Chapter 118: Isabel Is Becoming More and More Frightening

Eve stared blankly at the charred remains of Barkov.
It was only natural—she had burned an innocent man.
But rather than blaming her, I wanted to praise her.

“You just saved a life. That guy was really about to die.”

I didn’t want Vinesha to become a murderer.
She still needed to stay active at Zeryon Academy.

“Haa…”

Even with my praise, Eve let out a long sigh.
Then, she returned her sword to her waist and turned to look at me.

“…Hanon Airei, I really have no idea what you’re thinking.”

To Eve, I was an enigma.
Someone she could never quite grasp.
Which was precisely why I must have seemed dangerous in her eyes.
A person who wielded the magic of an ancient dragon,
And whose reasons for staying by Iris’s side appeared anything but pure.

“And I still believe that the ancient dragon’s magic within you needs to be erased.”

“Eve, you saw it with your own eyes—I can handle the magic of an ancient dragon.”

“I did. And that’s exactly why I know it’s far from perfect. More importantly…”

Eve narrowed her eyes and stared at my hand.

“You’re not just wielding ancient dragon magic, are you? From divine relics to mystical forces and things eerily similar to them…There’s more than one suspicious thing about you.”

Only now did I realize why Eve had rushed her transfer.

“Hanon Airei, I don’t know what you’re trying to do, but you’re in far more danger than you realize. Every power you’re touching is inherently perilous.”

She was right. Every force I controlled came with a price.

‘So you’ve been looking into me.’

After everything we’d been through, Eve must have gathered her own information about me.
And she had reached a conclusion based on what she found.

All the powers I wield required a cost.
Whether that price was paid today or in the future,
It would inevitably come back to haunt me.

“I don’t know what you’re trying to accomplish.”

Eve clenched both fists and stared at me intently.

“But at the very least, you need to stay alive.”

From start to finish, she was worried about my life.
She was a kindhearted person through and through.

“Eve.”

I let out a bitter laugh.

“I don’t have any plans to die.”

The main reason I was trying to prevent a bad ending was to ensure my own survival.
My life was important to me, too.

‘Though, to be precise, I’m walking a razor’s edge.’

The veil’s bandages had dulled the emotions of love—
And that included my own.
Even so, for now, I still cared enough to want to stay alive.

“Everything I’m doing… it’s so I can survive.”

“…And just what exactly is it that you’re doing?”

“Saving the world?”

Eve shot me a glare, telling me to stop messing around.
I was being serious, but she didn’t believe me.
That stung.

“This is your chance to tell me properly. Depending on the situation, I might even help you.”

As expected of a side-story protagonist—
Even after everything I put her through, she was still willing to lend a hand.

“That’s a tempting offer.”

I needed Eve’s help, desperately.

But I didn’t know how much of my words she would actually believe.

‘Something I can explain right away…’

The existence of Akzon, the evil that sought to engulf the world.
But there were too many eyes watching here.
Rozamin was standing right behind me.

“I’ll explain soon. I need your strength, too.”

I should take my time and explain things in a way she could understand.

“Dear husband!”

Just then, Vinesha’s voice rang out from behind me.
Turning my head, I saw her running toward me with all her might.
She had been watching the situation unfold through an evil spirit and, upon recognizing me, rushed over.

“…Dear husband?”

At that moment, Eve’s eyes narrowed.

“Hanon Airei, I heard you were engaged to Sharin Sazaris?”

She looked at me with calm, piercing eyes.
In them, I saw the image of a shameless philanderer playing with women.

“No, this is—”

“Oh my, husband! You killed that pig for me, didn’t you? You love me so much!”

Eve’s gaze grew even sharper, almost murderous.

“What is your name?”

She directed her question toward Vinesha.
Upon hearing it, Vinesha blinked a few times before suddenly clinging tightly to my arm.

“I am Vinesha, my dear husband’s wife!”

Who’s your husband?
But denying it here and now could lead to unpredictable consequences.
Vinesha was crucial for Act 4, meaning I had to keep her mental state stable until then.

Since I couldn’t say anything, Eve let out an exasperated sigh.

She had only asked for a name, but someone completely unexpected had just claimed to be my wife.
And I wasn’t even denying it.

I could already guess exactly how I looked in her eyes.

