Lord Baby Runs A Romance Fantasy With Cash [EN]: Chapter 204

I thought I was seeing things at first.

Then, I thought it was a mirage created by my overwhelming desire.

Then—.

“It’s been a while.”

Even if it was a mirage, it would have been fine.

“My Master.”

I wanted to believe, even if it was a fleeting illusion.

The blowing wind softly swept his now-youthful hair.

His golden hair sparkled in the pale winter sunlight.

I couldn’t even breathe properly, standing frozen in place as if rooted to the spot.

He slowly walked towards me.

“…….”

He came to me.

He really did.

“I’m back.”

A low voice.

It was different from my memory.

It wasn’t just his voice that had changed.

He had grown so much; he seemed like a complete adult.

Tall with broad shoulders.

A firmly set jawline, sharp features, and his eyes were even deeper.

But it was Sid.

His face, frame, voice—everything was different.

But it was still Sid.

“…….”

Sid was within arm’s reach.

“I thought you’d be waiting.”

I had imagined it countless times. Dreamed of it countless times.

That one day he would suddenly return, that everything that had happened that day would be a terrible nightmare.

I opened my lips, but no words came out.

“……Is it real?”

The words that barely escaped after several attempts were just that.

“Yes.”

Sid slowly nodded.

“It’s real.”

The moment I heard that answer, I nearly collapsed.

Sid hurriedly reached out to me.

Clack!

I roughly slapped his hand away.

“Don’t touch me.”

Head bowed, staggering, but standing on my own two feet.

I could feel Sid faltering.

I bit my lip.

“Ruatisha—.”

“Why, why do you do as you please!”

I clenched my fists tightly and raised my head sharply.

“Coming to save me as you please, leaving me alone as you please!”

This isn’t right.

“Sacrificing yourself for me as you please…….”

Thank you, I’m so glad you came back safely.

“When did I ever, ever…….”

I wanted to see you; I really missed you.

“When did I tell you to do that…… Why, as you please, so, so…….”

“I’m sorry.”

“…….”

“So don’t cry like that. Okay?”

Sid looked more anxious and heartbroken than if I were crying.

I couldn’t bear to look at that face any longer and turned away coldly.

I don’t know.

I don’t know why I’m like this.

My heart doesn’t want this.

I want to hug Sid right away and check if he’s hurt anywhere, if he’s really okay.

I just want to hold him and tell him I’m glad he’s back safely.

“…….”

I dreamed of Sid returning several times. My reaction in those dreams was always different.

Some days I cried, some days I laughed.

But I had never been angry like this.

“Ruatisha.”

I heard his voice, but my steps didn’t stop.

I want to stop, I want to turn around, I want to run to him right away.

Strangely, my steps only went forward.

Sid didn’t call me anymore.

It was natural.

He went to the Demon World in my place, nearly died, and came back alive, only to get this reaction.

He must be fed up.

‘……This is for the best.’

Sid lost so much because of my sacrifice.

Even though I was the one who saved him from the curse, it was still too much.

‘So now it’s right to cut him off completely.’

No matter how much it hurts, I have to cut it out.

Then.

From behind, a warm heat enveloped my frozen body.

It smelled of dry grass.

Sid was hugging me from behind.

“……Let go.”

I twisted my body, but he didn’t let go.

He just stood there quietly, quietly,

Holding me.

Before I knew it, I had stopped moving and stood silently.

A precarious silence.

I was suddenly aware that his fingers were touching my collarbone.

“When did you ever have me so heartlessly abandon me like this?”

A low, slightly unfamiliar voice sent shivers down my spine.

“My Master is so cold.”

Each time he whispered, a thick breath scattered on my earlobe, on my neck.

Actually, I wanted to stay like this.

As much as the warm heat, it made me realize he was back.

I just wanted to be held like this forever.

‘But.’

I twisted my body again.

But it was no use.

Sid’s arms around me only tightened even more.

“Let go.”

“No.”

“…….”

“Don’t abandon me.”

“Are you stupid?!”

I roughly shook off his hand and shouted.

Sid was pushed away by me and crashed into the wall with a thud, but I didn’t care.

Instead, I pushed him further against the wall and got angry.

“You finally come back, and all I do is get angry; what kind of person does that make me!”

“…….”

“Who did you go through all that trouble for, and I don’t even say thank you; you should spit on me!”

“…….”

“Why are you telling me not to abandon you? Why are you grabbing me with that voice? Why…….”

I couldn’t see Sid’s face well because of the tears.

That made me so annoyed, sad, and sorrowful.

It’s a face I’ve wanted to see so much, a face I’ve longed for so much that my heart has melted away; why can’t I see it well?

“……Don’t tempt me too much.”

“What?”

In my tear-blurred vision, his face became clear for a moment.

He frowned, looking troubled, and averted his gaze from me.

“I’m already holding back.”

“……You.”

Are you really saying that right now?

I grabbed his collar tightly.

Sid looked at me with surprised eyes, then gave a resigned smile as if he couldn’t help but be angry.

I pulled him towards me as he was.

“…….”

Our lips met.

* * *

Duke Paeraton sat with his long legs crossed, looking at the man in front of him.

The boy had become a young man.

It was clear he had suffered greatly in the Demon World, yet Sidrian’s face was flawless.

When his daughter, who had briefly gone for a walk during the party, returned completely dazed, he wondered what was wrong.

When she left the place right after, he was worried if something big had happened.

But.

“It’s been a while.”

Sidrian had returned.

‘……That makes sense.’

Duke Paeraton’s gaze reached his daughter.

