Chapter 18: A Moment's Choice (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 18: A Moment's Choice (3)
Annulment.
Viscount Lawrence squeezed his eyes shut at the word.
There was no room for compromise. It would have been bad enough if the other party had stubbornly demanded it, but Roman genuinely wanted the annulment.
'It's over.'
A wave of dizziness washed over him. This political marriage had been the Lawrence family's last resort. Knowing they couldn't stop Barco by any other means, he had sought external help—even if it meant using his precious daughter. As the patriarch, he had a duty to protect his family. Even if it meant ruining the life of the daughter he cherished more than his own eyes, he believed it was a better fate than utter ruin.
And now, the stigma of a broken engagement had been branded upon them.
No matter how beautiful Flora was, no noble family would willingly suffer a loss for a tarnished woman. They could no longer use the same tactic. From now on, they had to overcome this crisis relying solely on the strength of the Lawrence family.
Furthermore...
'I must appease Dmitry. If they decide to join hands with Barco out of revenge, even fighting to the death won't save us.'
Baron Romero's anger had been immense. Given how the Baron had seethed with rage, looking ready to devour him at any moment, it wouldn't be surprising if he called off the marriage and allied with Barco instead. That would spell the absolute downfall of Lawrence. If Barco and Dmitry—the two powerhouses of the northeast region—joined forces, there would be no withstanding their onslaught.
It was devastating.
Deep down, he wanted to tell his daughter that everything would be fine. He was a father who had always made choices for her sake, but with the family's future at stake, he was no different from the patriarch of the Joel family. Just as that man had bowed his head to a teacher despite his noble status, Viscount Lawrence bowed his head before the reality of the annulment without a shred of shame.
"...This matter is entirely the fault of Lawrence. Therefore, we will take full responsibility for the annulment. As an apology, we will waive all tolls and taxes for the Dmitry Trading Company passing through Lawrence territory for the foreseeable future. Of course, such pocket change is meaningless to an iron ore tycoon, but please accept it as the sincere apology of the Lawrence family for handling such a major affair so carelessly."
"No, there is no need to go that far," Baron Romero replied. "Dmitry has absolutely no desire to profit from a matter concerning the future of our eldest son. Let us conclude this by informing the public that the engagement was called off due to Flora Lawrence's personal reasons. As long as that is done, Dmitry will have no reason to align with Barco."
"Thank you. Thank you so much."
At Baron Romero's sincere response, Viscount Lawrence bowed his head, though his heart ached.
'Perhaps marriage with Dmitry was the best option we could have chosen.'
A father who truly loved his son. And Dmitry's eldest son, who was nothing like the rumors. The more he saw of the boy, the more he regretted losing him.
He didn't know why people called Roman "the Fool of Dmitry," but the young man he had personally met was no ordinary person. The martial prowess that had subjugated Blood Fang. The boldness to confidently state his convictions directly to a Viscount's face. Especially seeing how Roman prioritized his family even when faced with a broken engagement—Lawrence was genuinely captivated by him.
Roman was a Hidden Dragon.
Once he revealed his true worth to the world, Flora would be ridiculed for a long time to come. That was the nature of a broken engagement. Roman had now become an inseparable label attached to Flora's life.
'What on earth did my daughter dislike about Roman? If only I had known his true worth a bit sooner, I would have stopped Flora from making such a hasty decision. I made a grave mistake as well.'
He swallowed his bitter regret. The deed was already done.
Viscount Lawrence offered his apologies repeatedly, and only when Baron Romero's expression finally softened did he take his leave.
*
Only the Dmitry father and son remained in the office.
Baron Romero's gaze turned toward Roman. Throughout the entire conversation, he had been unable to fully focus, distracted by a single question tickling the back of his mind.
"My son. What on earth happened during this past week?"
Roman's appearance required an explanation.
During his time in closed-door training, Roman had entered the Human Stage. The Human Stage was the process of building the foundation to manifest the Heavenly Demon Divine Art. By Murim standards, it wasn't considered anything grand. However, it was different in this world. Not only was the natural mana drifting in the air incredibly abundant, but Roman's body had also been so severely clogged with impurities that merely building the foundation produced a dramatic effect.
Taking a step forward, the Heavenly Demon Divine Art coiled tightly within Roman's Dantian. The drastic change in his physical appearance due to Shedding Bones and Rebirth was undeniable proof that he had become a completely different person.
Roman spoke. "I had a brief realization while training alone. I don't remember it clearly, but it seems a mana circulation occurred within my body."
"...Did you just say mana circulation?"
"Yes."
"My word." Baron Romero was astonished.
Mana circulation. It was a rare phenomenon among those who handled mana, referring to a state where natural mana circulated through the body to refine the physical vessel into an ideal state. It was a stroke of luck granted only to a select few. While Roman had given the best possible answer, Baron Romero was left with complicated thoughts.
'Mana circulation...'
Recently, Roman's transformation had been nothing short of astonishing. The son once mocked as the Fool of Dmitry had suddenly declared an annulment, and starting with Blood Fang, he was accomplishing things that would have been unimaginable before. In particular, his victory in the spar against Chris and the mana circulation he just mentioned were feats that defied common sense.
A father knew his son. He knew how his boy had grown up and exactly what he was capable of. He knew all too well that the changes occurring in Roman went far beyond common sense; they couldn't be dismissed simply as a late-blooming genius.
However...
