Chapter 148: I don’t owe you anything – 3

The central square of Loctana was filled with a massive crowd murmuring among themselves.

Some displayed confusion, others fear, grief, or contempt, all directing their gazes toward a single woman.

Vivian Rondor.

The last surviving member of the Rondor family.

The ruler who had lifted Loctana from the depths of ruin.

Yet now, she stood as a prisoner, accused of being a witch.

Her hair was disheveled, her lips dry.

Her eyes were vacant, burdened with exhaustion.

The fine silk garments that once symbolized noble dignity were now tattered and stained.

In the midst of this enormous crowd, a figure stepped forward.

Archbishop Rockpen.

The highest authority of the Las Order.

A zealot who pursued witches to the ends of hell.

Unfazed by the stares around him, he solemnly declared:

“I deliver the verdict.”

Silence fell over the square as he continued.

“Vivian Rondor. You are a witch who used forbidden sorcery. You bewitched people, amassed unholy power, and eliminated your rivals. Do you deny my words?”

There was no point in answering.

He wouldn’t listen anyway.

Besides… he wasn’t entirely wrong.

If there was any injustice in this, it was that everything she did was merely to survive.

She had never used magic with malice, unless she was first attacked.

In that regard, she had no regrets.

Was she supposed to have simply died?

They condemned sorcery as evil, yet were those who had tried to poison her at thirteen not evil themselves?

Was she meant to submit to such wickedness and just die quietly?

No.

She had to fight back.

Kailo had taught her that.

She had fought back.

And she had lost.

But there was no shame in that.

Since she did not respond, the crowd drew their own conclusions.

“She’s silent—she must truly be a witch…!”

“Fool! She’s not speaking because it wouldn’t matter! Ahh, Lady Vivian…”

“You! That sounded like sympathy. Are you defending the witch?”

“Hiek!”

Archbishop Rockpen continued.

“You are a witch. Whether commoner or noble, a witch is a grave sinner. By the name of His Majesty the King, and by the name of Las, I, Archbishop Rockpen, sentence you to death. The execution by fire will be carried out in ten days.”

A great uproar erupted from the crowd.

Vivian slowly looked up at the archbishop.

He gazed down at her, unflinching.

Perhaps because she was a high noble, he granted her one final courtesy.

“…Do you have any last words?”

Vivian did not answer.

She simply closed her eyes.

As Rockpen raised his hand, the crowd fell silent once more.

Vivian wondered what more there was to say.

But then, he spoke again, and a deep sense of foreboding gripped her.

“Vivian Rondor has been confirmed as a witch. There is another who must now be questioned.”

His voice filled the square.

A creeping dread took hold of her as she looked up at him.

“Kailo Alan. He was Vivian Rondor’s loyal knight. He could not have been unaware of her true nature.”

Rockpen paused, as if gathering strength before making his decree.

“The Las Order declares this officially! Kailo Alan must acknowledge his guilt and receive judgment here and now! If he refuses or remains silent, we shall deem him a criminal!”

Vivian let out a quiet, bitter laugh.

She shut her eyes tightly.

I told them no.

She had shouted that Kailo was innocent.

Until the very end.

Yet still, she was a burden to him.

A memory surfaced—Kailo’s gentle smile, directed at another woman.

That smile he had finally found, and now once again, she was placing an obstacle in his path.

She knew the way to spare him.

She could claim he had been under her control.

That she had cursed him.

That he was nothing more than a victim.

But that would be too cruel.

If he heard that… he would surely come to despise all their shared memories.

And if there was one thing she wished for before she died,
it was for Kailo to remember their time together as the truth.

-So, you vile witch… You were just playing with me this whole time.

She wanted him to know that wasn’t true.

But in the end, she could not bring herself to say the words that would free him.

Shame weighed on her, making it impossible to lift her head.

And yet, deep inside, she longed—just one more time—to see his face.

A darker, more twisted part of her… wished to share his fate.

-Don’t smile at other women.

-Kailo, I’m scared. Stay with me.

-Let’s die together. Even in death, I want to be with you.

But that…

That was an utterly disgusting thought.

Even she recoiled at the monstrous selfishness of it.

Why had she been born so twisted?

And why did the world never allow her to simply exist?

“Hic… hic…”

Vivian let out a bitter laugh as she wept.

A flood of emotions swirled within her, leaving her overwhelmed.

The people around her held their breath.

The moment Vivian’s carefully constructed mask shattered, they saw her as she truly was.

It felt like standing naked before them, utterly exposed.

And yet, despite everything… she still clung to some shred of dignity.

‘There is no need for such concern, is there?’

A soft voice interrupted her thoughts.

***

Scholar Lyel spoke gently.

