TSHLWTL Chapter 21

Chapter 21

“Ah!”

Catherine suddenly realized she might have provoked the man before her and regretted it.

But the man remained silent despite her words.

He stared at Catherine for a moment, then quietly moved off of her.

“You’re not… suspicious, I guess. Sorry.”

The man—no, the intruder—apologized with a casual attitude.

“How does an ordinary lady like me look suspicious to you?”

“Well… you don’t talk like a lady.”

Catherine grumbled, and the man pointed it out as if he found it amusing.

“Hmph. I don’t need to be polite to a suspicious stranger.”

“What? Suspicious? Me? Hah!”

The man ran his hand through his jet-black hair in disbelief.

It was as dark as obsidian—so black that even in the Empire, such a color was rare.

And…

‘Bright green eyes. I think I’ve read a description like this in a book before… Who is this guy?’

“And who are you? Are you the real intruder?”

“…I’m just a knight.”

When Catherine asked, trying to fish for information, the man simply introduced himself as an ordinary knight.

She stared at his face.

“…What?”

‘A knight? He could make a living off his face alone.’

His face shone like a diamond or some other rare jewel.

Simply put, he wasn’t just any side character—he looked like a full-fledged ‘main character.’

‘…Wait. Main character?’

“No way…!”

“…?”

Jet-black hair like polished obsidian. Clear, bright green eyes.

Sharp features resembling a black panther.

When Catherine realized who he was, she was completely shocked.

‘Calypse Blake.’

He was the ‘male lead’ of The Duke’s Daughter Refuses to Regret and Eleanor’s main love interest!

‘Why is he here…?’

In the original story, Calypse infiltrated Baron Frong’s estate on a secret mission for the Emperor to steal information.

During his mission, he briefly encountered Eleanor and became interested in her.

After that, he had no reason to stay and should have left immediately.

So why was he still here?

Catherine’s mind went blank at the sudden encounter with the main character.

At that moment, Calypse noticed a leaf stuck in Catherine’s hair.

He reached out to remove it, but Catherine flinched and stepped back.

“….”

“….”

Calypse frowned as if offended.

Catherine’s reaction made it seem like she was avoiding something dirty.

When he looked annoyed, she hastily spoke.

“W-Why are you raising your hand? And why are you speaking informally to me?”

“Relax. You had a leaf in your hair. I was just trying to take it off.”

Hearing that, Catherine quickly brushed the leaf away herself.

“And what’s wrong with speaking informally?”

Calypse tilted his head in confusion.

“Uh. No.”

She didn’t want to talk casually with someone she had just met—especially not with Eleanor’s male lead.

More than anything, she didn’t want to get involved with him.

She wanted to leave this place as soon as possible.

“Why not?”

Calypse pressed for a reason. Catherine thought about how to respond.

There was only one answer.

If he wanted to play knight, she’d play along.

“You said you’re a knight.”

She pointed at Calypse, then at herself.

“And I’m a noble.”

“….”

“A knight shouldn’t speak informally to a noble.”

“Hah!”

Calypse let out a cold chuckle.

It was an amused yet condescending laugh.

“Well. You’re right. I’m a knight, after all.”

After muttering to himself, he suddenly changed his attitude and spoke to her politely.

“My apologies, Lady. That was quite rude of me. Please forgive my discourtesy.”

Unlike his earlier playful tone, he now acted like a perfect knight.

“Hmm. Now you finally seem like one.”

“By the way, Lady, why were you alone out here?”

His question sounded as if she shouldn’t be here.

Catherine felt like he was suspicious of her, but she decided to answer.

“…I just wanted some fresh air.”

“Huh? Alone? Without a guard? Wouldn’t the terrace be a better place to rest?”

He tilted his head as he looked at her.

‘The terrace is always where clichés happen, so I avoided it on purpose.’

Catherine wanted to tell Calypse, ‘This world is a novel, and you’re the main lead.

The terrace is a classic meeting place.’

But she knew it would sound completely crazy, so she just sighed and said,

“…Just because.”

“Hmm. Suspicious.”

Calypse narrowed his eyes.

“What…?”

When she asked why he thought that, he answered with a serious expression.

“Because… I came here after receiving a report that an unidentified woman had escaped into this garden.”

Catherine froze.

“What?”

According to him, a criminal who had stolen critical investment information from the nobles had fled to this garden.

And she was here alone.

To Calypse, she must have looked very suspicious.

“You seem very suspicious right now, you know?”

“I-I’m not!”

Catherine jumped in protest, making Calypse laugh.

“Yeah, you seem innocent.”

His laughter made Catherine relax for a moment.

But then—

“Still, you could just be a great actress.”

She flinched.

Whoosh—

Suddenly, something touched her neck.

“…!”

It didn’t take long to realize it was someone’s hand.

A large, firm hand completely wrapped around her throat.

And then, it started to tighten.

“…Gah!”

Her body froze in shock.

“Oh? So you are just an ordinary person.”

Calypse smiled brightly.

‘This… lunatic!’

“Oh dear, my apologies. I’ve encountered too many people pretending to be innocent while hiding their true identities.”

“….”

“Haha. I trust you understand.”

Calypse casually removed his hand from her neck.

But Catherine couldn’t laugh with him.

As soon as she could breathe properly again, she collapsed onto the ground.

Her legs had given out.

‘What the hell just happened?!’

A mix of emotions surged through her—shock, betrayal, and, finally… rage.

“…You bastard….”

With her head down, she muttered quietly.

“Hm? What did you say?”

Calypse stepped closer, confused.

“You… You…!”

“You?”

“You psycho lunatic!”

Wham!

Catherine suddenly stood up and punched Calypse in the stomach.

“Ugh…!”

Caught off guard, he stumbled backward and fell with a loud thud.

His eyes widened in shock as he looked up at her.

“Haah… Haah…”

Catherine panted heavily.

For a moment, she thought she was going to die.

One second, he was joking. The next, he had turned deadly serious, choking her without hesitation.

His eyes had been empty—cold, lifeless.

At that moment, she truly believed she was going to be killed.

Of course.

This was Calypse.

He was a man who could smile while taking someone’s life.

His handsome face was just a mask.

He changed his personality at will, deceiving and breaking others.

In the original story, he never showed his true self to anyone except Eleanor.

Only Eleanor could bring out his humanity.

Leaving Calypse sitting there, staring at her in shock—

Catherine ran away.