“Well, that’s true. I really shouldn’t have such weak willpower. But it’s become a habit now. Candy’s better anyway.”
He said he used candy as a substitute whenever he wanted to smoke...
That means my question made him crave a cigarette.
“Why didn’t you attend the reception?”
What’s the big deal about that?
Wait.
Suddenly, a ridiculous soap-opera-like scenario flashed through my mind. Did Nox love his sister or something?
As I stared at him with shining eyes, Nox let out a dry laugh with the candy still in his mouth.
“Cherry, it’s all over your face what you’re thinking right now. Control your expression.”
“What do you mean by that...?”
I feigned ignorance. I was doing him a favor, considering his social standing and dignity.
But Nox covered his face with his palm and laughed for a long while, as if he couldn’t believe it.
“It’s not what you’re thinking. Isabella and I are related by blood. Well, not exactly siblings, but close enough. So drop those disgusting thoughts.”
Huh? What’s he talking about now?
“You’re not full siblings?”
“I’m not the biological son of the Ludfisher Marquis couple. My brothers and sister are all legitimate children, though.”
“But isn’t Lord Ludfisher known as the youngest son who’s deeply loved by the Marquisate?”
“That’s just to keep people from suspecting anything.”
“What? Suspecting what?”
“That the current Marquis and his wife killed my real parents and took over the Ludfisher title.”
His words hit me like a punch. The current Marquis and his wife were Nox’s uncle and aunt? This family’s relationships were just as tangled as the others. Was I even supposed to hear something this sensitive?
Nox smiled faintly, like he was talking about someone else’s life, as he rolled the candy in his mouth.
“My real father was poisoned by the man I now call my father.”
He spoke calmly, as if he weren’t revealing a horrifying truth about his family.
Apparently, the Ludfisher Marquis poisoned his own brother to steal the family’s title, then took in the orphaned Nox and raised him as his own son.
The Marquis was both cowardly and despicable. Even after murdering his brother, he still believed he was a good man, convincing himself it was justified because the previous Marquis had been cruel and ruthless.
“Do you know what’s really ironic? I didn’t find out about any of this until I was fifteen.”
Nox swallowed his laughter as he said that.
When his real father was murdered, Nox had only been three years old. The Marquis must have thought he could bury the truth forever.
But ‘love’ wasn’t something that could be forced.
No matter how much money and support they gave Nox, they couldn’t give him love.
That was always reserved for his two brothers and sister.
Nox had never been given that love, not even once.
He grew up full of doubts and questions until he hit adolescence at fifteen and finally uncovered the truth.
He was at an illegal gambling den—yes, it seemed Nox had already been a delinquent back then—when he met a distant relative of the Ludfishers whom the Marquis had always kept hidden from the public.
Was Nox consumed by rage after learning the truth? Did he curse the Marquis for what he’d done?
No.
Surprisingly, Nox said he hadn’t felt a thing.
He couldn’t feel vengeful because he had no memories of his real parents.
He couldn’t resent the Marquis because, as the youngest son of the household, he had lacked nothing.
Not being loved as much as his brothers and sister?
He hadn’t cared about that either.
He said he had never had love to begin with, so he didn’t know what it felt like to have it. That’s why he couldn’t be angry about not having it.
As I listened, I felt strangely solemn. Just a few days ago, Ethan had confessed his own ‘what ifs’ in this very place. Was this room enchanted to make people spill their deepest secrets?
“So that’s why you left so suddenly on the wedding day.”
“I didn’t even know you were there, Cherry. If I had, I would’ve stayed longer.”
Nox replied so smoothly that I almost fell for it. Then he met my gaze and smiled.
He twirled the lollipop stick in his hand, rolling the candy in his mouth, before pulling it out with a loud pop.
As he spun the stick between his fingers, he stared at the shrunken candy, then added quietly:
“Don’t pity me.”
“I’m not.”
Of course, Nox didn’t even acknowledge my answer and kept talking.
“I don’t hold any grudge against Bella. Or my brothers, for that matter.”
I see.
I silently stared at the lollipop stick spinning in his hand.
Nox lifted the stick and held it up to the light.
“Candy’s strange, isn’t it? It’s so sweet and tempting, but if you crave it too much, it just melts away.”
What?
I blinked at him, completely lost. What was I supposed to take away from this sudden metaphor about candy?
When Nox saw my expression, he laughed.
Was he picking a fight with me?
“My life’s been like that.”
Nox pointed at me as if wrapping up his statement.
“Come to think of it, isn’t your nickname Sugar Star?”
“Don’t call me that.”
I meant it. It was enough to make my skin crawl.
“The more you hate it, the more I want to call you that—Miss Sugar Star.”
I felt sick. No, seriously—I actually felt unwell. My head still felt light, and my stomach was uneasy...
I shot him a look as if I’d just bitten into a rotten apple, and only then did Nox stop teasing me. He popped the lollipop back into his mouth, rolling it around lazily.
“Ah, that reminds me—I have something I’ve been meaning to ask you, too.”
His eyes suddenly sharpened, the playful glint vanishing in an instant.
The way he looked at me now was intense—like he was locking me in place. His gaze sliced through me, stripping away my defenses and exposing everything underneath.
This felt like a moment I should be on high alert. Yeah, definitely time to brace myself.
“Where did you get the Elphinus herb?”
“......”
Of course. A loaded question. Was he testing me?
Nox looked like he already knew something about the Elphinus herb I’d obtained.
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When I hesitated and fumbled for a response, he sighed as if giving up and added,
“The Elphinus herb you brought. You took it from the mansion at 61 Notium Street, didn’t you?”
“What?”
I was so shocked that my eyes went wide, staring at him.
My mouth opened and closed like a broken robot before I finally managed to force out a question.
“How did you know that?”
“I was researching the Elphinus herb long before the world fell apart—along with the monsters.”
Nox spoke with a relaxed air, casually rolling the lollipop in his mouth as if we weren’t discussing something incredibly sensitive.
“How did you know the mansion at 61 Notium Street had Elphinus herbs?”
“I didn’t.”
“I saw the Elphinus herb in your pocket that day. How did you recognize it and decide to take it?”
Damn it—how the hell did he notice that?
“It just looked interesting, so I grabbed it. It was something dropped by the guy I rescued from that mansion that day.”
“And why were you planning to plant it in the mansion’s garden?”
It felt just as suffocating as Ethan’s interrogations.
But it was a fair question for him to ask, so I did my best to keep my expression calm and answer without sounding flustered.
“I heard it was good for restoring stamina. And it’s not like I was only planning to plant Elphinus herbs.”
Nox studied me with an unreadable expression.
Then, unexpectedly, he smiled—gentle, almost soothing, like he was comforting a child.
“I’m not interrogating you, Cherry. Relax.”
His soft, coaxing tone had the unnerving effect of making me want to let my guard down.
But if I actually lowered my defenses, I felt like he’d devour me whole. My chest remained tight, refusing to loosen.
Since when did Nox become this shadowy, manipulative type of character?
In Love in a Ruined World, he had only ever been kind and caring.
Was it just because he’d been putting on an act in front of the heroine back then?
“As I said, I’ve been researching monsters, and if you know something about them, I thought it would be best to share information. Don’t get the wrong idea.”
When I didn’t respond, Nox added that last part as if trying to coax me further.