Johan’s gaze was fixed on me, unyielding. I met his gaze and smiled brightly.

“Now it’s fine. Your Grace can do whatever you want.”

“Do as I wish?”

His red eyes shimmered as if they were observing me.

The feeling was different from usual. But I couldn’t identify the emotion behind it.

‘I feel uneasy for some reason.’

The only thing I could grasp was that Johan seemed more unhinged.

“Yes. It’s because I personally scolded those who were trying to slander you, Your Grace!”

I contemplated if it was a strange flag but decided to keep it as I had no choice but to go with the flow.

“Just that, so now you can do anything. Whether you kill or not, it’s up to you, Your Grace.”

I maintained my smile to show my sincerity.

“Estelle. Aren’t you scared of me?”

A strange tension began to circulate between us.

“Why would you think I’m scared of you, Your Grace?”

If I said I wasn’t scared of Johan, it would be a lie. I was terrified of Johan. I feared the future he might crush, dying because of betrayal.

But whether Johan was scary in this situation was a different matter.

“I’m not scared of you, Your Grace.”

“You’ve seen it all.”

Johan spoke in a languid voice as if whispering.

“I’m a man who can trample and kill people easier than anyone else. Have you heard about the murder case that occurred in the capital?”

“……”

“That will make the conversation easier if you know.”

There was a sparkle in his eyes.

“Can you handle me, madam?”

I swallowed nervously without realizing it.

“……Did you do that for no reason?”

“Madam is truly naive.”

The smile on the corner of Johan’s mouth deepened.

“The reason doesn’t matter in such actions. The result is what matters. You should not seek the reason behind a hideous act. That would blur the essence.”

Johan described himself as a villain and taunted.

“If there was an appropriate reason, would it be okay to act like that? Can you trust whether that reason is true?”

Johan deliberately kicked Anton’s head with force.

“Even after seeing me treat people like this?”

His gentlemanly elegance and lofty demeanor made him look more cruel. But I just shook my head vigorously.

“Even then, if you’re not scared, Your Grace?”

“Why shouldn’t it be scary?”

It was a sarcastic voice when I listened closely.

“Madam isn’t stupid enough to not understand my words.”

Johan tilted his head and met my gaze. His deep crimson eyes captured me intensely.

What he didn’t know was that I was not as altruistic, good, cautious, and kind as he thought I was.

‘Why isn’t the reason important?’

As someone who had been abused due to unreasonable whims in Libertan, I could not sympathize with Johan’s words. The world isn’t just made up of results.

Above all, I wasn’t very sympathetic.

‘Sympathy is for people who can afford it.’

There was not a moment of leisure in my life right now. So there was no room for others. Especially not for trash like that.

“Think carefully before you regret it. Your husband is not as good a person as you think to defend him like that. Rather, he is closer to being a terrible person.”

Sorry, but I know.

“Then what? Should I hate Your Grace for something I don’t know well?”

Johan clenched his jaw. Watching his masculine Adam’s apple bob, I stared straight into his red eyes.

“Honestly, if you’re such a terrible person, Your Grace, what’s the point of giving me this kind of warning?”

“To reassure you like this.”

“Then you’re rendering me helpless.”

The smile disappeared from Johan’s face. My heart started to race for no reason.

‘Did I make another mistake?’

The point in the original story when I began to fall was right after confessing my love to Johan.

But even before that, Estelle often expressed affection towards Johan. Precisely, she didn’t confess her love.

So maybe expressing affection like this is just on the edge of the cutoff line.

The atmosphere cooled down. A strange pressure seemed to weigh me down. Even so, I didn’t avert my gaze. Nor did I change my words.

“I can’t help it if I appear foolish and incomprehensible from your point of view, Your Grace.”

“……”

“That’s my genuine feelings.”

Seeing me, who was trembling inwardly with irrational fear, Johan burst into clear laughter, covering my eyes with his big hand.

‘Why is he laughing all of a sudden?’

There’s something about Johan I don’t quite get.

Johan, who had been chuckling and laughing for a while, looked at me and tilted his head slightly.

“Do you realize how dangerous the things you just said are?”

“Me?”

I felt like I had said something obvious, though knowingly.

“What did I say?”

“I knew you wouldn’t understand.”

Without further explanation, Johan just nodded.

He was looking at Anton, who was gasping as if his breath was going to stop any moment. How utterly worthless an extra’s death is.

“I’ll keep him alive for now.”

I felt somewhat relieved at those words. No matter what, I didn’t want to see a person die right in front of my eyes.

‘Most importantly, I’m glad that Johan’s heart seems to be at ease.’

I had no idea why he felt relieved, but…

‘It’s strange.’