Ethan didn’t even flinch when I approached.
Was he angry? Or... had he fallen asleep with his eyes open?
Feeling guilty, I carefully sat down beside him. Only then did Ethan turn his head to look at me. So he wasn’t asleep after all.
“...Sorry. You should’ve woken me up. Aren’t you tired?”
Ethan crossed his arms and laughed, looking at me like he couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
“I went down because I thought something had happened. But you were out cold—sleeping so deeply I thought your snoring might break the ceiling.”
“I—I snored?”
I asked, mortified. I had slept so soundly that it wouldn’t have been surprising.
“I’m joking. Honestly, you were so still and quiet that I thought you were dead.”
“The sun hasn’t completely risen yet. You should try to get some sleep, Sir Ethan—”
“I doubt I could sleep.”
“Then how about I go back and sleep a little more instead?”
Ethan shot me a look, like he couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
“This is where you’re supposed to say, ‘Then I’ll keep you company.’”
“I don’t want to make small talk with you.”
Not when I’d probably get interrogated again.
“Unbelievable...”
Ethan shook his head, looking like he was ready to give up on me.
“Anything unusual while I was out?”
“Nothing. No survivors in sight, but it looks like the number of monsters is increasing.”
I listened to his report while sitting down by the railing of the watchtower. Then I handed him the water bottle I’d brought up.
“Good thing we stocked up on water before the town fell apart.”
Of course, I’d have to make a new filtration system before the tanks ran out.
Ethan took the water bottle from me and drank deeply without hesitation.
“No kidding. Being around you makes me feel like my luck’s turning around.”
‘That’s only because I knew the future and prepared for it,’ I thought. But I just smiled instead.
“What if... the entire country’s like this? What if the world’s already ended?”
“That’s not possible.”
“Look around. Did you see how fast people were turning into monsters? The infection rate was practically 100 percent. It’s possible, isn’t it?”
Ethan pressed his lips together and didn’t answer. Then he leaned against the railing and looked at me intently.
“So you’re saying it’s just the two of us left in the world?”
Hearing him say that felt strangely... unsettling.
Especially with the way he was looking at me—leaning like that, his gaze practically smoldering. That wasn’t fair.
“There must be other survivors hiding somewhere. Like us.”
At the very least, Aurora was probably alive—with her male leads by her side.
“Let’s hope so. We need something to believe in.”
Ethan murmured quietly, but he looked like he had already given up hope.
His gaze wandered toward the town, his face clouded with heavy thoughts. The atmosphere around him felt different from usual—heavier, darker.
After a long, uncomfortable silence, Ethan finally spoke again, cautiously this time.
“If the world really has ended and it’s just the two of us left... I think that might be dangerous.”
“What’s dangerous about there only being two of us?”
“That’s exactly why it’s dangerous. Do you really trust me, Cherry?”
He rested an arm on his bent knee and looked at me with a smirk that felt more like a challenge than a smile.
What was with this attitude? I’d expected Ethan to stay grounded, but his eyes already seemed a little... off.
Was it because of me?
I felt a sudden sense of responsibility to snap him out of it.
Ethan had to stay true to himself—to the righteous character he was in Love in a Ruined World.
“I trust you.”
“How far?”
Was he planning to keep pushing?
“As far as I can handle.”
“And what exactly does that mean?”
“Up until the point where I have to punch you.”
Basically, as long as he didn’t piss me off enough to get punched.
Ethan stared at me in disbelief before bursting into laughter. God, he really was unfairly good-looking when he smiled.
After rubbing his face like he was trying to sober up, he finally said:
“I was wondering why it had to be you I ended up stuck with. But now I’m glad it was you.”
“Don’t insult me to my face.”
“That was a compliment.”
Ethan shook his head, but I noticed his eyes looked a little brighter than before. At least that was a good sign.
I picked up the binoculars and scanned the town again. We’d move as soon as the sun was fully up.
But Ethan wasn’t done with his end-of-the-world confessions.
“If the world really does end tomorrow, I’ve thought about what I’d want to say to people before it’s too late. I just didn’t expect it to actually come to this.”
