While Others Became Female Leads In Romantic Fantasy Novels, I Became A Closet Monster
Chapter 11
“Hey, you actually showed up?”
Dedrick had always been terrified of that smirk. But things were different now.
‘I can do this.’
The more he thought of the girl, the more his tremors subsided.
“I figured we’d have a little sparring match for old time’s sake.”
Under the pretext of a duel, Somerset’s physical abuse of Dedrick was tacitly permitted. Knowing that if he sneered, ‘It was just a spar,’ there would be no grounds for complaint.
“What are you doing? Get up here, quickly.”
Dedrick gripped a wooden sword provided nearby and slowly stepped onto the training ground.
As Somerset watched him, the smile vanished from his face. An incredulous breath escaped through his coldly set lips.
“Hah….”
In the hands of Dedrick, who had never picked up a sword until now, a wooden blade was clearly held.
Somerset twisted his mouth at the sight.
‘A brat who’s never even held a wooden sword before.’
Dedrick’s audacity to challenge him made Somerset’s blood boil.
He hated Dedrick so much it made him shake.
He hated how Dedrick looked more like the Grand Duke than he did, and how the boy silently persevered despite being treated like trash. All of it.
That inferiority complex exploded as time went on. Lately, every single thing Dedrick did grated on Somerset’s nerves.
Even with all the interference, Dedrick remained the immovable first place in the monthly evaluations, except for swordsmanship.
Somerset knew all too well that the Grand Duke was keeping an eye on Dedrick. He also knew that was why his mother was becoming increasingly wary of him.
Somerset idolized his father, the Grand Duke, and tried so hard to impress him, yet his father’s gaze always seemed to land on Dedrick.
‘That’s why I hate you.’
A mere bastard child receiving the attention of his father—someone like him.
So Somerset took solace in the fact that he was superior with a sword.
‘And yet you dare pick up a blade?’
For generations, the Blackwood family had been the sword of the Empire.
Their reputation reached every corner of the land, and it was as if a sword were etched into their very blood; every direct descendant of the Blackwood family was a master of the blade.
But not Dedrick.
‘No matter how much potential you have, you can never shine without a swordsmanship instructor.’
And no one would dare become Dedrick’s teacher.
Somerset’s eyes gleamed cruelly.
“Maybe I should go take a peek…”
No, I couldn’t.
It was the first promise we’d ever made; I couldn’t go breaking it so recklessly.
‘Think of the trust I’ve built.’
To be honest, I didn’t even need to see it to know what Somerset would do to Dedrick at the training ground. It was obvious.
He would break his spirit and humiliate him in front of the knights.
So that he’d never pick up a sword again.
In reality, Dedrick had been so afraid of those gazes that he hadn’t picked up a sword until he was nineteen. Even so, he reached the pinnacle of swordsmanship in just two years, becoming someone no one on the continent could match.
It was only possible because he possessed physical abilities and dynamic visual acuity several times greater than others, along with innate genius.
And on top of that, blood-curdling effort.
‘But I can’t wait until then.’
I had to get him a swordsmanship instructor somehow. I couldn’t just let him keep getting beaten helplessly by Somerset.
I knew how much Dedrick had suffered for two years, cutting back on sleep and working himself to the bone. I wanted to ease that path of hardship even just a little.
‘If it’s a swordsmanship instructor, that person is perfect\!’
Should I go now? Or not?
While I was debating, the door suddenly burst open.
Has it been that long already?
I cautiously called out to Dedrick.
“Didi?”
There was no answer.
Was it someone else?
When I hopped down from the wardrobe, what I saw wasn’t the cute Dedrick, but the spiteful Axel.
Before I could help it, a harsh voice slipped out reflexively.
“Why the hell is this brat here?”
Axel walked in naturally, as if he knew Dedrick was out, and glanced at the desk.
Seeing the neatly organized desk, Axel snorted.
“Annoying bastard.”
“Hey, get out\!”
He definitely came in here to pull some nonsense.
