I Just Needed Someone to Hate - Episode 6.1

Hyde

“About the bearer bonds that the chairman, who claimed to be Your Excellency’s henchman, asked us to trace the origin of back then.”

The organization’s lawyer spoke, and Edmund nodded. He responded wearily to the progress report, as he did every time, and got into the black sedan waiting for him.

As the door closed and the buildings outside the car window receded, the organization’s lawyer, who was riding with him, apologized as if to atone for having bothered him repeatedly.

“It seems that keeping the kidnapped intelligence agent, who is a former army officer, locked up is proving to be quite difficult.”

He continued blandly, as if not trying to excuse the action team for using drugs.

“We will make sure there is no fourth time.”

“Continue.”

As he listened to the continuing report, Edmund fell into thought.

Hyde.

It was the middle name his great-grandfather had given him in his childhood. It also meant ‘snake’ in a foreign language.

The only thing that the adults around him thought Edmund and that breed of snake had in common was that he had hair as black as snake scales, but the elder of the Senovick family had described the young Edmund as ‘cunning and sly.’

It was a name that had pushed aside his perfectly good middle name and settled in as a derogatory term, but Edmund was sly enough to use even such sarcasm as his own name, flattering his great-grandfather.

After all, to his great-grandfather, an old-fashioned aristocratic geezer, Edmund’s father, Colt, who worked in society, was an annoying presence as his grandson-in-law.

Even if the young man who married his granddaughter was the darling of a prestigious political family who had taken the elite course of the empire.

Knowing his mind so well, there was no reason not to cater to the old aristocratic geezer’s temper.

Edmund’s best efforts, which were never rewarded, always earned him sympathy from his maternal relatives. In particular, his childless maternal uncle comforted him and cherished him, and he is now known as the Duke of Senovick.

Everything was exactly as Edmund Colt had hoped.

‘…’

The reason he recalled that musty memory was truly insignificant.

Hyde.

It was the name given to the project in which the Criminal Intelligence Agency had deployed the agent tied up in the basement of that building.

It was cleverly named to evoke his middle name, so that only those who knew the inside story could intuitively understand exactly what the project was.

It’s funny how that word inadvertently reflects his situation of living two lives.

On this side, he’s not a great doctor, just a son who’s walking a smooth path by ripping off the prestigious political family his father raised, but still a son of a bitch.

His father, Colt, who was an inadequate ‘son-in-law’ to his great-grandfather, was now the Prime Minister of the Empire.

At the same time, Edmund, the Prime Minister’s son, reigned as the head of the city where the lights never went out.

He had caught his double, whom his father had created to approach Vivianne Mergoville.

The agent’s first escape took place in the early hours of the day Vivianne was brought to the villa. Before morning, the agent was imprisoned again, and Vivianne was taken to the radio shop. That same dawn, the agent made a second escape attempt. This time, he had to leave the villa for three days and engage in a physical fight with the agent.

And now, the third time. In the short time he was away to see Vivianne’s face, the guy ran away again. This time, the agent tried to contact headquarters from a public phone, but the branch manager and action team went and caught him.

Compared to how much he struggled, the aftermath was not difficult. The information that the intelligence agents demanded to confirm the survival of the ‘fake’ Edmund Colt was all things he knew.

Nothing was easier than confusing them. There’s been some noise lately, so they’ve been on high alert, but the suspicions will subside after this morning.

“I heard that you bought clothes and a bag for the woman who accompanied you to the Salenner Hotel yesterday. All the checks that the boss scattered on the streets of the wealthy district yesterday have been collected and replaced with forged signatures of the intelligence agent, but there are still some unsatisfactory parts.”

Vivianne.

Vivianne Mergoville.

Edmund frowned and looked to his side at the foreign lawyer’s interrupted words. The lawyer averted his gaze and continued.

“We have decided to treat the heads of the families who sell leather goods and clothes in this land in Mirabolta. It seems that there is a foreigner working under the organization who knows them. It was easy to arrange a meeting.”

Most of the empire’s luxury stores are branches of overseas headquarters, so his organization’s characteristics as a group of foreigners helped to bring in the high-nosed headquarters executives.

The sound of a report being passed was heard, and after a brief silence, small talk intervened.

“Your cheek is bruised.”

“Indeed.”

Now Edmund knew exactly what the foreign lawyer next to him was trying to say by stalling for time.

“It’s the work of the woman I live with.”

He wasn’t talking about the traces left by the guy tied up in the basement when he tried to escape for the second time, but rather subtly asking who had applied ointment.

“If you’re talking about a woman, it must be the one who accompanied you on the streets of the wealthy district yesterday.”

“…”

“I heard that the clerks at the stores you visited yesterday treated the boss and the boss’s mistress with the utmost care. We will reflect this in the way we treat the heads of each company on Mirabolta Street today.”

“Not a mistress or anything, just a woman I live with.”

