Instead of My Beloved Sister, I Married a Monster - Chapter 76
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
Chapter 76
* * *
“It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Klaus Sidoer.”
He appeared to be in his early to mid-twenties.
With transparent platinum hair and brown-green eyes, despite having obviously ridden through the night, his posture remained as upright as if he had just begun his daily duties.
Ram examined his opponent with sharp, scrutinizing eyes, but even with his discerning taste, he could find no fault this time.
To put it simply, he was like a well-maintained leather shoe.
A beautiful quality product crafted with care from good materials.
Sharp and smooth, and above all, polished to a shine.
That was to be expected, as he was of entirely different stock from the riffraff who had asked Evnia to dance before.
Sidoer was a prestigious family with deep history in the west, one that even Ram remembered.
‘How fortunate that he came when Giyermo was away, preserving his noble bloodline. Otherwise, he would have met a gruesome death the moment he set foot in the castle.’
Ram was inwardly complaining about Giyermo, saying he was never helpful in his entire life, when he himself was somewhat startled by that fact.
While it was true that countless intruders had died in this castle, he had never felt such direct malice toward them as he did now.
Those who came seeking his life and wealth deserved punishment, but wasn’t that actually a measure to prevent recurrence?
‘Perhaps he only looks decent on the outside but is rotten inside?’
Unless his instincts developed over long years were at work, he couldn’t explain this inexplicable displeasure.
Ram, who had been watching the man sitting across from him with wariness, rolled that name around in his mouth with a strange sense of déjà vu.
“Klaus Sidoer…”
It was a name he didn’t remember, except for the family name.
His appearance was also unfamiliar as if seeing him for the first time, yet Ram somehow felt as if he had known him from before.
Ram suddenly asked.
“Are you by any chance the eldest son?”
“…Excuse me?”
“Answer me. Do you have many family members to take responsibility for?”
“…I’m not sure why you’re asking such a thing, but yes, I am the eldest among the direct descendants of our family.”
Though he hadn’t obtained any decisive evidence, Ram instinctively realized.
This bastard was the one who had danced with Evnia when she was in Hessen.
From the moment he went out to check the identity of the unwelcome guest and discovered an unfamiliar handsome man, suspicion had already sprouted in a corner of Ram’s mind.
At that time, Klaus Sidoer had been knocking on the tightly closed castle gate, calling out someone’s name very desperately.
That’s why Ram had personally guided him to the dusty reception room instead of driving him away.
“I’d like to confirm one more thing. Will you answer honestly?”
“Please go ahead.”
“Do you happen to sweat a lot normally?”
At Ram’s serious question, his opponent frowned slightly for the first time.
His expression showed he had no idea why he was wasting time with such pointless conversation.
He answered curtly.
“Not at all.”
The man was doing his best to maintain courtesy toward the host who only asked strange questions, but Litberg Castle was originally a place where common sense and propriety didn’t apply.
Ram simply stood up from his seat, stepped on the sofa table, and crossed to the other side.
Then he grabbed the wrist of Klaus, who was leaning back in confusion, and roughly pulled off his glove.
“Hey, what the hell are you doing…!”
Klaus was so flustered that he couldn’t even question Ram’s rudeness further.
A sense of crisis washed over him that if he didn’t focus on this sudden struggle, he might really lose his glove.
Unfortunately, he had neither the audacity to close his eyes and strike the host’s jaw, nor the strength to compete fairly with Ram and win.
Klaus was ultimately defeated by Ram and had to surrender his left hand.
Ram carelessly threw aside the removed glove and brazenly began kneading Klaus’s bare skin.
‘It’s really true.’
As Klaus had said, his dry hand was completely parched without a trace of moisture.
Even in the bewildering situation of skin contact with a strange man, he didn’t shed a single drop of sweat, so he was certainly far from hyperhidrosis.
After fondling Klaus’s hand for a while, Ram trudged back to his seat. Then he sat down heavily as if collapsing on the sofa and stared blankly up at the air.
‘It was real.’
This man truly had feelings for Evnia.
Enough to moisten his hands with sweat he rarely shed when dancing with her, to keep looking at her, and ultimately to desperately rush all this way to hold onto her.
Then what should he do?
He had promised her he would find a remarriage partner, that he would help her start fresh with tremendous alimony.
He had certainly made such assurances…
“From the circumstances, it seems so… but let me ask to confirm. Are you really the master of Litberg Castle?”
Klaus, who had been massaging his left hand with an uncomfortable expression, broke the long silence and spoke first.
His voice was full of wariness, suggesting the recent incident had been quite shocking.
Ram himself didn’t care at all about his opponent’s reaction.
“You recognize me faster than I expected. In the west, I seem to be regarded as a beast-like monster.”
“I heard many other rumors on my way here. Thanks to that, I also learned that the bride wasn’t devoured.”
It wouldn’t be strange if the events in Schwaiger had spread beyond the southern region by now.
Ram suddenly wondered if news of Evnia being alive had reached Hessen as well.
He wanted to know how her parents had reacted upon hearing that story, whether their daughter’s survival brought them joy or merely served as an excuse.
“I’ll speak directly. I want to meet Miss Evnia Hessen.”
Thinking about it that way, should the young man’s audacity in demanding to meet a married woman, and to her husband no less, be considered rather pure?
Ram observed Klaus’s bright eyes for a moment before asking.
“What’s your business?”
“I’m sorry. It’s something I want to tell her directly.”
“I suppose so. But just tell me. I may not look it, but I’m her husband. If I arrange a meeting with another man without knowing the intentions, it could cause big problems.”
Klaus’s eyes wavered momentarily at the deliberately mentioned title of husband.
Though he had said it like a joke, it wasn’t really a matter to end as just a joke, so Ram didn’t back down and waited for his opponent’s answer.
Even though Evnia’s illness was ultimately caused by other problems, Ram couldn’t be certain whether the pact would really cause trouble, but he still thought this was something he needed to know.
After long hesitation, Klaus opened his mouth.
“Before I tell you… if it’s not rude, may I ask one thing?”
Contrary to his expectation of being asked about recent events, what was brought up was an old promise.
“Why did you propose marriage to the Hessen family?”
“…What?”
“Was it a matter where any daughter of the Hessen family would do? Is that why you didn’t break off the engagement even after the eldest daughter who was promised in marriage died, and took the second daughter as your bride?”
Ram was dumbfounded.
While he could explain if he had to, it would be far too troublesome to do so for a young upstart he’d met for the first time today.
Ram’s eyes narrowed at Klaus’s presumptuous words and behavior.
The cigarettes he had resisted well even when Seven was seductively spreading his scent began to beckon irresistibly.
“Do you smoke occasionally?”
“No.”
“Then I’ll smoke alone.”
So saying, Ram summoned a cigar he had stored in the warehouse with his own hand.
Perhaps because he had refrained from smoking, the series of actions of putting the cigarette in his mouth and lighting it felt strangely unfamiliar.
Since the day Evnia had inhaled the harsh smoke and coughed, he had naturally begun to distance himself from his old hobby.
At first, he thought he should only restrain himself when they were together, but once he started holding back, he wondered if there was any need to smoke in hiding.
Perhaps because she was someone he wanted to do many things for. He didn’t find it particularly difficult to give up something for her sake.
His recent life was being unconsciously reorganized around the young wife he had acquired by chance.
Ram inhaled and exhaled the smoke deeply while thinking of Evnia’s face.
It was strange.
He had craved cigarettes so much just moments ago, but now that he had one in his mouth, his tongue felt bitter.
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————