episode_0085

“I never received any apology for what happened in the past… That’s why I refuse. If I have to choose between meeting you or not meeting you, I choose not to meet you.”

“…”

“…”

“…”

As the situation explanation containing only the forced confession of Nice came to an end, a chilling silence filled the hospital room.

Nice, hoping that it would just pass like this, felt like every second was as heavy and dreadful as an hour in the oppressive silence.

It was May Lui who was the first to break the silence with a question, her voice so cold that it made all the reverent words describing her as a saint, savior, and light of humanity pale in comparison.

Just facing her felt like freezing the heart, and Nice trembled with the threat of death just from the atmosphere May Lui exuded.

“Um, is that all?”

“Yes, yes?”

“Stay asked if that was all.”

The awe-inspiring words used to describe her were meaningless, as May Lui’s voice now was so cold and relentless.

Even though it would have been impossible for her to speak under normal circumstances, Nice, under the spell of forced confession, struggled to speak and relay what Stay had said.

“He said you won’t go to them anymore. He asked me to pass on his regards.”

Completing the sentence in a state of extreme fear was truly a difficult task, but since Stay’s words were not too long, Nice managed to convey them to the three people.

Thanks to miraculously finding the loophole in the forced confession magic, which was ‘just tell the truth about the question asked,’ no unnecessary words came out, and Nice could barely calm her trembling heart after speaking.

“Is that it?”

“Yes, yes? Oh, yes, yes! Th-that’s it!”

“Really. Is that it?”

“Um… yes?”

Until May Lui’s lingering gaze and voice choked her.

“Why do you keep asking? Is your hearing impaired? I’m asking you. Is it really over? Stay wouldn’t just leave after saying that!”

Without giving her a chance to breathe, Nice felt like she was losing her mind in the fierce and chilling rush of emotions.

Did Stay, that man, go through this every time? How did he endure without losing his mind?

The intensity of emotions pouring out from May Lui was so high that Nice, who had only regarded Stay as a low-grade scoundrel, now found him admirable.

Although what she heard from Stay was indeed everything, May Lui, under pressure, was refusing to accept that this was all there was.

But Nice was now under the confession magic of Mir Ryu, unable to lie or give the answer May Lui wanted.

In a truly desperate situation where she couldn’t lie or give May Lui the answer she wanted, Nice, who was trying to push away Stay deep in her heart and regret the past where she tried to take all the benefits for herself, heard a glimmer of hope in the form of language.

“Stop it, Meiruina. The fact that she doesn’t respond even after being questioned like that means that Stay really left after leaving only those words behind.”

“What are you talking about! That can’t be true!”

“I cast a confession-compelling spell. With her level, she couldn’t resist my magic at all. So, the reason why that woman can’t answer your questions is because she has said everything she can.”

“Mi, Mir Ryuin…”

Just as Mir Ryuin had intervened and stopped Dain Adamas from pouring out emotions and threatening his life, this time, she also saved Nis’s life.

Mir Ryuin was the one who cast the confession-compelling spell, a spell that trampled on human rights in an unbelievable way, but in Nis’s heart, she had become a savior without her realizing it.

Nis felt a deep sense of gratitude towards Mir Ryuin, to the point where she wanted to dedicate her lifelong loyalty to the one who saved her.

“Of course, Meiruina, some of your questions are inappropriate.”

“…What?”

However, as the conversation continued, Nis felt that something was off about the situation.

“Since I heard that Stay left, things have been strange. Stay can’t leave us until she repays her debt… more precisely, until she receives compensation from Meiruina.”

Saying that, Mir Ryuin looked into Nis’s eyes with her blue eyes.

Facing the suppressed emotions in the depths of her pupil, Nis, who had not yet faced the turmoil of emotions within Mir Ryuin, felt her mind go blank with the most terrifying abyss of fear she had ever experienced.

“So, the question is this. How could Stay leave us?”