Just a little brat he lived with. She couldn’t even read his lust, and she couldn’t hide her feelings, so she couldn’t be said to be skilled in either way.

The organization’s lawyer changed the subject.

“Oh, and about the coat you left at the clothing store near the villa where you are staying.”

Was it because he was thinking of Vivianne? Her face came to mind, and the conversation they had on the street at that time came to mind.

“By the way, where did you put your coat?”

“I threw it away.”

Edmund nodded slowly.

“We couldn’t recover it. It seems that a noble young lady came and bought it for a high price. She pretended to be someone she knew, mentioning the boss’s appearance, paid the price, and took it.”

Edmund did not answer. The lawyer added and drew a conclusion.

“Cynthia Eastwell. The beloved only daughter of the Eastwell family.”

There are annoying things here and there. Well, if no one had suspected his movements after taking this unreasonable step, it would have been even stranger. Anything was better if the threat was within a predictable range.

“Would it be a problem if the coat was in the Eastwell family’s woman’s mansion?”

“No.”

As the nightlife of Mirabolta Street drew near, Edmund Colt replied.

“If she’s a smart woman, she’ll throw it away on her own.”

It was as if there was a reason why he hadn’t bothered to look for it.

❖ ❖ ❖

“The agent’s code name is, unusually, Edmund Colt, the name of His Excellency the Prime Minister’s only son.”

A few minutes ago.

Cynthia leaned against the door of her father’s study and covered her mouth. A… an agent?

“The project name is…”

Along with the voice of her father, Senator Eastwell, Cynthia felt a chill down her spine.

“It will be ‘Hyde’, which resembles the middle name of that only son.”

Cynthia turned her head and looked through the wooden door gap. Her father and mother were talking in the dark.

“What kind of incident is the Mergoville family involved in that even an agent has been dispatched?”

“I heard that Rex, who is engaged to the daughter of that house, has a second son who is associated with the notorious Daatro family.”

The Rex family?

Cynthia was shocked. Ludwig. There was no way his family could be related to the underworld forces that were talked about on the radio every day.

‘That’ proud Rex family.

They were the trophy that the Mergoville family had won and had almost absolute power in the legal world.

“There is also a rumor that the family businesses that the Rex family is in charge of are actually owned by ‘Don Becallone’, the head of that organization.”

Cynthia barely managed to keep her legs from giving way. Vivianne Mergoville, what did she know and to what extent?

“That can’t be! There must be some mistake. I’ll call Olivia right now.”

Olivia was Vivianne’s mother.

“I saw today that Cynthia seems to have found out the agent’s residence, so let’s move Vivianne to a safe place, and the families can talk about this slowly.”

“Mother!”

When Cynthia burst into the room, the eyes of the two adults turned to Cynthia.

Senator Eastwell’s face hardened, and his wife’s expression brightened.

“Cynthia, it’s good that you’re here. I don’t know how much you’ve heard, but you probably know roughly, so there’s no need for further explanation. Let’s call the Marchioness Mergoville.”

“…I don’t know anything.”

Cynthia pushed away her mother’s hand and rubbed her arm. She could tell intuitively. This was not child’s play.

It was not on the scale of her gaining an advantage in social gatherings.

A year from now, the Prime Minister will be re-elected. If the Prime Minister writes a list of people to take on the ‘ark’ at that time, there was no reason for the Eastwell family to stand out and be disliked.

Besides, she didn’t want to get involved with Daatro’s underworld forces even a little bit.

“But dear, this is about your friend. Olivia has been staying up for several nights worrying about her child, and as a parent, how can I turn a blind eye? You too…”

“Why are you so slow-witted, Mother?”

Despite her father’s scolding, Cynthia answered after a long silence.

“And that child is not my friend.”

It was the first time she had seen such a cold face, having only seen her daughter’s cute face.

Senator Eastwell, who knew that it was a self-portrait of himself with the blood of a politician flowing through him, closed his mouth.

Cynthia bowed to her father and turned to go to her room. Her father, who would have raised his voice at her for her bad manners under normal circumstances, did not stop her.

Returning to her room, Cynthia hurriedly opened the closet and took out an expensive men’s jacket.

It was the one that the problematic agent had thrown away, which she had bought from that backward clothing store after paying several times more than the original price.

Without a moment’s hesitation, she threw the jacket into the fireplace.

If she handed this over to the Criminal Intelligence Agency, she would become the Prime Minister’s dog, and if she returned it to the underworld forces, she would be no different from Mergoville.

Both options would create enemies.

The Prime Minister and the underworld forces are maintaining a precarious balance. If a cold war approaches between the two, the best option for a strong person who has grown appropriately is to maintain neutrality.

As the fire was about to go out miserably, Cynthia threw her perfume into the fireplace.

The color of the flames changed, and the fire that was devouring the coat grew in size.

Die, Vivianne Mergoville. Cynthia muttered inwardly as she watched it.

If you’re going to die, die alone.

