Ch.48Original Work (3)

“Damn it… Shit…”

The curses came out naturally. I never expected to blurt out profanities in front of Rahilt, even if this was just an illusion.

But what could I do? Watching this kind of scene right before my eyes—anyone would be boiling with rage.

“Come on.”

Fine. Alright, let’s just say everything’s okay.

But there’s one thing that torments me, something I simply cannot accept no matter how I think about it.

“You’re not… wearing your mask. Rian.”

His face was still blurry, but I could tell whether he was wearing a mask or not. Well, when I read the original story, the descriptions of Rahilt’s appearance were almost obsessive, so this was to be expected.

“Hah…”

I know. I understand everything.

Unlike Rashera, I was a princess.

The child of a deposed ruler couldn’t freely show her face. Even if I had built more goodwill than Rashera.

“Why the hell did I forgive that bitch? I should have assassinated her behind Rian’s back.”

Rahilt’s request was like a cheat key. He’s just too kind-hearted, which is why he asked me to spare that woman who’s worse than an animal.

I frantically pawed at Rashera’s face as she danced. Of course, it was like trying to grasp the moon reflected in a pond—futile—but it made me feel slightly better.

While I was venting my complicated feelings this way, Rashera moved her detestable lips.

“How does it feel to make your debut in high society? Rahilt.”

“I’m looking forward to it.”

“Looking forward to revenge?”

When Rashera asked, Rahilt gently shook his head.

“I look forward to revenge too… but thinking that I can be of help to you makes me even more excited.”

He added kindly.

“I’m grateful to you, Rashera.”

“Holy shit!!!”

Kill her. Kill her. Kill her. Kill her. Kill her. Kill her. Kill her. Kill her. Kill her. Kill her. Kill her. Kill her. Kill her. Kill her. Kill her. Kill her!!!

I’ll kill Rashera. As soon as I save the kingdom, I’ll kill Rashera no matter what.

“Since you say that much, I’d like to ask specifically what you’re grateful for?”

“I can only express it as… everything.”

Nevertheless, Rahilt earnestly added his reasons.

“You gave me a place to belong after I lost Rodrick and Eshtiel. You gave me purpose and stayed by my side.”

Beyond revenge, Rashera is now practically my world.

That was Rahilt’s sincere gratitude. In response, Rashera’s eyes curved into a pretty smile.

“Then I should be grateful to fate for letting me meet Rahilt.”

“Ugh…”

“Oh fuck, that Rastali bastard.”

If this damn black magician is trying to contaminate my mind and kill me with rage, it’s an extremely effective strategy.

What? Oh, seriously, what?

Do I have to watch my man blushing at that bitch Rashera?

Making me watch NTR like this? Without even using petrification magic?

Fuck!!!

“Please… Mother-in-law, can’t you save me? I, me, shit, how long do I have to watch this? This is a mental landscape, right? Couldn’t you somehow control it and make this disappear?”

…

…….

No answer came.

The suffocating silence made it feel like my head would split in two.

Creak, crack, grind.

The sound of grinding teeth scattered.

It seemed like I would only stop when my teeth were worn down to nothing. Even if I did stop, the stress far exceeding human limits would definitely manifest in some kind of action.

“Wait… wait… did they say Rahilt’s debut…?”

Rahilt’s debut at the imperial palace banquet.

Then there’s one character who can’t be missing.

I hurriedly turned my eyes toward the high seat.

Just as I did, familiar footsteps clicked closer and closer from the high seat.

“… This is driving me crazy.”

A white neckline appeared above a pretty dress mixed with black and navy blue.

The face, fully made up, was white and beautiful.

The jet-black hair and blue eyes were extremely familiar.

Princess Seriniel Literion.

The woman coming down from the high seat was me.

“Please… please… stop…”

The protagonist and the villainess from the original story facing each other.

My other self with a grim expression stopped in front of Rashera and Rahilt.

The bustling banquet hall instantly fell silent.

Countless eyes converged on one spot, creating an atmosphere as if the air was filled with needles. In that pressured environment, the three people stared at each other without intimidation.

“It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

Rashera greeted with a smirk.

It was a statement that completely threw away all etiquette, as if addressing a close friend.

“Have you gone mad, Lady Ruat?”

