Chapter 18: Side Character x Mafia Boss (18)

The entire hallway became deathly silent. The guards lowered their heads not a single one of them daring to breathe, let alone speak.

Alastair’s dark gaze slowly shifted away from Lyra... sliding over to the two guards standing beside her.

His expression remained entirely calm, devoid of any visible emotion.

The innocent sound of her soft laughter that he had heard moments ago echoed continuously in his mind.

She had smiled at them.

She had laughed with them.

She looked... completely comfortable, warm, and bright around his men.

Something deep inside his chest felt strangely and restless. A flame of jealousy he had never experienced in his entire life, rose up.

His eyes slowly dragged back to Lyra.

The lively, radiant smile she had been wearing just seconds ago had already completely disappeared the moment she looked at him. Only now did that uncomfortable, burning rage in his blood begin to rise more. Was he that much scary?

That smile...

Alastair’s gaze darkened as he stared down at her trembling figure.

It shouldn’t belong to anyone else.

The possessive thought appeared so naturally, so effortlessly in his mind, that even he paused for a brief, startling moment to process it.

Ridiculous.

She was merely a completely ordinary girl he had encountered twice by pure coincidence.

Yet...

The image of her laughing so brightly with other men lingered stubbornly in his thoughts, refusing to vanish. He didn’t like it. Not even a little bit.

His long fingers curled slightly into tight fists at his side, his gloves stretching under the pressure.

A dark thought quietly surfaced in the shadows of his mind.

If she stayed here... locked away inside this estate...

No one else in the outside world would ever see that smile.

No one else would ever hear her laugh like that again.

She would only smile...

...in front of him.

The possessive realization vanished as quickly as it had come, leaving behind a cold, lingering hunger.

Alastair frowned almost imperceptibly, his dark brows drawing together. Since when...Had he ever started thinking like a madman?

His grey eyes remained tightly fixed on Lyra’s face as she sat on the stairs, looking like a caught cat.

She really was...A troublesome, chaotic little mouse.

Always running.

Always getting into ridiculous situations.

Always causing unexpected, unpredictable trouble wherever she went.

Yet somehow...The more she tried to run away from him...The more he wanted to build a cage so massive, so unbreakable, and so magnificent that she would never, ever find the exit again.

Not because he understood the overwhelming feelings crashing over him. But simply because...

The mere thought of her disappearing from his sight... was becoming entirely, utterly unacceptable.

Alastair walked toward her.

Step.

Step.

Step.

Each slow footstep echoed like a death knell through the silent hall.

The closer he came, the faster Lyra’s heart skipped a beat. For some reason, just looking into those icy grey eyes made every single hair on her arms stand straight on end.

Without a word, the surrounding guards quietly stepped aside, clearing a path for their boss.

Lyra immediately looked at the men with absolute, horrified betrayal in her dark eyes. Traitors... total traitors!

One of the giant guards awkwardly coughed into his fist, leaning down to whisper a tiny, panicked, "...Sorry, Miss," before all of them bowed their heads back toward the floor, refusing to make eye contact.

Alastair stopped directly in front of her, his tall frame blocking out the sunlight behind him.

"So..." His deep voice was calm "It seems you were having quite a good time down here."

Lyra awkwardly scratched the back of her neck, offering a weak, pained laugh. "Well... you see, it’s my first time being kidnapped by a mafia. I didn’t really know what the official hostage protocol was supposed to be. So... I just talked."

Alastair raised a single dark eyebrow. "...Is that so?"

His gaze lowered slightly. "Usually, people in your position cry, scream, or beg for their lives. Yet you’re here laughing like you’re in vacation."

Lyra blinked, tilting her head up at him. "I mean... crying wouldn’t magically open the front doors, right? So I thought I might as well make some friends while I was down here."

The surrounding guards silently stared at the floor tiles, cold sweat dripping down their backs. Boss is definitely going to lose his temper and shoot someone today...

Instead of exploding, Alastair merely stared down at her small, expressive face. His sharp grey gaze slowly swept over the two guards standing nearby.

"They amused you?"

Lyra nodded honestly, completely unaware of the dark aura gathering around her. "Yeah! They’re actually pretty nice guys."

The two guards almost stopped breathing entirely, their faces turning pale as paper.

