How to Run Away from Obsessed Men

Episode 87

Lindsey stared at Karen, seated before her. His face was slightly flushed, and he was looking at her with a mix of excitement and curiosity.

She couldn’t figure out how he had made it here.

Under normal circumstances, she wouldn’t have even taken the time to deal with him—she was already overwhelmed trying to heal Mikhail.

But for some reason, her instincts told her she needed to listen to him.

“I never thought he’d actually succeed,” Karen said, his voice filled with amazement.

Lindsey frowned, confused.

“What are you talking about?”

“Crain Kesion. I never thought someone would bring about his downfall. I didn’t believe Mikhail could pull it off.”

Lindsey’s heart began to race, and as Karen continued, her expression twisted in frustration.

“Mikhail Dweisi is going to die soon, isn’t he?”

“If you’re here to spout nonsense, leave immediately,” Lindsey snapped.

“But you already know it, don’t you? That he won’t survive.”

“Is that why you came all the way from the Asen Empire? To tell me that?”

“No, no,” Karen replied, waving his hand dismissively. “I said it because I genuinely didn’t think he’d succeed.”

He turned his gaze to Mikhail with an intrigued expression and then smiled.

“I don’t think I properly introduced my full name to you, Lady Lindsey.”

Lindsey froze, her eyes widening in shock. How did he know she was Lindsey?

‘Is the artifact not working?’

Quickly, Lindsey walked to the mirror hanging on one side of the room.

She glanced at her reflection and then turned back to Karen with a perplexed look.

The artifact was functioning correctly—she still appeared as Roana, the cleric.

Karen chuckled at her reaction and spoke.

“My name is Karen Rosset.”

Lindsey’s brow furrowed deeply.

If he was from the Rosset family, there was no way she wouldn’t know him.

The Rosset family had very few descendants, even among distant branches. Lindsey prided herself on being familiar with all of them.

“Rosset? If you’re from the Rosset family, there’s no way I wouldn’t know you,” Lindsey said firmly.

“Well, that’s because I’m from a slightly earlier era,” Karen replied with a smirk.

Lindsey turned to Felia for confirmation.

Felia, who had been sitting silently in shock, nodded slowly, her face still filled with disbelief.

“Now that I think about it, I’ve seen a portrait of him in the Rosset family gallery before,” Felia murmured.

When Lindsey had encountered Karen in the Asen Empire, she hadn’t recognized him at all. It hadn’t occurred to her that someone from hundreds of years ago could still be alive.

Felia, still dazed, whispered under her breath, as if trying to convince herself.

“How is that even possible? He’s from hundreds of years ago,” Lindsey said, her voice trembling slightly.

Karen, still focused on Mikhail, replied calmly, “There’s something I didn’t tell you.”

Lindsey felt uneasy as she caught the reverence in Karen’s gaze toward Mikhail.

“Mikhail Dweisi and I met a long time ago. What I mean is, I’ve encountered a dimensional traveler before.”

Karen shrugged as he spoke, his tone casual.

“I’m not one to lie, but I had no choice. I made a promise to Mikhail.”

Lindsey’s confusion deepened. Just how long ago was Karen referring to?

Mikhail and Karen had never seemed to have any connection.

“You’re saying you met Mikhail?”

“A very long time ago. So long that I can’t even remember when.”

“……”

“Think about it. What are the chances of a dimensional traveler arriving exactly in the timeline they wish to?”

Lindsey’s face hardened.

Karen was right. She had wondered the same thing before.

Mikhail’s dimensional travel was already incredible. But for him to have traveled to a timeline that overlapped with her own?

And then to be reborn as Mikhail Dweisi?

It was absurd. But Karen’s explanation made it all feel more plausible.

Lindsey’s fingers trembled slightly.

“Mikhail arrived here countless years ago and sought me out. He asked about your future.”

“……”

“You were supposed to die today at Crain Kesion’s hands. If not today, then someday. It was your fate to die by him.”

Despite the gravity of Karen’s words, Lindsey’s face didn’t change.

Perhaps because it felt believable.

But Karen’s next statement stunned her.

“Mikhail told me he would change that fate. An impossible task.”

“……”

“Futures can be changed, but a person’s fate cannot.”

Lindsey grasped Mikhail’s hand tightly.

So when had Mikhail arrived?

