The Duke’s Obsession Leads to a Death Flag

Seo-yul left the storage room, leaving it dark and cold with only Vin inside. Hugging his knees and resting his chin on them, Vin stared at the firmly closed door before finally letting out the sigh he had been holding back.

—I’ll get you out of here.

Even if he wanted to believe those words without question, Vin was a realist. Seo-yul was barely his age—how could he possibly get him out of this place? It was obvious that he wouldn’t even be able to undo the shackles bound around Vin’s ankles.

And even if—just if—he did manage to leave this place, Vin had nowhere to go. The moment he set foot outside, he would become a fugitive in District 5 and would have to escape to another district. But there was nowhere he belonged.

Should he go back to District 1? He had never heard of a child who had been “disposed of” returning. It wasn’t hard to figure out why they never came back.

They had all been killed. Treated worse than animals, they must have died in agony. Being “disposed of” by the district leader meant exactly that.

—Forget it quickly.

This dark, narrow storage room was better. At least here, he had proper food, a warm place to sleep, and Seo-yul who came to see him.

—At least it’s safe here.

So, he decided to pretend he hadn’t heard Seo-yul’s words and forget about them. He wanted to leave, but at the same time, he didn’t. He was still too young and weak to survive while avoiding the cold, hunger, and human traffickers.

More than anything, if he left this place… he didn’t know. Just the thought of never seeing Seo-yul again made him uneasy.

“Seo-yul hyung.”

He called out to Seo-yul while looking at the closed door. But he must have already left. Vin waited endlessly for a response that would never come, and when he finally grew tired, he leaned his body against the blanket. It was faint, but it felt like Seo-yul’s scent still lingered.

—Vin.

For the first time, he had a name. A name given to him by Seo-yul, a name that only Seo-yul called him by. Not “bug” or “trash,” but a real name.

For the first time, he felt like he was a human being, just like everyone else.

—Vin.

Whenever Seo-yul called his name, something in his chest ached. At first, he wondered if he was hurt somewhere, but it wasn’t pain. Vin was familiar with pain. There was no way he would mistake it for something else.

—What the hell is this?

No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t figure it out. Se-yeon had taught him how to speak, but there was far more he didn’t know than he did. Having spent his whole life avoiding people, he lacked common sense. So he couldn’t even understand what he was feeling right now.

As he lost himself in a question with no answer, the small stream of light trickling in through the palm-sized window disappeared completely. Just as he reached to turn on the lamp, afraid of being swallowed by the complete darkness, a small sound came from the direction of the door.

Could it be that Seo-yul had come back? Even though he knew it wasn’t possible, Vin’s eyes lit up with hope as he abruptly stood up.

“Seo-yul—”

Clang. At the sound of the door rattling violently, he quickly shut his mouth. It wasn’t Seo-yul. He didn’t even have to check. If it were Seo-yul, he wouldn’t be trying to force the door open.

“Why the hell won’t this open?”

Just as Vin had expected, an unfamiliar voice came from outside. Quietly raising his body, he hid behind a stack of boxes. In the meantime, the rattling of the door grew more intense.

“Damn it.”

The lock securing the door was holding firm, refusing to budge. The loud noise echoed through the old storage room, forcing Vin to cover his ears and curl up. Before long, the shaking of the door came to a stop.

He slightly lifted his head but didn’t move out from behind the boxes. The sound of heavy, irritated breathing lingered near the door, filled with frustration.

He let out a small breath, trying to suppress his trembling. Running away wasn’t an option—not with the shackles tightly binding his ankles. If the stranger entered, he would have no choice but to fight. So right now, even if he was scared, he had to endure it.

Carefully, he reached out and picked up the lamp he had set on the floor. He didn’t want to break the gift Seo-yul had given him, but there was nothing else in the storage room that could serve as a weapon.

The moment the stranger stepped inside, he would strike them on the head with the lamp. Then, he would knock over the stack of old boxes to trap them underneath. Formulating the plan in his head, Vin held his breath and waited for the person beyond the door.

“No one’s here.”

A stranger peeked through the small gap where the door had been forced open and muttered to himself. Bang. A rough kick against the door sent a loud noise rippling through the quiet forest.

Vin didn’t emerge from his hiding spot until the sound of footsteps completely disappeared. The door, which had been forcibly pried open, was now left slightly ajar. Following the moonlight spilling in through the gap, Vin cautiously stuck his head out and surveyed the dark forest.

Fortunately, no one was there.

