To the Man Destined to Kill Me - Chapter 100

“What are you talking about?”

“Isn’t Uncle a wizard? He’s a wizard, right?”

Teddy tilted his head and chuckled. His innocent laugh was free of any hint of mischief.

Noah asked Teddy, who was playing with his feet while hanging from the door handle.

“Why do you think I’m a wizard?”

“Uhm…”

Teddy avoided answering by pretending he didn’t hear the question and messing around.

A skilled wizard could instantly recognize another wizard. But Noah didn’t think a child, especially a child from the White family, would have that ability.

“Yeah. Teddy, why do you think so?”

The child simply giggled, showing a little bit of childishness between his bright smile. As he twisted his body, it was clear that he was feeling shy in front of Noah.

“I don’t know.”

“Did you just guess?”

“Yeah. Are you a wizard too?”

“Mm.”

Noah thought about how to stop the child’s chatter.

Threats or scolding wouldn’t work. A scared child would just cry and tell everything to his father.

There was a better way. Noah imitated a cheerful voice and spoke.

“This is a secret, but actually, I’m playing hide-and-seek. I’m hiding the fact that I’m a wizard. So, can you pretend you don’t know? It would be troublesome if the seeker finds me.”

“Hide-and-seek?”

Teddy’s eyes sparkled like jewels, and his cheeks, which were drying from sweat, turned as red as an apple.

The child skipped over and naturally approached Noah.

“Yeah. I’m playing hide-and-seek.”

“Yay! I want to play too! Can I?”

As the child came closer, Noah could see his appearance more clearly.

Teddy White didn’t look much like Scott. It was hard to find traces of Scott’s cool atmosphere or his ancient, god-like features.

Instead, Teddy resembled Scarlett a lot. Just like his cousin Isaac.

“I can’t believe it.”

It seemed like all the children in the White family had to resemble Scarlett.

Noah gave up inspecting Teddy any further and closed his eyes tightly.

Somehow, he felt like he recognized the child’s face. But he couldn’t immediately remember who he looked like.

Thinking it might be someone like Aaron White or John White, Noah answered Teddy’s persistent questions.

“Yeah, let’s play. We can’t let anyone find out I’m a wizard except for family. Simple, right?”

“Mm. Okay! But hey, is Uncle Teddy’s dad?”

“Ah… dad?”

“Yeah.”

What was that about? Isn’t Teddy’s dad Scott White?

“Isaac said Teddy’s dad must be a wizard!”

There is no wizard bloodline in the White family. So, for Scott’s wife—Teddy’s mother—to be a wizard, that would make sense. But saying that the father is a wizard…

Noah dismissed the confusion and chalked it up to the child’s nonsense.

Teddy White was only five years old. What would a child that young possibly know?

“Is Uncle Teddy your dad?”

“No.”

Teddy, pouting, looked disappointed and rolled around in the spot where Scarlett had just been sitting. The child fiddled with his hands and scratched the leather of the couch.

“Teddy wants a dad.”

“Does your dad not play with you much?”

“Isaac goes out to play every day except with me. Uncle Ronny smells like cigarettes. I want to swing on a swing and ride a pony with dad.”

“Doesn’t Scott play with you?”

At this, Teddy looked at Noah with a puzzled expression. To him, it seemed strange that Noah would call his uncle Scott his dad.

“Isaac borrowed my piggy bank and hasn’t paid it back. What if he doesn’t? I was going to buy a birthday gift with that. Oh, whose birthday gift is it for…”

While Noah listened to Teddy’s rambling, Scarlett appeared from behind the door. When she saw Teddy, her eyes widened in surprise, and she greeted him.

“Teddy!”

“Carlyyyyy.”

Teddy jumped up and ran to Scarlett, clinging to her skirt and rubbing his face against it.

Scarlett wiped Teddy’s sweat-soaked face with a handkerchief.

She glanced at Noah, who was disguised, and naturally wrapped her arms around the child, guiding him out into the hallway. Teddy disappeared behind Scarlett, hiding from view.

“Carly, let’s play. I’m bored.”

Noah silently repeated the child’s name.

Carly, Carly. And Scarlett.

My Scarlett. No, Scarlett who used to be mine.

Scarlett White, whom I dearly loved back then, and still do, deeply.

“Alright. Wait just a bit. By the way, when are you going to stop calling me Carly?”

Scarlett removed a strand of hair that had stuck to Teddy’s cheek.

The child, who had been running around the house since morning and was drenched in sweat, still had enough energy to beg her to play. At times like these, Scarlett could feel the absence of her father.

She didn’t have the stamina or health to play enough to wear herself out.

“I heard that you call someone important by a nickname. Hmph, I’m going! I’ll play with Coco!”

Ignoring her mother’s words about not running in the hallway, Teddy dashed out like an excited puppy toward the garden. Scarlett watched him disappear into the hallway and then returned to her workshop.

“I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s fine.”

“Let’s stop here for today. You’ll come again next time, right?”

“Of course.”

It was a bit sad that it was already time to leave.

Today, Scarlett hadn’t recognized him. She had left the payment for the goods with Marie, and Noah watched Scarlett’s back as she walked toward the garden to play with Teddy.

That sight, as she disappeared, felt like a mirage fading away, and it made him feel melancholic.