To the Nis who was clearly losing her mind, Mir Ryuin asked.

Nis wanted nothing more than to keep her mouth shut, but the confession-compelling spell did not allow her to do so.

“We… We… We settled all of Stay’s debts and outstanding payments under the pretext of Central Intelligence Bureau acknowledging Stay’s remarkable contributions…”

“Hah.”

Thud!

Nis, not even aware of what she had gone through, lost consciousness after hearing a short, hollow laugh.

“How dare you, how dare you break the contract that Stay and I made, a contract that only I could make…! Who do you think you are…!”

With Nis lying unconscious, her upper body pinned to the ceiling, Meiruina, who had restrained her with a golden chain and slammed her against the ceiling, trembled with clenched fists.

“Ugh… Ugh. Did Stay really leave us?”

In a voice so fragile that it was unimaginable for someone who had just tied a person with chains and pinned them to the ceiling, the question echoed through the hospital room.

“Just a few words. Just leaving that message. And then leaving forever, telling that unheard-of woman to deliver it instead?”

Meiruina’s voice no longer contained the terrifying chill that had made Nis fearful.

All that was in her voice now was the fear of loss.

“Is it really the last message that Stay left for me…?”

Meiruina, too afraid to accept the reality of Stay leaving with just those words, kept asking the same question, unable to acknowledge the truth.

“…”

“…”

But there was no one present who could answer this question.

May Loina’s words were an undeniable truth, with no room for rebuttal, yet acknowledging them would mean admitting that Stay had left them. The three of them could only remain silent and keep their mouths shut in this situation.

But even this silence was futile, as the fear of losing Stay began to weigh heavily on their hearts as time passed.

The fear of Stay leaving them, of having to convey the message that she had left because she didn’t want to, would surely break their hearts.

And they couldn’t accept that.

“I… can’t forgive her.”

Dain Adamas decided to express his anger.

“Stay…! I will never forgive you! I can’t just let this go! No, I won’t!”

Directed towards the cause of this fear, Stay.

“For a whole month, you acted so arrogantly. You toyed with me, who couldn’t even lift a finger! You won unilaterally on your own and now that the treatment is over, you’re leaving? Do you think I’ll just accept that? No. Absolutely not. I can’t forgive such behavior, playing with people’s hearts like that… no, mocking and disrespecting the sacred duel, I can’t forgive.”

Expressing anger was the only way for humans to overcome fear.

To Dain Adamas, it may have seemed like a forced and unreasonable argument, but he had no other choice but to express his anger, even if it was forced, as he couldn’t find any other way to deal with the fear.

If he didn’t do this, his heart would crumble under the fear.

“Yes, that’s right! I can’t forgive her! For a whole month, she whispered sweet words as if we had a special relationship, and now that the treatment is over, she’s leaving without saying a word? She must think I’m a fool!”

“Yes, Dain Adamas and May Loina are right. This is something we can’t just let go. It’s natural to be angry. How dare someone like her, not even another person, but me, leave without a word, disrespecting me like this… I can’t forgive.”

And when several people feel the same emotions towards the same target, anger is easily contagious.

Unable to overcome the current situation without expressing their anger, the three of them spread and nurtured their anger towards Stay, fueling it with each other’s emotions.

“I won’t accept this unless she comes and kneels down to apologize in person!”

“I won’t be satisfied with that kind of apology. Really. She needs to apologize with her body, mind, soul, and spirit, Stay!”

“Yes, I feel the same way. I’m not the type to waste emotions on things like this, but if she doesn’t show sincerity this time, I can’t just let it go.”

But the thought of going to Stay first and hearing directly from her, “I don’t like you,” was too terrifying, so the three of them could only express their anger verbally in the corner like cowards, repeating that they couldn’t forgive her.

Thus, they forcefully directed their anger towards Stay, temporarily covering up the problem in front of them.

※

[You have achieved an unbelievable feat. Your status window is awakening.]

“What is this?”