IDMLG 03

Chapter 3

No, no, no.

What is this?

No matter how I looked at it, something was wrong. Very wrong.

This was something that should never have been possible in the first place.

“Rixion Luhanes… at a blind date?”

I couldn’t even think of returning his greeting. I just stared at Rixion Luhanes as if I’d seen a ghost.

Even the simple act of him lifting his teacup to take a sip looked like a painting come to life.

When our eyes met, he curved his pretty blue eyes into a smile.

A smile that bewitched.

A shiver ran from the nape of my neck to the tips of my ears.

Rixion Luhanes. Who was he?

The one and only Duke of the Empire, head of House Luhanes.

A genius who had stepped into a realm unreachable by any human.

Commander of the special magic unit that struck fear across the continent.

The monster who made the Kaiden Empire recognized as an impregnable fortress throughout the land.

All those terrifying titles belonged to none other than the man sitting before me, Rixion Luhanes.

The Luhanes dukedom was such that even the Imperial Family could not treat it lightly—different from the Christener family, but just as untouchable in its own way.

To put it bluntly, even if the Emperor issued an order, if Rixion didn’t feel like obeying, he would find a way to overturn it.

“For now, since his older sister Serena Luhanes is the Empress, he pretends to heed the Imperial Family… but.”

If not for Empress Serena, no one knew when he might bare his fangs against the throne.

Everyone in the Empire knew what his name meant, and nearly all knew of his extreme hatred for humanity.

Man or woman, noble or commoner—it didn’t matter. He despised people themselves.

Other than the sister who had raised him like her own child, he treated everyone else as less than pebbles on the roadside.

Until he met the original heroine, Ji Eunha, he had never once associated with another person of his own will.

Those who dared approach him without his permission all met wretched ends without a single exception.

He was indifferent to most, but would never forgive anyone who annoyed him.

That was the official male lead of The Saintess of Erendel—Rixion Luhanes.

And this Rixion Luhanes… was at a blind date?

But what is a blind date?

It’s when a man and a woman, with the common purpose of marriage, meet, explore each other, and build a relationship.

Unless he had gone insane, or I had lost my mind and was hallucinating, the man sitting across from me could not possibly be Rixion Luhanes.

And yet—it was undeniably him. He had introduced himself as such.

That silver hair, those blue eyes—symbols of House Luhanes. That inhumanly beautiful face—there could not be two such beings in this world.

“What is happening? How did this come about?”

Did Michael offer him our entire estate as a dowry?

No—Rixion Luhanes was not the type to be swayed by something like that.

Then was it Empress Serena? She was the only one capable of moving him.

But no, that couldn’t be. I had never even met her properly. Our family had no ties to House Luhanes whatsoever.

“Michael Christener, what the hell did you do?”

My brother was truly terrifying.

Ever since he had become the head of House Christener, our family’s influence had soared higher than ever. His brilliance and ruthless skills had elevated our estates and businesses to the pinnacle.

At this moment, I wanted to storm into the Christener estate, grab my impressive brother by the collar, and shake him senseless.

Because I knew the truth.

No matter how polite or courteous Rixion seemed, beneath that gorgeous shell was a savage, monstrous creature.

The official male lead of The Saintess of Erendel, Rixion Luhanes.

In the original story, he was incapable of love. All he had was that stunning face—and an obsessive desire to possess.

Even when the woman he loved begged and wept to return home, he locked her away. When she finally escaped, he dragged her back. And worse—he slaughtered everyone who had helped her flee, right in front of her eyes, before imprisoning her again.

Because of this madman, The Saintess of Erendel became one of the cruelest, most twisted novels imaginable.

And yet, here he was.

“Michael Christener, do you realize what you’ve done, tying your only sister to this psychopath?”

No matter how shrewd he was, how good could the bargain possibly be?

What on earth had he done to drag Rixion Luhanes into a blind date?!

“Is there something on my face?”

From the moment he walked into the restaurant, he had drawn the eyes of everyone present. Even my horrified stare hadn’t fazed him. Now, he asked curiously.

I snapped back to myself, hastily lowering my gaze.

“N-no, I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine. I’m used to it.”

A surprisingly gentle reply.

I froze.

The Rixion I knew from the novel would never have bothered to ask such a question.

He would have thrown me a look of disgust and plucked out my eyeballs instead.

I instinctively touched my eyelids and let out a breath of relief.

“Phew. Still intact.”

Perhaps because I was a Christener, he didn’t treat me completely without restraint.

After confirming my eyes were safe, I cautiously glanced at him again.

He was sipping tea, but once more noticed my gaze. Our eyes met.

His look was amused, his smile crooked at one corner—as if mocking me.

Well, I couldn’t blame him.

The moment he appeared, I had gawked at him with dazed eyes, stammered when I tried to speak, failed to meet his gaze, and flailed in embarrassment at his every word.

I looked pathetic. Of course he would think so.

“Ugh, how humiliating.”

I had only stumbled a little, shocked and flustered. But his mocking smile made my face flush hot.

I was the type to blush easily; I must have been red as an apple.

“Now he’ll think I’m infatuated with him. This is mortifying—no, wait.”

That wasn’t it.

I had to remember my real purpose here.

So what if my opponent was Rixion Luhanes? That only made things simpler.

My mission was to make my blind date want to run far, far away.

I had lost my composure when he first appeared, but now I gathered my wits.

If anything, having him as my date only made it easier. All I had to do was act annoyingly lovesick.

“Because the thing he hates most is anyone showing interest or affection toward him.”

That face, that background, that power—everything about him drew others in.

Naturally, countless people had tried to get close.

In the original, he had even been kidnapped and imprisoned several times in his youth, before he grew strong.

Already distrustful of humanity, growing up among such people had only intensified his misanthropy.

So, to make him lose interest in me, the method was simple.

“Forgive my late introduction. I’m Elizabeth Christener. To be honest, I had no idea my blind date would be with Your Grace, so I was quite surprised.”

I gave him a shy smile, peeking at him through my lashes.

“To say something so bold is embarrassing, but… I’m truly overjoyed to find you before me. I’ve dreamed of meeting you like this for so long. Right now feels like walking in a dream.”

I twisted my body like a bashful maiden, gazing at him with eyes full of longing. I batted my lashes far too often, making sure he noticed.

Several times I nearly gagged from the disgust at my own performance, but the effect was undeniable.

The faint curiosity in his eyes faltered.

The more I continued with such behavior, the colder his gaze became.

Whatever interest had briefly sparked in him was extinguished.

He stared at me, his eyes frosty, as if already finding my presence unbearable.

Then, at last, he let out a short, derisive laugh.

“Yes, is that so?”

Exactly as I had hoped.

Just as expected, Rixion Luhanes’s tone and eyes turned to ice.

After only a few exchanges, those glacial eyes declared it outright—he had no patience for me.