If The Villain Catches Me Alive

Chapter 14

Rattle, rattle!

Theodore’s hand strained against the doorknob, but the door wouldn’t open. For the first time today, he realized that this door could be locked.

“Dante!”

His heart was racing. Anxiety had taken over his mind completely, and he couldn’t see anything else. The silence was deafening. Theodore pounded on the door, calling out Dante’s name repeatedly. The hallway was empty of people, and the few who passed by were too individualistic due to their nature as mages to cast a glance at him.

His head was a mess.

‘Why? Why do I smell blood?’

He wouldn’t…… He doesn’t do that kind of thing anymore, he’s not that kind of person anymore. Ever since that day, ever since he changed so suddenly. After he changed, he’d freak out if someone even got a paper cut, and pour a whole bottle of alcohol on them, almost as if he was the one who’d been hurt……

‘Is this related to the certificate you were looking for the other day?’

Theodore pressed his fist against the locked door. His fist shook helplessly.

“Now that me and Jeffrey are of age, it’s time for someone else to……’

Theodore shook his head hard.

“No….”

Calm down. Theodore. Please, calm down.

He had been calling him ‘Dante’ instead of ‘Master’ for barely a year, but Theodore knew. He wasn’t the kind of man to do that, he knew that for sure.

He knew that much, even if he had always been afraid of being betrayed, always been pessimistic and doubtful.

He calmed himself. He tried to remember the clear, innocent face of Dante that he’d glimpsed occasionally as they exercised together, as they worked together, but his face had already turned pale.

His complexion has turned white and his hands are shaking.

‘It’s okay, it’s okay…’

I swear, if something like that ever happens again, I’d listen first. I’ll hear what he has to say… and then it will not be too late to fix everything afterward. It’s okay.

With that self-brainwashing, Theodore broke the doorknob in one swift motion.

It was surprisingly calm inside.

Everything was the same. It looked the same as he had seen it before he left for the ceremony. It was the same place that resembled a gentle and caring person. The only difference was that……

One of the bookshelves had been moved.

Theodore knew what lay beneath, he knew the hidden room. He hadn’t been in it since they’d left it together that night, but his body still remembered. The pain he’d felt back then came back to him. His cold hands began to shake. It was a reflex.