Becoming the Villain’s Family

Side Story 8

‘I want to kill him…’

What? I have to do more?

Who decided that?

Sabina clenched her fist and trembled.

‘I’ve only known him for a short time, and he’s saying such things.’

He must have looked down on her.

Either that or he was a frivolous man who could say such things to a woman he had just met.

But she couldn’t punch the Grand Prince.

Because she was in a position to be sold off.

“You look like you want to kill me.”

A remark that pierced right through her thoughts.

Sabina looked up at Tristan in surprise.

And she was even more shocked to see a faint smile on his lips.

Is he insane?

“Are you not used to this treatment?”

“…”

“You don’t seem to have any intention of adapting to your situation either.”

“You…”

Sabina barely swallowed her rising curse.

‘Until now, I’ve been able to treat the Grand Prince disrespectfully because I didn’t know who he was.’

Now that she knew he was the Grand Prince, her situation had changed.

Though they were soon to be married, Sabina was still an illegitimate child of a Count’s family.

Illegitimate children cannot enter high society, and their names aren’t even recognized by their families.

They cannot be buried in the family tomb even after death.

But the person she was facing was someone so high-ranking that she would have never seen him in her life if he hadn’t become her husband.

‘It seems like he knows that I’ve just found out who he really is.’

At first, he must have let her speak freely because he found it amusing that she didn’t know who he was.

But now it’s different. If he has any pride, he won’t tolerate any more rudeness.

Sabina swallowed her anger.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t have the luxury of finding a new bride. You’ll have to get used to it.”

It was a blatant objectification.

It didn’t matter who she was, just give birth to a child and die…

She tried her best to suppress her anger and put on a nonchalant expression.

And she opened her mouth with a calm voice.

“You mean I should quickly get used to it and produce an heir?”

“That’s the idea.”

“You don’t have the luxury of finding a new bride, so you have no intention of letting me go.”

Tristan gave a deep smile.

It was an affirmation.

“You have a hand that’s held a sword before.”

When was that?

Sabina frowned deeply.

It was because she remembered when Tristan escorted her and brushed the callus on her palm.

Just as people who study develop a callus on their middle finger, people who hold a sword also have a unique callus.

He had noticed it like a ghost.

“Let me give you some advice before we arrive at the Grand Palace.”

His indifferent gaze met Sabina’s.

The black eyes that confronted her were like a pit that no light could enter.

So deep that it seemed impossible to see what was at the bottom, they were simply dark.

“Give up. Your dreams, your life, your future, your talents, your possibilities, everything.”

“…”

“Valentine is such a place.”

Submit and surrender. Then, it’ll get easier.

“I promise you the most luxurious, splendid, and peaceful death.”

Tristan whispered like a seductive demon.

He seemed eager to grant her wishes, even if she wanted to bathe in diamonds.

As long as she obediently accepted her fate as a sacrifice.

‘Yeah, I expected that.’

In fact, Sabina might have had a little hope.

When she was beating up Gary, who had insulted her, Tristan smiled at her.

He said he was willing to help her directly.

Perhaps Valentine was not as notorious as its reputation, and maybe it had a little humane side.

If she explained her situation, maybe he would pity her and let her go.

Maybe, they could become friends who could talk and understand each other…

It was a foolish expectation.

‘He must have heard my conversation with Gary, so he can guess how I lived in such an environment.’

But this man had no interest.

He was only telling her to die as befits a sacrifice since she was sold as one.

Valentine, the notorious demon, was just as she had heard in the rumors.

‘I expected this, didn’t I?’

How could her situation now be different from when she was oppressed in her family…

‘Everyone is begging me to die, even a demon I just met.’

At that moment, she gave up the stupid idea of asking for mercy from a demon.

“Alright, I understand.”

Sabina obediently answered in a low voice.

“It’s a relief that you’re quick to understand.”

Tristan, wearing a fake smile, closed his eyes as if there was nothing more to say.

He wanted to surrender his body to the intoxication and sleep like a dead man.

“Tristan Valentine.”

If only she hadn’t suddenly opened the carriage door.

It was when the carriage had just entered the Ingo mountain range.

Tristan frowned slightly with a drowsy face.

“…What are you doing?”

Inside the running carriage, Sabina opened the door and turned her head.

A fierce cold wind blew in, and her long hair fluttered roughly.

“Listen carefully.”

Something hot and shining began to gather in Sabina’s eyes.

A dynamic and powerful flame, as if it could swallow everything around it.

“No matter what, Valentine cannot destroy my soul.”

She said it fiercely.

Emphasizing every word.

“I’ll do whatever it takes to make you give up on me.”

It was a confident declaration.

