chapter 11
Dozens of surveillance orbs were installed along the walls of the hideout’s monitoring room, divided into two groups.
The ones on the left were connected to devices that showed the streets of Hildes.
They were meant to check whether a new target had appeared.
The orbs on the right displayed the interior of the hideout.
They allowed a quick overview of the rooms where each target was being held, as well as the corridors.
“…Wait. What’s wrong with this?”
Faced with an unfamiliar situation, I could only blink in confusion.
Unlike the ones on the left, several of the orbs on the right had gone black, as if they were broken.
“Thankfully, the room Dietrich is in is fine… but Melphis’s room and the corridor aren’t showing at all.”
Now I understood immediately why calm Ren had said it was serious.
At this rate, not only could we not prepare for intruders, but we couldn’t even monitor the behavior of the handsome men we had locked up.
I clutched my head at the troublesome situation.
First, I checked here and there, but there was no way someone like me—bad with machines and barely knowledgeable about magic—could fix a magical device.
“If I’d known this would happen, I should’ve studied at least a little magic.”
There was no one I could ask for help.
Of all times, the magical engineer who helped build the hideout had fled abroad.
“And it’s not like I can just bring someone else in.”
If I got caught being a serial kidnapper of handsome men, it would be a disaster.
“…Sigh. I have to fix it somehow myself.”
Just in case, I even tried hitting the device. But no miracle happened.
“It was fine earlier. What’s wrong all of a sudden? Get it together.”
I even tried persuading the broken orb, but of course, an inanimate object wouldn’t understand me.
“Ugh, how am I supposed to fix this?”
I glared at the orb, sinking into deep thought.
After Vivian left, the air in the room turned sharply cold.
Once he confirmed she was far enough away, Ren firmly shut the door.
As if he wouldn’t allow even the slightest sound to escape.
His reflection appeared on the silver surface of the metal doorknob.
The eyes that were usually soft now emitted a sharp, piercing aura.
Melphis watched him with interest.
The moment Vivian disappeared, Ren revealed his true nature, and Melphis’s lips curled crookedly.
“Isn’t that a bit too obvious?”
“….”
“What a coincidence—the device breaks right when the mood was good. No matter how I look at it, that was intentional.”
Melphis smirked provocatively, but Ren only exuded a chilling calm.
“You’re the one scheming.”
In an instant, Ren closed the distance and growled like a beast.
“They say there’s no information about you anywhere in the Empire. Where exactly did you crawl out from?”
His green eyes glinted with killing intent.
After Melphis’s first kidnapping, the Gerald Information Guild had investigated him under Ren’s orders.
But they found nothing.
There was no trace or record of anyone named “Melphis.”
A normal person should leave at least some kind of trace, but Melphis’s past was completely blank.
As if he had simply appeared out of nowhere one day.
His disguise ability, his past—everything about him was suspicious.
Ren’s principle was to eliminate all threats.
But there was one problem.
Vivian already knew of his existence.
If he killed Melphis recklessly, she might find out someday.
But he also couldn’t just leave him alone as he approached Vivian.
“Wow, looks like you’ve been digging into me quite passionately. Now that I think about it, maybe you’re interested in me, not Vivian? Too bad—I’m not into you.”
“If you have no intention of answering, there’s no need to listen.”
Without hesitation, Ren grabbed him by the collar.
Melphis grinned and pointed to a corner of the ceiling.
“Are you sure that’s okay? What if your precious master sees this?”
“Unfortunately, the surveillance device just happened to lose connection, so there’s nothing to worry about. Is that all you had to say?”
Still being held by the collar, Melphis clicked his tongue.
So that’s what the broken device meant. Thorough bastard.
Now there was no way Vivian could notice what was happening here.
“You’ve done something quite cute. Does Vivian know you’re this devious?”
For the first time, a crack appeared in Ren’s calm expression.
“Don’t you dare speak her name with that lowly mouth.”
His grip tightened.
Ren dragged Melphis out into the corridor and threw him out the back door of the hideout.
Melphis collapsed onto the ground.
Ren looked down at him coldly and warned,
“Get lost. Next time, I’ll kill you.”
Bang!
The back door slammed shut loudly.
“Seriously… what a nasty personality.”
Melphis brushed off his hands while staring at the closed door.
