I Have Become The Hero’s Rival - Chapter 49

Chapter 49

Translator: Kay

It would all be fine tomorrow. He would explain everything once morning came.

I continued to glance anxiously down the empty hallway where Felix had disappeared.

* * *

Felix had no choice but to accept that as long as he used magic, his stomach would churn, and his blood would flow backward.

‘It’s been a long time since I walked on my own feet.’

It was quite a distance to his room. He realized how extensive the new third mansion was. Even though he walked for quite a long time, he surprisingly wasn’t tired at all.

However, that was the only impression he had towards his new body, which undergone something close to a transformation. Instead, things got complicated because he couldn’t use magic at all.

He thought he would get it back in no time, but that wasn’t the problem.

It felt like something sticky and squishy was latching onto every strand of senses that could operate magic, forcing it to block the passageways.

If he ever forced himself to squeeze out the magic again, he wouldn’t be safe. The body warned him.

He didn’t know when he would be able to use magic again. Things outside his calculations were always complex. Most variables could be overlooked as they were replaceable.

But magic was…….

Felix aimlessly looked down at the wet blood on his palm with his unfocused eyes. In any case, he should re-examine and bypass the magic in his body and learn magic again by rediscovering it.

But he didn’t know how long it was going to take. Until then, he would have to hide like a dead man without being caught.

First of all, since he couldn’t hide the signs of magic, he would need somewhere else to hide other than the Chamberlain mansion.

‘Because I’m a dead man now.’

A dead man. He was living and breathing here but dead at the same time. That fact evoked a strange feeling which Felix found hard to express in words.

He, who lived in the sun, could no longer confidently show his face unless he was under the moonlight. It would be a lie to say that his existence didn’t matter to him anymore.

But by death, he became free. Felix was able to shake everything off now.

The empty loyalty of guarding meaningless things, along with the helplessness of being unable to protect truly precious things due to superficial honor.

The sun or the moon were just different forms of life. He fell to the bottom at his own will in order to protect everything at stake.

So no one would ever be hurt. Absolutely no one.

‘Including Irene……’

It was around the moment that Felix was thinking about it, the devil casually intervened into his mind.

–I thought only you lusted for her, but does she feel the same way?

Leraze spoke in a nonchalant voice. Felix swallowed a sigh and touched his forehead.

“I already told you to refrain from vulgar language.”

Due to the disturbance in his mind, his patience was already reaching the point of exhaustion.

He wondered if he could continue to endure it in the future. He just hoped that there would be no self-destruction with the power of the devil.

“There’s no way she’s interested in me like that. Irene cares about me. In the same sense as Chloe.”

–You don’t think I can tell? It’s not like that. She seemed a little shaken up. She didn’t seem to be aware of it either.

“Please stop now. There’s a limit to my patience.”

Felix said sternly, speaking as if Leraze was the most corrupted of all.

What on earth would the devil, who claimed that true love came from physical relationships, know about Irene?

He ripped out his pent-up desire and forced it onto her against her will, and now he insulted her with shameful words.

–No, what the hell?

Leraze, who had strong self-esteem, felt unfairly treated.

Hey, he was the devil of love and pleasure.

– I can’t be wrong. I don’t know who the hell you think I am. I’m the devil, Leraze…….

“You’re just a fragment.”

–Fragment……. Have you finished talking now?

It was part of the devil’s power and a fragment of the soul that settled in Felix’s body.

In fact, there was little to say even if it was called a fragment, but it was the power engraved in “Leraze’s bow,” a weapon and alter ego that symbolized Leraze.

The devil, which took extraordinary pride in being a part of the great devils, felt very displeased.

Who was Leraze? There was no better devil than Leraze, who deserved the title as a ‘devil’.

He was the marquis who commanded hundreds of demon legions and was more cruel, beautiful, and ruthless than anyone else.

Additionally, he was an eloquent speaker and a master of unsettling people’s inner thoughts and playing with their hearts at will.

With the bow of judgment, the war and struggle would be lead to victory, and the devil’s charm would lead to pleasures in love.

Of course, this was a story of his main body.

Part of the soul engraved into the bow received a portion of the total power Leraze had. But unfortunately, only one aspect fell less, at that was eloquence.

–Where are your eyes? That woman couldn’t take her eyes off your body.

They were both looking through the same eyes, and yet, he couldn’t see it. The power of the devil could only lament at his unperceptiveness.

“She couldn’t take her eyes off my shoulder due to the big wound.”

–You little prick. It’s not that, it’s the masterpiece of my modification.

It was simply modeled after Leraze’s body. A demon’s body that was optimized to seduce and stimulate desire easily.

No matter how hard one diligently trained, they would never gain such perfect body proportions unless they were born with it. Meanwhile, this guy wasn’t even aware of it, let alone used it.

The power of the devil had already grasped Felix’s temper and knew that he had no intentions of expressing gratitude.

“You did something useless. It’s uncomfortable because the clothes are tight.”

But it was too much to be dissatisfied with what he had already done.

The power of the devil decided to make a suggestion.

–Look in the mirror.

“I don’t know why I should, but I’m afraid you won’t hear what you expected.”

–You’re a human being and yet you act like an unlucky angel. A normal human being would have bowed to the devil by now.

Many eagerly coveted the opportunity to have their souls devoured.

To be given meaningless power or physical ability that transcended human limits – it was ultimately all to mislead oneself. To somehow corrupt them.

Felix unreservedly ceased to answer back at that point.

He walked forward with an indifferent expression, however, the devil’s words broke his composure.

–Do you really not care how Irene saw your body?

At those words, Felix stopped walking.

“Even if Irene had such a thought, it’s not something you can speak about so casually.”

–…….

“Don’t ever insult her again. I’m not going to stand still.”

In fact, Irene wasn’t aware of how much effort he had put into loosening her guard to this extent.

Irene always stiffened her body whenever she saw an adult man her age.

Outwardly, she seemed to be frighteningly angry or dismissive of her opponent, but Felix saw the anxiety contained in it. There must have had some form of trauma.

Felix recalled her biological father, Viscount Amber. He heard that man tried to sell his daughter for a few pennies due to debt.

It was a ruined family that managed a few villages on the outskirts of the countryside.

In a situation where he could not afford the tax, he even started a hopeless business, and debt was even drawn from a financial institution in the City of Chaos.

The amount of suffering she experienced during the period and how many things got exploited must have been difficult.

Irene must have been in for a rough ride because there was no value in seizing the estate.

If Claudia hadn’t really saved her by chance, he didn’t know how many cruel tragedies she might have suffered.

That was why he wanted to treat her gentler and more preciously. So that she wouldn’t get hurt by inadvertent small actions or careless comments.

Even if it took a long time, it was fine. It didn’t matter if it took years or decades.

He didn’t want to express his feelings to Irene, nor did he want her to know. He only wanted her to be happy here forever, without getting hurt.

“Haa…….”

With a short sigh, Felix quickened his pace. His blood-soaked, chapped lips were unnecessarily colored.

The fragment of the devil, Leraze, thought he knew why this bastard was feeling sympathetic.

But at the very same time, he felt at a loss.