episode_0031

I walked straight away.

Princess Rudine Eckhart.

It didn’t take long for her to arrive at the empress’ palace, where she usually resides.

“Kyle! What are you doing here?”

Rudine welcomed me with a bright smile as usual.

I slowly glanced at her face out of the corner of my eye.

Her right cheek was slightly flushed, unlike usual.

“Why are you looking at me like that? Did I get something on my face?”

Innocent eyes sparkling as if something is wrong.

I took a deep breath and slowly parted my lips.

“By any chance, did something happen with Isabelle?”

“Ah… Kyle, you heard the story too… ”

Ludine lowered her head with a sullen expression.

“I guess I offended Lady Isabel without knowing.”

“I offended you?”

“Yes, but I’m not sure. I just gave you some heartfelt advice for Lady Isabel, right?”

I laughed.

Unless Isabel went crazy, there was no way she would have slapped the still princess in the face.

He must have been determined to rip out Isabelle’s insides.

To the point where she lost her senses and couldn’t even make a sound decision.

“So what happens to Isabel now?”

“Hmm… well? If it were normal, it would be an execution without even seeing it… ”

Execution?

I barely suppressed the laughter that rose up to my chin.

“She wasn’t seriously injured, and she’s the only daughter of the prestigious Count Justia family, right? Won’t Justia’s sentence change depending on how sincere she shows to the imperial family?”

Ludine covered her mouth with her right hand and let out a shy laugh.

“It actually went well. At least for the time being, I won’t be bothering you Kyle.”

“… ”

“No matter what happens to her, it has nothing to do with you, Kyle, right?”

They are doing so much shit, so much shit.

Is this really the elimination of competitors that we only heard about?

As she said, what happens to Isabel is none of my business, but the problem is that I can’t read Ludine’s intentions at all.

Isabel is the only woman who can purify the black fog that is consuming the continent.

There is no way that Rudine, who revealed through her own words that she has returned to the past, is unaware of that fact.

‘What on earth are you planning?’

Without Isabel’s purification ability, the world would be engulfed in black fog.

It’s okay for me since I’m planning to leave this world anyway, but will it be okay for Ludine, who will have to live in this world for the rest of her life?

The woman who struggled so much in the previous episode because she wanted to save the world?

I’m sick of it.

You can’t rely on anyone, and no one around you is crazy.

It was all doubt, doubt, and eventually more doubt.

tired.

I don’t want to live like this anymore.

“You’re right, Ludine.”

I smiled brightly.

“It has nothing to do with me.”

Ludine’s face turned red.

She seems like a creepy woman.

“I’m glad you weren’t hurt.”

Yeah, you shouldn’t get hurt.

Until the rosary around my neck came into my hands.

“… ”

Ludine’s eyes widened.

She blinked her eyes blankly and then took a step towards me.

“Good thinking, Kyle.”

A deep sense of pleasure stained the corners of her mouth.

I stared at her face clearly.

“Lady Isabel, and Lady Luna. It may look good on the outside, but in the end it is nothing more than a facade. In reality, it is nothing more than a rotten cord that may break at any moment.”

“Really?”

“Yes, Kyle, I’m glad I won’t be disappointed in you.”

Ludine whispered in a friendly voice.

As expected, Rudine is not in her right mind.

“Hold me.”

“… ”

“Power, fame, wealth. I have the ability to give you whatever you want.”

“… … Anything?”

“Yes, anything.”

At first glance, a confidence bordering on madness flashed across Rudine’s eyes.

If there’s someone he wants to kill, he’s ready to kill them right away.

“Use me, Kyle.”

Rudine’s voice rang out under the soft lighting.

“If you want, you can use me like a tool. I don’t even ask for anything in return. Even if you act recklessly or arbitrarily, I will always stand by your side.”

Ludine’s bright yellow eyes were burning brightly.

I was horrified by her twisted obsession with me.

“Just one.”

Rudine’s voice slowed down little by little, and an eerie silence fell.

“… ”

I can’t even hear the sound of breathing.

And slowly, very slowly, as if time had stopped, her lips parted.

“Don’t abandon me.”

“… ”

“It’s not as good as that. No matter how much I do, I won’t forgive you, Kyle. Just like now, stay by my side like now.”

Before I knew it, Rudine’s face, with her upper body pulled forward, was approaching.

A sinister spirit flashed in her eyes.

“Okay?”

I held my breath.

****

Inside a narrow cell where even the sound of breathing can be faintly heard.

Isabel squatted in a corner and slowly took a deep breath.

Princess, Rudine Eckhart.

