When the Villains Unite - Chapter 15: Trace (4)

He looked at me silently. His eyes, slightly unfocused from intoxication, and his disheveled knight’s uniform gave him an air I wasn’t used to. There was a ruggedness to him, reminiscent of the night he had cursed in frustration, though tonight the influence of alcohol added a strangely sensual quality to his presence.

As our gazes met, it felt as though time had stopped. We simply stared at each other, locked in a silent exchange.

Questions filled my throat, almost spilling out: Where were you, and who were you drinking with? Why have you been coming home so late? Are you eating properly? But after that day, it felt impossible to ask such things casually.

We had unresolved issues between us—problems that couldn’t be ignored. And to move forward, we would need to unravel the complicated emotions left in the wake of that day.

So I swallowed my questions, unsure what to say to him after such a long time.

But my thoughts were abruptly interrupted when Damian suddenly smiled.

The stoic expression I had been struggling to maintain faltered in the face of his unexpected grin.

His smile was dazzling, as if he were the moon itself, shining brightly in the dark night to enchant anyone who looked. It wasn’t forced or artificial—he looked genuinely happy. Yet something about it set off alarms in my head, warning me to escape.

As I stood frozen, unsure how to react, Damian closed the distance between us with long strides, his legs moving with an almost predatory grace. By the time he stopped directly in front of me, it was far too late to retreat.

“You’re not crying tonight,” he said softly.

“Impressive.”

His eyes crinkled in amusement as he leaned down and brushed my hair with his large hand, as if he were petting a dog.

For a moment, it felt like our roles had reversed. Was that just my imagination?

The unexpected gesture left me stunned, and I stared at him blankly, unable to move or reprimand him for his behavior. I simply stood there, frozen, staring up at him in silence.

The strong smell of alcohol coming off him finally made me realize—Damian was drunk and, worse, letting it show. I took a step back, snapping myself out of the strange trance I had almost fallen into.

If we ever drank together, I was always the lightweight, so I’d never seen Belhark or Damian truly drunk before. But now I couldn’t help but wonder—was Damian the type to behave like this, spilling his emotions all over the place?

“You’re drunk. Go to bed,” I said, my voice firm.

You won’t even remember this tomorrow, I thought bitterly.

To my irritation, he just responded with a careless laugh.

“Yeah, let’s sleep together.”

The unexpected suggestion left me momentarily speechless.

Sleep together? Right now? Is he out of his mind?

From the outside, he seemed composed enough that it was hard to believe he was so far gone he couldn’t discern reality from nonsense.

I shook my head, refusing to entertain his drunken request, and began heading back up the stairs.

But before I could take another step, Damian scooped me up in one swift motion, throwing my entire world off balance as my vision spun.

When I regained my bearings, I realized I was slung over his shoulder, staring at the broad expanse of his back.

“What the—what are you doing?!” I shouted, struggling in disbelief.

Damian didn’t answer. He didn’t even acknowledge my protests, instead steadily ascending the stairs as if my words were falling on deaf ears.

It didn’t take long to figure out where he was taking me. His steps carried us toward his room.

I couldn’t tell if he really just meant for us to “sleep” or if there was some other implication behind his words, but either way, this situation was entirely unwelcome.

I pounded on his back, demanding he put me down, but it was useless. His grip was unyielding, and he carried on as if I weighed nothing.

Finally, we reached his room. The door swung open, and before I could even process what was happening, Damian threw me onto his bed.

The mattress bounced beneath me, sending my body briefly into the air before settling back down.

“Ugh…”

Thrown onto the bed without warning, I tried to scramble upright, but Damian didn’t give me the chance. He grabbed my ankle with one hand and pushed my shoulder back down with the other, forcing me to lie down again.

The playful drunkenness that had been on his face earlier was gone, replaced by an expressionless mask as he loomed over me. His gaze was steady, his movements calm, but the weight of his presence was suffocating.

No matter how much I struggled, his strength was overwhelming, and I couldn’t shake him off. Exhausted, I half-gave up, choosing instead to watch and see what he would do next.

To my surprise, he didn’t escalate. He simply held my gaze as his hand softly brushed against my left ankle.

