referred to Kyle before his curse.

“Ah!” Sejan’s face perked in realization. “Are you the new lady of the house?’

“Captain! You’re being rude to Her Highness. You should…”

“Shut up, Noxis! You want to be cut off?”

Noxis looked frightened at Sejan’s threat and quickly shut his mouth. Their exchange just now was a perfect example of why I was slightly afraid of him. In short, Sejan had a terrible personality. One would be wise to not allow themselves to be fooled by his seemingly angelic face. Despite his pleasant appearance, he could easily lop off someone’s arm, leg, or even their head. He was certainly a dangerous person.

Even the nobility made sure to avoid Sejan whenever he accompanied Kyle on official functions because he could catch and kill any of them with barely any effort. The only person who had been capable of controlling him so far was the old Kyle. In other words, with no one to check his impulses, he had free reign at the moment. Later on, he would meet Marina and become her potential lover, but I wanted them to meet naturally.

Do I have to let the two meet now?

“What is this, can’t you talk?”

While I had been busy agonizing over what to do, Sejan again pulled me from my thoughts. He must really be a lunatic, seeing as how he abandoned all manners in front of me. But, even if I wished to lecture him on his lack of decorum, there was no one who could protect me from him right now. I knew Sejan especially despised me because he believed I was the emperor’s spy since my family sold me to this place.

Truth be told, there was not a single soul who would care if I were to be killed right now. My family would simply curse me for being a useless child, and the emperor would just find another person to fill my position. As for Kyle, maybe he would feel a slight twinge of guilt if he still had any of his human emotions left in there, but that would be about it. My presence didn’t really matter to him.

Well, I still have some hope.

If Sejan were to hurt me, the lady of the house, then people around him might think that he’s challenging Kyle’s authority. But that was only my brain’s wishful interpretation of the situation.

The reality is going to be like this.

Naturally, dragons tended to regard humans as insignificant beings, so Kyle would not care at all. But, I was confident in my skills, since they were all I had, and I told myself I wouldn’t care about Sejan’s moves. As for the reason why Sejan would attack me for thinking I was the emperor spy, it was easy to frame me because Riddel’s father was known as the emperor’s dog.

From that point of view, it does seem like a hopeless case for me.

But I didn’t want to give up. I calmly regarded Sejan as he studied me with his unpredictable, blue eyes.

“Didn’t you come down here to ask me something?” I quietly muttered. “You should be polite if you want to talk to someone.”

His eyes brightened with interest at my remarks. A singular question was written on his expression: How did you know?

I know everything you know, I replied mentally.

“Sejan, I’m thinking of giving the knights freedom to pick their own weapons. What do you think?”

That was the original line and the last topic Kyle had discussed with Sejan before he was cursed. So, it was natural for him, who missed the old Kyle, to react to my words. As a result, I already knew the next question he would ask.

You’re wondering what I thought when I said that.

Sejan looked at me with eyes that seemed to devour me. There were many times when our eyes met as he sized me up, and then he lifted the corners of his lips.

“I’m sorry for being rude, Your Highness.”

The red-haired knight bent down on one knee as he assumed the proper position to introduce himself to me. Then, he opened his mouth again.

“I’m Sejan, the captain of this troop. Please forgive me for being rude earlier.”

“It’s alright. Please be careful next time.”

My tone was stiff and standoffish. I chose to answer that way in order to maintain my dignity while also showing that I wasn’t bothered by his attitude. Sejan smiled as if he was satisfied with my response.

“Thank you for your forgiveness. Then, could you also answer my questions from before?”

If I don’t answer correctly, I’ll be cut.

I knew that he wouldn’t kill me, but he could at least hurt me.

I hate this situation.

Anyway, I decided to give him the answer he wanted.

“I said what I said because I pity the knights who are discriminated against due to the weapons they use, even though they may have equal or even greater skills in combat when compared to their peers.”

In an attempt to test him, I recited Kyle’s lines exactly as they were.

I know that he’s not happy hearing me say the same things as Kyle.

There was silence after, but I could see that his gaze towards me had changed.

Only

Ok, this should be enough. At least this much has made him decide not to kill me.

Ah, come to think of it, the original Sejan from the novel somehow became interested in Marina. Although right now he doesn’t seem like the kind of person to ever fall in love, I remembered him being quite desperate as the second male lead.

“Marina, how about you become my master?”

Another line from the story came to my mind as I thought about him.

As I recalled from the beginning of the novel, Marina just trembled at Sejan’s question and said nothing. Then, I remembered that he even became Marina’s guard and sacrificed for her. I forgot the reason, but that rascal became a desperate and pure-hearted second male lead afterward. Honestly, I think I made a good set-up for Marina.

I remember I stuck him with her so she would have an excellent guard who could protect her.

I was glad that I had at least done something right for the female lead. Then, I made another decision: I would tell Marina in advance about Sejan so she could handle him later.

Meanwhile, Sejan suddenly burst into laughter again and started cackling like a madman. All of a sudden, he stopped, as if he had never laughed before.

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