The Heavenly Demon Can’t Live A Normal Life [EN]: Chapter 18

The word hung in the air, heavy and sharp: “Breakup.” It struck Baron Lawrence like a physical blow, making him gasp. His face tightened, and a cold sweat prickled his skin. There was no arguing, no room left for deals. It felt as if the Dimitri family, his arranged marriage partners, were still pushing, refusing to let go, but Roman Dimitri himself had made it clear: it was finished.

“It’s over,” the young man had said, his voice firm.

The room seemed to spin. Baron Lawrence gripped the edge of the table, his knuckles white. This marriage had been his last desperate gamble. He had seen no other way to protect his family from Barco’s growing power. He had been willing to sacrifice his own daughter, Flora, the most precious thing in his world, believing it was the only way to save them all from ruin.

He knew he couldn’t stop Barco himself. So, he decided to use his daughter to get help from another family.

As head of the family, he had a duty to protect it.

Even if it meant ruining the life of his daughter, whom he wouldn’t trade for the world, he believed it would be better than the reality of a collapsing family.

And now, the stigma of a broken engagement was stamped upon them.

Even though Flora was beautiful, no family would want to marry a woman whose engagement was broken. This meant Baron Lawrence couldn’t use the same plan again.

From now on, they had to solve the crisis with the power of the Lawrence family alone.

Besides, he thought, ‘I have to appease Dimitri’s heart. If they join hands with Barco as a means of revenge, even a desperate fight will not work.’

Dimitri.

Baron Romero’s anger was immense.

Baron Romero was furious, looking like he could explode with anger. Baron Lawrence knew it wouldn’t be surprising if Romero ended their agreement and joined Barco instead.

That meant the downfall of Lawrence.

If Barco and Dimitri, the strongmen of the northeast, joined forces, there would be no way to withstand the offensive. It was bleak.

He wanted to tell his daughter it was okay.

He was always a father who made choices for his daughter, but in a situation where the family’s future was at stake, he was no different from the father of the Joel family.

Just like he bowed his head to the teacher despite being a nobleman, Baron Lawrence bowed his head without the slightest shame in the face of the reality of a broken engagement.

“This problem is entirely Lawrence’s fault. Therefore, Lawrence will take responsibility for the broken engagement. And as a sign of apology, we will not receive tolls and taxes from the Dimitri Merchant Guild for the time being. Of course, this small amount of money will not mean anything to the tycoon of the iron ore, but please consider it as a sincere apology from the Lawrence family for handling the family’s major affairs carelessly.”

“No, there’s no need to go that far. Dimitri has no intention of profiting from a matter involving the future of the eldest son. Let’s conclude this matter by announcing to the world that the engagement was broken due to Flora Lawrence’s personal problem. If you do that, Dimitri will not side with Barco.”

“Thank you. Thank you so much.”

Baron Romero’s reaction. Lawrence bowed his head at the sincerity, but his heart ached.

‘Marriage with Dimitri might have been the best option we could have chosen,’ he thought.

A father who loves his son. And Dimitri’s eldest son, who was different from the rumors. The more he saw him, the more he regretted it.

He didn’t know why people called Roman Dimitri’s fool, but Roman, whom he had experienced directly, was no ordinary man.

The power to defeat the Blood Fang. The boldness to express his beliefs confidently in front of him. Especially in the face of a broken engagement, he was truly captivated by his choice for the family.

Roman was a latent dragon.

If he reveals his true worth in the future, Flora will be ridiculed by people for a long time. That’s what a broken engagement is.

In Flora’s life, Roman had now become an inseparable tag.

‘I wonder what my daughter didn’t like about Roman. If I had known Roman’s true worth a little earlier, I would have stopped Flora from making a rash choice. I also made a big mistake,’ he thought.

He swallowed his regret. The deed was already done.

Baron Lawrence repeatedly apologized and only left when Baron Romero’s expression softened.

Only the Dimitri father and son remained.

Baron Romero’s gaze turned to Roman. Throughout the conversation, he couldn’t concentrate on this place because of one question that tickled his head.

“Son, what on earth happened in a week?”

Roman’s appearance. That was a problem that needed explanation.

Time in seclusion. Roman entered the stage of In (Benevolence).

The ‘In’ stage is like building a base for using a special power called Cheonma Shin’gong. In some traditions, this stage might not seem very important.

But it was different in this world. The mana floating in nature was so abundant, and Roman’s body was so severely polluted that the effect was dramatic just by creating the foundation.

One step forward. Cheonma Shin’gong coiled in Roman’s dantian. The change in appearance due to rebirth was proof that he had become a completely different person than before.

Roman said, “I had some enlightenment while training alone. I don’t remember exactly, but it seems that mana circulation took place in my body.”

“…Did you just say mana circulation?”

“Yes.”

“Heo.”

Baron Romero was surprised.

Mana circulation was very rare, happening to only a few people. Roman’s explanation seemed too simple, and Baron Romero started to think deeply about what Roman had said.

‘Mana circulation,’ he thought.

Lately, Roman’s change was shocking.

The son, who was called Dimitri’s fool, suddenly declared a broken engagement, and starting with the Blood Fang, he was doing things that he could not have imagined before. In particular, winning the sparring match against Chris and the mana circulation mentioned now could not be easily understood even in the realm of common sense.

