Chapter 85 |
“…Let go of me.”
“My lady.”
“I said let go.”
Meredia, who had been glaring at Whitney for quite some time for grabbing her arm, finally began to warn him in a cold tone.
“I’m not exactly holding you tightly though.”
“……”
“Still, shall I let go if you command it?”
But then Whitney’s voice, full of laughter yet somehow serious, reached her ears.
“Ugh.”
Beyond her gem-like eyes or the difference in their power, Meredia’s physical capabilities far exceeded Whitney’s from the beginning.
If Meredia had simply made a gesture to shake off his hand, the standoff would’ve ended immediately.
“…Do as you please.”
However, Meredia, who had been silently biting her lower lip, eventually let her arm hang limply instead of pushing him away, showing signs of resignation.
“Thank you for cooperating. But I won’t let go.”
“……”
“If you run away after all this, I’ll be completely drained. Haha.”
At Whitney’s gentle voice as he took a step toward Meredia, her gaze shifted slightly downward.
“I’m not going anywhere, so let go.”
“Really? I truly hate chasing after people who run.”
“Ha.”
“So please stay somewhere I can see you.”
Judging by the conversation alone, it might have seemed like quite a romantic scene.
But to the maids carrying garlands freshly plucked from the Lumen Ordo courtyard, the scene looked a bit different.
‘Scary…’
‘…Is he one of those obsessive guys?’
‘I think I read this in a dark romance novel…’
Because they lived in such an isolated environment and didn’t know much about Meredia’s infamy, Whitney’s expression as he held onto her appeared truly frightening to the maids.
Additionally, the fact that Meredia looked especially weak and frail—so unlike her usual self—only added to the impression.
“Whenever I chase someone, strange rumors always start circulating.”
“…..,”
“When I was little, I even got arrested by the city guards while playing hide-and-seek with my younger sibling.”
“…Yeah, I can see that happening.”
Of course, if they had heard the full context of the conversation, the genre would have changed instantly.
Whitney’s good intentions couldn’t be properly conveyed because the world still wasn’t ready to accept him.
“Well, since you’ve already entered the inner sanctuary of Lumen Ordo, it doesn’t seem like you have anywhere to run anyway.”
“…Ha.”
“Technically, if you were planning to leave by carriage, you should’ve gone the other way—ow!”
Anyway, while unnecessarily running his mouth in such a situation, Whitney ended up getting stepped on by Meredia as punishment.
“Haha. So you still have the energy to get angry, I see.”
“If you understand, then let go of my arm.”
“That’s a bit difficult…”
“There are a lot of eyes watching… Haa, never mind.”
Still, when Whitney wouldn’t let go of her arm, Meredia furrowed her brow at the increasingly pitying looks from onlookers—as if she were the heroine of a tragic romance novel—then finally lowered her head in resignation.
“Oh no, what a shame…”
“Such a bad man…”
“She went to all that trouble preparing garlands to welcome him, and now look what he’s doing…”
Thanks to this, the misunderstanding among Lumen Ordo’s maids only deepened.
Regardless, Whitney once again met eyes with Meredia.
*****
“So, what is it you want to say?”
“…Hmm.”
Stopping Lady Meredia was one thing, but honestly, even I wasn’t sure what to do next.
“To be honest, I don’t really know.”
“What?”
“I just rushed out following you, so I haven’t organized my thoughts yet.”
Since I had just encountered such a shocking truth, even though I knew there was a solution, my thoughts were still a mess and hard to sort through.
“Then let me organize them for you.”
As I stood there with a blank expression, Lady Meredia sighed and began to speak.
“As you heard, the time left in my life is only about a year.”
“……”
“Once the curse activates, my life will come to a complete end. And then, everything will be over.”
That concise summary quickly cleared up my cluttered thoughts.
‘No matter what happens, as long as I stay by your side, it won’t be the end.’
However, Meredia’s current state of mind was too broken for me to speak those words immediately.
“Whether it’s our contract or your foolish plans, it’s all over.”
“But the Lady Meredia I know isn’t the type to sit quietly and wait for the end.”
So, I slowly began to talk with her, but with someone as particular as Princess Meredia, even that wasn’t easy.
“What do you know about me?”
“At the very least, I can say I know more than your damn family.”
Thankfully, I had grown somewhat used to dealing with our dear Princess Meredia.
“Whether you’re being honest or not, I do like that statement.”
As expected, she slightly lifted the corners of her mouth at my response, took a deep breath, and lightly waved her hand.
—Ziiing…
Then, the soundproofing magic that had been lingering over the carriage quickly enveloped us.
“I’ve known about my curse for a very long time.”
“……”
“And I’ve been planning for just as long how to break this damned curse.”
As she slowly began to tell her story, I quietly listened.
Even I, not the most perceptive, knew that in a situation like this, the best thing to do was to listen quietly.
“As you’ve probably guessed, the power within my gem-like eyes is actually the power of the Demon King.”
“Our esteemed Duke of Embergreen figured this out early on and, ever since I was a child, tried all sorts of means to exploit me.”
Still, when she mentioned the Duke of Embergreen, I couldn’t help but struggle to maintain a calm expression.
Whether in the past or now, hearing about her garbage family was always hard to bear.
“But I endured until the end. Thanks to that, I’ve got quite a few scars on my body, but I still managed to suppress the Demon King’s power.”
