Chapter 124: Mask – 5

Bang!

Valon slammed the door shut and stood there for a moment, frozen.

Even from his back, I could tell what he was thinking.

He regretted what he had done.

He was always prone to being swayed by his emotions.

“…What are you doing?”

Still gagged, I asked him what he was up to.

At my words, Valon turned to look at me and let out a small laugh.

He had composed himself, as if trying to hide his regret.

“Look at the state you’re in. How many days has it been?”

Because of the gag, I couldn’t answer properly.

“You were always so annoyingly righteous. I used to think your integrity was admirable… but sometimes, it’s suffocating.”

Valon walked over to me and untied the cloth gag from my mouth.

I wiped the spit from my arm and asked,

“Why are you here? If you’re caught like this, it won’t just end with banishment.”

“You used to act like you were offended by everything, and now you’re pretending to care? Make up your mind. Do you know how many sleepless nights I’ve had because of the betrayal I saw in your eyes?”

I stared at him in silence.

“Ah, damn it. I don’t even know what I’m doing anymore. What do I gain by helping you? Do you know why I ended up in the punishment unit? It was because of your father’s army. My father fell because of your father, and now you’re dragging me down too.”

Valon scratched his head roughly.

Even so, I could see the determination in his eyes.

Our gazes met.

Honestly, there was no need for further explanation.

I could tell.

Valon had come to help me.

He explained.

“I… I can’t act like you. If I were in your position, tied up like this… you’d have gone on a rampage to save me. But I can’t do that. I’m just an ordinary guy.”

As if feeling guilty, he started with excuses.

Valon crouched down, bending one knee.

“…But I did what I could.”

I listened quietly.

“I told Princess Reina everything—about your situation and the tangled mess surrounding it.”

“…What?”

Valon placed a hand on my shoulder.

“Listen carefully. I’ll keep it simple. The princess and Prince Thred have decided to help you. They’re going to ensure you can return home.”

I couldn’t respond.

“But it seems even Lady Vivian’s influence is daunting for them. They said they’d prepare the justification and the allied houses needed to back their actions. But even with that… you’ll have to do your part.”

“My part?”

I was tied up.

What could I possibly do?

“…Lower Lady Vivian’s guard.”

“What?”

Valon shook his head and asked lightly, almost as if joking,

“Do you have any idea how sensitive Lady Vivian has been lately?”

“A mother bear protecting her cubs wouldn’t even come close. Nothing’s going to work with her like this.”

From Valon’s words, I could easily picture Vivian’s current state.

We were that closely connected.

“I don’t know about Lady Vivian, but I know you. You probably got into a fight with her while tied up, didn’t you? You couldn’t help but clash with her, with that unbearable attitude of yours.”

“…Ha, and how could Lady Vivian not be on edge? Damn it, you’re no better.”

I could only give a token response.

“So, should I just surrender? Do you want me to stay here forever?”

Valon looked at me with an exasperated expression and replied.

“Of course, you should.”

“What?”

“Damn it, of course you should back down. What else can you do?”

“I want to go home—”

“I am telling you to lie, you frustrating idiot…?”

Valon’s grip on my shoulder tightened.

“Just… lie. Play along with Lady Vivian. This isn’t a fight you can win. Lady Vivian doesn’t seem like someone who will back down, does she?”

“…And by lowering Lady Vivian’s guard like that… you can slip away when the chance comes. Just leave with the princess and the prince behind you. Isn’t that all you need to do?”

“Lying to Vivian…? You’re saying I should lie to her?”

For some reason, Valon’s suggestion felt utterly foreign to me.

It was simply because of the way we had grown up.

Even though she and I may have hated each other, we tried to be as honest as possible.

Despite our hatred, we tried not to deceive each other.

We trusted one another more than any close ally, even though we were enemies.

This relationship had been cemented like that… and now, he was asking me to lie?

But this was just the nature of my relationship with Vivian.

To others, perhaps, our dynamic seemed frustratingly stifling.

