episode_0070
by fnovelpia
Unfounded expectations.
Just a vague thought that it might be like that.
A hope that is no different from irresponsibility… Perhaps my aspiration. A single ray of desire that I harbor.
It’s about believing.
Trusting people. Chloe, I trust you.
“……”
I’m worried about the knife that’s stuck over there. I’m sure it’s fine, but it bothers me that I left it there.
I felt a little bit of relief, but that was only for a moment, and when he disappeared from my sight, I became anxious. I realized once again that you were such an irritating presence to me.
I’m reluctant to think more deeply about this feeling.
Reason, the little bit of spirit that is left called ‘me’, is desperately trying to block it out. Telling me not to do it anymore, telling me not to try to find out about the emotions I am feeling right now…
Well, it’ll work out somehow.
There are more pressing matters at hand.
“Beatrice.”
Chloe’s eyes are visible.
“Why… are you doing this?”
Instead of answering, I slowly took off my helmet. To face Chloe with my bare face, not my mask. I had already taken off my sword, and I had set up a curtain around us. A barrier within a barrier… It was a secret I wanted to hide so tightly. I couldn’t let anyone other than Chloe find out.
It’s just me and Chloe here.
What will happen here, no one… no one will know.
“I will never tell anyone. Not even my father!”
“……”
For a moment, I almost asked, ‘What about the knife?’ Because that’s what I unconsciously cared about the most.
I don’t know if it’s because I’m afraid of Karl finding out my identity, or because I’m anxious that Chloe might be close enough to Karl to confide in him.
Anyway, I endured it.
It was really hard not to blurt out exactly what I was thinking. Only after I made up my mind and took a deep breath was I able to answer Chloe.
“Chloe, believe it or not, I’m here to save you.”
“Save me?”
“Yeah.”
I looked straight into Chloe’s eyes. Chloe, who had been staring blankly at me, made a shy expression. Then she spoke softly.
“Why, why like this… .”
“You’re my friend. My only friend.”
If I had to pick one, there’s Julia and Leticia, but Julia is a member of the household, and Leticia… she’s a friend, but for the sake of dramatic expression, I’ll say she’s an acquaintance. I think it’ll be easier for Chloe to hear it that way.
“Friend…Gu….”
Chloe hesitated, mulling over what I had said.
“You’re a good person, Chloe.”
He takes a deep breath and continues speaking.
“Even if I’m being harsh to you, even if I lose my temper… you always think about my feelings first.”
I remember what happened on the rooftop. I almost made Chloe cry because I was so upset.
“The sect suspected you of being royalty. They don’t care about the means and methods. They would have locked you up even if it meant creating evidence that you were royalty.”
“……”
“I couldn’t stand the fact that you were being misunderstood because of me, that you were dragged away because I showed up.”
She whispers softly and elegantly. In a voice so ticklish that even I can’t believe it.
“This was all I could do. Showing the class clearly. Showing myself in front of everyone and showing them that I was a different person. Even if I got hurt in the process… .”
“I see. That’s why he told you to quietly return to the duchy.
“Yeah, that’s the only offer I can make to you.”
So please, go back.
“It’s dangerous to stay here. I have to fight the cult. I could get caught up.”
“Even if the church clears up the misunderstanding about me?”
“They are my enemies. My revenge will not stop until I kill them all.”
Far away from the Academy, far away from the Empire.
“What happened?”
“That’s-”
I hope you live quietly, out of sight of the sword… .
“What I can tell you is that the only reason I live is for revenge.”
“Be, Beatrice.”
Yeah, I don’t live for revenge.
It’s only because of revenge that I’m alive.
That is the only fate given to me. If it weren’t for Theo’s revenge, I would have died and disappeared a long time ago. Trash like me… The only thing worth living for is revenge.
You never know… .
If I die, will I be able to return to my original world?
“Are you going to hurt people?”
Chloe looked down and spoke softly. She couldn’t bear to look me in the eye. I laughed in vain. It was a meaningless question.
“Already hurt.”
“……”
“Will continue to hurt, and countless people.”
Not a person. A bug. At least to me.
“You’re going to stop me? Chloe, you’re a descendant of the warriors. You’re going to protect the people, right? ”
At that moment, Chloe raised her head and gave me the look she had been looking down at. Seeing her clear and kind eyes waver, I felt a little guilty. I felt like I was going to make her cry again, just like on the rooftop.
“I… can’t stop you. I don’t want to fight you.”
“Then leave. I will lead the empire into chaos. The Academy will not be safe either.”
In the original, Unknown is the leader of the rebels. I am no different.
It doesn’t want to be twisted.