I hadn’t expected someone like Ethan to entertain such thoughts. When I tilted my head in curiosity, he pressed me again.
“Doesn’t everyone think about things like that? Or is it just me?”
“Yes. I think it’s just you, Sir Ethan. I don’t.”
Sure, I’d thought about quotes like ‘If the world ends tomorrow, I’ll plant an apple tree today,’ but I’d never indulged in sentimental ideas like that. When I thought about the end of the world, my only thought had been to build a bunker—fast.
“Cherry...”
Ethan trailed off and then closed his mouth.
“What? Why’d you stop? You’re making me feel weird.”
“I’ve never met anyone who thinks as simply as you do.”
“There you go insulting me again.”
“It’s a compliment.”
“No, it’s not.”
“Living the way you do is probably happier than having complicated thoughts.”
“I was happy. Past tense.”
At least, I had been—before I remembered my past life and before the world collapsed.
I turned to face Ethan and leaned back against the railing.
So was he implying that he had complicated thoughts? That was surprising. From the way he looked and acted, he didn’t seem like the type to live a complicated life.
‘Then again, refusing to inherit the Lancaster Dukedom and becoming a cop instead does count as complicated.’
“Do you think in complicated ways, Sir Ethan? That’s unexpected. Is that why you were unhappy?”
“I wasn’t unhappy. I just had a lot of complaints.”
Ethan’s expression was calm, but there was something about it—like he was hiding countless stories beneath the surface.
‘The novel didn’t mention much about Ethan’s past...’
Of course it hadn’t. Ethan wasn’t a love interest—he was the heroine’s older brother.
“What complaints could you possibly have? Most people would dream of being the Lancaster heir.”
“That was my complaint. Being the Lancaster heir.”
What kind of answer was that?
“My father is a great man—or so I thought until five years ago.”
Five years ago—when Aurora was adopted. Did he rebel because a stranger suddenly became his sister?
“The Duke of Lancaster still has a good reputation, doesn’t he?”
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“To the public, yes. He fooled even his own son. It was a perfect mask.”
“A mask?”
I didn’t remember anything like this in the original story. The novel hadn’t mentioned Aurora’s family background.
“He just kept his hands clean. That doesn’t mean he wasn’t involved in crimes and illegal dealings.”
Ethan spoke so casually about his family’s dirty secrets—secrets most people would’ve hidden.
It made me uneasy. Was it really okay for him to be telling me all this? Me, Cherry Sinclair?
“Is that why you became a cop?”
Ethan nodded.
“You could call it running away.”
“No, it was conscientious. At least you didn’t look the other way. Unlike me.”
I’d known the Sinclair family expanded its business through illegal means.
But unlike Ethan, I hadn’t cared. I’d ignored the suffering of others and focused solely on my own happiness.
Ethan stared at me. He didn’t say anything, but I could tell he was thinking about all the ways the Sinclair family might have been involved in things like this.
Finally, he let out a long sigh and said:
“I’m not that conscientious. I couldn’t bring myself to drag my father down, so I left and tried to atone somewhere else.”
He added, quietly: “Like a coward.”
His voice was so soft that I wasn’t sure if I’d heard it correctly. But he still sounded detached.
“I just wanted to clear up any misunderstandings. You seem to think I’m some noble, righteous cop. But I’m not. My intentions were flawed from the start. The Lancaster blood doesn’t just go away.”
“No matter how it started or what your motives were, the people you’ve helped are still grateful to you.”
I meant it sincerely, but Ethan didn’t seem comforted. Instead, he spoke in an even lower voice.
“It was more like a promise to myself. To lock people like my father away. And one day...”
He didn’t finish the sentence, but I could guess what he’d meant.
He was planning to bring down the Duke of Lancaster.
“I thought you were like my father. That’s why I didn’t like you.”
“Wait—what? Did you seriously just compare me to your father?”
He had the nerve to look me in the eye and say I reminded him of the Duke of Lancaster.
I didn’t know much about the Duke, but I still felt insulted. What kind of man compares a woman to his father?