episode_0101

“I should have just killed a bitch like you back then. What the hell is this all about because of you? Huh?”

“Your very existence is a nuisance. For everyone’s sake, I will kill you today. Be thankful.”

《Damn it…! Where did that maid come from! Erincia, I’ll kill you with my own hands, so don’t die and wait!》

…

…

In the ruins, the pain and wounds were healed by the bonds, care, warmth, and laughter that came from reunions at the edge of death.

So thank you all.

Even if it was just for a moment, it made me smell like a person.

Now, let’s try to go back.

I think my father will be very worried.

I will never forget any of the graces I have received, and I will live my life blessing your future.

Thank you for everything.

-Erinthia Belloch, Lemian Winterfell-

…

… …

… … … oh my.

Deep at night, when everyone is deeply asleep.

A figure wearing a hood as black as the pitch-black darkness was walking down the street.

Even though she knew that every step she took and the direction she was heading towards would lead her to death, Inyoung walked towards that place.

Then suddenly it stopped.

I turned my head.

A two-story building with dim light from the hallway lights.

He averted his gaze, hoping that the benefactors who were sleeping there would have a refreshing morning the next day.

And then I walked again.

I hope you won’t regret the letter I wrote, and that you will believe the lie that I will return to the arms of my family.

Thud, thud.

I took a step that I couldn’t bring myself to take.

At the end of that step, I took a powerful step forward so that not a single bit of foolishness could follow me.

As if to reproach him for his foolish arrogance in daring to dream of happiness with the warmth that Elden and his party had given him, he walked and walked, his eyes squinting.

The place where the sorrowful steps towards death arrived was a logistics warehouse located on 23rd Street.

Although it was quite a distance, it felt like we arrived quickly, without even having time to shed a single tear.

“… .”

I looked around.

The unloaded cargo was piled up so high that nothing could be seen.

Inyoung took off her hood and looked up at the sky.

Even in the deep darkness, the blue eyes glow with a mysterious light, capturing the sky.

This will be the last sky you will see.

“Rice… this… bro… yes… .”

I say that the stars are pretty for no reason, even though their light is faintly visible due to thick clouds.

I hope that the last sky I see will be like this.

“… .”

The blue eyes, engraved with invisible starlight, were closed.

Tears that arrived too quickly and couldn’t even shed a single drop flowed from the corners of my closed eyes.

Still, the lips smiled.

It was a smile full of regret, and the last smile he would leave under the sky.

and.

It was a smile that contained an unwanted consolation, saying that now I would be free from this damned curse.

It was truly persistent, tough, and vicious.

It’s been like that my whole life.

A curse that gives you a handful of joy, makes you excited, and gives you twice as much sadness, making you despair.

It was the same even then.

The moment I felt a small bit of joy from Elden, whom I reunited with at the edge of the cliff, he gave me a greater and more terrible despair, and he trampled on the hope and will I had faintly held as if mocking me.

It’s like when you drink bitter herbal tea after eating a sweet dessert, the tip of your tongue feels so bitter.

Perhaps, as long as I live, this annoying mockery will be repeated dozens or hundreds of times.

How much more despair and pain must I feel in that repeated cycle?

In that case, it might not be a bad choice to just end it all now.

Because the choices we make now will at least save the lives of those who would otherwise be sacrificed in vain at the hands of Deron Kellid.

Wouldn’t that be a pretty valuable choice?

I feel so sorry and guilty towards those who gave their lives for me, but as Deron said, maybe it’s right to end a life where existence is a nuisance.

‘Yeah… I shouldn’t be with anyone.’

Lumiang barely survived the edge of a cliff and had hope, but was pushed back to the edge of the cliff again, and even that small hope was trampled on.

I am grateful that I was able to forget the pain for a moment, and I hope that Elden and his party, who helped me forget the pain, will be happy, and I hope that I will be able to meet Marien, whom I missed so much, in the cradle of death that I have jumped into.

