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“Evening, Katarina. Meet him, your biological father.”
So I told the truth before her revenge could be enacted.
“What..? What the hell are you saying? Go away. I have to kill this man.”
Katarina narrowed her eyes and glared at Lonwell.
Yup, that was a normal reaction.
How low could be the probability of her parents’ killer being her biological father, after all.
But what if it was real?
I stood still and blocked the distance between Katarina and Lonwell.
She let out a deep sigh.
“I don’t have time for this. Explain later…”
“We have a lot of time.”
“Huh? This is seriously…”
It seemed that Katarina also felt a sense of incongruity from my words. She turned her head and looked around her. Lonwell was almost close to dead, but no one moved.
Both the guests and the escorts.
“What the hell is… happening…”
A confused Katarina swiveled around with her eyes wide open.
I spoke.
“Have you ever compared your daily wage with that of other third-class dancers? Don’t you get more per performance than they do?”
As a result of research, the daily wage of a normal third-class dancer cannot feed five younger siblings.
But Katarina could.
And that also all three meals of a day, not less.
“That… that’s because I dance the best among the third class dancers, so I earn more…”
“You know that makes no sense. And among the third class dancers, if you dance the best, you should have gone up to become a second class. You have had more than ample chance for that. But you’ve always been a third-class dancer. Why do you think that is?”
“It’s because of my lack of skills…”
""
“No. Because when you become a second-class dancer, you gotta show your face.”
Katarina’s looks are outstanding.
Compared to her youthful personality, her body is ripe and her face is the most beautiful of all the dancers I have ever seen.
Then would there be no nobles who would notice and take interest in her?
So Lonwell made arrangements so that she could remain a third class dancer.
“You were denied enrollment even in the Coffin of Starlight,” I said. “And it’s not just a place that sells dances.”
It is nominally a business that sells dance.
However, no one can know what happens between the dancer and the guest in the private room.
“Don’t you live deep in the slums yet have never once been robbed? The children were never hurt and are doing well. Honestly, inside, you know that it makes no sense, right?”
There’s no way she wouldn’t have noticed these things. She just didn’t want to think that deeply. It would have been too much for her, to be giving her all to just eat and survive. She may have brushed it off as being lucky.
But no matter how lucky you are, the world isn’t such an easy place.
Katarina frowned.
“Then… are you saying that this man did all of it? For me?!”
“Yes.”
I nodded my head and called out.
“Shedia.”
Shedia burst out of Katarina’s shadow and quickly subdued the two guards who were leaning against the nearby pillar. It was such a quick surprise that the two couldn’t react.
Shedia removed the guard helmet and tore off the fake leather face.
Katarina’s complexion turned white when their real faces were revealed after their fake faces were ripped off.
“Grandpa..? Grandma..?”
I held her hand as she backed away in disbelief.
It was a bit shocking for her.
However, once she starts accepting…
“Everyone… played with me. Well played.”
Alright, we will start with the extreme first.
“It’s not like that…”
“What’s not like that!”
Katarina shook off my hand.
“According to what you say, he has been helping me from behind my back, right? Because he’s my biological father? Grandpa and Grandma listened to his orders and took care of my younger siblings? Ha, fuck…”
She let out a sigh of utter disbelief and brushed her hair up.
“I didn’t know that and left my younger siblings in your charge. I was an idiot.”
She mocked herself in a throaty voice. Small drops of tear began to form in her eyes. She wiped them with the back of her hand.
“Katarina, we did it because we also…”
“I want to hear nothing! I don’t even want to hear your voice!”
The old man’s mouth closed. He lowered his gaze helplessly. On the other hand, Katarina frowned, but soon glared at me with eyes that said she would burst out crying any moment.
“Are you his subordinate too?”
“No, of course not.”
“I guess so. But in the end you are standing here.”
Tuk. Katarina’s weak fist hit me in the chest.
“Why are you blocking me?”
Tuk.
“Why didn’t you tell me if you knew?”
Tuk.
“Did he give you a lot of money? Is that so? Answer me!”
She shouted with a ferocious expression.
Soon after, she couldn’t hold back and burst into tears. She rested her head against my chest and again began pounding my chest with her fist.
“Bad guy. How I liked you. You were the first person I fell in love with. Not that it matters. I’m just one of the many girls in your life, a passerby, right? My body was your goal from the beginning, huh?”
As the words continued, her voice grew more enraged.
I gently pushed her away. The expression on her face showed she knew it would happen. I ignored it and kissed her softly.
Her eyes widened.
But her lips were firmly shut, as if to show her closed heart.
Sure.
Because what is closed can be opened.
I licked her lips.
Slowly. Without being in a hurry. Softly.
Then, softly, her lips opened.
I knocked.
Can I come in?
She was confused whether to let me in.
I knocked again.
The lips twitched for a moment, then parted. I inserted my tongue between her lips. And caressed her shy tongue like a pearl in the clam. She was shy at first, even regretful.
“Ah…”
…a bit regretful.
I pressed my forehead against hers and leveled my gaze with hers.
“Katarina. I am on your side.”
“…”
“I will always be by your side. I swear. I’ll always be by your side, always. So—”
I said holding our hands together.
“Let’s talk.”
Katarina, who was silent for a moment, answered.
“…alright .”