Alastair’s eyes became noticeably colder"...Nice?"

His voice dropped to smooth and icy. "They made you laugh?"

Lyra nodded again, smiling brightly. "Yeah! They even laughed at my jokes. They’re surprisingly friendly for mafia henchmen."

Alastair stared at her for a long moment, the air in the foyer growing suffocatingly thick. Then, he spoke in a low murmur:

"...Next time."

He stepped half an inch closer, his shadow completely enveloping her.

"Don’t smile so easily at strangers."

Lyra’s eyes went wide, and she instantly, completely misunderstood his intent.

He’s threatening to rip my face off if I smile again! He’s warning me!

She quickly, frantically nodded her head like a woodpecker. "O-Okay! Got it! I won’t smile anymore! My face will remain completely expressionless forever!"

The guards subtly looked at each other out of the corners of their eyes. ...That is literally not what the Boss meant at all.

Before the bizarre, tense atmosphere could continue-

"Boss!"

A subordinate hurried into the grand hall. He was gripping a young woman’s arm tightly in a iron lock.

"Boss, she tried to escape through the east wing fire exit!"

The girl struggled frantically against his grip. "Let me go, you bastards!"

It was Elena, the Female Lead.

Alastair’s expression instantly turned pitch-black cold. The slight softness in his eyes vanished as if it had never existed. He turned around and walked toward them with long strides.

Without a single second of hesitation...Alastair reached beneath his sweeping coat, pulled out a pistol, and raised it in one fluid motion.

Click.

The cold steel barrel came to a hard rest directly against Elena’s forehead.

The entire room fell into a deathly silence.

Alastair’s voice carried no warmth, no emotion, and no human mercy whatsoever.

"Do you know..." he whispered, his eyes void of life, "...what happens to people who try to escape from me?"

Elena’s face turned completely pale, her breathing coming in gasps. She bit her lip until it bled, but she stubbornly refused to lower her head, glaring into his cold grey eyes. Behind them...

Lyra froze like a statue on the stairs, her jaw dropping in horror.

System... she whimpered hysterically inside her mind. Is he indirectly demonstrating my execution to me?! Is he telling me I’m going to get shot in the head too?! I knew it! He’s still completely furious about my own escape attempt!

Out of the absolute corner of his eye, Alastair caught sight of Lyra standing behind him.

She had gone completely stiff, every muscle locked in fear. Even the lively color on her cheeks had drained away, leaving her looking fragile and terrified.

His fingers slightly paused on the trigger.

...

Not yet.

He didn’t want his wild little mouse to fear him so utterly that she stopped looking at him altogether. He didn’t want those bright eyes to turn cold and lifeless whenever he walked into the room.

Slowly..... he lowered the gun, clicking the safety back on and tucking it into his holster.

His expression smoothly returned to its usual calm as he looked away from Elena and glared at his subordinate.

"Take her away," Alastair commanded, his voice echoing coldly. "Lock her in the underground cold dungeon. No food. No water. No one is permitted to speak a single word to her. She will learn how to obey."

"Yes, Boss!"

Elena glared at him with burning hatred as the guards grabbed her arms. "Who are you?! What do you want from me?! Why are you doing this to us?!"

Alastair didn’t bother giving her a single answer. The guards ruthlessly dragged her down the stairs toward the basement despite her loud, echoed protests.

Meanwhile, Lyra remained completely rooted to the spot, petrified like a stone monument.

Inside her head, she was screaming at maximum volume:

SYSTEM!! WHAT ON EARTH DO I DO NOW?! HE’S LITERALLY THROWING THE FEMALE LEAD INTO A TORTURE DUNGEON!

The System quickly scanned the parameters of the scene, its interface flashing blue.

[ Host, please remain calm and control your stress levels! ]

[ The main dark-romance plot has not deviated from standard parameters! Male Leads in this genre frequently imprison Female Leads during early obsession stages! ]

Lyra stared blankly down the dark hallway where Elena had just been dragged away.

Yet...

A strange, deeply unsettling feeling settled heavy in her chest.

Something is completely wrong here...

She bit her lip, looking back at Alastair’s tall, imposing figure as he adjusted his cuffs.

If he’s supposed to be secretly falling in love and obsessed with the Female Lead... why on earth did it feel like he was actually, genuinely going to blow her brains out just now?