***

To my dear Miss Julia,

Lifting the pen from the crisp white paper, he carefully checked the name and address written on the envelope multiple times. After half of humanity had vanished, civilization had regressed by several centuries, leaving letters as the only form of communication. Though it had the major drawback of taking a full week to arrive, that was fine. By the time it was delivered, Vin would have reached District 2.

“Oh, I almost forgot.”

Before sealing the envelope, he discreetly slipped in a few jewels he had stolen from Han Jae-hoon without him noticing. This should be enough to cover the orphanage’s budget for a few months—surely enough for her to grant his request.

Now the problem was how to send it. Unfortunately, the post office was outside the mansion, meaning he had to find someone willing to mail it without Han Jae-hoon or the butler finding out.

I’ll have to ask one of the attendants.

The issue was that he barely had any contact with the attendants besides the butler. He had spent the early days of his possession bedridden, and even after recovering, he deliberately avoided forming attachments. Whenever the servants tried to speak to him, he pretended to be shy and avoided them.

But if he had known this would happen, he would have made at least one or two close aides. Someone he could give orders to without worrying about them reporting back to Han Jae-hoon or the butler.

“Well, for now, I’ll just have to find someone suitable.”

If I offered a reward, surely one of the attendants would be willing to secretly send the letter. It would take anywhere from five days to a week for the letter to reach District 2, so if I wanted it to arrive on time, I couldn’t afford to delay past today.

Tucking the letter safely inside my coat to keep it hidden, I stepped out of my room. As I walked down the quiet corridor and descended the stairs, the attendants busily going about their tasks noticed me and greeted me first.

“Good day, young master.”

“Hello.”

I returned their greeting while quickly scanning their faces. Who would be the best choice? Preferably, someone who wasn’t close to the butler. But just looking at their faces wasn’t enough to tell, making it difficult to single out the right person.

I wandered around the mansion, observing the attendants, but I couldn’t find anyone suitable to entrust with this task. If only I could go out myself, I wouldn’t have to worry about things like this.

“Young master!”

At the sound of a youthful voice, I turned around to see a familiar-looking boy running toward me. He was the first attendant—aside from the butler—whose name I had learned just a few days ago.

“Good day, young master!”

The boy bent at the waist and greeted me with a deep bow. I was sure I had heard his name before, but unfortunately, it had completely slipped my mind after just a few days.

“Are you working right now?”

His clothes were covered in dried straw. His face turned bright red as he hurriedly brushed it off before nodding.

“Hold still for a second.”

He had managed to clean his clothes, but he hadn’t noticed the bits of straw stuck to his face. Reaching out, I carefully plucked a piece from his cheek. His light brown eyes wavered wildly.

“Oh, sorry. It was on your face.”

“N-No, thank you!”

Hearing his grateful response suddenly reminded me of Vin’s awkwardly stiff “thank you” from before, and I nearly burst out laughing. This is how you properly express gratitude. Vin, who barely knew anything, couldn’t even manage a proper greeting.

That’s why I had to send him somewhere decent. If he stayed here, both of us would only end up miserable. There was only so much I could do for him—he needed to be sent somewhere safe as soon as possible.

“Hey.”

“Yes, young master?”

I made sure to show him the reward first so he wouldn’t refuse my request. The moment his eyes landed on the glimmering gold coin, they widened in surprise. I knew it was the right choice to start with the money. After glancing around to make sure no one was watching, I quietly got to the point.

“I need a favor.”

“From me?”

I scanned my surroundings once more before carefully pulling the envelope from inside my coat and handing it to him. The boy checked the recipient’s name and address written on the front, then looked back up at me.

“Can you take this to the post office and send it for me?”

“Today?”

“Yeah. Don’t tell anyone, no matter what. This is a secret between you and me.”

As I said the word secret, I took the boy’s hand. He flinched, his eyes darting around anxiously. A simple touch wasn’t enough to forge a deep bond, but I could only hope that he wouldn’t breathe a word about this letter to any of the adults.

“I’m counting on you. Uh…”

“Seon-woo.”

The boy quickly told me his name. Had he already noticed that I had forgotten? Feeling a bit embarrassed, I smiled, and Seon-woo followed suit, grinning brightly.

“I’ll make sure to take care of your request by the end of today, young master.”

Seon-woo clasped my hand in return, his eyes gleaming with determination. It was nice that he was enthusiastic, but was this really something to get so worked up about? Feeling a little awkward, I gently pulled my hand away.

“Thanks, Seon-woo.”

At least, for now, one problem was solved.