Chapter 99: The Horrifying Liar (4)

[99] 15. The Horrifying Liar (4)

Amy couldn’t sleep.

It had been like that since the day Empress Rosalia had announced Rem’s death.

If she needed rest, she’d inject herself with anesthetics. It was practically poison, but at least when she passes out that way, she doesn’t dream. She didn’t have to suffer from nightmares or unnecessary memories.

But the more you use a drug, the more your tolerance builds.

Sometimes, even when she’d knock herself out like that, dreams would still seep in. And funnily enough, on those days, she didn’t dream of Rem.

Instead, she dreamed of the day she met the Empress.

It was a month after Rem’s death was announced, and he was honored as a hero. Amy had been rotting away, holed up in a room. Having lost her only hope, she was nothing more than a breathing corpse.

It was then the Empress had come to see her.

To take revenge.

Rem’s hand, his neck, his eyes, his poverty, his pain, his fear, and his suffering…

All the things he had lost,

And everyone he had caused to lose.

The Empress, having ascended to the throne, intended to exact payment for all of it. It was the Empress’s way of mourning. Or rather, it was closer to a desperate, pitiful outburst than mourning, at least that’s what Amy thought.

Because even that day, the Empress looked like she might collapse at any moment.

*Cut off your wrists*, the Empress had said, tossing her a sword.

And at that moment, Amy had felt a sort of resonance. It was a resonance between fools who had lost something so great that even walking was burdensome.

That must have been why…

…Amy, after cutting off both her wrists, said she wanted to serve the Empress.

And the reason the Empress had agreed to such a ludicrous request must have been for a similar reason.

And that’s how Amy became the Empress’s knight, and the Empress became Amy’s lord. Instead of a sword and honor, the Empress gifted her knight with Rem’s prosthetic hand.

And not long after, Amy and the Empress discovered there were two more fools like them.

Parsley, the witch who brought down the Magic Tower.

And Clara, the heretic who burned down the Vatican and the Crystal Palace.

The four of them easily connected. It wasn’t that they were friends. Rather, they recognized and understood each other’s loss. And occasionally, they lent each other a hand.

It was the loosest yet the strongest of alliances. And at the same time, it was essentially a meaningless alliance.

Because they had no goals.

Only the Empress was determined to exterminate the Derins of the Great Divide.

But Parsley had changed everything.

“There’s a way to set everything back.”

Parsley said this with a face that was more broken than ever before, yet simultaneously happier than ever before.

Amy still remembered the excitement that had swarmed the room at that moment. How bright was the fervor that seeped into their dead eyes.

It was so bright that it blinded them. It prevented them from recognizing the madness and horror in Parsley’s words. And it burnt away the last vestiges of their reason.

Hope makes people blind.

That day, Amy learned this fact painfully.

***

…But this woman before me, it seems she still hadn’t realized it.

Amy, waking up from her sleep, found a sharp blade at her throat and Irene’s cold face.

“Don’t move.”

Irene’s blue hair, bathed in the moonlight, looked as if frost had settled on it. And it was the same with the sword she was holding.

“What are you doing?”

“I should be the one asking you that. What’s your intention in helping us?”

Amy wasn’t surprised. She knew she would be suspected, though she hadn’t expected such an overt threat.

“I already told you. Rem…”

“You really think I’m going to believe that bullshit?”

Irene’s sword digs into Amy’s throat. Red blood flows down, staining the bed.

However, Amy’s face was merely gloomy.

“I spoke the truth. That’s all.”

Irene’s face contorts. The blade pushes a bit deeper into her throat.

“You people picked the wrong person to mess with.”

“I know. That’s why we’re trying to fix…”

“No, not Rem. Me.”

A fierce light blazed in Irene’s blue eyes.

“Taking Rem away? I don’t care. In fact, I’m grateful. I was wondering how to get rid of him for a while.”

Her beautiful face twists mercilessly under the moonlight.

“But you brought *me* here too.”

“You brought me to this pathetic place when my plan was almost complete. When I only had a single step left.”

“All because of your stupid, pathetic little reason to see your dead boyfriend again.”

“So don’t even think about spouting such garbage in front of me, and tell me what your real scheme is.”

“Before I open your skull and scramble your brain.”

Amy could feel the intense rage in each and every word. She knew that everything Irene was saying wasn’t a bluff, but her true feelings.

And most of all, Amy felt a resonance.

“What did you lose?”

“…What?”

Amy suddenly reached out and grabbed the blade that had been at her throat.

*Clang-!*

The blade shattered with a clear sound.

Irene was startled, but calmly pulled out several magic tools. In an instant, her hands are filled with sinister and terrifying spells.

“Hope has a way of blinding people. And those who are blind will do anything, truly anything.”

However, instead of confronting her, Amy slowly got out of bed. She wiped away the blood flowing from her neck and looked at Irene with a subdued expression.

“And such people are as useful as they are dangerous.”

Amy pulled out a bundle from her clothes and threw it on the floor.

“I’ll tell you my true intentions. But I have a condition.”

“…Condition?”

“Open it.”

Irene hesitated for a moment before picking up the bundle. After wrapping it with several protective spells, she opened it.

It was an ordinary dagger.

A simple object without any elaborate engravings or decorations.

However, its blade looked as sharp as moonlight.

“When the time comes…”

Amy looked down at her bronze hands, Rem’s prosthetics. For the first time, a hint of sadness seeped into her voice.