Even though I was invisible, I glared at him threateningly and clenched my fists.
“Ugh, why is it so chilly in here? Hyung said he saw a ghost before, too…. Strange things always happen whenever we bully that kid\! Is there really a ghost or something?”
“Yeah. It’s me.”
Axel kicked the chair with his leg and muttered irritably.
“Because of this brat, I got scolded by Hyung and Mother for no reason.”
“That’s your own karma.”
“I better just sprinkle this and go.”
Sprinkle? Sprinkle what?
“Come in\!”
At his shout, a servant entered carrying a small box.
“Pull back the blankets and sprinkle them inside. You know what to do after you’re done, right?”
“Yes, Young Master. I will cover it with the blankets so it isn’t noticeable before I leave.”
“Finish it before that bastard gets back.”
After Axel left, the servant dumped the contents of the small box onto Dedrick’s bed.
The contents were scorpions. My jaw dropped in disbelief.
“Are you insane? Even for you, scorpions are crossing the line\!”
I rushed over to examine the scorpions. To check if they were poisonous, I let myself be stung; it pricked sharply, and at the same time, the area around my finger began to turn blue.
Soon, my stomach churned and my head began to spin.
“The effect is incredible, seriously….”
To recover quickly, I hurried into the wardrobe and shut the door.
Thud\!
“Aaaaaah\!”
The servant screamed.
I don’t have the luxury to worry about you right now….
“What the, damn it\! He’s just like his mother, cursed and unlucky.”
“Listen to this guy talk.”
I’ve memorized your face, you jerk.
Cold sweat began to pour and I could barely keep my balance, so I lay down comfortably inside the wardrobe.
‘Symptoms are chills, nausea, and a headache….’
This is way too much.
‘Ah, it was always this bad.’
I’m seriously not going to let this slide.
With my head spinning, I made that vow and lost consciousness.
“Just as I thought.”
Somerset sneered and nudged Dedrick’s motionless hand with his foot as he lay collapsed.
“Did you think you could beat me just because you picked up a wooden sword?”
Dedrick suppressed his surging emotions and retorted.
“……Just challenging you is a great victory for me.”
“Did you eat something wrong? Why attempt a challenge you’re bound to fail?”
At Somerset’s pathetic, mocking tone, Dedrick bit his lip hard.
In that moment, the conversation he had with the girl a few days ago suddenly came to mind.
When he told her he was ashamed because he couldn’t use a sword well, the girl had replied as if it were no big deal.
‘It’s only natural that you aren’t good at it right now, Didi. But keep trying anyway. You’re challenging yourself so you can succeed\! No one has the right to laugh at someone who tries.’
‘What if they laugh anyway?’
‘Then I’ll beat them all up for you.’
Dedrick let out a small laugh.
The suffocating tightness in his chest vanished instantly. He replied calmly.
“I am challenging you so that I can succeed.”
“Look at the state of you\! You can still talk like that after looking at yourself?”
“……A challenge is something you can do over and over again, hyungnim.”
As Dedrick talked back without backing down, Somerset’s jaw tightened.
“You….”
Staggering to his feet, Dedrick gripped the wooden sword again and took an awkward stance. He didn’t want to just keep taking the hits.
To the girl, at least….
‘I fought back.’
He wanted to be able to say that.
Even if he looked pathetic and ugly doing it….
He believed that one day, he would be able to win.
The girl believed in him. She believed he would become a great person. So he wanted to live up to that faith.
‘Don’t be afraid.’
Just as she said, they were the ones who were afraid of him.
‘Afraid that I’ll crush them and become the head of the Blackwood family.’
I am someone who can instill fear in them, too.
So….
‘Just like she said, there’s nothing to be afraid of.’
Dedrick’s trembling stopped completely. He had finally overcome his fear.
Gritting his teeth, Dedrick charged at Somerset with a body already covered in bruises.
As Somerset saw the overlapping image of the Grand Duke swinging his sword, his eyes wavered.