“The Las Order is certainly an inconvenience, but surely Lord Alan is safe, is he not? They cannot reach him.”

He spread his arms wide.

“Look at me. The Las Order has hunted me for years, yet here I stand, unharmed. Their influence does not extend to the North.”

It seemed there had been a misunderstanding.

“I am not afraid of the Las Order. I am…”

“…Ah, well. There’s no way Prince Alan, who single-handedly killed all Eight Knights of the Corrode family, would be afraid of something like that… But still, is that rumor true? Did you really take them all down alone…?”

“…My apologies. I interrupted you.”

I shook my head.

“…No, it’s fine. What you just said is actually related.”

“…Pardon?”

“I think I’ve been cursed, Scholar.”

“I came to you because I want to break this curse.”

Lyel the Scholar’s expression turned serious.

“…What kind of curse are you referring to?”

“A curse of loyalty to Vivian.”

‘Love’ would have been a more accurate word, but I softened it slightly.

“The matter of the Eight Knights you just mentioned. And all the actions I’ve taken that the world doesn’t know about. I’ve done countless things for Vivian. And each time, I’ve questioned it. Why am I doing this? Why, for my enemy, am I acting this way?”

I carefully revealed to the scholar the feelings I hadn’t admitted to anyone.

“I still haven’t found the answer. In my mind, I hate her so much… but my heart refuses to let her go.”

“…A curse of loyalty, you say.”

Lyel the Scholar nodded.

“I don’t want to live my whole life under the influence of this curse.”

He gently stroked his chin before speaking.

“…As you know, I am not a witch. My knowledge is limited. I have spoken with a witch before, but that was purely by luck. Even in that brief conversation, I couldn’t fully grasp what they were capable of.”

“Scholar.”

“And breaking curses isn’t exactly my field of expertise.”

I suddenly felt like I couldn’t breathe.

I closed my eyes and clenched and unclenched my awkward left hand to calm myself.

“I don’t even know if a curse of loyalty truly exists, and naturally, I have no idea how to break such a curse. I’m sorry that I can’t be of more help.”

“…It’s fine.”

“However.”

Perhaps to console my disappointment, the scholar raised his voice slightly.

“I do have some knowledge that may be of use to you. Prince Alan, from what I know, witches are not as powerful as they are feared to be.”

“They only seem like mysterious monsters because the Las Order is so determined to eradicate them. But there’s no need to fear their power that much.”

“You don’t understand. There’s a curse that can freeze a person in place. I experienced it myself.”

“…That is… an interesting claim, but from what I know, witches are not that powerful. If they were truly so mighty, they wouldn’t have been hunted down and wiped out by mere fanatics like the Las Order.”

At his words, the faces of the witches I had personally executed surfaced in my mind.

As Lyel the Scholar said, they had been helpless, unable to resist before my blade.

“Witches have limits, and they have restrictions as well. Just because we can imagine a certain kind of curse doesn’t mean it actually exists. I’ve also heard that distance matters when casting a curse.”

He gestured toward me.

“…That’s why I don’t believe a curse of loyalty is possible.”

“What?”

“If it was, witches could simply curse the most powerful figures and control them with ease. Lords, rulers of regions, or even kings—just curse them and take control.”

“To begin with, is Lady Vivian Rondor even a witch? I should have asked that first.”

I didn’t want to reveal her secret to anyone, but the Las Order had surely already branded her.

So, in this situation, there was no need to protect her.

“…Yes.”

“How can you be sure? Young witches are not that common.”

“…I saw her standing atop a complex ritual circle.”

“…Ah.”

The scholar nodded.

“…Then perhaps you witnessed the ritual to become a full-fledged witch.”

A full-fledged witch.

That was something I had heard about that day as well.

I had refused to believe anything Vivian said… but now, even Lyel the Scholar was bringing it up.

“…I told you I don’t know much, but how do you know all this?”

He chuckled lightly.

“You’re not planning to treat me like the Las Order and execute me, are you, Prince Alan?”

Then he continued.

“I know what I know, and I am entirely ignorant of what I don’t. The reason I am familiar with that ritual… is because I have witnessed it myself.”

“What?”

“Don’t misunderstand. I didn’t perform the ritual myself… but, like you, I saw someone close to me undergo it. My mother.”

His smile turned bitter.

“Do you know this? That in order to become a full-fledged witch, one must offer a sacrifice? And that the sacrifice must be what the witch holds most dear?”

-…But the memories in your mind belong to you.

The voice of the witch who had whispered beside Vivian resurfaced.

…Then, could that have been the truth as well?

Had Vivian truly cried out in desperation, unwilling to let me go?

My fist clenched tightly on its own.

No.

That can’t be.

She used me to survive.

