Chapter 132: You idiot. You just figured that out? – 2

“…The damned witch… You’ve been playing with me all this time, haven’t you?”

At the voice, thick with resentment, Vivian’s world froze.

In that frozen world, only Kailo continued to speak.

“And I didn’t even know…! I didn’t know and foolishly lived, resenting only an old woman…! The witch who toyed with me was right next to me all along!! The monster who cursed me was you all along!!”

Kailo trembled with betrayal.

Vivian had never seen Kailo this angry before.

Perhaps it was because, until now, he had always maintained a certain boundary with her.

But not anymore.

A vivid emotion, sharp enough to pierce the skin, emanated from him.

Overwhelmed by his fury, Vivian was so terrified she couldn’t say a word.

Kailo let out a bitter laugh that sounded like he might cry.

“…Did you enjoy it?”

Vivian opened her mouth to say no.

But knowing how hollow those words would sound, nothing came out.

The air was thick with a deadly tension.

In the dimly lit room, his face flickered with the light of the candle.

It would appear, then vanish, then appear again, his emotions intensifying each time.

“I didn’t even know… I gave away my entire childhood to this.”

Kailo let out a derisive laugh, almost maniacal.

“How amusing I must have looked to you.”

The flickering candlelight cast Kailo’s face into shadow once more.

And at the same time, something glimmering slid down from his eyes, catching the light.

“How pathetic must I have seemed, floundering like an idiot, thinking it was love.”

The moment Vivian realized that the glimmer was tears, her body instinctively moved in shock.

Kailo was crying.

It was the first time she had ever seen him like this.

He had never shed tears, no matter how much pain he endured—not even when they parted ways.

But now, it was different.

At that moment, Vivian realized how deeply she had wounded him.

She had to speak.

She had to tell him that it wasn’t true, that she hadn’t cursed him.

But she felt that no matter what she said, her words wouldn’t reach him.

Vivian, trembling, crawled toward Kailo with her hands on the floor.

-Ssshhk.

But before she could reach him, the cold sensation at her neck stopped her.

When she lowered her gaze, she saw a sharp blade reflecting her face.

“Ka… Kailo…?”

Kailo was pointing a sword at her throat.

His black eyes were swallowed by the darkness, making them unreadable.

It took Vivian a moment to comprehend the obvious: that Kailo had drawn a sword against her.

Unconsciously, her hand reached for the blade.

-Slash!

The blade cut her finger, and blood began to drip.

Even so, Kailo didn’t flinch.

The man who would once rush to her side in a panic at the slightest injury she suffered now stood motionless.

The moment she fully understood what was happening, an unbearable pain surged through her chest.

But she tried to deny it.

There was no way Kailo would harm her.

Her desperate logic faded, leaving only raw emotions behind.

Vivian pressed her neck closer to Kailo’s sword.

“Please… It’s a misunderstanding, Kailo… I… I never cursed you…”

But Kailo didn’t lower the sword, and her words stopped, silenced by the blade that lightly pierced her neck.

Yet, Kailo’s sword also trembled, as did his hands.

The tears reflecting the faint light in the darkness fell even faster.

He was in agony.

But he was trying not to waver.

It was clear he had no intention of believing her.

-Ssshhk.

Vivian, swallowing her pain, had no choice but to back away.

It was the first time she had been stopped from reaching him.

In a faint voice, she whispered,

“…I know it’s hard to believe.”

-Drip, drip…

Tears began to fall from Vivian’s eyes as well.

She knew how much Kailo hated seeing her cry, but she couldn’t stop them.

“I understand you feel betrayed… I know… but… hngh… I swear, Kailo, I never cursed you…”

“Where did the acting start?”

But Kailo ignored her words and asked coldly.

“…Was it from the very beginning, when you cried pitifully in front of me? Was it all an act? Running away from your retainers, looking so wretched… Was that all part of deceiving me? Even stammering… Was that fake too?”

“Kailo… please…”

“And the time you spent with me… The times you held my hand… The times you kissed me… Were those all lies too?”

Kailo let out a bitter laugh.

“Right… That’s why you couldn’t bring yourself to say you loved me in the end.”

“No…! It’s not…!”

“The toy you’re playing with, no, the toy you meant to torment, says it wants to be loved… Even I would have reacted like you.”

“Kailo!!”

Looking down at Vivian with a sneer or disdain, Kailo laughed and said,

“Enough, now.”

“…What?”

“Stop acting. Now that everything’s been exposed… how much longer are you planning to toy with people?”

Watching Kailo begin to deny all their memories, Vivian felt her heart shattering.

It wasn’t a curse.

It wasn’t a curse.

It was reality, and it was true emotion.

But Kailo seemed unwilling to accept that.

“Ugh…! Sob!!”

Frustrated, Vivian finally shouted,

“I told you it wasn’t!!”

Her throat choked, and tears began to well up.

“No… no… no!!”

Vivian gripped Kailo’s blade tightly.

Her palms were torn open by the sharp edge, but she felt no pain.

“Please… please believe me…!! The reason I became a witch was to survive. I had nothing, and this was all I could have!! I chose this path because it was the only way I could live!! It has nothing to do with you!!”

Vivian pushed Kailo’s sword to the side.

She was ready to let her hand be severed if it came to that.

To eliminate the barrier between her and Kailo, she was willing to give up a hand.

Perhaps Kailo hadn’t expected her to exert such strength, as the blade shifted momentarily.

Taking advantage of the opening, Vivian knelt before Kailo, grabbing the hem of his pants.

Looking up at him, she pleaded.

“I don’t even have enough power to cast a curse like that…!! I’m just an apprentice witch, Kailo…!!”