It was purely by chance that Noah found Andrew at the café near the intersection in front of the mansion.

He remembered seeing Andrew working in the garden during his last visit and thought he might be the gardener of the White mansion.

Noah dispelled his illusion magic, which had made him look like Peter, and approached Andrew.

When Andrew had saved Noah from almost being hit by a carriage, he had seen Noah’s real face.

“You’re Jack, right?”

Andrew had introduced himself as Jack before. And Noah had introduced himself as Peter in turn.

“Peter, it’s you!”

Andrew greeted Noah warmly.

“How are you feeling? I was really worried.”

“I’m fine now. I didn’t get a chance to thank you back then, but I was really grateful.”

“Oh, don’t mention it. Sit down. Do you want some tea? Coffee?”

“I just had some.”

Noah ordered water from the waiter, and Andrew sipped his coffee while glancing at Noah.

At first glance, it seemed like Andrew was just checking his health, but his subtly stiff smile and frozen gaze revealed that he was wary of Noah.

However, Noah, still lost in thoughts about Scarlett, didn’t notice this small change in Andrew.

“Are you working nearby?”

“I had some business nearby. What brings you here, Jack?”

“I come here when I need to clear my thoughts. The coffee here is really good. You’ll be satisfied no matter what you order.”

Andrew carefully studied Noah.

His deep eyes, elegant eye corners, smooth nose, and lips—at first, they didn’t seem to resemble anyone. But upon closer inspection, there were some similarities with Teddy.

He swallowed a quiet sigh. What had changed for Scarlett to have a child with Noah Ashford? In his previous life, it was Noah Ashford who had killed Scarlett.

As Andrew’s expression grew more complicated, Noah spoke, concerned.

“Jack, you don’t look well.”

“Oh. It’s nothing. I haven’t been sleeping well.”

“Insomnia?”

“No. Just some nightmares.”

“Nightmares? That’s interesting. I have nightmares every night too.”

Noah drank the water brought by the waiter. As it settled in his chest, he felt a bit calmer. Even so, he was still lost in thoughts about Scarlett.

Andrew politely asked, “Really? What kind of nightmares?”

The nightmare where Scarlett smiles at another man.

Noah swallowed the words that were about to come out and simply shook his head, saying it was nothing.

“Just… just nightmares. Terrible, but nothing special.”

“I see. Well, that’s how nightmares are.”

An awkward silence fell between them. If it was awkward, neither of them noticed, lost in their own thoughts.

“I have them too.”

Andrew slowly started speaking. He glanced at Noah.

“I dream about my brothers falling into ruin.”

“That’s horrible.”

Noah replied in a tone with no emotion, just a mechanical response.

“And many young men dying.”

“Sounds like a war happened.”

“I lived in a war-torn area.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

Although it was from a past life, for Andrew, it felt as vivid as if it had happened yesterday.

The trees grew by drinking blood, and the flowers bloomed red like blood. The stars in the sky flowed like the Milky Way, but what soaked the ground was the bloodlust of killing and death.

Andrew found that place, in the midst of his brothers’ crimes, unbearably horrible. He had often fallen asleep to the groans of the wounded, and he spent countless sleepless nights mourning the lives of those dying in agony.

“Do you know why wars happen?”

“Well, wars usually happen because of competition for resources.”

“The start of it all is because there is no love.”

“That sounds like something a priest would say.”

“I once wanted to become a priest.”

If only his brothers had forgiven Noah Ashford for his past sins, then maybe Scarlett wouldn’t have fallen into his arms. This tragic cycle could have been avoided.

If Noah had forgiven the brothers who killed his mother.

If he had forgiven Julia Ashford, who took his father and destroyed their family.

If that had happened, such a tragedy would not have occurred. Such destruction would have ended as an illusion. But because this is a hypothetical situation, it is nothing more than an empty echo.

“Love. That’s a vague word, isn’t it?”

“Do you have someone you love?”

“…Yes, I loved a woman to death.”

When Noah spoke of love, he seemed as longing as a bird without wings, missing the sky. He continued, speaking with self-mockery.

“But love… that kind of emotion isn’t that important. No, what’s really important is revenge.”

“Revenge?”

Noah shrugged his shoulders.

“Everyone has one or two grudges they carry, don’t they?”

Andrew’s grip on his coffee cup tightened. He quickly drank the remaining coffee and wiped his mouth with his tongue, feeling the bitterness lingering.

His grudge was clearly aimed at the White family. In this life, Julia Ashford was murdered again, and John used his power to clear Scott from the list of suspects.

But there was something different. That was the presence of Teddy.

‘But Noah Ashford doesn’t know. He doesn’t know about Teddy, nor that Scarlett is alive.’

Just as Noah Ashford killed Scarlett in his past life for the revenge of his mother, if he tries to touch the White family for revenge in this life, Teddy might be the one to stop him.

But Andrew didn’t want to use his young nephew. A child should be protected, not dragged into the adults’ matters.

Sigh, in the end, what I can do is already decided.

With a complicated heart, Andrew prayed. His prayer had been the same for six years.

“God, please do not lead me into temptation and show mercy upon me…”

Rather than witnessing another war, he wished to stain his own soul and end it all. That had been his mission for the past six years.

Support