Seongguk – Catastrophe

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“I have been colluding with Demons.”

“Haa… I apologize for suspecting you just now. But this isn’t the time to argue like this.”

How frustrating. This isn’t the time to waste time like this.

Jade simply thought Lena was saying this because she was hurt.

“I believe in your innocence. But others have already branded you as a spy for the Demons. If we don’t act quickly, things might go wrong.”

“Jade, didn’t you hear what I just said?”

“Lena, I mean-“

-Thump!

Lena suddenly slammed the table with both palms.

“Don’t you understand yet? I’m a Demon spy who infiltrated the Hero Party. I even tried to assassinate the Pope. Actually, I tried to hide it until the end, but… I’ll give up now.”

“…”

Only then did Jade begin to sense something was wrong.

Lena’s face looked too serious for her to be constantly lying.

“Are you… serious?”

“Yes. I’ve been deceiving you and Annie all along.”

Am I dreaming right now?

Otherwise, there’s no way Lena would say this.

But it’s too vivid to be a dream.

Is this ‘reality’?

“Ha, ha…”

Jade’s thoughts come to a halt from the shock he has never felt before.

Jade began to tear at his hair like crazy.

Jade’s reaction to this situation was denial.

No. This is strange.

In any case, there’s no way Lena is a subordinate of the Demons.

Then… the Pope must be up to something.

“Lena, you’re not in your right mind right now.”

In Jade’s view, Lena was under some kind of magic like brainwashing or mind control.

-Whoosh.

Jade immediately used the Hero’s power.

‘If I just undo the magic, everything will be resolved.’

His blue eyes scanned Lena’s body thoroughly.

But the sight before him betrayed Jade’s expectations.

‘No way.’

Except for the Divine Power flowing from the Shackles suppressing Lena’s power, no other magic could be felt.

Why.

Why can’t I see anything?

Then that means Lena is confessing of her own will.

“Jade, I understand you don’t want to believe the truth, but… I’m more sane than ever.”

There was a hint of pity in Lena’s voice.

“Shut up!”

Even so, Jade had no intention of admitting that Lena was a Demon spy.

If it’s not magic, there must be something else.

No. There has to be.

There’s no way Lena has been deceiving me all this time.

At that moment, a new guess flashed through Jade’s mind.

Threat.

‘That’s it. Lena was threatened.’

The Pope and the Inquisitors must have tortured her and taken her friends hostage to intimidate Lena.

Perfect guess.

Jade started laughing pleasantly.

“Haha! I understand everything now. The Pope said he would harm me if you didn’t confess to colluding with the Demons, right? Then you’re wrong. No matter how much of a Pope he is, there’s no way he can do anything to me, a Hero. The world won’t leave the Holy Kingdom alone.”

“Huu… Don’t blame the innocent Pope.”

Lena only shook her head and sighed.

“Is the Pope stupid enough to make such threats against a Hero? If I were innocent and had been threatened like that, I would have told you the truth right away. Then the Pope would be finished.”

“…”

Jade was finally speechless.

No matter what Jade said,

‘No. I have been colluding with Demons.’

The answer that came out of Lena’s mouth was the same.

She’s not lying.

She’s not under mind-controlling magic.

She’s not being threatened by the Pope.

Then the conclusion was simple.

“Fucking…”

A rough curse that Jade would never normally say came out of his mouth.

Before coming here, it wasn’t that Jade hadn’t considered the possibility that all the suspicions were true.

‘What should I do if Lena is really a Demon spy?’

But he didn’t think deeply and quickly shook off his worries.

‘Well, there’s no way Lena would do that anyway.’

That’s how much Jade trusted and loved Lena.

Even if everyone in the world said Lena was a Demon spy, Jade could believe in Lena’s innocence until the end.

Because he had decided to be with her and protect her for the rest of his life.

But if Lena confesses her sins with her own mouth…

“I’m sorry. All I can say is sorry.”

“Lena!”

-Thwack.

Jade jumped up and grabbed Lena by the collar.

Then their bodies tilted and began to fall backward.

-Crash!

“Ugh!”

Lena, who had fallen to the floor, groaned in pain.

But Jade, who had lost his reason, didn’t care and knelt on top of her, making eye contact.

“Really. I’ll ask you one last time. Did you deceive me?”

Please.

Tell me it’s not true, even now.

“Yes.”

But the answer that flowed from Lena’s mouth remained unchanged.

“You heard all the stories from the Pope, too. I was the one who hid the identity mentioned in the Revelation. I guess I couldn’t fool the Goddess’s eyes after all.”

“…Then explain it now. What about the times you were nice to me before I became a Hero?”

There’s no way even Lena could have known that I would become a Hero.

That was something no one knew.

These inconsistent parts were why he couldn’t completely believe the Pope’s words.

“Okay. I’ll explain until you’re convinced. Malus knew you would become a Hero. I don’t know how he found out, though.”

“Malus ‘Sir’?”

“He’s the Legion Commander of the Demons I serve. I’ve never met him in person, but I’ve been acting on his orders until now.”

Lena answered Jade’s question without hesitation.

It was as if she had expected him to ask these questions.