Karen was from centuries ago. And Mikhail had apparently defied fate long before this moment.

“Even Raysis surviving was tied to fate,” Karen continued. “He was always meant to take over the Kesion Marquisate and live well.”

“So, what you’re saying is that Mikhail ended up like this because he was trying to protect me?”

“……”

“I was fated to die by my father’s hand, and Mikhail stopped it?”

“Exactly.”

“And Raysis survived because he was always meant to live?”

Karen nodded.

“Fate is inherently unfair.”

“……”

“Just like you being born with extraordinary divine power. Isn’t your talent unfair to others?”

Lindsey let out a bitter laugh.

“Don’t make me laugh. You’re telling me everything’s predetermined? I don’t believe in that crap.”

She stared directly into Karen’s eyes.

“There’s a reason you came here, isn’t there?”

Karen smiled, a look of amusement crossing his face. For a moment, Lindsey felt like she was looking at Mikhail, the same way he had once stared at her with quiet confidence.

“Don’t you want to know what Mikhail did? How he lived after arriving in this world?”

Karen reached out and took Lindsey’s hand.

Then, gently, he placed it on Mikhail’s forehead.

“I can show you,” Karen said softly.

Before Lindsey could respond, she felt her eyes growing heavy.

Her vision darkened, and everything faded away.

⋆★⋆

“What did you do? Why is she unconscious?”

Felia’s angry voice filled the Kesion Marquisate, trembling with fury and frustration.

The moment Karen’s strange words ended, Lindsey had collapsed.

It had happened so suddenly that Felia hadn’t even had a chance to intervene. Now she stood there, watching helplessly.

Despite Felia’s threatening demeanor, Karen showed no sign of intimidation.

He seemed entirely different from the man Felia had seen back in the Riken Duchy.

After rendering Lindsey unconscious, Karen’s expression turned emotionless—like a man who had truly lived for centuries.

“She’ll come back,” he said casually.

“What?”

“It’s up to her now.”

Felia, overwhelmed with confusion and panic, snapped at him.

“Are you saying she might not come back? What the hell do you mean by that?!”

Karen didn’t answer immediately.

“What’s going on here? Why is she unconscious?”

A weak but firm voice interrupted their heated exchange. Felia turned to see Kenyan standing there, his body battered and bloodied, looking as if he might collapse at any moment.

Kenyan’s face was pale, blood streaming from numerous wounds.

“What are you doing here? What happened to you?” Felia asked, stunned by his terrible condition.

Kenyan ignored her, his gaze fixed solely on Lindsey.

“I asked why she’s unconscious,” he repeated as he walked toward her.

He crouched beside Lindsey and gently touched her, trying to wake her. But she didn’t stir—not even a flinch.

Kenyan’s expression darkened as he carefully shook her, his movements growing more desperate.

Felia stepped between him and Lindsey, her voice firm.

“Stop. I’ve already tried. She’s not waking up.”

“Why not?” Kenyan muttered, his voice trembling.

Lindsey’s breathing was faint, so weak it was barely perceptible.

The Lindsey Kesion he remembered wasn’t like this.

She never fell into a deep sleep. Kenyan could vividly recall how, back when she was with the Radian family, Lindsey could barely rest.

She would wake with a start at the slightest touch, always on edge and sensitive to everything around her.

But now, even as Kenyan touched her, she remained still, unresponsive.

It was as if she were lifeless.

‘This is the same touch you always despised. Why won’t you wake up?’

Kenyan thought about what had just happened. He had taken down Flute, protected the emperor, and ensured the imperial seal was safe. He had come here, eager to tell Lindsey what he had done.

He wondered how she would react. Would she forgive him, even a little?

Would she see his injuries and feel a trace of pity? Would she understand that he had betrayed Azhet and risked everything—all for her?

That selfish hope had driven him. Even as he threw himself into battle, enduring countless wounds, he had clung to the idea that he might earn a fragment of her approval.

But now…

‘Am I too late again?’

The harsh reality bore down on him. Kenyan’s gaze shifted to Karen, full of burning rage.

Karen, however, didn’t react. His focus was entirely on Lindsey and Mikhail, as if Kenyan’s fury didn’t matter to him in the slightest.

Kenyan’s voice cracked as he roared in despair.

“You! What did you do to her? Why won’t she wake up?!”