“…I see.”
“Eventually, enraged, the Duke of Embergreen allied with the Shadow Union and placed a time-limited curse on me.”
But as I clenched my teeth and listened to her story, I couldn’t help but scowl upon hearing those words.
“To suppress the terminal curse, I can’t just use the Demon King’s power sparingly like now—I have to fully release it.”
“……”
“If I wanted to live, I had to awaken the Demon King’s power. That must have been their intention.”
“……”
“If not, maybe they just wanted to slowly kill me.”
Though she spoke calmly, Princess Meredia’s complexion had grown considerably pale.
“Of course, I absolutely despised that. That’s why I’ve been suppressing the power and searching for other solutions.”
“……”
“But no matter how much I searched, I couldn’t find an answer.”
Anger and hatred.
And behind them, a faint but unmistakable fear.
Perhaps Princess Meredia had been hiding such fear behind her cold demeanor all this time.
“In the end, after struggling so pathetically, I’ve turned into a monster no different from them.”
Hearing that, I resisted the urge to speak by pinching my thigh.
I wanted to say she was far too different from those scum to be compared to them, but this wasn’t the time.
Now was the moment to just listen quietly as she finally began opening up about her past.
“Still, I had no hope. Honestly, I’d already half given up a few months ago.”
“……”
“I was thinking of burning down the emperor who played with black mages, the duke, all of them… and drinking poison too.”
Those ominous words that could’ve flipped the empire if they ever got out seemed to pass through my ears—maybe it was just my imagination.
“Yeah, that is… until the day I met you.”
The moment I heard her voice soften for the first time as she looked straight at me, I had already forgotten most of the dreadful things she’d just said.
“But…”
However, as she continued, her words started to trail off.
“…So, what’s the problem?”
As I patiently waited, I finally spoke up again when it seemed like she was about to shut her mouth for good.
“You saw it for yourself that day. I can weaken your curse.”
Even so, her lips, which had clamped shut again, showed no sign of reopening.
“Maybe it’s not impossible to completely break that curse…”
“That’s exactly the problem.”
Her mouth opened faster than I expected, uttering a cryptic response.
“The problem is that you’re the only solution.”
As I blinked, confused, Lady Meredia let out a sigh and began to speak coldly.
“To be honest, I still can’t believe it, but at least I’ll admit this much—you like me.”
“Well, of course I do.”
“And that you’d do anything for me without hesitation—I’ll acknowledge that too.”
Nodding to her words, I took the chance to speak honestly from my heart.
“If necessary, I’d even give up my life for you.”
“That’s the problem.”
Her frosty reply came again.
“I remember clearly what they said—that you carry the power of domination.”
“……”
“If that power is the key to breaking my curse… then I don’t think I can accept your help.”
As I silently mulled over her words, I tilted my head slightly, watching her clutch her right hand tightly and look down.
“Is it because I might be consumed by that power?”
“…Yes.”
“Still, even with that answer, I can’t understand.”
It felt like I was missing some critical point, but I couldn’t figure out what it was.
“Our contract wasn’t made to use each other?”
So I brought up the most important link between us—our contract—and her expression grew even darker.
“I wanted to be by your side because I like you.”
“……”
“And you made the contract to use someone like me in various ways, right?”
“……”
“Then shouldn’t you just use me as agreed?”
Even now, I still couldn’t understand her reaction.
“I don’t know why the Demon King’s power chose me, but if it can help you, I’m ready to use it without hesitation.”
“Stop…”
“If that could extend your life and even free you from the Demon King’s fate, then I couldn’t ask for more…”
But I wanted to convey my sincerity no matter what, so I continued speaking with as serious an expression as I could.
“Stop!!!”
Then, Princess Meredia raised her voice so loud it felt like my eardrums were shaking.
“That—right there—is exactly why I’m rejecting your help!”
“…Can you tell me the reason?”
Startled, but also increasingly curious, I timidly asked Lady Meredia who was taking deep breaths.
“A reason… Fine. I’ll say it clearly, so listen well.”
“……”
“The reason I’m rejecting your help is only one.”
Then, she grabbed my collar and pulled me toward her.
And what she said next honestly left me more dumbfounded than I’d ever been.
“I…. love you… I don’t want to see you become the Demon King.”
“What?”
“Just imagining you being tainted by that cursed power because of me—it’s horrifying. Got it?”
The final boss in most routes, the worst villainess in the game.
Even putting that aside, Meredia had lived her entire life as an arrogant, prideful duke’s daughter.
And yet from her mouth came something I never thought I’d hear.
“Ah, um… I don’t really understand…”
“…Idiot.”
Seeing me suddenly turn blank-faced, she glared at me with icy eyes.
“Not being able to understand something like this—you’re the worst as a man.”
“…I’m sorry?”
“Haa.”
Then she sighed, closed her eyes for a moment, and opened them again with a determined expression.
“I never thought I’d say something like this in my life.”
And the words that followed…
I’m sure I’ll never forget them for as long as I live.
“…I love you, Whitney.”
The moment I heard those unreal words, it felt like time had stopped.
“I said I love you, you idiot.”
(To be Continued)
To read ahead 👇
CH 85-91 (I Love You) $4
CH 92-98 (Lovey-dovey) $4
CH 99-105 (Lioness Hunt) $4
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