When Beauty Destroys The BL World

Chapter 15~Gratitude~

Irene stopped at one of the market stalls, inspecting the vegetables while Arlo stood beside her.

Suddenly, they heard a commotion.

Everyone in the market turned toward the noise.

Irene and Arlo rushed to see what was happening.

A group of bandits was causing trouble at one of the stalls.

“Have you seen this woman?” they demanded.

“No, I’ve never seen her,” the old shopkeeper replied, trembling in fear.

Frustrated, the bandits began destroying her stall.

“Stop! Please stop!” the old woman pleaded.

But she was shoved down hard.

No one dared to step forward. Everyone feared for their lives.

Seeing this, Irene stepped forward—

But Arlo grabbed her arm to stop her. He recognized the group. He was the one who had hired them to search for the Crown Prince’s missing fiancée.

“What are you doing? Let go of me.”

“Don’t.”

“Why? We can’t just stand here and do nothing!”

“It’s better not to get involved. You’ll get hurt!”

“But I have you. You’ll protect me, right?”

Arlo was stunned by her words.

It sounded like she truly trusted him.

While he was caught off guard, Irene seized the opportunity and slipped out of his grasp.

“Stop! Stop it!” Irene shouted as she pushed one of the bandits away from the stall.

“Well, well, well… who do we have here?”

The leader of the bandits leered at Irene as she helped the old woman up.

“With a body like that, why cover your face? Are you really that hideous?”

Just as the man reached toward her—

Crack!

“Ahhh!!”

Arlo snapped his arm without hesitation.

The man screamed in pain as his arm broke.

Arlo then kicked him, sending him flying.

The remaining bandits rushed at Arlo.

Irene quickly pulled the old woman away from the fight.

Arlo easily defeated them—they were no match for him.

“Retreat! Fall back!” one of them shouted.

Unable to win, the bandits fled.

The marketplace erupted in cheers.

“Yeah! Our hero! Our savior!”

“Thank you, young man!”

Arlo stood still, stunned by the crowd’s reaction.

People gathered around him, expressing their gratitude.

Watching this, Irene couldn’t help but feel proud as she joined in cheering.

The second male lead really lives up to his role.

As a result, they returned with their hands full.

The townspeople had given them food and goods as tokens of appreciation.

Irene chuckled at Arlo’s overwhelmed state.

Arlo glanced at her. Hearing her laugh, he couldn’t help but smile.

“Thank you for what you did. If you hadn’t stepped in, I can’t imagine what would have happened to us,” Irene said.

“I’m thankful too,” Arlo replied.

“For what?” Irene asked.

“For showing me what kind of person I am.”

He had been an orphan.

His parents were killed during the war, and he witnessed their brutal deaths with his own eyes.

Alone and terrified, he nearly died from starvation—until his master found him.

From a young age, he was trained to be cold-hearted and loyal to his master.

His master made him wear a mask, a symbol of his identity—a fearless assassin, stripped of human emotion.

He never had the chance to follow his heart.

Whenever he killed, he did so without hesitation. No mercy. No compassion.

He lived his entire life as a shadow.

When his master presented him to the Crown Prince, he became nothing more than a weapon—a soulless existence.

A puppet who lived only to obey.

But everything changed the day she saved him.

When he first saw her, all he remembered was her eyes—beautiful, filled with concern as she looked at him.

No one had ever looked at him like that.

People either feared him… or feared for their lives.

The day his mask was removed, he felt emotions he never should have had.

And all of them… were because of her.

He couldn’t express his feelings at first.

But when he saw her determination—how she risked everything to save her friend, defying the law, standing firm against the holy priest without fear—

He couldn’t help but admire her.

It was something he himself could never do.

Her skill. Her talent.

Everything about her drew him closer.

That was why he wanted to stay near her—even if only for a short while.

Never in his life had he felt this way.

When the bandit leader looked at her with such lustful eyes, Arlo felt something dark rise within him.

He wanted to gouge those eyes out.

When the man tried to remove her veil—

That monster inside him awakened.

He wanted to be the only one who could see her face.

No one else.

Then the crowd cheered for him.

They gathered around him, thanking him sincerely.

Something he had never experienced before.

For the first time in his life—

He felt fulfilled.

For doing the right thing.