Chapter 49: Forcible Intrusion by the Former

Kane was a man who could seize every opportunity.

Taking advantage of the moment when Princess Vanessa had to report to Seth, Kane immediately made his escape at the fastest possible speed.

He sprinted all the way without looking back.

It wasn’t until he returned to his room and locked the door behind him that he dared to breathe in great gulps.

Kane collapsed completely, slumping against the door, his damp blond hair clinging to his forehead.

Drops of water— whether sweat or pool water, he couldn’t tell— slid down his temples like heavy lead pellets, falling to the floor with constant ‘drip drip’ sounds.

“So close, I almost thought I was done for.”

Being ‘unboxed’ on the spot by his ex-fiancée had already given his fragile heart a tremendous shock.

But before he could recover, he was immediately swept into a four-woman melee that could only be described as the collapse of the heavens.

That scene was no less shocking than when Evil Dragon Enya had imprisoned him in the basement.

“Am I cursed by women lately? Why do I keep tripping up because of women these days?”

Kane pressed his aching brow.

From Enya to Taliya, then just now Princess Vanessa, and even the Black-robed Person who tried to assassinate him was a woman… Looking back, it became more and more obvious.

And that was what confused Kane the most.

He was just a cannon-fodder villain, not the protagonist. Getting entangled with women was supposed to be the protagonist’s template.

He really couldn’t understand it. Not at all.

All of this must be the Gate of Destiny Stone’s fault.

“Time to run.”

After much thought, Kane lifted his flushed face and said so.

If it were just that clown Taliya, he could muddle through by selling his looks a little.

But now, not only was Enya chasing him, Princess Vanessa had joined in, and there was also the mysterious Black-robed Person whose identity he didn’t even know…

Good grief, if that scene just now happened again, he’d be finished for real.

Kane didn’t hesitate any longer. He got up and changed out of his wet clothes, putting on something clean.

Now that the disaster in Loharin was known to the higher-ups and arrangements had been made, and Enya’s safety was more or less confirmed—

As for Taliya… let’s just pretend Kun’er was a dream.

Kane had no reason to stay here any longer.

At this point, the only uncertainty was Princess Vanessa.

While using Cleanse Magic to clean the dirt off his body, two images of Saint Light— no, Princess Vanessa— floated through his mind.

As he’d said before, during the Plague Demon Village Loharin arc, Princess Vanessa didn’t participate.

As the heir to the Kingdom, she had already officially become the successor to the throne and was in the Capital learning how to become a qualified queen.

For Princess Vanessa to show up now— could it be because the plot timeline had moved up?

After all, at this point, she was only the candidate for the next ruler. She wasn’t anywhere near actually becoming queen yet.

Even if she had free time, why would she come here of all places?

Surely it’s not to take him back to the Capital, right?

“Ha, haha, as if! She can’t stand me, why would she come all the way here just to take me back?”

“Impossible, absolutely impossible!”

Standing before the full-length mirror, Kane put his hands on his hips and laughed up at the ceiling.

But soon, gradually, gradually… the laughter of the blond youth in the mirror faded and disappeared, leaving only a look of terror as if he’d lived a whole other life.

Coming here just to pick him up… wasn’t impossible after all!

Kane wanted to deny his own bold guess.

But he couldn’t find any other reasonable explanation.

And, laughably, back in the bath, he’d even felt a similar vibe from Princess Vanessa as he did from Enya… Kane really wanted to convince himself he was just overthinking.

But with Enya the yandere in mind, he just couldn’t talk himself out of it.

“Let’s just treat her as the same type as Enya. From now on, I need to avoid her as much as possible— no, not as much as possible, absolutely avoid her!”

Kane rubbed his half-dry hair in frustration, making up his mind.

……

Ding~ Ding~ Ding~

The five o’clock bell rang.

The chilly waning moon sank in the west.

The leaden night sky retreated in shy embarrassment.

The first rays of dawn quietly filled the noble mansions.

Loharin was at the far end of the Kingdom, so morning arrived a bit earlier.

In less than five minutes, Kane was fully dressed.

There was no time to say goodbye to Aunt Seth, so he left her a note.

Everything was ready.

Kane opened the window.

The air of freedom rushed in to greet him.

He took his first commemorative step toward freedom.

Knock, knock, knock.

But at that moment, the door was suddenly knocked.

At the same time, Princess Vanessa’s cool voice drifted in:

“Are you there?”

“?!”

Kane shuddered, instinctively drawing back the foot he’d already stretched out the window.

His feet felt glued to the floor; no matter how he tried to move, he couldn’t take another step.

His breathing grew rapid, a thin mist fogged the outside of the floor-to-ceiling window, and droplets clung densely to the walls and Kane’s face.

The whole room seemed soaked with humidity.

This was because the temperature inside and outside the room was different, and the source of this situation was none other than the great proletarian warrior Kane.

“Are you there?”

—With the girl’s icy words falling again, Kane could clearly feel his body temperature rising rapidly. His heart pounded louder and louder in his ears.

“Are you asleep?”

Since Kane hadn’t responded, Princess Vanessa asked again from outside the door.

Asleep, I have to be asleep— even if I’m not, I have to be!

Kane widened his eyes, pressing both hands tightly over his mouth to keep from making any sound.

“Looks like you’re not awake yet…”

He heard Princess Vanessa’s certain voice from outside the door.

Only then did Kane’s tensed shoulders relax.

But in the next second, the sound of a key turning made his heart jump into his throat.

Still asleep, quietly leaving (×)

Still asleep, door opened with a spare key and sneaking in (√)

Kane immediately wanted to jump out the window, but he was still a beat too slow.

Princess Vanessa had already come in.

Their eyes met— Kane’s foot halfway out the window.

Big eyes stared at small eyes.

The silence was so awkward it was deafening.

Until Princess Vanessa’s clear eyes quickly swept Kane up and down, then she spoke:

“You’re already awake?”

“Mm, yeah.”

“You didn’t answer me because you didn’t hear me calling?”

“Mm, yeah.”

“You put your foot out the window because you were trying to escape?”

“Mm, yeah, ah, no, no, that’s not it!”

Kane snapped back to his senses and hurriedly waved his hands and shook his head.

But what’s said is like water spilled— it can’t be taken back.

“So you were going to run away…”

Princess Vanessa’s eyes half-closed, her tone drawn out and deep.

Her expression was hard to read, making it impossible to tell what she really meant.

But now that he’d been caught, Kane could only try to salvage things:

“I— I just thought the air outside was nice, so I opened the window to air out the room.”

Princess Vanessa blinked, as if to check his words, and poked her head out to look outside.

And then, right there in the garden, she saw the gardener fertilizing the flowerbeds.

All-natural, pollution-free fertilizer.

What a pungent smell.

Kane was mortified.

As for such a fiancé, Princess Vanessa naturally had to play along and give him her approval:

“Mm, yeah.”