To the Man Destined to Kill Me - Chapter 42

Was there any point in discussing whether or not the man who killed her was really her sibling?

No matter how important that topic was, it wasn’t as important as the fact that she was going to die.

What mattered to her now was not “how to get revenge on Noah,” but that she had come up with a specific plan.

On the other hand, Noah was filled with a strange hope. He had spent the night awake, full of vague expectations, and faced Monday without sleep.

“Did you sleep well?”

When he swallowed his fatigue and went downstairs, Scarlett greeted him with a faint smile. It was rare for her to smile in the morning.

Noah, not realizing she might be smiling on purpose to lure him in, felt his heart flutter and rubbed his chest.

“Yeah. How about you?”

“I’m tired. Morning classes are too harsh for someone with low blood pressure. Here, the newspaper.”

“Is there a special article?”

“It’s for you. You always say you read the newspaper every day.”

Noah felt strange at Scarlett’s uncharacteristic kindness but answered her without suspicion.

“Ah… thank you.”

“What does it say?”

“…It says Mr. Aaron White got a huge secured loan from White Bank.”

“That’s nothing new. Aaron is expanding his business from the railroads into casinos. I wish he wouldn’t get involved in that kind of business, but what can you do? Aaron’s a born gambler. He enjoys risks and never listens even if we try to stop him. What else? Anything else?”

“And… it says, what will happen to Andrew White’s fortune if he becomes a priest…?”

“Ha. When he first said he wanted to become a priest, they called him crazy and said it was just a youthful whim. Now they treat him like a saint who gave up everything.”

“But a priest can still have personal property, right?”

“Yes. Andy’s fortune was properly inherited. And he’s planning to use that money to run a charity foundation. Aaron and Scott have already started handling things in Andy’s place. Everyone is so greedy for our family’s wealth. And?”

“And…”

[Scarlett White, nearing death. What will happen to her fortune after she dies?]

Noah closed the newspaper. Just reading the headline made him furious. His hand, still holding the newspaper, trembled. He wanted to find the journalist right away and tear him apart. Was this even worthy of being called an article?

“This newspaper is trash.”

“Why? Did they publish my obituary already?”

At her dry question, Noah’s eyes widened. Scarlett chuckled at his reaction.

“Norton Daily always says I’m close to death whenever they get bored. It’s because our family and the Nortons don’t get along. You know the Nortons, right? Norton Museum, Norton Chemicals.”

“I know. They’re a family that rivals the Whites.”

“Ha. Rivals? Did you even get any sleep? Why are you saying nonsense so early in the morning?”

“I thought the Nortons were pretty impressive.”

“We own mines, railroads, banks, arms manufacturing, even shipping! They only have art, education, chemicals, and newspapers!”

“Uh… That still sounds pretty impressive…”

“We have way more money! And they’re just stuck-up jerks who like to act refined. They always call us vulgar rich people. They spill out trash articles like this, yet act all high and mighty! Damn bastards.”

Scarlett, worked up, glared up and down at Noah, then suddenly got up and brought medicine from a drawer.

It wasn’t something to drink. Anyone could tell it was medicine for wounds. Noah asked worriedly.

“Did you get hurt?”

“You. Your hand is hurt.”

“Oh.”

It seemed he had gotten cut while roughly closing the newspaper. Blood welled up between the cut skin.

Scarlett sat next to Noah and took his hand. Her touch was soft against his rough skin.

She gently wiped the blood. Her breath was close. Every little thing, from the fine hairs on her skin to the faint blood vessels, was clearly visible. Her delicate breathing and long lashes felt strangely stimulating.

Noah felt his heart tighten.

“It doesn’t even hurt.”

“The Nortons are hoping my brothers will fight over my fortune once I’m dead.”

“You… you’re not going to die.”

His chest ached. It was hard to breathe. The thought of her dying—of Scarlett disappearing—was unbearable.

Not knowing that all this kindness and attention was just part of her revenge, Noah swallowed hard.

“I’m going to die. I know it. I won’t live long.”

A small amount of medicine stuck to her fingertip. She gently rubbed it onto Noah’s cut. The stinging pain wasn’t as sharp as the warm feeling where her fingers touched him.

“No.”

“If I’m lucky, maybe I’ll live past nineteen. But I won’t see my twentieth birthday.”

“No, you…”

He couldn’t finish the sentence because of the pain. Scarlett cupped his cheek with her hand that wasn’t holding the medicine.

“It’s okay. I’m okay.”

“I’m not okay.”

“You’re atoning by staying with me. Shhh. It’s okay.”

The corners of her eyes curled gently. There was no irritation or sadness—only resignation. And that made it even harder to bear. He wished she would hit him, curse him, anything.

