BVAP Chapter 6

I Will Have My Revenge!

“No, the house… No, ha!”

“Garen!”

Janice was flustered at Garen’s outrageous command to get out of his house. The elderly couple and Fernando were even more shocked and called out his name. Garen continued.

“Mother, Father, you too. Please leave. Fernando, you as well. What do you think you’re doing in someone else’s house?”

Garen drove Janice, the elderly couple, and Fernando out as if shooing flies.

He slammed the door shut in their faces. Still stunned, Janice only came to her senses once she found herself outside the house.

“This is our—our house…”

She was so dazed it was absurd, and so absurd it turned into resentment. Her words repeated in disbelief. Pacing in place, she rushed toward the door.

“Open up! I said this is our house!”

“Garen! Open this door. What are you doing? You’re not a three-year-old!”

The old lady shouted.

“Shall I break it?”

The old general clenched and unclenched his fists, eyeing the door. He may not be as strong as in his prime, but breaking down a wooden door was nothing.

As his eyes gleamed and he prepared to act, Janice darted in front of the door.

“No! I told you, this is our house. You can’t break it!”

This house was full of memories of her parents. Besides, door repairs were expensive—and Janice had no money.

“Then what do we do…” the old lady asked sorrowfully. Janice bit her lip hard.

They say hateful people only do hateful things, and this was exactly that. When he said he’d buy the house, she thought he was doing it for her. Janice had been naive.

You jerk! What kind of father are you?

She ground her teeth, staring at the firmly shut door.

The commotion outside quieted after a while. Garen assumed they must’ve taken Janice with them. Back to their house.

“Such black hearts.”

He muttered, thinking of his parents who could probably hide several snakes in their stomachs.

It was true that he bought this house because of Janice. He wasn’t much of a father—he’d barely done anything for her. So he thought of giving her this house. He didn’t like seeing her cry over it.

At the time of purchase, his intentions were good.

But the moment Janice bowed at a 90-degree angle, something in his chest twisted. Above all, the image of her stubbornly insisting she’d live here flashed through his mind. If he gave her this house, she’d never set foot in the ducal estate.

Telling her to leave because it was his house—that was definitely his spite talking. Still, Garen was confident he made the right decision for her safety.

Given her personality, if he gave her the house, she’d definitely insist on living there.

But she was seven. A child without a guardian couldn’t live alone. Worse, someone was targeting her—the same people who had killed her adoptive parents.

His parents must’ve thought the same. If they truly wanted to open the door, nothing could’ve stopped them. Let’s say Janice stopped them from breaking it. But they could’ve called a locksmith or broken the lock. They didn’t. They only pretended to try. That meant they didn’t want to leave Janice there either.

“I’m the only bad guy here.”

Garen grumbled.

But better for him to be the bad guy than to tarnish the good image Janice had of his parents. She needed someone to rely on.

Even if Fernando was there, he was still an outsider. His parents could be to Janice what they had been to him—true guardians.

Compared to flawed Garen, they were far better suited to care for her.

Looking around the house, his eyes landed on a framed family photo. A cheerful couple with a tiny baby between them.

They didn’t look rich. But they looked happy. This must be the photo Janice had asked for earlier.

“….”

He picked it up. As he stared at it, an odd feeling stirred inside.

Was it envy? Jealousy? A sense of loss? Several thoughts flitted through his mind.

If his life hadn’t been so twisted… maybe he too would have had a photo like this.

“Chloe… that was her name?”

He murmured the name of the woman who supposedly gave birth to Janice. The name sounded unfamiliar. Yet oddly familiar.

He suddenly became curious about her—and about the memories he had lost.

But he shook his head.

If they hadn’t come back in seven years, they never would. Better to focus on the present than chase what’s lost. Still…

“Oh, come on!” For just a moment, uncertainty crept in.

“I must be insane.”

Definitely insane.

He didn’t believe in marriage. He hated women. Hated kids—even little girls!