“You beast.”

In an instant, I was labeled an animal.

Eve shot me a look of pure contempt before turning on her heel and walking away.

“Is dear husband a beastly man?”

I wished Vinesha would just stay quiet.

* * *

After that, Vinesha, Eve, and I dragged Associate Professor Barkov into the academy.
Dorara had bolted the moment he saw the grim situation unfold.
He was the type to always look out for his own life above all else.

Our plan was to submit Barkov to a disciplinary hearing.
He had done something beyond redemption.
Especially since I was currently being positioned as a hero-in-training by Baek mok-gong.
Barkov’s scheme to frame me had effectively tarnished Baek mok-gong’s reputation.

No matter how much backing he had from the Devilridge Count family,
There was no way he could go up against Baek mok-gong.
He would be discarded like a worn-out rag.

Before dealing with Barkov’s final fate, I first led Eve to the female dormitory.
That should have been Barkov’s responsibility, but given his current state, I had to take over and show her the way.

Of course, Eve remained silent the entire time.
Though she made sure to occasionally glare at me with pure disdain.

It was understandable—Vinesha had been clinging to me all day, whispering sweet nothings.
To her, it must have looked ridiculous:
A man engaged to Sharin, flirting with another woman right in front of a professor.

But I couldn’t push Vinesha away.
She was a key figure in the remaining Act 4.

If my relationship with her were to fall apart, I had no idea what unpredictable events might follow.
I felt unfairly caught up in all of this, but there was nothing I could do.

“Eve, this is the female dormitory.”

Under Eve’s piercing gaze, we arrived safely at the dormitory.
Once I finished guiding her, she gave me a brief glance before silently walking away.

“I’ll see you in martial arts class.”

I tried speaking to her in a friendly tone as she walked off, but she didn’t even respond.
It seemed I was thoroughly being treated like a beast.

“Dear husband, why do you keep worrying about that girl?”

Vinesha spoke, sounding jealous.

“Because I want to be friends with her.”

“But dear husband, don’t you already have a girl who’s both your lover and your friend?”

Hearing that, I found myself once again wondering why Vinesha was so infatuated with me.
After all, our relationship had barely lasted a week.

‘Even if she has attachment issues…’

Vinesha’s affection seemed almost excessive.

“Vinesha.”

I was about to call her name to ask a question when—

“You might as well start spreading rumors that you’re collecting women from every corner of town.”

A familiar voice reached my ears.
When I turned my gaze, I saw a girl with hair that shimmered like sunlight.

Isabel Luna.

She had stepped out of the female dormitory at just the right moment.
Judging by her attire, she seemed ready for afternoon training.
She didn’t appear to be overexerting herself, though—
It seemed she was steadily training within her limits.

Isabel’s eyes landed on Vinesha.
At that, Vinesha clung even tighter to my arm.
At this rate, my arm might break.

Isabel had stirred up some concerning incidents in the past.
Because of that, I found myself instinctively tensing up.

After staring at Vinesha for a while, Isabel turned her head toward me.
Then, she gave a soft smile.

“Mm, that should be fine.”

…What was that supposed to mean?
I looked at her, completely lost.

“You better not end up feeling empty after giving your heart away.”

Isabel spoke cryptically, then turned to Vinesha and added a warning.

“Associate Professor Vinesha, trying to fill what cannot be filled will only leave you in despair.”

Vinesha’s shoulders flinched.

Normally, she would bare her fangs at any woman who approached me.
Yet, for some reason, she avoided Isabel’s gaze and quietly hid behind me.
It was as if she found Isabel deeply unsettling.

“Well, I’m busy with training.”

With that, Isabel strode away.

I stared blankly after her before shaking my head.
I mulled over the meaning of her words, but no clear answer came to mind.

“Dear husband, that girl… she gives me a really bad feeling.”

Vinesha trembled slightly, looking thoroughly disturbed.

But Isabel had only been smiling kindly as she spoke—
I couldn’t quite understand why Vinesha was so shaken.

“Vinesha, what exactly do you like about me?”

Instead of dwelling on Isabel’s words, I decided to ask what I had intended to earlier.

Upon hearing my question, Vinesha clasped her hands together, her eyes gleaming.

“Everything.”

Her eyes were intense.