“Dig out my heart. You’ll need it.”

***

Sometimes I hate magic.

I irritably erase the formulas and magic circles I had meticulously drawn in the air. Then, I started writing them again.

“…Oppa, what are you doing?”

I turn around and see Irene standing in the doorway. She wore an astonished expression while looking at the formulas surrounding me.

“…Don’t tell me you stayed up all night like this?”

…Apparently, what she was looking at wasn’t the formulas but at the dark circles under my eyes.

I scratched my head, feeling somewhat awkward.

“No, well, there was something strange… ”

“Something strange?”

I asked with a serious expression.

“Do you remember when Parsley traveled to another world?”

“How could I forget? It wasn’t that long ago.”

I drew new formulas in the air.

“And do you remember why she did it?”

“…She wanted to fix your unhappy past, even if it meant that she’d disappear from existence.”

“Right, that.”

“What about it?”

I rubbed my temples as I explained.

“There was a penalty to Parsley’s dimensional travel. Her soul shattering, to be exact.”

“…Wait.”

Irene’s eyes widened as she finally understood what I was getting at. I nodded and said,

“So why aren’t we receiving any penalty?”

Irene’s expression instantly crumbled into worry. I looked back at the formulas and magic circles I had drawn in the air.

“There are two possibilities. Either Parsley’s a genius and she developed a magic to erase the penalties…”

“…Or someone is taking the penalty in our place.”

Irene, her eyes now sharp, stared at the magic circle.

“You’re saying that it’s the latter?”

“Yeah, it’s what I designed based on my own speculation. And…”

I smiled bitterly.

“It should be far from the correct answer.”

If this magic circle were to have been used, then this isn’t something that would end with just me returning. Just how many tens of thousands…

*Clap!*

A clap broke through my thoughts. Irene looked at me with a faint smile.

“Let’s put that aside for now. In the end, we won’t know until we see the magic circle, right?”

She was right.

Thinking about it now was pointless.

We already had enough headache-inducing issues as it is.

Starting with our companion in the next room right now.

“So what are you planning to do about Amy? We both don’t trust her right now. Rather than doing this, maybe…”

“Ah, that’s already taken care of.”

I raised an eyebrow. Irene spoke nonchalantly.

“I’ve already confirmed it. You don’t need to worry, Oppa.”

*Confirmed it?*

Only then did I notice the fatigue on Irene’s face. Did something happen between her and Amy last night?

“Just get ready to go. We’re leaving soon.”

Irene hardened her expression and looked out the window.

“It seems the knights are slowly catching up to us.”

***

After roughly inspecting my prosthetics and stepping outside. I spotted Amy brushing a horse’s coat. But Irene was nowhere to be seen.

In other words, it’s just Amy and me here right now.

…And that thought was incredibly burdensome.

To be brutally honest, I still didn’t know how to treat the Amy of ‘this world’. Especially when I could feel my heart being drawn to her.

Because in the end, I had to leave her behind and return.

Having discovered Amy, I could neither retreat nor advance, and could only waver in indecision.

Both physically and emotionally.

The person who saved me from this situation was unexpectedly.

“Irene said she needed to contact someone for a moment.”

Amy said without taking her eyes off the horse. I stood there awkwardly for a moment in surprise, then barely managed to nod.

“I-I see…”

And then, after a moment of hesitation, I walked towards the carriage. I checked the carriage’s cloth and examined the wheels.

It was because I wanted to do *something* rather than just stand there awkwardly. While listening to the sound of Amy grooming the horse, I loaded the supplies we’d bought at the inn.

And unexpectedly, that triggered a memory.

It was a memory of the time when Amy and I lived together. After escaping from the orphanage, we’d been living in a shabby little shack, dividing up tasks like this between us.

Back then, I only thought about how hard life was. But whether it was because those memories had been beautified, or whether it was because Amy was by my side… thinking about it now, they were just happy memories.

I could feel the tension that had been gripping my heart melt away. And I realized one thing.

“It wasn’t your fault, Amy.”

The brushing sound stopped. I looked at Amy after placing the last box on the carriage.

“My hands getting cut off wasn’t your fault. Neither was ‘this world’s me’ death. That was entirely my own choice.”

Right, I had to go back eventually. I had to leave these people behind in this world.

But at least I can tell her this much. Though I don’t know how much comfort these words will bring, at least…

“Yes, that’s what you would think.”

Amy hung the brush on a pole. She wiped the sweat off her forehead with a cloth as she approached me.

“I’m not just talking about myself. But also about the ‘me’ in this world.”

“Yes, what I said includes ‘this world’s Rem’ too.”

I frowned, unable to understand her words. Amy hung the cloth back up and looked at me with a gloomy expression.

“It seems that the ‘me’ from your world didn’t tell you anything. So, I too won’t either. But I’ll give you a piece of advice.”

In Amy’s blue eyes, which I had thought were dead, a spark suddenly flew. However, that heat was directed not at me but somewhere entirely different.

“If you go back, ask that stupid bitch why the head butler knew where our shack was. And if she can’t answer you… give up. That woman doesn’t deserve it.”

I could feel the thick hatred seeping in every word. It was anger that made my bones ache even though I wasn’t the target.

And that’s why I couldn’t help but ask.

“Why are you suddenly bringing up the shack…”

“Oppa!!”

But before I could finish my question, Irene appeared, her voice cutting me off.

“…”

When I looked back at Amy, she was already far away, tying the horses to the stable.