The father knew his son. How his son grew up and what he could do. He knew very well that the changes happening to Roman were beyond common sense to simply dismiss as genius.

However, ‘But it’s clear that he’s my son,’ he thought.

His son’s face. His son’s eyes. And the voice calling himself father. The question was buried.

He didn’t know what changes had happened to Roman, but to Baron Romero, only the fact that Roman was Dimitri’s eldest son was important.

Baron Romero said, “As you live your life, keep this one fact in mind. I am your father. No matter what difficulties you have, I, as Roman Dimitri’s father, will not turn a blind eye to those difficulties. And this father is also the one who will be happy with your development. So don’t forget that your name is Roman Dimitri. I, Romero Dimitri, will always support you one step behind.”

The father’s words. It was subtle and unfamiliar.

The father that Roman remembered, or rather, the father that Baek Joong-hyuk remembered, was cruel, cold, and drove his son to his death.

But such a father… ‘Not bad,’ he thought.

Is this what fatherly love is?

Roman smiled. “Thank you, Father.”

When he came out of the office, Roman faced a familiar situation.

The woman who said, “Are you crazy?” with a flustered face bowed her head with a different face than before.

“…I’m really sorry. For judging you rashly, and for deciding on the family’s major affairs on my own,”

It was Flora. In a series of situations, she couldn’t look Roman in the eye.

“I don’t need any apologies,”

Roman’s reaction was cold.

Revenge? It wasn’t that kind of feeling.

Roman sincerely thought that he didn’t need an apology.

‘Everything is just a matter of results, and Flora’s choice wasn’t wrong,’ he thought.

If Baek Joong-hyuk had not possessed Roman’s body, Roman would have been a man worthy of the nickname Dimitri’s fool, as rumored, and his will would have been so weak that he would have chosen suicide if he was cornered even a little.

Marriage with Dimitri may be a way to solve the immediate problem, but as a woman, it is cruel to promise a lifetime with a man like Roman.

Therefore, he understood Flora.

Besides, there was no reason to express anger to the woman who decided to take all the responsibility.

However, Flora interpreted Roman’s reaction differently.

“I fully understand why you’re angry. You can’t help but be angry. Even though arranged marriages don’t require the will of the parties involved, I unilaterally broke the promise. But I wanted to tell you one thing. There was a special reason why I made the decision to break off the engagement.”

“…….”

He didn’t react. Standing still.

Flora said in a crawling voice at Roman’s gaze staring at her, “Actually, now I think it was just a rumor. It’s not a rumor that suits a man who directly defeated the Blood Fang and always keeps his center. Still, I thought you needed to know, so I’m telling you. The source of the rumor was a social gathering hosted by nobles in the northeast. When the rumor spread that I was going to have an arranged marriage with Dimitri, the nobles I usually knew told me that Roman Dimitri was addicted to drugs. It was a type of drug that caused loss of reason when addicted, so I couldn’t just ignore it.”

Drugs. It was the first time he had heard of it.

Still, he was calm. Roman was not flustered, nor did he show any special reaction.

Roman said, “It doesn’t matter for what reason you notified me of the broken engagement, Flora. You didn’t want to marry me, and the result is a broken engagement.”

First time. And now. Roman did not allow her to approach him.

“So don’t interfere in my life anymore,”

Roman moved his steps, speaking coldly.

That was the end. The person named Flora was not qualified to enter Roman’s fence.

On the way back to his room, Roman fell into thought.

Flora and Lawrence. He had cleared up the troublesome relationships, but Flora had thrown him a problem at the end that he could not ignore.

‘…Drugs,’ he thought.

His eyebrows twitched. Drugs. It was a problem that could not be overlooked.

When he was living as Baek Joong-hyuk, Roman saw the end of the demons who lived addicted to drugs. They not only dragged their own lives into the abyss of evil but also contaminated everything around them like a disease.

Roman touched such dangerous things.

Then, Roman’s suicide, which was the beginning of a new life, had to be interpreted for a slightly different reason from now on.

‘Roman may not have committed suicide simply to avoid military service. In fact, there were many suspicious parts from the beginning. He knew that he could solve the military service problem if he had an arranged marriage with the Lawrence family, but he made an extreme choice too early. Therefore, there may be other reasons,’ he thought.

Sseolreuk. A smile came out.

Roman recently underwent rebirth. Therefore, no matter what Flora said, Roman’s body did not have the kind of energy that would be said to be addicted to drugs. There was only one thing. There was an impure energy that was presumed to have been taken when he committed suicide, but it was completely eliminated in the process of rebirth.

That means the rumor that Flora heard was evidence of slander.

“It’s going to be fun,”

There is something that people misunderstand.

Just like Roman accepted Hans into his fence, in the appearance of the Cheonma ruling people, there were people who said that he might be a wise ruler.

That’s a big mistake.

If it is an enemy who covets his territory, Roman thoroughly trampled and punished it, no matter how trivial it was.

It is far from fairness. The world of the law of the jungle. It is natural to press down from above, and the fear engraved in the bones became the foundation for achieving the Murim conquest.

“I think I need to confirm the facts,”

Ting-a-ling. He rang the bell right away.

“Did you call, young master?”

The first person to enter his fence in this world, Hans, carefully opened the door.