I started walking towards the wide open entrance of the warehouse.

Now I hope it all ends.

**

Thud, thud.

If walking could be sorrowful, then my current walk would be like that.

If your steps are dull, then your current steps will be like that.

Le Miang entered the logistics warehouse and stopped in the center.

As the youngest daughter of the Archduke of Winterfell, she could have called the Royal Guard and stopped Daeron’s atrocities, but that would have exposed what had happened to the world, undermined the prestige of her family that her father had worked so hard to build, and caused great disappointment to the Northerners who had enjoyed the joy and laughter of the Great Engagement.

If the Guard failed, Darron would take his anger out on the Northerners with his bluster.

A life stained with nuisance.

I didn’t want to be remembered as someone’s nuisance anymore.

That’s why, standing alone in the center of the logistics warehouse, Lumiang looked around, hoping that death would come quickly.

Because, however sad or indifferent it may be, waiting for death is a fearful thing.

fortunately.

“Your face is glowing.”

Death came quickly.

“… … .”

Lumiang turned his body in the direction of the sound.

Soon, Deron appears from the darkness among the cargo.

Even the moonlight had died down, so I couldn’t see the details, but I was glad that it seemed to symbolize death.

Now was the perfect time to end this tiresome cycle.

“You’re a piece of shit. You’re still calm after making me like this? You’re flirting with a little punk like Elden.”

Death that I tried to accept humbly.

Lumiang, whose heart was moved by the word ‘Elden’, hurriedly wrote something down.

[Elden did nothing wrong. Don’t touch him.]

“What are you doing? Are you not a slob but a mute?”

[I’ve been speechless since the moment you killed Marien.]

“Marien? Oh~ That retard maid’s name was Marien? They say that if you play together, you start to resemble each other, so tell them I’ll be meeting you retards again soon. ”

Marien.

At the ridicule of that noble and beautiful name, the hand holding the pen trembled, but he gritted his teeth and wrote something again.

Because arguing in the face of death is useless and meaningless.

[Just kill him. That way everything will be over.]

“Phew. Don’t rush me. I’ll tear you to pieces and kill you painfully anyway.”

At that moment.

In the thick darkness, another thick darkness rose.

And at that moment.

The passing moonlight briefly illuminated Deron.

Her pale skin was streaked with black veins, her dark lips had lost their vitality, and her eyes were bloodshot.

At first glance, it looks like someone has touched something that shouldn’t have been touched.

Around it, thin black smoke was rising like a mist.

He could recall that Le Miang

Anna Ventria, who was dispatched after receiving a report of suspected use of black magic.

The reason I’ve been going around installing detection devices all this time was because of Deron Kellid.

Lumiang had thought that he had gained some power from the threat written on the note that he would ‘wipe out the Northerners’, but he had not thought that it would be a black magic that would eat away at life, so he wrote it down urgently.

[Have you dabbled in black magic?]

Daron raised black mana in his hand.

“My life is over because of you anyway, so I borrowed some strength in exchange for my life. I can’t suffer this alone, right?”

[But black magic ultimately leads to self-destruction…!]

“Phew, you won’t listen to me? My life is already over. There’s nothing left to destroy, so why would I turn down this sweet power? Especially if it means I can wipe out this fucking Northern Territory.”

[what?]

Lumiang made a surprised face.

The last words spoken by Deron.

At those words about wiping out the Northern Territory, Lumiang could tell that something was going wrong.

“Heh heh, it looks like you’re finally starting to understand the situation. You’re going to be the sacrifice for the great explosion that’s going to happen today. Your life will be the sacrifice that wipes out the northerners.”

Lumiang took a step back.

The pale moonlight poured down on her shocked face.

One step, Deron took a step forward.

“What are you… putting… the… po… in… the… haeda… thing?”

“Yes. I’m going to blow myself up like you said. I’ve been eating trash from the back alleys to build up my strength. I’ll have to sweep away the area south of Daegongryeong to make a good farewell gift.”