Kailo’s expression was unreadable.

Yet, Vivian continued.

“I… I couldn’t control any spell as I wanted to. Even this spell right now… it’s just part of becoming a proper witch…! If I had such power, I would’ve used it long ago…!!”

Seeing Kailo’s cold, hardened eyes, Vivian shifted her approach.

“The reason I’m trying to become a full-fledged witch now… is to check if you were cursed, Kailo. Right? Isn’t that why you’re afraid and trying to leave me…? Kailo, please wait a little longer.”

Sniffling, Vivian clutched his pants even tighter.

Her blood soaked into the fabric of his pants.

“Just a little longer, okay…? I’ll check for you. I’ll confirm if there’s a curse on you. I swear… there’s no such thing…!!”

Thunk…!!

At that moment, Kailo dropped his sword.

Vivian stared blankly at the blade that had fallen to the ground.

Kailo slowly bent his knees and sat before her.

His face, hidden in the shadows, was now visible.

It was the face of the man Vivian had so desperately wanted.

Was he forgiving her?

Did he understand her words?

For some reason, the moment made Vivian recall the day Kailo had first come to her.

She remembered him hurling harsh words to protect her as she cried over the loss of her mother.

It had always been that way.

Even in this final moment, Kailo had come to her out of some kind of concern.

He had always been her knight, not just physically but emotionally as well.

Perhaps even now.

Then he spoke.

“…You should have died, Vivian.”

Tears flowed once more from Kailo’s powerless eyes, even as a faint smile appeared on his lips.

When everyone else had denied her existence, Kailo had been the only one to affirm it.

But now, he regretted that past.

The most precious person to her spoke with the greatest sincerity.

“You… you shouldn’t have been born.”

It was a statement anyone could say to her, and she wouldn’t have cared.

But hearing it from him, the one person who couldn’t say it, broke her completely.

Vivian felt as though everything was being denied.

Tears streamed endlessly from her eyes.

“…I couldn’t even see my mother’s grave… My siblings live in constant fear…! My father worries about me!! My body has become this wretched mess!!!”

Her heart raced uncontrollably, and her vision turned dark.

“…The fact that I’ve been protecting you all this time… makes me sick.”

Whether it was because too much blood had rushed to her head or not enough, Vivian’s vision blurred as if escaping from scalding water.

She groped blindly in front of her.

Since she couldn’t see Kailo’s face, she had to at least feel it.

-Thud!

However, her hand was harshly shaken off.

When she came to her senses, her hand was pitifully resting on the cold floor.

Vivian weakly looked up at Kailo again.

“Just be honest, so I can leave without any lingering regrets. You’ve hurt me enough, haven’t you?”

“…Be honest?”

Would it even mean anything to be honest when he wouldn’t believe her no matter what she said?

Until now, Vivian had always been sincere with Kailo.

Just as he had been to her, she refrained from lying as much as possible.

Even now, she had never placed a curse on him.

But to tell her to be honest—

…In that moment, something came to Vivian’s mind.

There was only one moment when she hadn’t been honest with him.

Vivian, almost unconsciously, whispered her deepest truth to him.

“………..I love you.”

Kailo’s body flinched.

“…I love you, Kailo.”

Vivian let out a bitter laugh.

“…You probably don’t believe me, do you?”

Even to her, it felt like words spoken far too late.

“…But I’ve felt this way for a long time. I don’t even know how old I was when it started. But it’s been a very long time.”

“…I love you. More than anyone… more than anything in this world…. I love you. More than anything I have. More than myself. I… I love you…”

For a long while, Kailo remained frozen, hearing the words he had always wanted to hear.

The cold expression in his eyes seemed to waver with emotion for a moment.

He closed his eyes tightly, then opened them to speak.

“…Screw off.”

The faint glimmer of emotion disappeared as quickly as it had appeared, leaving only emptiness behind.

“…Your pathetic feelings—I don’t need them anymore.”

At his words, Vivian felt something inside her shatter.

-Sshk.

Kailo then stood up.

The pain of having her cherished emotions for years shattered left Vivian unable to react.

Her hand, almost unconsciously, grabbed at Kailo’s pants.

Though she sat there blankly, her grip on his pants did not loosen.

Vivian looked up at Kailo.

His trembling body couldn’t shake her off.

But she realized immediately that it wasn’t her strength holding him in place.

“You can’t leave now, Kailo Alan.”

“Ugh…!”

Elena, who had been silently observing, finally spoke.

“It’s just getting interesting.”

“You… filthy vermin…”

Kailo’s entire body strained as veins bulged visibly, seemingly resisting some unknown force.

Yet, he was still unable to move.

It seemed Elena had stopped his body.

This was the moment Vivian witnessed the true power of a witch.

“Stop! Please, stop!!”

Vivian cried out, but Elena didn’t listen.

She approached the kneeling Vivian, placing a hand on her shoulder.

“Vivian, you see it now. There’s no other path left for you.”

“…Ka, Kailo…”

“We must proceed with the ritual. Didn’t I say we couldn’t stop now?”

“…We have to offer a sacrifice first. No, we must offer one.”

Vivian looked at Kailo.

His tall figure.

His dark eyes and hair.

The face she loved.

The body she had cherished.

The most precious and beloved being to her.

Even if he denied all of her feelings, he was still the one she would love most until the end.

She had to offer him.

In disbelief, Vivian cried out.

“I…! I can only offer something that’s mine!!”

“Oh my, Vivian. What nonsense are you saying? You can’t offer a person.”

Elena gently swept her hand through Vivian’s red hair.

Then she tapped her forehead lightly.

“…But the memories in that head of yours, those belong to you.”