NOVEL WEB
Chapter 31 – Twisted Desires
[Translator – Peptobismol]
Chapter 31 – Twisted Desires
I proceeded forward without delay.
Princess Rudine Eckhart.
It didn’t take long to arrive at the Empress’s Palace where she usually resides.
“Kyle! What brings you here?”
Rudine greeted me with her usual sunny smile.
I 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? Is there something on my face?”
A glimmer of innocence twinkled in her eyes, as if asking what the problem was.
After taking a breath, I slowly parted my lips.
“Did something happen with Isabel?”
“Ah… Kyle, so you’ve heard about it too…”
Rudine lowered her head with a somber expression.
“I seemed to have inadvertently touched Lady Isabel’s nerves.”
“Touched her nerves?”
“Yeah, but I’m not sure. I only gave some sincere advice to Lady Isabel?”
I chuckled.
Unless Isabel had gone crazy, there’s no way she would’ve slapped the still Princess in the face.
Most likely, Rudine intentionally poked into Isabel’s mind.
Pushing her to the point where she lost her rationality, unable to even make a proper judgment.
“So, what happens to Isabel now?”
“Uhm… now? Normally, it would be immediate execution…”
Execution.
I barely managed to suppress a hollow laughter rising to my throat.
“You haven’t been seriously hurt, and she’s the only daughter of the renowned Count Yustia, isn’t she? Depending on Yustia’s sincerity toward the Royal Family, things might not turn out so bad, don’t you think?”
Rudine covered her mouth with her right hand and giggled shyly.
“It might turn out for the better. At least for a while, she won’t be bothering Kyle.”
“…”
“Whatever happens to her, it has nothing to do with Kyle, right?”
She’s spouting nonsense, utter nonsense.
Is this perhaps the elimination of a rival that I had only heard about?
As she said, whatever happens to Isabel, it’s none of my concern, but the problem is I can’t read Rudine’s true intentions at all.
Isabel is the only woman who can purify the black mist engulfing the continent.
Rudine, who admitted to returning to the past, couldn’t possibly be unaware of that fact.
‘What’s her intention?’
Without Isabel’s purification ability, the world will be engulfed by the black mist.
It doesn’t matter to me since I plan to leave this world anyway, but would Rudine, who might have to live in this world for the rest of her life, be okay?
The woman who struggled so much to save the world in the previous run?
It’s sickening.
No one can be trusted, and no one around is sane.
Just suspicion, suspicion, and more suspicion.
I’m tired.
I don’t want to live like this anymore.
“You’re right, Rudine.”
I grinned.
“It has nothing to do with me.”
Rudine’s face turned red.
She’s like a chilling woman.
“I’m glad you’re not hurt.”
Yeah, you can’t get hurt.
Until the Rosary around your neck falls into my hands.
“…”
Rudine’s eyes widened.
She blinked dumbly for a moment before taking a step closer to me.
“Good thinking, Kyle.”
A thick sensation of pleasure stained her lips.
I stared at her face intently.
“Lady Isabel, and Lady Luna. They may seem plausible on the surface, but ultimately they’re just superficial, nothing more than rotten puppet strings that could break at any moment.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes, Kyle, I’m glad I don’t have to be disappointed in you.”
Rudine whispered in a soft voice.
As expected, Rudine isn’t sane either.
“Hold me.”
“…”
“Power, honor, wealth. I have the ability to give you whatever you desire.”
“…Anything?”
“Yeah, anything.”
A semblance of madness glimmered in Rudine’s eyes.
If there was someone I wanted dead, she was ready to kill them without a second thought.
“Use me, Kyle.”
Rudine’s voice echoed under the soft light.
“You can use me as a tool if you want. I won’t ask for anything in return. Even if you treat me recklessly or selfishly, I’ll always be on your side.”
Rudine’s bright yellow eyes sparkled with eagerness.
I shuddered at her twisted obsession towards me.
“Just one thing.”
Rudine’s voice gradually slowed down, and an eerie silence descended.
“…”
Not even a breath could be heard.
And as if time had stopped, her lips slowly, very slowly, parted.
“Don’t abandon me.”
“…”
“That’s one thing you can’t do. Kyle, even if it’s you, I won’t forgive you. Stay by my side, just like you are now.”
Suddenly, Rudine’s face leaned closer to mine.
A sinister glint flickered in her eyes.
“I love you.”
I held my breath.
****
In a narrow cell where even the sound of breathing was faint.
Isabel sat huddled in a corner, breathing slowly.
Princess Rudine Eckhart.
Caught in that damn woman’s provocation, Isabel found herself, for the first time in her life, locked in a dungeon, restrained by a knight.
Perhaps it was because of her complex emotions.