The black smoke rising around Deron begins to burn more and more.

The veins on his face become dilated and his eyes turn completely black.

The manifestation of black magic.

The black magic, about to run wild, enters the stage of devouring the host and condensing its final strength.

“Well, you can fill the last empty space of the condensed power with any garbage, but you wanted to fill your years with something. Noble revenge, you know? If Logan Winterfell finds out that his daughter was the trigger for the explosion that would wipe out the southern part of the Grand Duchy, that bastard would be pretty devastated.”

Lumiang took a step back again.

Even the faint moisture in his eyes, frozen in shock, had dried up.

If what Darron said was true, it was no different from walking into a trap yourself.

The choice I made to end a life stained with nuisance ended up being a choice to cause more nuisance.

Had to stop it.

I wanted to stop it.

Even if it wasn’t my choice, it would have happened, but I didn’t want to just become a sacrifice knowing that countless lives would be lost in vain.

I didn’t want to end my life, which was already stained with nuisance, by being a nuisance.

That’s why.

Hit the button!

Lumiang turns around and starts running urgently towards the entrance.

Even though I know I can’t escape, I run away.

Thinking that this would be the last courtesy he could offer.

“Poohahaha! It’s been a long time since I’ve seen you jumping around like that. Run away like you used to. If you get caught, you’re dead for real.”

Phew!

Although he felt something creepy behind him, Lumiang ran desperately, looking only ahead.

I hope that something miraculous will happen and the lives of those who were sacrificed in vain will be saved.

Shhh!

but.

The ominous aura of black magic follows me faster than my running.

Long ago.

Like the demons chasing him as he runs away, saying it is a game of tag to death, quickly.

My legs gave out and tears welled up as I recalled the events of that day again, but all I could do was run away like I did then.

As if he had run away, hoping that the pursuing demons would trip over the rocks and fall, he had run away, hoping that by falling like that, they would never chase him again.

Shhh!

Unfortunately, unlike her wishes that were stuck in the past, the dark magic in the form of tentacles rushes in quickly as if it would grab her by the nape of her neck at any moment.

Lumiang closed his eyes tightly.

I felt it.

Like those days.

The feeling of the devil’s fingers about to grab my collar, the feeling of being grabbed by my collar and dragged into the abyss.

Lumiang, who sensed that the moment when he had to close his eyes tightly in fear was approaching, ran like that in repeated fear.

Like those days.

Desperately hoping someone would help him.

Please, I hope that this pointless sacrifice will be stopped.

Even though I ran so desperately, my legs eventually gave out and I collapsed on the floor, just like that day.

“Aah!”

That moment when I despaired that it was time to give up.

Quagga River!

A bright yellow lightning strikes through the pitch-black darkness, neutralizing the rushing black magic.

What I heard next was a voice that was different from that day.

“Long time no see, Deron.”

The fallen Lumiang raised his head and looked back.

Unlike that day, a man was standing there.

A man stands between the terror that is chasing him and his own escape.

Lumiang calls the man.

“, Elden?”

The man’s name being called out clearly was like a signal for another miracle to come.

Elden looks back at himself as he falls and smiles.

And then he said the words I had been wanting to hear so badly.

“Are you okay?”

A situation where a smile should not come out.

Still, the reason why a single word of his brought a bright smile to my face was probably because that short word completely chased away the pitch-black darkness that had been lodged in the corner of my heart for a long time.

Lumiang’s head, which had always been shaking in fear of being captured, nodded vigorously this time.

“Yeah.”

After a while.

“Lumiang-!!”

“Your Highness-!!”

From afar, Ariel and Lender’s voices came, pushing through the cold night air.

“Ueup.”

A voice that ran silently had to swallow its hangover that had not yet gone away with a gagging feeling due to the musty dusty smell of the warehouse and the disgusting smell of Deron contaminated with black magic.

“… I told you to rest, Rachel.”

“Where are you going, leaving the escort knights behind?”