I don’t know how much time passed as he quietly lingered in that position, but then, his voice broke the silence.

“Should I just lock you up?”

“…What?”

I froze as his grip on my ankle tightened, a dull ache beginning to radiate from where his hand clenched.

The pain made my legs tremble slightly, but what terrified me more was the pure obsession underlying his words. It was unnervingly reminiscent of the Damian from the original story—the one who had abducted Aria and nearly severed her ankle.

Of course, that incident had been resolved by the crown prince’s intervention in the original plot.

Right now, though, Damian’s expression was eerily tranquil. His face showed no anger or malice, only a calmness that should have been reassuring. Instead, it was made unsettling by the faint flicker of madness in his golden eyes.

No. This isn’t the same.

I clung to the belief that Damian wouldn’t hurt me like the character in the original story, but the atmosphere he exuded now was so unfamiliar that an inexplicable fear began creeping up on me.

“L-let go…! You’re not thinking straight!” I shouted, my voice shaking, my face drained of color.

At my outburst, his blank expression melted into a soft smile, almost tender.

“I’ll let go if…”

“…….”

“Then will you lock me up instead, Sis?”

Damian’s words froze me in place, my face a mixture of shock and confusion. He gazed at me for a long moment before finally releasing my ankle, his hand moving away slowly, almost reluctantly.

But just as I felt a small measure of relief, his hand drifted upward toward my face. Instinctively, I shut my eyes, bracing myself for what might come—but nothing did.

Tentatively, I opened my eyes to see him gently tracing the outline of my face with his fingertips. His touch was so light it barely grazed the fine hairs on my skin, and the faint tickle made my eyelids quiver.

When his gaze lingered on my lips for an uncomfortably long time, he suddenly collapsed, letting his weight settle on me. The unexpected heaviness made it hard to breathe.

But even more suffocating than his physical weight were the words that followed.

“…I think that’s the only way I’ll survive.”

“…What?”

Why was he saying such things?

I wanted to question him, to make sense of his strange, cryptic words. But instead, all I could manage was a weak protest.

What does that even mean? That you’ll die if I don’t keep you close?

“Damian, get up. Let’s talk about this properly,” I urged, my voice steady despite the turmoil inside.

But he didn’t respond.

“Damian?”

I called his name again, but he remained motionless, his head resting on my shoulder.

Was he seriously asleep after stirring my heart into chaos with all that talk about life and death?

“Hah… Unbelievable,” I muttered under my breath.

Shaking my head, I shoved his shoulder firmly, rolling him onto his back. His peacefully closed eyes and the slow, rhythmic rise and fall of his chest confirmed that he was, indeed, sound asleep.

I let myself get all worked up over a drunk… I’m the real fool here.

I sighed deeply, staring at his completely unconscious form.

After a moment, I begrudgingly began to make him more comfortable. I removed his jacket, unbuttoned a few of his shirt buttons to ease his breathing, and slipped off his shoes. Finally, I pulled a blanket over him.

Only once I was sure he wouldn’t wake up cold or uncomfortable did I leave his room.

The moment I stepped out, I let out another heavy sigh.

The weight in my chest hadn’t lessened; if anything, it had grown heavier. I couldn’t deny that I was partially responsible for why Damian had drunk himself into such a state.

And it wasn’t just Damian. Belhark, too, had been pushing himself relentlessly since that day, working to the point of exhaustion.

I couldn’t help but feel that if this silence dragged on any longer, it might take someone breaking completely—physically or emotionally—for it to finally end.

Deep down, I already knew it. I couldn’t keep avoiding them forever. The time had come to face them, whether I was ready or not.

The next morning, I stepped out of my room earlier than usual for the first time in weeks.

The confrontation with Damian the night before had left me with too many thoughts, and I hadn’t been able to sleep at all.

By the time I left my room, I felt like a half-conscious zombie, my mind foggy and my body sluggish.

At 8 a.m., I made my way to the first floor, timing it so I’d catch the brothers as they left for work. Pressing my fingers to my temples to ward off the haze creeping over me, I waited for them.

As expected, the Orca brothers descended one after the other.

Seeing them only made me sigh.

