Regret is Always Too Late (2)

Yona looked ready to devour Scarlet with her eyes.

After glaring at Scarlet for a long time with a gaze filled with an eerie emotion that was hard to describe as just coldness, Yona then looked at Alec.

“…You.”

“I told you not to worry.”

Alec smiled awkwardly, and Yona turned away with a snort, as if she didn’t quite trust him.

It was Alec’s request to have a conversation alone with Scarlet.

There was no way Yona would allow it, but Alec persuaded her nonetheless, and Yona, after glaring at Alec for a long time, reluctantly nodded.

But even during this, Scarlet was sitting blankly on the bare ground, staring at Alec without any movement.

There was no life in her eyes.

Alec’s gaze, which now held only a chilling coldness, was devoid of the gentleness and calmness he usually showed her.

‘Did I… Did I… Did I do something wrong…?’

What should she have done?

Scarlet couldn’t think of anything no matter how hard she tried.

She was the one who had tortured him, but she was going to apologize for that.

She was going to apologize, saying it was her fault for not recognizing Senior, and she believed that if she did so, he would return to being the Senior she knew.

She believed that in the process, it might be necessary to kill that apostate and whore, but with her persuasion, Senior would surely come back to his senses.

But what was this now?

The powerful shield strike that made her roll on the ground was certainly that of Johannes, but the fact that it was directed at her…

And while he gave such a warm and cozy smile and such sweet whispers to that whore, he gave her such a cold gaze.

Faced with this reality, Scarlet sat blankly, staring at Alec in a daze.

“Lady Scarlet, are you alright?”

Serad, who had rushed over at some point, tried to support Scarlet and help her up.

But it was beyond her strength to lift Scarlet, who was wearing full heavy armor with only her helmet removed.

“I’m… fine.”

No, she wasn’t fine.

Why was Senior looking at her with such a cold gaze?

Every time she received that gaze, it felt like her heart was breaking.

Senior, who would open and close his mouth as if trying to say something, but then just sigh.

Each of these behaviors was something he had never shown when he was by her side.

“Get up, oh… Why are you so heavy?”

Should she get up, led by Serad’s hand as she grunted?

But right now, Scarlet couldn’t even stand up properly because her legs had gone weak.

It was all Johannes weighing her down.

That cold expression, and that gaze that seemed to say ‘why are you here’— as if looking at something bothersome.

All of that Johannes was weighing her down.

Alec, who had been quietly observing Scarlet, glanced back.

Yona, who was walking towards the carriage led by Kaiyak’s hand, was looking back at Alec every couple of steps.

As if trying to hear every word, to see every action, Yona was looking back at Alec.

‘My sin is deep, my sin is deep.’

Alec looked up at the sky and let out a long sigh.

What’s tangled must be untangled.

And if it’s tangled to the point where it can’t be untangled, it must be cut.

Alec slowly approached Scarlet.

Scarlet watched blankly as he approached.

The nun, whoever she was, who had been trying to help Scarlet up, quickly stepped back as Alec approached.

“…Get up. How long are you going to lie there?”

“Yes, S-Senior!”

It had been a long time since he used this tone.

He hadn’t used such an authoritative tone since leaving the cathedral.

But that tone was exactly the same as the one in Scarlet’s memories, so she sprang up and stood before Alec.

“You, why are you here?”

Scarlet couldn’t answer that question.

It wasn’t ‘How have you been?’ or ‘How are you doing?’

— Not even ‘It’s good to see you again’ which she didn’t dare hope for, but ‘Why are you here?’

Those words felt like a dagger piercing Scarlet’s heart.

“Senior… Are your injuries…?”

“Yona healed them all. …I’m not trying to blame you anew, so don’t worry.”

“Th-That’s a relief…!”

At those words, Scarlet’s face brightened.

There were places where she had tortured him, and hadn’t she made him unable to walk by inserting holy nails?

All of that had been healed— that’s why he could be this fine now.

“But if that apostate, that demon healed you, surely there must be a problem…!”

“That’s enough.”

Scarlet flinched and stopped speaking at Alec’s chilling tone.

“S-Senior. Let’s… let’s go back to the cathedral together, okay?”

“The cathedral?”

Huh.

A short snort.

Alec’s snort was brief, but to Scarlet, it felt like an eternity of mockery.

