I Became The Novel's Biggest Antagonist

Chapter 71 [Demon Subjugation Exam] [9]

"Have you two finished flirting already?" Theresa interrupted as Ivan and Ludivine continued their exchange.

To an outsider, it might have looked like playful banter, but in truth, Ivan was continuingly mocking Ludivine until brainwashing her in understanding what he wanted from her. However, from Theresa and Travis's perspective, it seemed entirely different.

"Ah, sorry," Ludivine muttered, turning around at last, her cheeks tinged with a faint blush.

Ivan turned as well. A flicker of regret flashed through his mind—he should have killed her when he had the chance. The opportunity had been there, but it would have drawn too much suspicion. Perhaps it was better this way. Yet, as he watched her now, he wasn't sure if he could truly trust her. Not because he feared she'd betray him outright, but because her curiosity and incessant questions might lead her to something dangerous.

"What is it?"

Ludivine glanced at Theresa, waiting for her to speak, but the girl remained silent. Instead, Theresa's gaze dropped to Ludivine's wrist—still gripped tightly by Ivan's hand.

Ludivine's face burned brighter, a deeper shade of crimson. Before she could muster a reaction, Ivan's expression twisted with disdain, and he released her hand abruptly, as if touching her had somehow sullied him.

"You!" Ludivine gasped, momentarily stunned.

She should have been the one offended!

"Stop flirting already!" Theresa interrupted once more fedup.

She had no patience left for watching others exchange chemistry when her own awkward dynamic with Travis was stuck in limbo. He was so infuriatingly aloof, making any attempt at flirting feel like scaling a mountain. But how had Ludivine and Ivan—of all people—grown close? Ivan was even more distant than Travis, not to mention distrustful, antisocial, and seemingly indifferent to women altogether.

She wondered for a moment if he was swinging in the other way but despite how close he seemed to his cousin, he seemed to hate men as well....or rather it was simpler to ask whom he liked?

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"W-What?! We aren't flirting!" Ludivine shot back, her face burning in anger and embarrassment.

She looked to Ivan for support, but he offered none. Instead, he remained stoic, deliberately removing himself from the petty drama. If there was one thing he despised, it was getting entangled in frivolous teenage drama.

"I didn't know you were such a tsundere, Ludivine. That's adorable," Theresa teased, smirking behind her hand.

"Ugh..." Ludivine averted her gaze, already exhausted by Theresa's antics. She wasn't one to lose her composure so easily, but Ivan seemed to bring out the worst in her.

That realization only made her angrier at herself. Taking a deep breath, she forced her emotions back under control.

"We have more important things to focus on," Ludivine said, her tone shifting. "Listen—there are dangerous people in the forest. They're all completely possessed."

"Possessed?" Theresa repeated.

The shift in tone was jarring. In an instant, the atmosphere had gone from lighthearted to deadly serious.

"Yes," Ludivine nodded. "They're dangerous. I barely escaped one alive."

Ivan raised a brow mockingly. "What does it matter to you how I and her met and did? What are you going to do with that information?"

The jab hit its mark, and Travis bristled.

"Um, can you stop now?" Ludivine spoke up timidly.

Ivan's words were already inviting dangerous assumptions. He had a knack for making things sound worse than they were. Though their secret was not personal in nature, his phrasing made it seem exactly that.

And Theresa, predictably, was jumping to the wrong conclusion.

"Enough, Travis," Theresa chimed in with a blush creeping across her cheeks. "Come on, you can't be this dense... just let it go."

Ludivine's heart sank. She could already feel the weight of the misunderstanding brewing. "I think you're getting the wrong idea—"

"No, don't worry," Theresa interrupted with a knowing laugh. "I won't tell anyone."

Ludivine froze, horrified. Theresa's laugh carried an undertone of playful mischief, but her assumptions were anything but harmless. Being a member of the illustrious Richmont House, Theresa had undoubtedly connected Ludivine's concern to family politics. The Cromwell House, though respectable, wasn't on the same tier as the Richmonts. Any hint of a relationship between Ivan and Ludivine could spark tensions, and Theresa was now reading the situation as exactly that—a forbidden romance.

"No! It's not what you think—" Ludivine tried again, more desperately this time.

"Enough," Ivan interrupted unfortunately.

Ludivine looked at him, stunned. Didn't he realize how bad this misunderstanding was? Or perhaps he simply didn't care. Ivan's dense, aloof persona—or perhaps his genuine indifference—made it impossible to tell.

"I'm leaving," Ivan said abruptly. "Find your own way to reach the staff."

"Where are you going?" Ludivine blurted out before she could stop herself.

The moment the question escaped her lips, she regretted it. Realizing how intrusive she sounded, she quickly clamped her mouth shut.

'Why am I acting like this?!'

Ivan stopped in his track. "Finding my cousin."

The answer surprised Ludivine, though she suspected it was a convenient excuse. She couldn't shake the feeling that he was trying to cover for something—something far more significant than simply looking for a relative.

'Likely some task from the Order.'

Ludivine quickly found a convenient excuse born from her misunderstanding about Ivan being a member from the Order.

But it far from the truth.

Ivan just needed an alibi for what he was about to do next.