“Oh, so that’s how it appears to you.”

Rashera tightly held onto her partner Rahilt’s arm. Both I and my other self were simultaneously enraged at that detestable scene.

“I’m just showing respect to my partner. Please understand.”

“How dare you…!”

“You motherless whore!!!”

Who does Rashera think she is, flirting with someone else’s man?

That place is mine.

Both Rahilt’s left and right arms belong to me, you damned woman.

“Aaaaaaaargh!!!”

I endlessly pounded the floor. Despite the tremendous noise, no one paid any attention. I fell to my knees, helpless to do anything but watch.

“Ah… hic…”

It was more painful than I had imagined.

There was a fundamental difference between reading about my favorite character in text and directly witnessing the hidden side of the man I had a real relationship with.

When Rahilt was just a fictional character, I wanted him to be happy with Rashera.

After all, Rashera was the female protagonist of the work, so she was the only woman who could make Rahilt happy. Therefore, it was only natural for the male and female leads to find happiness through the power of love.

No matter how immersed I was in the novel, I couldn’t possibly feel like my lover was being taken away.

But what about now?

I had become Princess Seriniel, and I had formed a human-to-human relationship with the real Rahilt.

Although I had first encountered it as a novel, this world was clearly reality.

Moreover,

Nineteen years. That’s how long I had been waiting for Rahilt since being reborn here.

I had naturally come to hold him in my heart, as if I had been prepared for Rahilt. Consistently, for nineteen years.

And I know that Rahilt will become unhappy if he ends up with Rashera.

Only I can do it. Only I, an outlier from this world, could change his future.

That’s what I believed.

“Rian…”

By falling into the black magician’s trap, I had instead put Rahilt in danger. And by playing into the black magician’s schemes, I was finally forced to witness Rahilt’s first future that I had wanted to avoid.

Is this karma?

Is this the price for my arrogance in believing that only I could care for Rahilt?

“… Ugh.”

I watched Rahilt arm in arm with Rashera.

Plop, plop, tears fell onto my collapsed knees.

I was startled.

I hadn’t realized I was crying.

Even in my surprise, I spoke his name.

“Rian…”

No other words came to mind. But my lips moved by instinct before thought.

“I’m sorry…”

An apology flowed out.

“What made me think I was so great that I got angry… I who recklessly acted and put Rian in danger…”

At least Rashera wouldn’t have put Rahilt in danger.

Whatever danger there might have been, it would have been something Rahilt could have handled easily.

The current situation wouldn’t have occurred.

“I’m really ugly… hah.”

With a feeling of resignation, I apologized again.

“I’m sorry…”

Rian.

I whispered his name with a fading voice.

That’s when the anomaly occurred.

“… Don’t cry.”

And then I heard the voice I had been longing for.

“Huh…?”

I raised my tear-stained face.

The scene before my eyes hadn’t changed.

Rashera had her arm linked with Rahilt, and I was arguing with them.

Yet I turned my eyes to Rahilt.

“Are you… looking at me…?”

I couldn’t tell.

His face seemed to be turned this way… but it was still ambiguous. With all his features blurred, it was impossible to tell where his gaze was directed.

Swish.

Fog engulfed the world.

It was similar to what happened right after Rahilt escaped from the institute.

Probably a sign that the scenery of the mental landscape was about to change.

But I had the impression that this fog was unnatural.

Unlike the fog that had very slowly seeped into the world before, the current fog quickly filled my vision as if desperate to hide something.

I instinctively took a defensive stance.

The end of the mental landscape depicting Rahilt’s childhood was a battle with a black figure modeled after Ruslet. Therefore, it wasn’t difficult to guess that an unidentified black figure would appear now as well.

Click. Click.

The clear sound of footsteps pierces through the fog and reaches my ears.

“Oh no…”

This is troublesome.

I wipe away my tears.

Then I took a step back with a start.

The ominous footsteps heading this way were extremely familiar.

“Is anything possible in the mental landscape?”

Finally, its form was revealed.

An unstable form as if shadows were dripping. Yet its features were distinct enough to identify without difficulty.

I readied my stance.

To face this, I needed to maintain intense tension this time.

“It’s me…”

Princess Seriniel Literion.

That was the identity of the black figure.