Read Novel Full Chapter 5
Chapter 5
The Villain’s Coaxing
Leonardo laughed haughtily.
And then, held on tightly to Francesca, embracing her, who was still seated sideways on the horse.
“Waah!?”
“Hold on tight to your hat now okay? Or it’ll fly off again.”
“Wai, Wait! WAIT!!!”
Everything was happening too fast and her words didn’t seem to stop him at all.
In the end, perhaps so as to not let Francesca fall off the horse, their bodies were glued close to each other. He must have put a nice perfume on, as the sweet smell only made her feel more troubled.
Leonardo on the other hand, didn’t seem to care much about it all, and while still embracing Francesca with just one arm, he made the horse pick up speed.
“Wah! Waahhhhhhhhaaaa!!”
“HAHAHA! You’re full of energy aren’t you! I feel like it’s been a while since I have interacted with a person that’s actually alive.”
“Scary scary scary! This guy, how is he saying such scary stuff with a smile!?!!”
Without paying any heed to Francesca’s screams, Leonardo continued to gallop his horse.
***
By the time she was finally freed, they had reached a small brick house located on the outskirts of the capital.
“Come, we’re here. Give me your hand milady.”
(………I’m so tired……….)
Leonardo got off the horse first, and then extended his hand towards Francesca to help her get down.
He was acting truly like a gentleman, but it was him that had dragged her on top of the horse in the first place so this wasn’t going to make her forget that.
But Francesca was already out of the energy needed to retort anymore so she just took his hand and got down.
Leonardo only showed an even more beautiful smile at that.
“I’m sure getting dragged here so suddenly must have scared you. What will you do? I don’t mind if you try to run away as well you know?”
“Why would I? Sounds tiring.”
“Oh?”
In the first place, why is the guy who dragged me here asking if it was ‘scary’? Francesca could only sigh again before looking at Leonardo.
“Enough of all this and get to the point already Mr. Leonardo Valentino Aldini.”
“………ah so you do know who I am eh?”
He happily laughed for some reason, and then pushed the gate of the house open with his hand.
“Come inside, young miss. We are betrothed and finally meeting each other for the first time. It’s a good chance for us to get to properly know each other.”
(I highly doubt he means any of that.)
While thinking of such things, Francesca followed him into house.
From outside, it looked like an abandoned home covered in ivy but, inside it was quite clean and tidy. The room they went to had a sofa and Francesca was asked to sit down there.
(Oh, this is quite comfy……….unlike the game, at least I got taken to a much better place it seems…….)
Realizing that, she felt a bit accomplished at succeeding at achieving at least that much.
After all, in the game, she had been dragged to some warehouse at the harbour, thrown to the cold hard floor, and was threatened by a bunch of scary men. It was a game in the end, but it was honestly a miracle she had come out of all that without any injuries.
(I wonder if this place is a private hideout of Leonardo’s? It certainly never showed up in the game. Well, maybe it showed up in the 6th Chapter that hadn’t come out by the time I had died.)
It had become a habit over the last 12 years for her. She would begin to compare everything she saw with what she remembered from the game.
Leonardo stood in front of the empty fireplace and was……….staring directly at Francesca, with his hand on his chin.
Soon after, he walked towards her in a very natural fashion and then sat down right beside her like it was normal.
“Say, Francesca.”
He was sitting close enough for their shoulders to touch, not the kind of distance you expect someone to have during their first meeting.
But Leonardo, with a smile that seemed to have a tinge sexiness to it, looked at Francesca from a close distance.
“Are you not scared of this situation? If a normal person was dragged to a random location for no reason, they’d be screaming ‘help me’ right about now, you know?”
“Is that something the kidnapper should be asking the victim directly? That too with a grin like that?”
“HAHAHA!”
Francesca was honestly pretty annoyed seeing him in such a good mood. But she was scared of him either.
“I am used to getting kidnapped. I more or less know how kidnappers think and by now, I can kind of gauge how much bloodlust the kidnapper has as well.”
“You can gauge the [bloodlust of the kidnapper] eh……..”
(As for why I’m calm, is because I also know the scenario of the game itself but……….I don’t need to tell him that.)
Francesca let out a small sigh.
“But this is fine too. Now that we’ve met I actually wanted to talk to you about something.”
“Oh? Go on.”
“Break off our engagement.”
When she said that, Leonardo laughed sounding amused.