Isabel, who was provoked by that damn woman, was caught by the knight and locked in solitary confinement for the first time in her life.

Is it because I have a complicated mind?

Time passed so slowly.

Ludine’s verbal abuse passed through Isabelle’s mind.

— You killed him.

— You were Kyle’s only support.

— You killed Kyle yourself with your dirty hands.

Isabel was taken aback by those words.

I was so embarrassed to see my bare face suddenly exposed.

— Kyle will forget you.

— In the arms of another woman. With new memories.

The blade hidden in the words mercilessly pierced Isabelle’s reason.

I couldn’t bear to refute it with any words.

The more I thought about what the princess said to me, the more a terrible chill crept up the back of my neck.

Divine trial.

It would be a lie to say I wasn’t tempted.

Rather than being completely forgotten by Kyle, I wanted to remain in his memory even if it meant being hated.

Regret, misery, shame.

All kinds of emotions were mixed together and eating away at her reason.

After a while, the door to the cell opened.

The identity of the person who came to see Isabel is an imperial interrogator.

The reason the interrogator visited this place was to hold her accountable for the crime she committed and to hear her statement about the situation at the time.

“Lady Isabel, are you aware of what you have done?”

“… … I know.”

“Many people are angry at your mistake. Statements are sent out from Count Justia’s family every day, and there is no time for silence in the social world either.”

The interrogator dismissed her lightly.

In a voice so soft that you can’t even imagine how he would treat a criminal.

The Count Justia family is the heart of an empire with a long history.

This means that it is not enough to take the life of a princess just because she is not an emperor or an empress.

“You won’t be able to get out of here for a while.”

“… I know.”

“It may take quite a long time.”

Yes, the princess must have been aiming for this from the beginning as well.

Princess Rudine Eckhart is, after all, a dangerous woman.

“The meeting will also be held in this room.”

Visiting? Are you sure it’s a meeting now? Who on earth?

At that moment, a feeling of anticipation rose in my heart.

Kyle, my husband.

Could it be that he was so worried about himself being held in solitary confinement that he decided to visit him… …

“Yes, Countess Justia has requested a meeting.”

Ah, mother.

Well then.

There is no reason for Kyle to come to see him. I know there isn’t one.

Isabelle’s face grew darker by the minute.

Dark feelings toward Kyle began to multiply uncontrollably.

My heart is pounding.

My lips were dry and chapped.

It was difficult to come to my senses as the blood in my entire body felt like it was boiling.

Isabel was clearly aware of her condition.

Longing for Kyle, love, and guilt mixed together and boiled like lava.

“… Has there ever been a man who asked about my current situation?”

“You mean man?”

The interrogator tilted his head.

Soon he answered Isabelle’s question in a normal voice.

There was no “. No one.”

Isabelle leaned her stumbling body helplessly against the wall.

She lowered her head as if she had been abandoned by the world, and then repeatedly washed her face.

I don’t want to be hated any more here.

So what can we do to avoid being hated?

The answer was simple.

All you have to do is forget about Kyle.

That is the only way.

but…

“… … Kyle.”

I don’t want to be forgotten.

I want to be remembered for the rest of my life.

I don’t want to lose it to anyone.

A deep desire stirred in a corner of my heart.

Between her messy, disheveled hair, her bright blue eyes twinkled darkly.

The ring on my ring finger sparkled in the moonlight leaking through the window.

The moments I had with Kyle before returning to the past flashed before my eyes like a film.

Isabel’s face turned red.

Any trace of conscience that remained in my heart was shattered.

A thunderbolt of realization struck her mind.

It must be won.

That’s why you came back.

Just for that.

“… … ”

What kind of expression would Kyle make if he saw that he still couldn’t come to his senses?

You’ll hate it so much, right?

He will make a disgusted expression and criticize himself with that sweet voice.

Ah, I don’t like it.

But what’s wrong with that?

I am already someone who cannot be forgiven.

Damn—

Isabelle’s reason was broken down into pieces and reestablished.

I want Kyle.

I want to touch that soft skin with my fingertips.

I miss Kyle saying his own name.

A terrible thirst burned my reason.

Isabel swallowed deeply.

“… Hey.”

“Please tell me.”

Cold sweat formed on Isabel’s hands.

“I request an audience with Her Majesty the Empress.”

Rudine Eckhart, the first princess of the Empire.

Although the relationship with the emperor was quite strong, Isabelle clearly knew that the relationship between Ludine and the empress was not very good.

The calculation is over.

Deal with the princess and take Kyle.

“I have the ability to purify the black fog.”

Even if.

Even if you kidnap Kyle.