The Heavenly Demon Can’t Live A Normal Life [EN]: Chapter 25

Antony Barco looked more normal than Roman thought he would.

He had a face you’d easily forget. When he saw Roman, his eyes opened wide, like he was acting surprised.

“Roman! What on earth has happened to you?!”

A moment earlier, a servant told Antony Barco that Roman had changed.

But Antony Barco didn’t expect such a big change. He looked at Roman, really surprised.

Roman said,

“I don’t know why I’ve changed like this. When I spent a lot of money trying to improve my appearance, nothing happened. But lately I haven’t done anything, and I seem to be changing day by day. Anyway, it’s good to see you after so long.”

He spoke in a joking, light way.

This was what Hans had told him to do, based on how Antony Barco acted with Roman before.

He looked around the room.

Antony Barco had been having a party with the daughters of other nobles until just now, but when he heard Roman was coming, he sent them all away.

Perhaps that was why the table was such a mess. Bottles of alcohol were all over the table. Roman also saw some clothes that looked like they belonged to women.

It was easy enough to guess what kind of person Antony Barco was, and how he used the social party as an excuse to play in the chamber.

Therefore, Roman hid his true feelings.

Roman had learned from dealing with tricky people before that you can’t always fight directly.

‘Antony Barco sent all the nobles out of the chamber when he heard I was here,’ Roman thought. ‘That means he’s going to say something secret that no one should hear, and I need to put on a minimal act to hear it.’

He smiled, hoping that Antony Barco would think of him as the Roman he remembered. He took a seat and immediately downed a glass of alcohol.

“Krooooh, that’s good.”

He quickly got rid of the burning feeling of the alcohol going down his throat.

Unlike his outward appearance, Roman waited for Antony Barco’s words with a calm and collected gaze.

The information about Antony Barco was fragmentary.

He had roughly grasped the other person’s tendencies through Hans, but there was no way to find out about their secret relationship.

So he kept his mouth shut, waiting quietly, he induced the other person to speak first.

Then, Antony Barco opened his mouth.

“I hope I can take your ‘good to see you after so long’ as a positive sign. Actually, I was really curious about what your intentions were back then. You ignored our friendship and went ahead with the political marriage with Lawrence, and when you showed up in the chamber’s bedroom, I was really… Whew. Even though it’s a social party where secrets are guaranteed, I didn’t think you’d go that far when you were about to get married.”

Antony Barco mentioned ‘social party’ and ‘chamber bedroom’. Roman felt like pieces of a puzzle were starting to appear. Then, Antony Barco smiled and said the important thing.

“Okay. I guess we can interpret your attendance at this party as accepting my proposal? No, you’ve already proven your will by breaking off the engagement, so I don’t even need to hear your answer. I’ll keep what happened back then a secret, so let’s talk about marriage with Barco now.”

Marriage with Barco.

The moment he mentioned the key word, the lock in Roman’s head was released.

Click.

The memories of his past life came to life.

That day, Roman was very nervous about attending Barco’s social party.

“Hoo, Roman Dimitri. Let’s not be too nervous. I betrayed Antony Barco and accepted the political marriage with Lawrence, but I can’t just keep avoiding them forever, can I? So let’s take this opportunity to restore our relationship with them.”

Barco’s invitation.

He checked it and hesitated countless times, but eventually decided to meet them in person and solve the problem.

The opponent is Barco.

Because of him, they might have to wage war with them, so he wanted to solve the problem through dialogue if possible.

His father had turned completely hostile to Barco since he pushed for the political marriage with Lawrence, but Roman Dimitri, in his young mind, still thought there was plenty of room for dialogue.

Like that, Roman went to the party.

Antony Barco welcomed Roman more than he thought, and as his tension eased, he unknowingly drank a lot of alcohol.

That was the problem. He blacked out.

When he woke up holding his head as if it would break from the hangover, a completely unfamiliar sight unfolded before his eyes.

A bed in a chamber.

There were women with faces he had never seen before beside him.

Roman was startled and ran outside, and Antony Barco saw him.

It was from then on that Roman’s life plummeted to the bottom.

Antony Barco and Roman were usually known to have promiscuous relationships, so he thought he would just let it go, but Antony Barco said with a ferocious face as if he would devour Roman right away.

“Roman. I won’t say anything about you playing around with women when you’re about to get married. But do you know who you touched just now? One of the women who was with you is named Emily Barco. You’re not only betraying me and getting politically married to Lawrence, but you’re also touching a woman of Barco.”

Emily Barco. She was a collateral relative of Barco.

From that day on, Antony Barco blackmailed him with that fact.

“Choose. I can tell everyone what happened, and your engagement will be broken. Or, you can fix things by marrying someone important in my family, not just a distant relative. I’m still furious about what you did, but if you become a person of Barco, I’m willing to suppress my anger and forgive you.”