'He is still undoubtedly my son.'
His son's face. His son's eyes. And the voice calling him father.
He buried his doubts. He did not know what kind of change had occurred in Roman, but to Baron Romero, the only thing that mattered was that Roman was the eldest son of Dmitry.
Baron Romero spoke, his voice heavy with sincerity. "Keep this one thing in mind as you live your life from now on. I am your father. No matter what difficulties you may face, as the father of Roman Dmitry, I will never turn a blind eye to your hardships. And the one who will rejoice the most in your growth is also this father of yours. So, do not forget that your name is Roman Dmitry. I, Romero Dmitry, will always stand a step behind you, supporting you."
His father's words. They were profound. And unfamiliar.
The father Roman remembered—or rather, the father Baek Joong-hyuk remembered—was cruel, cold, and constantly drove his sons into deadly situations.
Yet, to have a father like this...
'It's not bad.'
Was this what paternal love felt like? Roman smiled.
"Thank you, Father."
*
When he stepped out of the office, Roman was met with a familiar face.
The woman who had once asked, "Are you crazy?" with a flustered expression, now bowed her head with a completely different demeanor.
"...I am truly sorry. For judging you so hastily, and for taking it upon myself to decide a major matter of our families."
It was Flora. After everything that had happened, she couldn't look Roman straight in the eye.
"I have no need for an apology," Roman replied coldly.
Revenge? It wasn't fueled by an emotion as petty as that. Roman genuinely believed an apology was unnecessary.
'Everything is just a matter of hindsight; Flora's choice wasn't entirely wrong.'
If Baek Joong-hyuk had not possessed Roman's body, Roman would have remained a man fitting the rumors of the "Fool of Dmitry"—someone with a will so weak he would choose suicide the moment he was pushed into a corner. While an alliance with Dmitry might have solved her family's immediate problems, promising her entire life to a man like the original Roman would have been a cruel fate for any woman.
Therefore, he understood Flora. Furthermore, there was absolutely no reason to direct anger toward a woman who had willingly decided to shoulder all the blame herself.
However, Flora interpreted Roman's reaction differently.
"I fully understand why you are angry. You have every right to be. Even if it was a political marriage where our personal wishes didn't matter, I unilaterally broke our promise. But I wanted to tell you at least one thing. There was a specific reason why I decided on the annulment."
"..."
Roman did not respond. Standing still under his piercing gaze, Flora spoke in a barely audible voice.
"Actually, looking back now, I believe it was a false rumor. It doesn't fit a man who personally subjugated Blood Fang and always keeps his composure. Still, I thought you needed to know, so I am telling you. The source of the rumor was a social gathering hosted by the nobles of the northeast region. When word spread that I was entering a political marriage with Dmitry, some nobles I knew told me that Roman Dmitry was a frequent drug user. Since it was a type of drug that causes one to lose their reason and sanity upon addiction, I couldn't just ignore it."
Drugs.
It was the first time he had heard of this. Yet, he remained calm. Roman was neither flustered, nor did he show any outward reaction.
"The reason why you notified me of the annulment does not matter, Flora," Roman said. "You did not want to marry me, and the result is simply an annulment."
From the very beginning until now, Roman refused to allow her to close the distance between them.
"So, do not involve yourself in my life any longer."
Speaking coldly, Roman turned and walked away. That was the end of it. A person like Flora had no right to enter Roman's boundary.
On his way back to his room, Roman fell into deep thought.
Flora and Lawrence. He had cleared up those troublesome relationships, but at the very end, Flora had thrown him a problem he could not ignore.
'...Drugs.'
His brow twitched. Drugs. It was an issue that could not be overlooked.
During his days as Baek Joong-hyuk, he had seen the miserable end of Demonic Humans who lived steeped in drugs. They did not merely drag their own lives into the abyss; they contaminated everything around them like a disease.
To think that the original Roman had laid hands on such a dangerous substance. If that were true, Roman's suicide—which had marked the beginning of this new life—had to be interpreted from a completely different perspective.
'Roman might not have committed suicide simply to avoid military enlistment. In fact, there were many suspicious aspects from the very beginning. He must have known that a political marriage with the Lawrence family would solve his enlistment issue, yet he made such an extreme choice far too early. Therefore, there must be another reason.'
His lips twitched, forming a cold smile.
Roman had recently undergone Shedding Bones and Rebirth. Thus, regardless of what Flora said, he knew for a fact there was no trace of energy in this body to suggest drug addiction. There had only been one thing: a trace of impure energy presumed to have been ingested during the suicide, but even that had been completely purged during the process of Shedding Bones and Rebirth.
Which meant the rumor Flora had heard was evidence of a malicious plot.
"This just got interesting."
There was something people fundamentally misunderstood about him. Because Roman had accepted Hans into his boundary, some people—seeing how the Heavenly Demon ruled over others—might assume he was actually a benevolent ruler.
That was a massive misunderstanding.
If an enemy dared to encroach upon his territory, Roman would thoroughly crush and punish them, no matter how trivial the offense. He was far from being fair and merciful. In a world where the strong preyed on the weak, it was only natural for the superior to suppress the inferior. The terror engraved into their very bones was the foundation upon which he had built his Murim Conquest.
"I'll need to verify the facts."
Ring, ring.
He immediately rang the bell. Soon after, a voice called out.
"Did you call, Young Master?"
The first person in this world to enter his boundary, Hans, carefully opened the door.