Before I knew it, I asked,

“Did you see the end of the ritual?”

As if recalling that day, the scholar’s expression hardened.

The man who always wore a friendly smile now whispered weakly.

“…My mother abandoned me.”

“When the ritual ended, she didn’t even remember my name.”

“…I’m sorry.”

There was nothing else I could say.

Perhaps because we carried similar wounds.

Then, Lyel the Scholar, seemingly just as curious, asked me,

“What was Lady Vivian Rondor’s sacrifice?”

“I ask purely out of curiosity.”

He had revealed so much to me.

So, I answered as well.

“…Something similar to yours. Her memory of me.”

The scholar chuckled softly.

“…You must have been deeply loved.”

“…It’s rare for a single person to be the most precious thing in the world to someone.”

-Don’t go… Please don’t go, Kailo.

I pressed a hand to my forehead.

My heart was already racing too fast.

“Did Vivian Rondor forget you?”

“…I don’t know. I didn’t see the end of the ritual. But probably… it seems she didn’t. Because Vivian placed a new curse on me.”

“…What kind?”

“Since I left her side, my left hand hasn’t moved well.”

I held up my stiff hand to show him.

Scholar Lyel tilted his head.

“…If Lady Vivian didn’t forget you, that means the ritual failed. She wouldn’t have been able to cast a new curse.”

“Besides, didn’t we just discuss this? A curse cannot be placed on a target that is far away.”

“However, the fact remains that my hand stiffened after I left her side.”

“Hmm.”

…But thinking about it, Vivian’s left hand had also stiffened after I fought against the Eight Knights.

That would mean my hand had already suffered an affliction back then, and Vivian had been preventing it from worsening.

Scholar Lyel seemed to have reached his own conclusion.

He took a deep breath and carefully asked me,

“Prince Kailo. You called it a ‘curse of loyalty,’ didn’t you?”

“…”

“What if it wasn’t a curse at all?”

At those words, my wildly pounding heart suddenly stilled.

I answered,

“…First, I need to go back.”

“You must have a lot on your mind. Understood.”

***

The verdict had been delivered, and Vivian was declared a witch.

She was no longer the great ruler of Loctana.

She was no longer the last remaining heir of the Rondor lineage.

She was nothing more than a filthy, lowly witch.

Vivian sat on a horse, her body bound tightly in ropes.

To keep her from falling, the Paladin Leopold held the end of the rope beside her.

The Paladin paraded Vivian through the city.

It was akin to a public execution—she was being made an example of.

The Las Order, seemingly compensating for their previous lack of influence over Loctana, spread fear.

No citizen could witness their lord being humiliated like this and remain unafraid.

But it didn’t end there.

At the signal from the Las Order, people began picking up stones from the ground.

“Die, witch!”

Whoosh!

“You deceived so many people!”

At first, the stones were thrown hesitantly, but soon, emboldened by mob mentality, they became more violent.

Flying stones and rotten fruit turned the sky dark.

Thud!

Thump!

Some threw stones to avoid drawing the Las Order’s ire, while others genuinely believed their words.

Either way, the stoning rained down on her.

“Ugh!”

Thwack!

A heavy stone struck Vivian’s forehead, splitting the skin.

As soon as the dull pain registered, blood dripped down from her head onto the horse’s back.

At that moment, she thought of Kailo.

He, too, had once faced a mob like this.

When he had first stepped into this land at the age of fourteen, he had been met with the wrath of the people and pelted with stones.

Back then, he had stood his ground and confronted the crowd.

Now that she thought about it, that was truly incredible.

And on the day she had first handed him the red bear-shaped helmet, he had once again been struck by stones and rotten food.

That had been an event carried out under her orders.

So this is how you must have felt.

She finally understood, through her own skin, what she had put him through.

Why had she taken his resilience for granted?

Why hadn’t she realized how difficult it must have been for him?

Why had she only now come to understand how important he was to her?

Why hadn’t she cherished him sooner?

Thud!

Another heavy stone struck her head, tearing through her scalp.

The searing pain made her body sway atop the horse.

Blood and tears poured uncontrollably from her eyes.

She could no longer maintain her mask before the countless onlookers.

The young, stuttering fool—her true, pathetic self—was now exposed for all to see.

What would Kailo say if he saw her like this now?

…He would probably, like everyone else, look at her with disgust.

“Ugh… hic…”

She was lonely. \So unbearably lonely.

Once again, she realized—

In this world, she had no one on her side.

And once again, she understood,

It had always been just you.

TL Note:

I officially think the author is being dumb now. I have been translating this novel because i actually liked it but now I am just doing it to be done with it and start a better story instead. Its getting very unrealistic.

BTW Prince Alan is correct translation so dont point that out lol