“Now that’s an interesting demand. I know our grandfather’s made this happen without our consent but, regardless, our marriage on paper has nothing but merits and positives. Yet still you ask for that?”
Our grandfathers, back in the day, must have been thinking about the futures of their families.
Francesca’s family, the Calvinos, were the closest with the royalty even among the big 5.
Her family’s creed lied in [Loyalty], and they were deeply tied to the royal family. But as long as that connection exists, they couldn’t stray too far into the depravities of the underworld for the sake of money either.
On the other hand, the Aldini’s creed lay in [Power] and that alone.
Their way of living was bold, and over the top. They swung their absolute might about with no remorse and would make whatever they wanted happen at any cost.
Among the five families, they produced the biggest profits, showed the most promise if you were look at the future.
On the other hand, they were also the youngest of the five families with the shortest history, which made the other families look down upon them.
Francesca’s family that upheld tradition and had a long prestigious history. And Leonardo’s family that made explosive profits. If the two family were to unite under their marriage, both families would greatly benefit from it.
That was what their grandfathers had in mind when they made this promise.
(………..But..)
Francesca spoke up.
“You don’t believe any of that do you?”
“—–……”
In that instant, Leonardo’s smile vanished as he looked down at Francesca with an expressionless look.
This man gives no value to the concept of [History], or pedigree or lineage. He doesn’t care about any of it.
In the game, Leonardo was an extreme realist and rational in his actions.
“Clearly neither of us care in reality, so let’s just break off our engagement shall we?”
His moon-like golden eyes quietly narrowed.
“……….I refuse.”
“But, why……..”
“Besides, that’s not what I brought you here to discuss anyway.”
Leonardo spoke with a indifferent voice.
“——-……..From here on, I am going to violently attack the cute you.”
“!!”
His hand stretched towards Francesa’s neck.
And soon, Leonardo’s lips bloomed into a smile once again, and a dark shadow covered his eyes as he whispered.
“You will get hurt a lot. But I will let you go after that, and you can go tell everything to your daddy maybe? If possible, while sobbing like a tragic poor girl, if possible. I’m sure everyone will sympathize with you if they see such a cute girl experience such pain and tragedy.”
“……….”
Leonardo’s finger pushed against Francesca’s throat, and with slide, he traced his finger up her skin to her face.
(————-Ah, this person.)
His actions were imitating that of a knife.
(He has definitely intentionally killed people with his own hands.)
Just from having her neck touched like that, she instinctively sensed that.
It was never clearly told in the game but his actions were proof enough for her.
“Your role will end just like that. You can do whatever you want afterwards. Ah but I could still find more ways to use you so I’m still not going to break our engagement off though.”
“……………….”
“Did you understand everything? I prefer to make things clear while you’re still completely sane after all.”
Leonardo cast down his pretty eyes at her and smiled.
“I don’t mind if you continue being a nice and obedient girl………although I’d prefer if you struggled till the end……….”
“——-your plan won’t go that smoothly.”
“!”
The moment Francesca said that, Leonardo stopped talking.
And with a slightly confused look, he continued to look down at Francesca.
“………What did you say, just now?”
“Kidnapping me, and harming me, you want to mess up the sensitive balance that is maintaining the relations between the big 5 families, right? But your plan will fail.”
“……….”
All the while Leonardo was [explaining] things to her, Francesca’s expression had not changed one bit.
She wasn’t frozen with fear.
She simply felt that all his talk was useless.
“No matter what you do to me, I won’t go run to my papa to cry about it. I won’t rely on others to take revenge for me, not even my own father.”
While announcing so, Francesca brushed off Leonardo’s hand that was lightly grabbing on to her neck.
And as payback, this time it was Francesca that reached out her hand and grabbed Leonardo’s chin with her fingers.
“I will always personally take responsibility for anything that happens directly to me.”
That was the moral code that her grandfather had taught her in her past life.
Just like when someone’s about to kiss someone, she made Leonardo look directly at her.
And while glaring directly into his moonlit eyes, Francesca further declared.
“———When I get my revenge on you, I’ll do it with my own two hands.”
“……………….”
She wondered if Leonardo would be enraged by her words and actions and show his true cruel nature.
Francesca thought he really might but, the very next instant.
“……….fufu, fufufu, HAHAHA………!!”
Leonardo erupted into laughter suddenly which only made Francesca frown.