obsession chapter 3

“…What should I do?” Shariette circled the unconscious man like a restless bird. Option one: run. 

“This is my house. Where am I supposed to run to?” 

Rejected. Option two: destroy the evidence and pretend nothing happened. 

“As if this guy would ever fall for that.” 

Rejected. 

Option three: eliminate the victim and witness. “More likely I’d be the one eliminated!” Rejected! Unable to find a solution, she crouched down, groaning as she whispered the man’s name. 

“Noxian Rubelot….” The heir to the prestigious and powerful House Rubelot. It would have been fine if he were just that. This man was infamous for his cruel and merciless nature. His nicknames included Devil, Villain, Fiend… basically, any word starting with “evil” applied. The problem was, if this man discovered Shariette’s true identity, he’d have her head in an instant. 

Sasha Argen. The name he knew her by, the name she’d used for the past ten years. House Argen, protected by the Forest of Life, Latium, once boasted a lineage of healers. Shariette, a bastard child, hadn’t exactly enjoyed her time there. Not until their longtime rivals had brought the house crashing down. 

That remarkable rival was none other than House Rubelot, the lords of Rubencia, protected by the Red Dragon. Latium’s Argen and Rubencia’s Rubelot. The two houses were sworn enemies, locked in a bitter feud for generations. They fought like rabid dogs, so relentlessly that the King himself had to intervene and broker a peace treaty. However, before the ink on the treaty was dry, House Argen had made a move against the young Lord Rubelot—and failed. The consequences were devastating. Noxian Rubelot, fueled by vengeance, had annihilated House Argen, leaving no one alive. Except for one who had betrayed them and fled. 

“And that one is me, which is the problem.” 

The enemy of her enemy was her friend. Shariette hadn’t missed the golden opportunity to destroy the family that had ruined hers. She’d smuggled Noxian, who was being held captive within the Argen estate, out to their enemies and, for good measure, leaked a mountain of confidential information. Then she’d vanished before she could be used up and discarded like a hunting dog. 

“What kind of sleeping draught makes someone travel all this way to find it…!” 

Ow! Shariette yanked at her hair. Fortunately, he didn’t seem to recognize her, but if he did, it would be the end. This man didn’t just dislike House Argen; he loathed and despised them with every fiber of his being. He’d displayed the decapitated bodies of the Argen family on the castle walls for a month, leaving them to be picked apart by birds. It was a blatant disregard for the deceased. 

The noble society condemned him for severing the line of healers, but he hadn’t batted an eye. Shariette’s opinion on the matter? “Well, he had his reasons.” The problem was, she was included in those reasons.

Three years earlier. 

‘Stop fighting and at least pretend to reconcile.’ …Such was the gist of the royal decree that fell upon Houses Argen and Rubelot. To elaborate, it was more like: ‘Cooperate with the era of peace and prosperity. Do you have a problem with the nation? Do you want to be a blemish on the benevolent king?’ This was the starting point of the aforementioned peace treaty. The most obvious symbol of reconciliation was a union between the two families through marriage. Instead of marriage, both sides settled for an engagement as a gesture of goodwill. 

Shariette’s half-sister, Blanche Argen, became the greatest beneficiary of this charade. She had long desired Noxian Rubelot. Collecting beautiful things was her hobby. 

“Sasha, have you been up to your useless tricks again?” In the underground apothecary of Argen Castle, Blanche’s heel ground into Shariette’s blood-matted hair.