-Tap.

Valon lightly hit my chin with his fist.

“Hey.”

“Snap out of it. Are you not planning to return home?”

“Why are you sulking like this when it’s not even that hard?”

“…Just go along with it. Put down that precious pride of yours for once. It’s not even that difficult. Tell her you love her, swear your loyalty, say you’ll become her dog if you must. Tell her you’ll stay by her side forever. Do whatever it takes. Wear a mask.”

Once again, I froze in place.

Valon, as if trying to provoke me, clenched his jaw and spoke again.

“…Isn’t your father unwell?”

His words shook me once more.

Father.

The one who worried about me endlessly.

My son.

I miss you.

The brief letter from my father started replaying in my mind.

He was not someone who usually said things like that.

How long must he have been waiting for me to write such words?

As his child, I still didn’t fully understand a parent’s heart.

Valon, watching me closely, gagged me again as if nothing had happened, restoring the bindings to their previous state without any awkwardness.

“…I’ve said everything I need to say. The rest is up to you.”

Valon stood and looked down at me with a mixture of pity and frustration.

I could feel the concern in his gaze.

“And you, you bastard… No matter how much you like that woman… how long are you going to keep letting yourself get beaten up like this?”

“If you’ve been beaten, shouldn’t you strike back? Didn’t you say that yourself during training, when you beat us like dogs? Why are you so strict with everyone else, especially yourself, but so lenient when it comes to Lady Vivian?”

I let out a faint, muffled laugh through the gag.

But even that seemed to irritate Valon.

For the last time, he spoke:

“…Is that the reward for all the sacrifices you’ve made for Lady Vivian? You damn pushover.”

His cold words cut sharply into my chest.

Of all the blows I’d received from Valon so far, this one hurt the most.

Even the smirk I had forced onto my lips froze awkwardly in response to his words.

With that, Valon left the room.

-Bang.

Silence returned to my room once again.

Like the calm after a storm, the once-noisy room became eerily quiet.

But unlike the stillness of the room, my mind was already overflowing with chaos.

To think Vivian would betray me.

The gaze we shared, the words we exchanged honestly even though we didn’t want to hear them—those moments came to mind.

I recalled the sincerity we shared as well.

Despite the hatred, we were honest.

I couldn’t deny that.

If I had to name the person I trusted the most, even at the cost of my life… as much as I didn’t want to admit it, it would be Vivian.

She probably felt the same way.

And yet, thoughts of my father and all the things Vivian had done to me resurfaced.

I shook my wrist lightly.

The cold weight of the chains was palpable.

I looked down at my body.

Countless scars covered me.

Every sacrifice came rushing back to me.

“Was that the reward of your sacrifice?”

Valon’s voice echoed vividly in my mind.

“…Haa.”

I let out a sigh.

To be honest, it’s not as if I wasn’t angry.

I just hid it because the despair was greater.

I was still afraid to break the trust between us.

…But who was it that broke that trust first?

Perhaps I’d been holding onto something that was already shattered into pieces.

…It’s time to stop wallowing in self-pity.

Valon’s words weren’t wrong in the slightest.

That’s why, even after the gag was removed, I couldn’t argue back against anything he said.

“An eye for an eye,” my father always said.

I had lived by those words my whole life.

…Except when it came to Vivian.

I agonized over it long after Valon left.

Late into the evening, until Vivian returned to the room, I was consumed by anguish.

“…Have you been well, Kailo?”

The moment Vivian entered the room, she smiled sadly and asked me that.

It was then that the cage she had built began to suffocate me.

“I missed you.”

…Yes.

My resolve was finally firm.

There are things you must do, even if you don’t want to—I had repeated this to Vivian countless times.

…Alright, just a little longer.

I looked at Vivian and thought.

I’d ignored it because it was ugly to admit, but now I accept it.

Because of you, I was hurt.

Because of you, I suffered.

…So just a little.

…Just hurt a little, Vivian.

This will be the pain of our parting.