When he stood up, the door blended into its surroundings and disappeared without a trace.
Watching this with his deep blue eyes, Melphis snapped his fingers.
At that moment, as if by magic, his appearance began to change.
His dark eyes faded into a light sky-blue.
The sharp tilt of his eyes softened.
His silvery hair gradually took on a reddish hue, then turned into a cotton-candy-like pink.
Some strands turned sky-blue.
At the same time, his short hair grew longer in an instant, reaching the nape of his neck.
Now completely transformed into someone else, he strolled out of the alley, humming.
“Maybe next time I’ll show up as a flashy handsome guy with golden hair and eyes… or would blue hair with red eyes be better?”
He chuckled lightly to himself.
A strange gleam flickered in his eyes.
“Ugh, this is driving me crazy.”
After struggling endlessly to fix the orbs, Vivian collapsed onto the desk in exhaustion.
She had tried everything she could think of, but the orbs still showed only black screens.
With no solution in sight, tears welled up in her eyes.
“I just wanted to capture the male lead… why is there so much to deal with?”
She sighed deeply.
Living as a serial kidnapper of handsome men was far from easy.
There was already too much to do, and strange guys like Dietrich and Melphis kept getting involved, leaving her no time to rest.
“And now even the orbs are broken.”
Even though she shared the work with Ren, she was reaching her limit.
Physically and mentally.
Her eyelids grew heavier.
“I can’t fall asleep right now…”
She tried to stay conscious, but the hard desk already felt like a soft cushion.
It felt like she’d fall asleep the moment she closed her eyes.
“Stay awake. Stay awake.”
She forced her eyes open and thought,
“If there’s a god, I wish they’d at least take pity on me and just send the male lead directly.”
Her gaze drifted toward the monitoring room door.
“How nice would it be if Kallis just came to me… through that door…”
But she already knew things didn’t go the way she wanted.
Despite her efforts, she couldn’t fight off the drowsiness.
And at that moment—
The previously still door quietly opened.
But instead of Kallis, it was Ren who entered.
In the first place, only Vivian and Ren could freely enter the hideout.
He approached her silently as she slept slumped over the desk.
The desk was cluttered with tools—she must have taken them out to fix the devices.
Ren lowered himself and stared blankly at her sleeping face.
From her round forehead, his gaze trailed down her long eyelashes and finally rested on her soft pink lips.
“Lady Vivian, are you going to keep sleeping there?”
Despite his words, he made no move to wake her.
“…You only show me such defenseless 모습, right?”
His shadow stretched along the desk under the ceiling light.
It moved almost like a living being.
The pitch-black shadow split into two.
One began tidying the scattered tools.
The other busily moved around the broken orb.
After a short while, the orb flickered back to life.
Ren showed no reaction.
After all, he had been the one who broke it in the first place.
The shadows merged back into one.
It picked up a blanket draped over a chair and returned it to him.
Without surprise, Ren naturally accepted it.
The soft lavender blanket was one he had personally knitted for Vivian.
He wrapped it around her and gently lifted her into his arms.
Holding her close, a sweet scent filled his senses.
It was like fruit, or perhaps flowers—either way, it always made his heart race.
Carrying her carefully, Ren headed to his room.
His shadow moved ahead of him and opened the door.
Inside, he gently laid her down on his bed so as not to wake her.
After covering her up to her shoulders, she burrowed deeper into the bed.
Ren stared at her as if entranced.
No matter how many times he saw Vivian sleeping in his bed, he could never get used to it.
His cheeks gradually flushed.
Unconsciously, he reached out and touched her fingertips that peeked out from under the blanket.
Then, startled by his own actions, he quickly pulled his hand back.
His face burned hot.
The thrill of touching her and the guilt tangled together in his mind.
But suddenly, his conversation with Melphis came to mind, and his emotions quickly cooled.
“…Lady Vivian.”
“….”
She remained fast asleep.
Relieved, he continued softly,
“Even if you learned of these filthy feelings I harbor… would you still allow me to stay by your side?”
“….”
“…Or would you cast me away?”
His unanswered questions echoed back to him.
With a complicated expression, Ren stepped out and turned off the light for her.
Walking down the dark corridor, he fell deep into thought.
It seemed he wouldn’t be able to sleep easily tonight.