It had been so long since I’d seen them eat breakfast properly that their routine of heading straight out the door seemed second nature by now.

But what caught my attention was their sharp, battle-ready expressions. Their gazes were fierce, their entire demeanor radiating an aura of tension. Anyone who didn’t know them might think they were heading into a fight rather than a day’s work.

The dark energy surrounding them was palpable—intimidating enough to leave a lasting impression on anyone who crossed their path.

‘I wonder if Damian remembers what happened last night.’

Judging by how he was acting now, it didn’t seem like it.

Sure enough, when Damian noticed me standing at the bottom of the stairs, he froze. His gaze darted around nervously, as if he was avoiding looking directly at me. The confident, almost brazen attitude from last night had completely disappeared, and now he acted like someone seeing me for the first time in weeks.

“……”

Both brothers seemed to ease their previously sharp aura slightly upon noticing me. But even with the tension lightened, the servants on the first floor remained stiff, bowing their heads deeply as if avoiding the brothers’ gazes altogether.

The reactions of the staff made it obvious that this oppressive atmosphere wasn’t a one-time thing. The Orca brothers had been exuding this stormy presence for a while now.

It was clear I needed to take the first step—for everyone’s sake.

“Clear your schedules for tonight. I have something to say.”

My voice came out hoarse and cracked from staying up all night, which made me wince. I cleared my throat and finished delivering my message.

Though my words were abrupt, neither of them voiced any objection. However, their expressions were peculiar—difficult to read and unfamiliar.

Had I ever seen the Orca brothers make such faces before? They looked uneasy, almost like people standing on the edge of a cliff, unsure of their footing.

“See you later,” I said, turning and heading back up the stairs.

I could feel their gazes following me, heavy and lingering, but I didn’t stop walking.

Even though the time to talk had come sooner than I had hoped, I knew it was better to end this uncertain tension now rather than let it drag on. After all, I was the one who had delayed it this long, trying to prepare myself.

‘Still… their expressions are unsettling.’

Worst-case scenarios always came to mind for both them and me. That much, we had in common.

I could only hope they wouldn’t spend the entire day overthinking things. That burden wasn’t theirs to carry—it was mine.

“Ugh… What is this?”

My reflection in the vanity mirror stared back at me, eyes bloodshot and red as a rabbit’s.

I guess I still can’t pull all-nighters, no matter the world.

Back when I was a university student in my previous life, staying up to study always left me with irritated, red eyes the next morning. It seemed some things never changed.

Thinking back to how Belhark and Damian had stiffened when they saw me earlier, I could understand their reaction now.

Looking at myself in the mirror, I couldn’t help but think I resembled a ghost with a tragic backstory.

Maybe a nap will fix this.

Hoping to look a bit more presentable before they arrived, I crawled back into bed, pulling the blanket over my head. Sleep came quickly, exhaustion washing over me like a tide.

When I woke up, the room was already dark.

Glancing out the window at the night sky, I grabbed the clock on my nightstand. It was already 8 p.m.—far later than I had intended to wake up.

I had only planned to sleep for five hours, but it seemed my exhaustion had knocked me out completely. While my body felt refreshed, I couldn’t ignore the fact that today was the day I was supposed to confront the Orca brothers.

Hurriedly, I sat up and ran my fingers through my hair to make myself somewhat presentable.

But just as I was about to get out of bed, I felt it.

A gaze.

Someone was watching me.

Turning my head toward the source of the sensation, I realized—they’re already here.

“You could’ve woken me up if you were here already. Why were you just waiting?”

They could have at least sat down in a chair.

Instead, they stood side by side, perfectly still, as if they had been waiting for me to wake up for hours.

“What is it you wanted to say?”

It was Belhark who spoke first, cutting straight to the point. His uncharacteristic impatience was evident in the sharpness of his tone as he watched me head toward the sitting area.

I glanced at both of them—Belhark, tense and unyielding, and Damian, standing beside him with a calm yet unreadable expression.

“Sit down first,” I said, gesturing toward the chairs around the small table.

The stiff atmosphere was suffocating, and I couldn’t shake the dryness in my throat. Hoping to ease the tension even slightly, I reached for the attendant’s cord by the bedside and gave it a pull.