But Jade didn’t give up and pointed out the contradictions.

“What about the time you sacrificed yourself to save me from the Demons in the Dungeon? There’s no way a Demon spy would do that.”

“Raspha, who I met at that time, wasn’t a subordinate of Malus. But Malus didn’t want to hand over you, an important card, to another Legion Commander. I just kept acting to complete the order. Anyway, I don’t care if my body is damaged.”

“…”

“Do you have any more questions?”

Jade slowly released the hand that was grabbing her collar.

According to Lena’s explanation, everything made sense.

Now he had no choice but to admit it.

Lena had completely deceived him and done everything.

“Hehe, I have nothing to say even if you kill me. It’s all my karma.”

Lena closed her eyes and drooped her body. And she was just waiting for Jade’s verdict.

“Why are you so calm?”

“What?”

“Are you really okay with it!”

Jade was furious.

He could feel the shock and anger consuming his whole body as he learned the truth.

His life so far had been completely denied.

But Lena didn’t seem to have any regrets.

Numerous memories with Lena flashed through his mind.

When he was with Lena at the Academy.

‘Try swinging your sword like this.’

‘Thank you so much for the gift. I’ll enjoy it!’

When he confessed his love to Lena and confirmed their warmth.

‘Jade, I love you.’

‘Haa! Jade, I lo,ve you… Hngh… .’

Was that all meaningless and just being played by the hands of those trashy Demons?

“Was even whispering love to me all a blatant lie?”

Jade drew his sword from the scabbard on his waist.

-Sreung!

The tip of the sword was pointed at Lena.

“Tell me quickly! Was the day I spent the night with you like hell to you!”

If she had loveless sex as a means to be with the Hero.

Jade was no different from being with a prostitute who sold her body to him.

“No.”

“What…?”

Until now, Lena had only coldly told Jade the truth.

Tears began to well up in Lena’s eyes.

“Sniff… sob…”

“Lena?”

-Clang!

Jade dropped the sword from his hand and hurriedly approached Lena, who was lying down.

“Did you just say no? I, I didn’t mishear you, did I?”

“Huu… The first time I showed you affection was just acting. But as time went on, my feelings for you grew.”

“That means…”

-Drip.

The tears that had welled up in Lena’s eyes flowed sideways and fell to the floor.

Lena smiled brightly at Jade even as she sobbed.

“Who wouldn’t fall for your handsome looks and heroic appearance? In the end, I… fell in love. Everything was a lie, but my love for you was real.”

“Re, really?”

“Sniff… I love you. I love you so much.”

“That’s a relief.”

Haha.

What a stupid bastard.

Jade was dumbfounded by his reaction just now.

Until a little while ago, he felt anger towards Lena for colluding with the Demons and deceiving him.

But now he was relieved that at least the love wasn’t a lie.

‘That’s a relief. At least the love between Lena and me was real.’

If even the love had been a lie, he might have completely collapsed on the spot.

“But it doesn’t matter anymore. Our relationship ends today. Thank you for loving me until now.”

“Wait. There’s still hope.”

As long as their love for each other was a genuine feeling, Jade couldn’t lose Lena like this.

Maybe all Lena did was pass on information to the Demons or carry out a plan to use him.

The attempt to assassinate the Pope wasn’t successful either.

Then maybe he could cover it up in the name of the Hero.

Jade raised Lena’s body and leaned her against the wall. And he began to explain what he had in mind to her.

“You confess all your sins and hand over the information you know. And if I use the name of the Hero, we can be together forever.”

“Are you serious right now?”

“Of course. I can’t say it’ll be okay right away, but everything will be resolved over time. I’ll explain it to Annie too.”

“Hehe, that’s a really nice story. But you shouldn’t get too caught up in love with someone like me. I’m just an ugly criminal who played with you. You should hate and dislike me. You shouldn’t look at me with those eyes.”

“I don’t care about that. I told you, I’ll be with you forever no matter what.”

“There’s no way that’s possible after something like this…”

“It’s possible.”

He always approached Lena with this unyielding will.

That’s how he got Lena.

This time too, Jade had no intention of giving up.

In the end, Lena let out a big sigh, perhaps swayed by his firm will.

“Haa… Then, if you don’t mind, can I ask you for a favor?”

“Anything if it’s something I can do.”

“Can you bring me the sword that’s lying over there? I’ll teach you swordsmanship one last time.”

“…Okay.”

Jade got up and picked up his sword that had been thrown on the floor.

“Here. But this won’t be the last time you learn swordsmanship. Because I’ll be with you in the future too.”

“…Okay, so come here. You have to see my posture up close.”

“I promised.”

Lena showing off her swordsmanship and me learning it diligently.

Jade felt a sense of longing as he approached Lena.

‘It’s like going back to the Academy days.’

They used to laugh and talk and practice swordsmanship together in the forest behind the Academy.

Looking at it this way, life at the Academy wasn’t bad until the incident with Doran.

He even wished that time would stop in that state sometimes.

“Jade. You said you loved me, right?”

“Yeah.”

Jade reached out to caress Lena’s cheek.

“I’m sorry.”

“What?”

-Thwack.