Chapter 19 – Were You Worried About Me?

“You must be mistaken.”

Evelyn replied, deliberately lowering her voice and changing her tone on purpose as she stepped back. However, a thin, mocking smile played on Axion’s lips as he closed the distance between them.

“Hm, in that case, I guess I’ll just have to go straight to the Marquis and Marchioness right now.”

Annoying as it was, he knew his fiancée’s weaknesses all too well. In reality, she really didn’t want to worry her parents.

‘Time to retreat, for now.’

Evelyn let out a deep sigh and quickly decided to switch strategies.

“I was just… out to buy something, that’s all. What about you?”

When she hesitated briefly before boldly retorting instead, Axion tilted his head with a crooked smile.

“Well, this is part of my jurisdiction now.”

Since when did he extend his influence all the way to the shopping district? Evelyn was floored by how far her fiancé’s influence stretched. But then again, being Young Lord Valentino, who basically ruled the underworld, it probably wasn’t even a challenge for him.

That was why she had resolved not to get involved in the underworld as much as possible.

“—I want you to come with me.”

“Huh? What did you just say?”

Evelyn, who had been lost in thought and hadn’t caught what he said, tilted her head in confusion. Then, Axion replied in his usual low voice.

“I have something to discuss with you. Let’s go to my family’s trading company.”

The Valentino family’s trading company? Out of the blue?

‘That seems like a bad idea…’

Although she couldn’t explain it, her instincts, after ten years of dealing with him, were screaming at her not to follow him.

“Just say it here.”

Evelyn responded while eyeing him warily, but Axion looked completely unfazed.

“Hmm, then let’s go to a nearby café.”

It wasn’t even Sunday, and if the local aristocrats caught sight of them together…

A headline like that, along with a giant photo, would be front-page gossip in no time.

No matter how many times she thought about it, nobles in this world seriously have no concept of privacy. It wasn’t like she wanted to, but Evelyn knew she’d have to go along with him. At least the Valentino trading company would be the safest place around here.

Evelyn shot her fiancé a sidelong glance and muttered.

“You know you’re really annoying, right?”

At her words, Axion’s eyes curved with a gentle smile.

“Right back at you.”

︵‿୨ ₊‧꒰ა ཐི༏ཋྀ ໒꒱ ˚₊ ୧‿︵

As Evelyn stepped into her fiancé’s office, she quietly looked around at the space, which was surprisingly sparse for an office.

‘He’s got a more modest side than I expected.’

Axion, set to become the next head of the Valentino family, was assisting his father as deputy head of the family’s trading company. Of course, as the ruler of the underworld, his main stage was still the darker side of society.

When he gestured for her to take a seat, Evelyn sat down on the sofa across from him.

The Desmon Trading Company, run by the Valentino family, held dominion over all trade rights within the Baltian Empire. While their accumulated wealth and long-standing prestige were largely built on trade, their control of the underworld’s power also played a significant role.

Decades ago, Axion’s grandfather had crushed all the criminal guilds, bringing order to the chaos. Since then, everyone from crime guilds to mercenary groups had fallen in line behind the Valentinos. The family never asked for loyalty, but those groups were so determined to follow them that the Valentino family ended up ruling the underworld by default.

Even though Axion was a natural-born magic prodigy, he chose to rule the criminal world instead of becoming the next master of the magic tower.

Evelyn had read all this in the novel, but she still couldn’t understand his decisions. While she was at the academy, representatives from the magic tower had come looking for Axion several times, asking to speak with him.

‘It was definitely because he didn’t want to live bound by rules.’

Even though the Valentino family was the wealthiest family in the empire, he always cared more about his freedom than about reputation or honor. In a way, it was very much like Axion Valentino.

While she was lost in her own thoughts, the man who had been quietly watching her spoke in a casual tone.

“What are you thinking so hard about?”

Realizing she’d been caught, Evelyn smoothly changed the subject.