“But if I had to pick the best part, there is one. You’re the only person who has ever filled the emptiness inside me.”

Vinesha placed her hand over her chest.
Her long, manicured nails stood out.

“I’ve had this hollow feeling inside me for as long as I can remember. But when I met you, it was the first time I felt like that emptiness was being filled.”

“All we did was talk and eat together.”

I was well aware that Vinesha had a thing for younger men.
And with this face—Vikarmern’s face—it made sense that she’d be drawn in due to her attachment issues.
There was nothing particularly special about how we met, either.

Vinesha had been pickpocketed by a passing man.
I saw an opportunity and jumped at it, chasing him down to retrieve her bag.
There was some physical struggle, but I had experience with training.
I dodged every attack, exhausting him until he eventually realized I wasn’t an easy target and ran off.

I returned the bag to Vinesha.

「You… You got my bag back. Would you like to have a meal with me?」

She made the offer before I could even say a word.
At the time, I figured it was just because of my face.
But Vinesha ended up falling for me even faster than I had anticipated.

So much so that, within a week, I realized this was getting dangerous and immediately planned my escape.

“There have always been plenty of men trying to approach me.”

Vinesha was naturally gifted with an alluring appearance—
The kind of beauty that could easily captivate any man at least once.
It was no surprise that she attracted many admirers.

“But you, dear husband… You didn’t seem to want anything from me.”

At the time, my mind had been preoccupied with a single thought—
I needed to prevent the bad ending.

Even before donning the Veil’s Bandages, I hadn’t had the luxury of forming any personal feelings toward her.
I had already seen her face countless times in the game.
And above all, I had always viewed her as the Frenzied Sorceress.

Ironically, that very perspective ended up being what drew Vinesha toward me.

“Besides, you listened to every single one of my boring stories.”

Vinesha was a mid-boss character in the game.
I knew some of her backstory but not much about her personal life.
So, listening to her talk had actually been quite interesting—
It was like uncovering hidden lore in a game I loved.

“It was a first for me. Every other man was just a drooling beast. All they ever cared about was my face or my chest.”

…Sorry, but I wasn’t much different.
Back then, I had been too focused on my plans to even think about it.
And now…

‘Damn it.’

A sudden wave of melancholy hit me.
The sorrow was still there, lingering as always.

“That’s why I made up my mind! I decided that I absolutely had to marry you!”

Vinesha beamed with joy as she hugged my arm tightly.
The soft sensation was strangely comforting.

“So, I became your bride.”

She smiled with a playful glint in her eyes, almost wagging an invisible tail.

Even after hearing her story, I still couldn’t fully understand her love.
Then, Isabel’s words echoed in my mind.

‘Trying to fill what cannot be filled will only leave you in despair.’

I turned my gaze back to Vinesha.

She was still looking at me with affectionate eyes.

‘Something that cannot be filled.’

At the same time, I gradually came to a realization.

Vinesha didn’t want to be loved.
What she truly desired was not to receive love, but to give it.

She knew that no matter how much love she received, it would never fill the void inside her.
Because the love she longed for had already shattered and disappeared long ago, like the setting sun.

That was why she instinctively distanced herself from those who tried to give her love.
But on the contrary, she became fixated on those to whom she could give love.

The human mind is fragile.
There are times when people love themselves more than anyone else, yet still engage in self-destruction.
Like how narcissists harm themselves.

In the same way, people sometimes act in complete contradiction to what they truly desire.
Knowing that their emptiness can never be filled, they end up hurting themselves by giving instead.
Scraping at the void inside them, inflicting wounds upon themselves.

And I, the one who never asked for Vinesha’s love—
I was the perfect person for her to carve herself out for.

‘Ah.’

What mattered to her wasn’t the love of a single week.
She simply needed someone to be the target of her self-inflicted wounds, born from her unfillable void.

My eyes met Vinesha’s again.
She was smiling happily.
But now, I understood—
Not all of the emotion in her eyes was love.

Still, I couldn’t push her away just yet.
She was a key figure in this scenario.

‘Now I get it.’

Why Isabel had warned me not to get too attached.

I quietly rubbed my arm.

‘Isabel, just how did you see through all of this in an instant?’

With each passing moment, Isabel became more terrifying.