The sky fell.

Roman locked himself in his room as soon as he returned from the party, and shouted at Hans to bring him alcohol.

It was a painful day.

Two choices. Both were the worst.

If he was broken off for touching a collateral relative of Barco, Dimitri’s honor would fall to the bottom.

Roman Dimitri knew what kind of reputation a family from a commoner background had, so he didn’t have the confidence to handle his father, Romero Baron’s anger when such a thing happened.

He couldn’t choose the latter.

Roman loved Flora.

He fell completely in love with her the first day he saw her, and he asked his father even though he knew what price the family would have to pay for the political marriage.

But now, not only is he asking for the engagement to be broken off, but he also has to give the woman he truly loves the disgrace of being a ‘broken-off woman’.

He couldn’t allow it. He fell into agony.

Antony Barco sent letters from time to time to pressure him, and eventually the moment of choice came.

That day, Roman chose suicide.

He was a weak human.

A human who had never achieved anything properly with his own strength had no confidence in solving the problem, and he believed that if he died, all problems would be solved.

The death of the eldest son was also a disgrace to the Dimitri family, but it would still be better than being unilaterally broken off due to his son’s promiscuous behavior, and he thought that death would be better for Flora than being known as a woman who was left by her fiancé.

Gosh. It was pathetic.

Roman showed a hollow smile at the memories of the past.

‘It’s really a miserable reality.’

The reason for suicide wasn’t a big deal.

Barco played a trick that often happens in the political world, and Roman, who was a weak human, gave up his life due to fear of his father and sincerity towards Flora.

If Roman had trusted his father, Romero Baron would never have let his son make such an extreme choice as suicide.

But he didn’t know Roman, how much his father loved him, so he took on the burden by grinding his teeth and eating the medicine.

And, he returned to reality.

When he looked ahead, he saw Antony Barco waiting for Roman’s answer.

Dimitri’s broken engagement.

When Antony Barco first heard the news, he felt really good, as if he had gained the whole world.

‘You stupid fellow! You really broke off the engagement with something you don’t even remember.’

Roman’s memory was different from the truth.

It is true that he woke up in the chamber’s bed, but Roman did not touch the woman he was with at all.

In fact, he was initially planning to work on her while sober.

He thought it would be easy to work on Roman, who had lived a promiscuous life, but his reaction was different from what he expected.

“I’m sorry, but I’m about to get married now. I don’t plan to hang out with other women in the future.”

It was ridiculous.

Antony Barco’s mood was completely twisted by his appearance of talking about love as if he had been a romantic from when.

So he planned. He made Roman drunk, persuaded a powerless collateral relative to pretend to have slept with Roman.

It was an operation that Roman had no choice but to be deceived.

If he wasn’t promiscuous in the first place, he wouldn’t have known, but Roman, who was promiscuous, firmly believed that it was his fault.

And, he blackmailed Roman.

As planned, Roman chose to break off the engagement, and Antony Barco knew what the finale of this plan was.

‘Now the Lawrence family is completely cornered. But they will fight to the end to protect their ridiculous pride. In this situation, what if Barco and Dimitri get politically married? The game is over. It’s not enough to just endure with will, there is no force in the northeastern area that can handle the power of Barco and Dimitri.’

It was perfect.

Antony Barco, who swallowed his laughter inside, spewed sweet words to Roman, who was his puppet.

“Roman. The combination of Barco and Dimitri is a huge issue that will turn the northeastern area upside down. No one will be able to covet our iron fortress, and you will be able to seize absolute power in the northeastern area. And as you know, my sister who you will marry is a beauty that everyone recognizes. For you, it’s a proposal that you have no reason to refuse.”

It was sweet.

It was a proposal that any man would be tempted by, and Antony Barco naturally thought that Roman would accept it.

But, Roman’s reaction was different from what he expected.

“I don’t think I need to accept a political marriage just for that reason.”

“…What did you say?”

Antony Barco’s expression hardened. He thought he had misheard for a moment, and said it again.

“You seem to be mistaken, but this is not a multiple-choice option. If you refuse Barco’s proposal, I have no choice but to reveal what happened in the chamber’s bed to the world. Then how will Dimitri’s status be? You broke off the engagement with Lawrence, but people will probably think that the reason for the broken engagement is because of your womanizing. So think carefully. If you want to be able to hold your head up in the future.”

It was blackmail.

Even when faced with Antony Barco’s ferocious face, Roman smiled without the slightest agitation.

He crossed his legs, then looked straight at Antony Barco.

A few days ago, Roman investigated the Barco family. What kind of place Barco is, how strong their power is, and he made a decision.

“I told you just now. Dimitri doesn’t need to accept Barco’s proposal for such a ridiculous reason.”

Dimitri is the most powerful family here, not Barco.