“Why would I go back to the cathedral? I was expelled from the cathedral, and even if they tell me to come back now, I have no intention of doing so.”

“What…? But, but Senior!”

“I’m no longer part of the Celestine Church. The one who released me from the Celestine Church’s spell was Yona… the very apostate you speak of. By your logic, wouldn’t I be an apostate too?”

“That can’t be!”

Scarlet shouted as if she was about to have a fit at Alec’s words.

If receiving treatment from an apostate makes one an apostate, then Scarlet, who had treated an apostate (although she didn’t know it at the time), would be one too.

“If, if that’s the case, then I—”

“Yes. Isn’t that the case? In fact, I received the spell that should have been placed on you. So if we apply that directly, wouldn’t I be an apostate too?”

“But…!”

Scarlet clenched her fists tightly.

Her fists were trembling.

“Weren’t you on your way somewhere? Go on your way without concerning yourself with us. If you can’t back down as a cathedral knight, I’ll deal with you. As a man with an apostate wife.”

Not yet.

But it will be.

Because I’ll make it so.

“Wife—!”

Scarlet suddenly raised her head.

Wife, that’s nonsense.

There’s no way there could be someone who could be Johannes Spielvan’s wife.

His noble character and outstanding strength.

His unwavering faith along with his bold inclusiveness that embraces all people.

Johannes Spielvan is a man who has all of these qualities.

How could such a man call that mere apostate his wife?

How could he call that whore his wife?

“…Senior, that can’t be. Please think again. Please…!”

Alec let out a deep sigh.

He had a feeling that things had gone awry from the moment he met Scarlet here.

They should be quickly returning to Evian as Yona wished, but it’s not right to be held up in a place like this.

“Scarlet. Stand up straight.”

Alec’s words were cold.

The cold dagger of his words flies and pierces Scarlet’s heart even more painfully.

“From now on, you and I are strangers. Johannes Spielvan, who was a cathedral knight, has been dead for a long time.”

“Sen—”

“Is a junior supposed to interrupt while their senior is speaking?”

Scarlet was crushed by the frost-like pressure.

Words that were like a protest saying it couldn’t be so, words that were like a plea to reconsider.

They all disappeared so pitifully.

“I am the knight of Yona— the apostate you Celestine Church people speak of. I survived thanks to her treatment, and I have sworn to become her knight. So, forget me. Go back. Go back and try to fix the Celestine Church that’s doing such insane things.”

“Senior…!”

Scarlet’s eyes shook violently, unable to look at Alec properly.

Those cold words, those words that seemed deliberately chosen to hurt Scarlet, pierced and cut her, gradually eating away at her.

“We will go our own way… No, that’s not right. I will go my own way, so you go your own way.”

With those final words, Alec let out a deep sigh.

This is indeed how it is to cut ties.

Cutting ties with the past is cutting off memories.

Those words saying that all the past times, memories, recollections will be treated as if they never existed.

Alec knew well how much Scarlet had followed him.

He also knew well that he — at that time Johannes — was practically everything to her.

He wasn’t unaware of the romantic feelings hidden behind the title of ‘Senior’.

However, what isn’t, isn’t.

Johannes Spielvan of the past who didn’t have the luxury to accept her feelings.

Alec of the present who no longer has a reason to accept her feelings.

His heart was one, and that heart was with Yona.

Scarlet, who had spewed such abusive language towards Yona—

“So, let’s each go our own way. Don’t follow me anymore.”

With those final words, Alec turned around.

There was no need to look at Scarlet’s face anymore.

He’s getting further away.

The one she had been searching for so desperately is getting further away.

Scarlet, who had been blankly watching him leave, lowered her head.

Serad, who approached her side, stood by her without saying a word.

She couldn’t say anything, and couldn’t think of anything.

Scarlet’s shoulders, with her head hung low, began to shake.

Slowly kneeling down, Scarlet buried her face in the ground and started to cry.

Like the scream of a wounded beast, like a woman longing for someone she can never see again.

Scarlet sobbed loudly.

“Senior, Senior…”

The overflowing sorrow soaked her chest, spreading across the field like a silent echo.

Amidst this, Scarlet suddenly thought.

If it was going to be like this, then rather—

Her gaze turned towards Alec, who was walking away.

And her hand moved towards her waist.

A sharp dagger—

A dagger that showed not even a glimmer of reflection in the moonlight was grasped in her hand.