Noah pulled his hand away from Scarlett and shot up, heading to his room. He couldn’t stay calm in front of her.

He buried his face in cold water, trying to cool down his emotions.

Left alone, Scarlett dug through the newspaper Noah hadn’t finished reading. After checking the article, she murmured,

“It’s nothing special…”

Scarlett was more important to Noah than anything else, so even going to Iodes didn’t bother him anymore.

The stares and whispers about him being an illegitimate child were things Noah was already used to. Besides, he was so worried about Scarlett now that he barely even heard the rumors about himself.

“Ah.”

What he was really bothered by wasn’t the gossip—it was a certain gaze that had been following him for days.

‘Someone keeps following me.’

His senses sharpened on their own. It could be a criminal group targeting Scarlett. Naturally, he stuck close to her and scanned the surroundings.

“What’s wrong?”

“Aren’t you cold?”

“I’m fine.”

He didn’t want to scare Scarlett. He wanted to handle the danger alone.

He stayed tense, trying to protect her. But Scarlett suddenly noticed someone in the distance and, without hesitation, moved away from Noah.

“Scarlett…”

When Noah saw who it was, he fell silent. It was Wilhelm.

He saw the bright smile bloom on Scarlett’s lips. It was different from how she smiled at him. Her smile shone with pure affection.

At that moment, Noah felt completely small and pathetic. Unable to bear it, he left the two and headed straight to the classroom.

But the gaze still followed him. Noah hid at the end of the hallway, trying to catch whoever it was. But—

“Damn it.”

The person had already noticed and disappeared. Instead, Noah saw Wilhelm and Scarlett coming into the building together, chatting happily.

It was like adding oil to a fire. Noah decided to leave before his jealousy exploded.

He didn’t want to act pathetic in front of the sick Scarlett. So he skipped class and went to the Records Room at the Wizards’ Association.

He looked through tons of records about wizard crimes, murders from twenty years ago, basic magic, magic to change eye color—everything he could find. He read every document he could get his hands on. Then he found something.

[A powerful wizard can cast permanent or semi-permanent illusions on their own body.]

‘This is it.’

After researching illusion magic, Noah rushed to the bathroom. He tried to cast illusion magic on his own eyes by looking into the mirror. But he failed again and again.

[Wizards who can use illusion magic are rarer than healers.]

He remembered that line from a book and decided to give up for today.

The important thing was that it was highly likely that his mother Julia’s eye color had been changed by illusion magic.
Then which color was the real one?

Was it the brown eyes he saw change before? But his blue eyes looked exactly like hers.

“Marie! Look at the shine and lace pattern properly. Isn’t it too tacky? Does it look okay?”

When Noah returned to the mansion late, he heard Scarlett’s voice from beyond the living room door. He opened the door quietly and gasped.

“…Scarlett?”

Scarlett was walking around the living room in a deep blue dress. Her hair was styled more carefully than usual, and she wore sparkling jewelry on her neck and ears. There were dozens of hats scattered on the floor.

“You’re finally back? Why are you later than me?”

“I had something to do. But… what’s all this?”

“I went to some shops with Wilhelm this afternoon. I was thinking about matching dress codes with him, but there were so many pretty dresses. Marie, this diamond feels too old-fashioned for me. Pearls would look better, but Susan’s wearing a pearl necklace. Hmm… Should I wear a tiara?”

The blue dress matched her red hair and gray eyes perfectly. Wearing the dress, she looked full of life, showing off a lively elegance.

She was like a fully bloomed rose. Noah felt like he couldn’t breathe from her beauty.

“What tiara?”

“The one I inherited from my mother. The one with the blue diamond in the middle.”

“It’ll go perfectly with the dress. Every young master at the party will have their eyes only on you.”

“Right. I hope I get a lot of dance invitations.”

Noah felt a strong wave of possessiveness. He wanted to lock her away so no one else could see her.

He wanted only himself to know her true beauty, so no one else could discover Scarlett’s real worth.

“…Marie, oh no! I forgot all the dance steps!”

Scarlett’s exaggerated cry snapped Noah out of his thoughts.

“If you go home this weekend and practice with Scott, you’ll remember everything.”

“No way. If Scott finds out, he’ll tease me for years.”

“Calm down. There’s still a week left before the party.”

“Only a week! I’d rather bite my tongue than embarrass myself by not knowing the steps. Oh, gosh…”

Scarlett slowly turned her head toward Noah. He felt like he was being sucked into her. Her gray eyes were filled with a heat that would never fade. She gave an order.

“Noah. Come here. Dance with me.”

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