❖ ❖ ❖

Wouldn’t the saying that you’re about to freeze to death be used in a situation like this?

Vivianne curled up in the blanket, covering her head.

Even with the blanket covering her, her arms were drawn to her chest, and the tips of her toes were numb. A chill ran down her spine every time the sheet brushed against her body.

Vivianne blinked her unblinking eyes in the darkness.

‘It’s cold.’

The firewood always runs out around this time of the early morning, and the fireplace goes out.

If it was something to get angry about that she only ate canned food, he should have at least taught her how to light the fireplace.

‘Or maybe that man is not delicate.’

In the end, Vivianne, unable to bear it any longer, got up and entered Edmund’s room without hesitation.

It was a space that she had looked at with endless excitement just a few hours ago. Now, emotions were secondary, and finding warmth was the priority. Fortunately, what greeted her was a familiar metal object on the table.

‘…A lighter.’

She could use it and put it back in its original place, and he wouldn’t know. The person who hasn’t returned so far wouldn’t suddenly open the door and barge in now.

Vivianne then looked around.

As she reached out her hand. The phone, which had never rung before, began to ring.

It was the receiver next to Edmund Colt’s bed.

Vivianne hesitated in front of the receiver for a long time. First of all, that’s not her family’s phone. In order to become a noble young lady that the sons of prestigious families aspire to, there must be no scandals.

Her marriage to a prestigious family was the last resort for the Mergoville family to maintain its dignity as aristocrats.

“…As my mother said, aren’t I the most precious asset of the Mergoville family?”

Her family would not want to escalate this matter. So even if they knew her location, they wouldn’t have called.

“I’m not as pathetic as Your Excellency thinks I am. The ones who really deserve pity are my family.”

“May I ask why?”

“Because they lost me.”

She hadn’t shown it yet, but her heart ached when she thought of those who had been left behind.

‘If it’s not family…’

Then Madison. Could it be her? Vivianne hovered in front of the receiver with sparkling eyes at the hope that had briefly flashed in her heart.

‘Because we promised to write letters. Because we promised to call if we came back.’

But who told Madison where she was? This was not her home, and she had not left any traces at Madison’s boarding house.

‘But if it’s her, she would have found me even now, as she did when we were young.’

Sitting on Edmund’s bed and anxiously watching the persistently ringing phone, Vivianne closed her eyes tightly and picked up the receiver as if possessed.

Her head knew that she shouldn’t do this. The other party could be another agent, Edmund’s business partner. It could be reporters. There were endless possibilities for other traps targeting her.

But right now, she desperately wanted someone to find her. It was cold, and her temporary protector was away from home. She wanted to hear someone’s voice. She wanted someone to be looking for her.

She didn’t breathe for a moment, and it seemed that the person on the other end of the receiver was the same. Only a stuffy silence settled in the cold room.

“Hello…?”

Madison?

It was an intonation as if calling her name. Vivianne fiddled with the phone cord for no reason.

-Oh God, good heavens. It’s you.

A voice that seemed to burst out as if exhaling came out of the receiver. Even her mother did not look for her with such a relieved voice.

Vivianne felt something welling up inside, but she tried to answer as if nothing was wrong.

“Mrs. Eastwell.”

She was a friend of her mother’s. Her father called the Eastwell family’s maternal relatives ‘rich upstarts who run a vineyard’, so that would be more accurate than saying they were her parents’ friends.

Anyway, it wasn’t Madison. Of course, it couldn’t be her.

Vivianne recalled the memory of when she and Madison had shared flower bracelets as a sign of being ‘best friends forever’ when they were young. Nothing was forever.

-…Madam, didn’t you say that you would only know in case of an emergency?

A third person’s voice was heard over the receiver.

-Miss Cynthia will really kill me if you do this. Besides, the senator will also think it’s an imprudent choice.

The Eastwell family’s servant who was appealing seemed to be the one who had told Mrs. Eastwell about her situation and location. Well. Cynthia wouldn’t have acted alone when she investigated.

If she couldn’t get information from her daughter, she would have persuaded her daughter’s bodyguard.

-Dear, are you safe and well?

It was a word with many things omitted. Vivianne’s heart warmed at the fact that there was someone who was worried about her.

“Yes.”

-Is there anyone around you?

“Madam.”

-Vivianne, listen to me carefully, I know everything, so you know? Can you talk?

“…”

Behind Mrs. Eastwell, there was a voice trying to stop her. Nevertheless, she did not directly stop her employer, and only a desperate plea was mixed in her voice.

“Yes.”

-That’s a relief. I heard that His Excellency the Prime Minister has a firm misunderstanding of the Mergoville family. So, I heard that he approached you with an agent from the Criminal Intelligence Agency, and if there’s any help.

“Madam.”

-…….

“I know.”

In the midst of the constant silence, Vivianne thought that it was fortunate that she was able to reconfirm the man’s identity in this way.

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