Garen shook his head, chasing the thought away. He scanned the house with sharp, analytical eyes, determined to find a clue.

But despite his intensity, there was nothing to go on.

The couple who supposedly left her an inheritance had turned the house upside down. But it was all so… normal.

Garen couldn’t figure out what Mr. and Mrs. Baker had discovered—or what they were involved in—that got them killed.

They seemed like ordinary citizens on the surface.

“So much to do.”

He had to investigate now. He’d dig through every book, every document, every inch of this house if that’s what it took to uncover the killer and the secret behind the Bakers’ deaths.

That was his duty as the head of House Roman, protector of the Empire, and an officer of the Imperial Bureau of Investigation.

He scanned the room once more and stepped outside.

In his hand was Janice’s family photo.

…Why did it bother me so much when that little brat cried?

A minor question briefly surfaced. But thinking about his pile of work, the thought quickly vanished.

A minor question. For now.

“Hmph!”

Garen still didn’t like Janice. Not one bit!

“Hic! Sob! Sniff!”

“Oh my, my little lark! Stop crying, please. Hush now! Grandma will take that house back and give it to you later. So let’s stop crying and stay here for now, okay?”

“That’s right! I’ll give you this house. I won’t leave a single coin for that ungrateful son. So stop crying. When my little lark cries, it breaks this old man’s heart.”

The old couple took turns comforting her.

Whatever the circumstances that brought them together, they genuinely cared for Janice. She couldn’t bear to make them worry.

But the shock of being kicked out of her home—the place filled with memories of her parents—was too much.

She thought she couldn’t hate him more. Then he did this. More than the greedy couple who claimed the inheritance, she hated Garen.

She had thought he bought the house to help her get it back. She was such a fool. She even thanked him!

“Waaah!”

The tears welled up again. No matter how she tried, she couldn’t forgive him.

Worse than Min Kyung-tae, her biological father from her previous life! Janice vowed revenge.

At the same time—

“Achoo!”

Garen sneezed.

The investigator briefing him on the Bakers’ case gave him a strange look. Garen waved it off.

“Are you coming down with something? You look unwell.”

“Not a cold. Probably some brat cursing me right now. Definitely.”

“…What brat?”

“There’s one. Real savage. Swears like a sailor.”

The investigator tilted his head at the uncharacteristically amused Garen.

He hated women and kids—hated them with a passion. Yet here he was, smiling while talking about a child. Requesting documents from a case that ended six months ago. Very out of character.

The investigator glanced at Garen oddly. But only for a moment.

“What are you doing? Keep briefing me. Where’s the person who was talking?”

“Ah—yes! Right away!”

Whatever his status as a top investigator, second only at the Imperial Academy, the Bureau was still a hierarchy. Orders were orders.

The report moved on to the scene analysis of the Bakers’ deaths.

“Wait! Let me see that.”

Something felt off. It was minor—but strange. Two palm prints on the floor right before death? Suspicious.

“They’re just handprints. We checked—nothing unusual. He probably tried to lift himself up, worrying about his wife…”

“Check again.”

“Pardon?”

“This was murder. Could be a dying message.”

Garen cut in firmly. The investigator looked stunned.

“Fernando said they were being watched. You know him, right? Youngest son of Marquis Verdo. All signs point to those same people killing the Bakers. And he said the guards sent by the Marquis were nervous—meaning these killers are serious.”

The investigator’s expression hardened immediately.

That meant someone powerful infiltrated the Empire, killed citizens, and escaped undetected. A big deal, indeed.

“I’ll order a reinvestigation.”

“Good. Oh, and leave that file. I’ll review it too.”

Following orders, the investigator left the documents on Garen’s desk and exited. Garen reviewed them himself.

Without suspicion, nothing stood out. But the more you tried to be suspicious, the more questionable everything became.

What secrets did the Bakers carry? Who killed them? And who was after Janice?

Garen’s face grew grim as he flipped through the documents.

Let me know if you’d like the name changed back or replaced with another.