For a moment, Tristan couldn’t take his eyes off her.

Her red eyes, which he had thought were just an unusual color, felt hot and burning like fire.

It was a star.

A star that burns its body and shines more brilliantly than ever before, just before breaking.

Knowing its destiny to shatter but still burning its life to shine brighter.

A strong vitality that he had never seen before…

“By any means?”

“Even if it means killing you.”

Sabina coldly replied and jumped off the carriage.

From inside the running carriage.

“…!”

Startled, Tristan reached out his hand.

But due to his drunkenness, he couldn’t focus and grasped at the air.

Sabina jumped out of the carriage, rolling roughly on the ground as she landed.

However, she wasn’t seriously hurt.

The carriage was moving slowly, and the damp ground was covered with fallen leaves.

“Are you thinking of running away?”

Tristan, who had immediately stopped the carriage, asked with a baffled tone.

It was impossible to escape from Valentine’s grasp, which could even bring down a flying bird.

Sabina knew that all too well.

“I will.”

“……”

“I’ll run away and fight again until you realize that finding a new bride is an easier path.”

Sabina knew that if Valentine was determined, he would find her even if she fled abroad.

Jumping out of the carriage was her resolution.

She was determined to never let things go his way, even if it meant burning her own body.

“You should be the one to give up.”

Sabina said as she showed the sword in her hand.

It was the old, stained sword that Tristan always kept by his side.

‘When did she…’

He groped his waist and slowly raised his head.

Sabina had already turned her back to him.

The drunken haze in his head cleared, and he soon sobered up.

Tristan suddenly wanted to touch her eyes, which had been burning like flames.

More precisely, he wanted to grasp her soul reflected in her eyes.

To prevent her from running away, to extinguish the fire, and to bring her down completely.

It was a destructively overwhelming desire.

‘Have I ever coveted anything other than death?’

No, he hadn’t.

But now, Tristan wanted to ruin her completely.

He wanted to show her that there was something worse than hitting rock bottom.

‘The saying “bad taste” isn’t wrong.’

Seeing her, so full of life, made him want to drag her down to his level, his insides boiling and twisting.

He twisted his lips.

“I just decided I want to be with you until death, no matter what it takes.”

“You crazy bastard…”

Sabina, who had stopped in her tracks, muttered with a genuinely contemptuous voice.

Tristan laughed as if he found it amusing.

‘Being insulted and enjoying it.’

She thought she had encountered quite a madman.

Sabina had no choice but to turn her head.

And the moment their eyes met, she realized.

‘No, he’s really insane…’

It wasn’t a phrase meant to insult the other person. It was truly the look in the eyes of a madman.

It wasn’t that they were so deep that one couldn’t see inside.

It was because those eyes were shattered and broken in every aspect that made up a human: basic emotions, reason, ethics, and soul.

“If you’re going to kill me, make it as painful as possible.”

She had to defeat him somehow.

He was an opponent incomparable to the Valois family.

In terms of power, wealth, and madness…

Sabina burned with the desire to break his will somehow, but at the same time, she felt suffocated by the enormity of the task.

“Is Your Highness safe… Huh? Where did you go?”

Tristan, who had gone to fetch the bride, returned riding the carriage alone.

Dwayne asked with a confused look.

“I dropped her off in the mountains.”

“…Pardon?”

He doubted his own ears.

“She wanted to get off there.”

“Are you joking?”

“Isn’t it funny?”

“It’s not funny at all!”

“It’s not a joke. I found it amusing.”

It would become even more amusing.

Tristan took a cigarette from his pocket and put it in his mouth.

Dwayne was momentarily baffled by his master’s temperament.

‘Ah, well. Saying it’s not a joke must be a joke.’

No matter how reckless he was, he believed that he wouldn’t be so inhumane as to torment his future bride to the point of death (?).

Then where on earth had the young lady Valois gone?

“I’ve made arrangements for her to return safely, so don’t look at me like that.”

“Ah, I see. You’ve been considerate, allowing her to enjoy a walk on her own?”

Dwayne hoped it was the case and lit the end of the cigarette.

Smoke rose.

“Sigh…”

Tristan took a deep draw of the scent of death and slowly exhaled.

He hadn’t known Sabina for long, but he thought he could roughly understand what kind of person she was.

She was definitely not the type to calmly accept death, like someone with a terminal illness.

‘She shone more brilliantly than anyone else and had a burning, fiery vitality.’

Had she not been involved with Valentine, her future would undoubtedly have resembled the sun.

A natural smile formed at the corners of his mouth.

It was enjoyable just to imagine what he would have to do to extinguish such a glaring, irritating light.

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