After the ice break, I twisted the plot according to my own will, but there are also plots that I won’t twist.
I will become a traitor.
No, he is the Judge who has returned to punish the traitors.
The rightful successor.
That’s me, Trixie Green.
So, fighting the Empire is my destiny and my will. I cannot avoid it.
*
When told to leave, Chloe hesitated for a long time.
“I hate it.”
“!”
The answer that came out after hesitation was one that betrayed my expectations.
It must be because of the knife.
I suddenly felt annoyed.
“You…! Such a man-”
“Beatrice, it’s because of you.”
“…what?”
“I don’t want to be separated from you, Beatrice.”
The expression on his face, which was about to get angry, froze for a moment. He just blinked with his eyes wide open… .
Chloe spoke so calmly, as if it were a matter of course, as if she were talking about the weather. So shamelessly ordinary.
“You’re at the Academy. But where am I going?”
“What, what does that mean?”
“You said we were friends, we’re friends… .”
Something is strange.
Chloe was still staring at me with her doe-like eyes shining.
Come to think of it, whenever the royal family’s eyes, my blue-green eyes, caught my eye, that was their expression. A mysterious expression that seemed both possessed and surprised.
“You said I was pretty, you said I was pretty. You said you wanted to surpass me!”
The former was something he said while staring at her face, and the latter was something he said about her sword skills. Either way, it was something that made Chloe blush and bashfully listen to.
Yeah, that’s right… .
But it’s strange.
I have a feeling… My inner feelings are screaming at me. This is not normal.
“Beatrice, I don’t care what you do. Whether you kill people with your own hands or fight against the Church and the Empire, I don’t care.”
“K, Chloe.”
“Don’t tell anyone!!”
Dub-ssuk-
Chloe was in my arms just like before. She was still in the same position as before, burying her face in my chest and sobbing just before the knife appeared.
“Don’t abandon me. Don’t push me away! Let me stay by your side, Beatrice. Please.”
Chloe said in a trembling voice.
He lifted his head and looked into my eyes, leaving his face buried in his chest. His sea-blue eyes were filled with moisture. It was a very good combination.
Gulp- I swallow dry saliva and look at her nervously.
It’s still strange.
Her eyes, Chloe’s eyes looking into mine, don’t seem to go against me.
An intuition bordering on certainty.
I have this overwhelming feeling that Chloe will never betray me. That even if I could abandon her, she would have no choice.
Even though there is no basis for it and it is based solely on trust in Chloe, it feels as natural as the night coming after the sun sets.
It’s strange… It’s a really strange feeling.
I even started to feel confident that I could do whatever I wanted with Chloe.
Let me put it this way… .
Subordinate.
It’s a bit similar to the feeling I got when I met the Count and his wife or Matthias.
I could feel their undying loyalty and trust as they looked at me with their turquoise eyes, a sense of certainty that I would never be betrayed.
I can’t say it’s exactly the same, but it feels similar to that time.
… .
no way.
A thought suddenly crossed my mind. An uneasy but plausible thought.
“Chloe, what did your father say?”
“Huh?”
“You mentioned something about the royal family.”
“…Don’t meet.”
Why the descendants of warriors should not encounter the royal family.
“Why did you tell me not to meet you?”
“Oh no… I’m going to get in trouble.”
“Why?”
After the principality was established, it was officially allied with the empire for a long time, but there was little contact with the royal family.
Although the duchy served the imperial family, the dukedom and the imperial family rarely met face to face. It was a story I knew from searching the academy library and hearing it from Matthias.
The Duke was reluctant to accept the royal family. At first, he attributed it to the complicated circumstances of his ancestors’ political relations and the ambiguous blood relations that mixed with theirs.
“I don’t know, I don’t know.”
“……”
Chloe, who had blushed slightly, buried herself in my chest again to hide her reddened face.
It was only after seeing that sight that the puzzle began to fall into place.
Deminus and Green, the Duke and the Royal Family, warnings not to meet, Chloe’s strange reaction.
… turquoise eyes.
When he looked into my eyes, he recognized me, and then he couldn’t control his emotions that had burst out. A strange feeling that he would never go against me.
The feeling of omnipotence I got when I encountered the retinue.
Yes, even the mysterious thrill of being able to control Chloe in front of me as I wish.
curse.
This is a curse.
The primordial heart that the warrior Deminus had for the wizard Green.
The twisted desire to have Green’s child even if it meant giving up the position of empress. A heart that seemed like it would be put aside, forgotten…
It became a curse that transcended time and was passed down through generations.
The curse of love.
… .
At that time, I lacked understanding.
I had no idea how provocative and intense it would be, or what kind of impact it would have.
When I realized it, it was already too late.
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