Ruatisha was fidgeting with her hands, glancing at Sidrian every now and then.

Duke Paeraton didn’t like that.

However.

“I’m glad you came back safely.”

After a long silence, Duke Paeraton opened his mouth.

“I will not forget the trouble the Prince went through for my daughter. Paeraton owes the Prince an unpayable debt.”

It was a first.

That Duke Paeraton, of all people, was expressing gratitude to someone, saying he owed a debt.

But it was sincere.

Wasn’t he the benefactor who saved his daughter, no less?

He couldn’t bow enough times.

If Sidrian demanded his life as compensation for saving his daughter’s life, he could give it up without hesitation.

“I only did what I wanted to do.”

Sidrian smiled brightly.

But somehow, looking at that clean face.

His answer also didn’t sit well with him.

No, he was really grateful, but.

The feeling that he could give his life right away if he wanted it was also a sincere feeling without a single lie.

‘……I don’t like it.’

He had a dirty and ominous feeling that that guy would steal his most precious and valuable thing.

Duke Paeraton looked at Sidrian with a very unpleasant gaze.

Without realizing that it was the same look that Marquis Tarenka had given him.

“Well, anyway, I’m grateful too.”

“I am also grateful to Your Highness. The Tarenka family promises to be Your Highness’s strength at any time.”

“Thank you for saving my brother, Your Highness.”

Ixion, Marquis Tarenka, and Ares thanked Sidrian in turn.

It was a very subtle gratitude.

Clearly, sincerity was felt, but their eyes were very different from looking at a benefactor.

Rather than a benefactor…… like looking at a thug who might turn into a robber at any moment…….

They were the better ones.

Zeon was sitting blankly, repeating the same words, wondering what had shocked him so much.

“Wall slam…… mine, the youngest only to me…….”

His eyes had lost focus.

“Why is Zeon like that?”

“Ah, it’s nothing!”

Ruatisha hurriedly answered Ixion.

Her face, answering like that, was as red as a ripe apple.

The faces of the family members, who would usually pretend to bite her, saying she was cute, were rotting away.

“Wow……. I feel really dirty. Why?”

Ixion tilted his head.

Ares was smiling brightly, looking at Sidrian. It’s a story of when such a murderous smile can be called a smile.

Marquis Tarenka was glaring at Sidrian with his arms crossed and the same face as his son-in-law.

“Ahem, ahem.”

Ruatisha made an awkward cough to change the atmosphere.

“Sid, did you go to the Imperial Palace?”

“No. I came straight here.”

“Huh? You didn’t even go home?”

“You’re here.”

Sidrian smiled, curving his eyes towards Ruatisha. It was a smile so attractive that it was admirable.

“Cough cough cough!”

“Ahem ahem, ahem!”

Uncomfortable coughs erupted from all sides.

Of course, Sidrian didn’t care about such things.

He whispered to Ruatisha.

“I have to come to where my Master is.”

“Tch, you don’t listen to anything I say. You only call me Master when it suits you.”

Ruatisha grumbled, pouting.

The eyes of the family members who saw that 모습 [Korean: mosup, meaning appearance or figure] shook.

It’s the first time they’ve seen the youngest like that.

Besides, the child who always prioritized family no matter what the situation was acting as if she couldn’t hear or see uncomfortable coughs or glances.

“……My granddaughter, my granddaughter. Ugh…….”

Marquis Tarenka, who had trauma from experiencing it once, staggered.

However, the granddaughter, who would usually stop what she was doing and run to him right away, was nowhere to be seen.

‘How can she be so similar to her mother?’

Marquis Tarenka saw Inaisse’s 모습 [Korean: mosup, meaning appearance or figure] in Ruatisha, who said she would marry Duke Paeraton and didn’t listen to his words at all.

Whether the family members were shocked or not, Ruatisha and Sidrian were continuing their conversation.

“I deserve praise.”

“Even though you didn’t listen?”

“You told me to live as I please.”

“…….”

“So I did as I pleased.”

Sidrian smiled.

That day, he decided after seeing Ruatisha collapse, vomiting blood, while undoing his curse.

To become a Master as she pleased, to save him as she pleased, and then to abandon him as she pleased, telling him to live freely as she pleased.

He had never listened to her orders, but he would listen to that one order.

To live freely without listening to anyone’s words.

Even your words, Master.

“Say I did well until the end.”

Ruatisha pouted and got angry.

“Don’t do that again.”

“…….”

“Really, never again…… please don’t do that. It was too, too hard for me.”

Sidrian looked at Ruatisha’s eyes, which were wet with tears again, with pity.

When he tightly grabbed Ruatisha’s trembling hand, she grabbed back.

An earnest gaze.

The eyes he had always wanted to face were staring at him exactly.

He could do anything to see those eyes again.

But.

‘I can’t promise. If the same situation comes, I will make the same choice again.’

“I’m sorry.”

Ruatisha’s face contorted at the quiet apology.

But instead of crying, she crossed her arms, exaggerating her anger.

“Look at this. And he calls himself Master. You don’t even deserve to be a slave.”

She shook her head and said to Sidrian.

“Let’s go to the Imperial Palace quickly. Let’s make a family first.”

“……Huh?”

Sidrian looked at Ruatisha with a slightly embarrassed face.

“If I have a family, you won’t leave so easily in the future. You won’t make reckless choices either.”

“……You’re going to make a family for me?”

Ruatisha nodded.

Sidrian’s face became serious.

“Come to think of it, you said we should have a lot of kids before.”

“Yeah. ……Huh?”