Time passed too slowly.
Rudine’s insults echoed in Isabel’s mind.
— You killed him.
— You, the only pillar of support for Kyle.
— With those filthy hands of yours, you killed Kyle yourself.
Isabel was taken aback by those words.
Her abruptly exposed true self was too shameful.
— Kyle will forget about you.
— He’ll embrace another woman. With new memories.
The words concealed a sharp blade that mercilessly stabbed at Isabel’s reason.
She couldn’t refute any of it.
The more Isabel chewed on the words Rudine threw at her, the more a dreadful chill crept down her spine.
[Translator – Peptobismol]
Divine Trial.
It would be a lie to say she wasn’t tempted.
She wanted to remain in Kyle’s memories, even if it meant being hated, rather than being completely forgotten in his memories.
Regret, misery, shame.
All sorts of emotions mingled chaotically, eating away at her reason.
After a while, the door of the cell opened.
The visitor who came for Isabel was an inquisitor of the Empire.
The reason for the inquisitor’s visit was to inquire about the crimes she had committed, and to hear her statement about the situation at the time.
“Lady Isabel, do you realize what you’ve done?”
“…I do.”
“Many are angered by your actions. Count Yustia receives a statement every day without fail, and there’s no shortage of gossip in the high circles.”
The inquisitor addressed her lightly.
With a voice so gentle it was unimaginable for someone dealing with a criminal.
Count Yustia was a family as venerable as the heart of the Empire, boasting a long history.
Raising her hand against the Princess, who is neither the Emperor nor the Empress, implied that her life would be taken.
“You won’t be leaving here for a while.”
“…I understand.”
“It may take quite some time.”
Yes, Rudine must have been aiming for this from the beginning.
Princess Rudine Eckhart, she’s indeed a dangerous woman.
“Visits will also take place in this room.”
Visits? Now? Who on earth?
For a moment, a glimmer of anticipation rose in a corner of her heart.
Kyle, my husband.
Could it be that, out of concern for her being confined in this cell, he requested a visit…
“Yes, Lady Yustia, the Countess, has requested a visit.”
Ah, mother.
That makes sense.
Kyle has no reason to visit me. I know that.
Isabel’s complexion darkened rapidly.
Her simmering emotions towards Kyle began to multiply uncontrollably.
Her heart raced.
Her lips felt parched.
It was hard to focus amidst the seething heat coursing through her entire body.
Isabel was acutely aware of her state.
Her longing, affection, and guilt towards Kyle boiled like lava, intertwining.
“…Has there ever been a man who has asked about my current situation?”
“A man, you say?”
The inquisitor chuckled.
He then replied to Isabel’s question in a soothing voice.
“No, there wasn’t. No one.”
Isabel weakly leaned her body against the wall.
She lowered her head like a discarded being and repeatedly splashed her dry face with water.
She didn’t want to be hated any more than she already was.
Then what should she do to avoid being hated?
The answer was simple.
She just needed to be forgotten by Kyle.
That was the only way.
But…
“…Kyle.”
I don’t want to be forgotten.
I want to be remembered for a lifetime.
I don’t want to give it up to anyone.
A strong desire stirred in a corner of her heart.
Through the disheveled strands of her hair, her azure eyes flickered dimly.
The ring on her ring finger sparkled in the moonlight seeping through the cracks.
Moments spent with Kyle before returning to the past flashed before her eyes like a film reel.
Isabel’s face turned a shade of red.
The remnants of her conscience shattered into pieces.
A thunderous realization struck her mind.
She had to win.
That’s why she came back.
For that sole purpose.
“…”
If Kyle were to see her still unable to collect herself, what expression would he make?
Disgust?
He would probably make a disgusted expression and scold her with that sweet voice.
Ah, she hated it.
But what does it matter?
She’s already an unforgivable existence.
Thud—
Isabel’s reason crumbled into pieces and was reconstructed.
I want Kyle.
I want to touch his soft skin with my fingertips.
I want to hear Kyle whispering my name.
A dreadful thirst consumed her reason.
Isabel swallowed a deep breath.
“…Hey.”
“Please speak.”
Cold sweat formed in Isabel’s hands.
“I request an audience with Her Majesty, the Empress.”
Princess Rudine Eckhart, the 1st Imperial Princess of the Empire.
Although her relationship with the Emperor was quite close, Isabel was well aware that Rudine and the Empress didn’t have a particularly good relationship.
The calculations were over.
Dispose of the Princess, claim Kyle.
“I have the ability to purify the black mist.”
Even if…
Even if she had to kidnap Kyle.
[TL/N: Crazy women left and right… and not even praying will help, cuz bro is planning to kill god ??]
[Translator – Peptobismol]
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