Chapter 22

Episode 22

Hypocrite

When I crossed the first-class room and opened the door to the convenience room, all eyes were on me, Some looked at me outright, some kicked their tongue, and some whistled.

It was funny that when I was Eris, the glances that had never received before were now pouring out. Just because I changed my clothes and makeup a little. I moved forward, trying not to be intimidated.

Even in the next compartment, the gazes toward me remained. There were people who tried to touch me outright, but that was cleverly avoided and passed.

One of them looked at me and whispered to the man next to him. The man listening to the whisper nodded went past me, and headed to the back.

Instinctively, I realized that the marquis had planted a henchman among those men. As I, in a hurry, walked a little faster, the man who was whispering stood up and slowly began to follow me. My palms are sweaty I muttered in a very small voice, trying to put on a nonchalant look.

“Anakin, the henchman must be at the door of the first class. Tell him I’m washing up. It’s gonna be a long time….and get in the second-class compartment quickly.”

Anakin can hear me, but I can’t hear Anakin, so I wasn’t sure if he heard me properly. I didn’t stop walking for now, as I believed he had heard.

The man was still chasing me when I opened the door to the second-class compartment.

I was in a hurry, not turning around, because I was afraid he would catch me. Is Anakin coming? If he was coming, where would he come from? The footsteps of the two rang in the cabin.

The sound of the man’s footsteps was getting closer to me. My head is spinning. I looked at the shadow on the floor and the man was reaching out to me. I can’t.

I opened the door of any room in a hurry. It was reckless, but I couldn’t help it. Whoever’s inside is better than being caught by the marquis’s henchman.

And when I opened the door, it was surprisingly Anakin who made eye contact with me.

He must have been running, as his breathing was a little hard. Fortunately, the owner of this room seems to be somewhere else at the moment. It was empty. Without fail, I whispered to him.

“Kiss me now.”

“What?”

“Pretend you’re doing it. Come on.”

As soon as I finished speaking, I pulled Anakin’s neck with both arms. I slightly tiptoed, and Anakin propped me up by wrapping his arms around my waist.

I twisted my head slightly and opened my mouth. He didn’t kiss me, so I moved my own tongue and made a rough, wet sound, pretending to kiss. Frankly, I’m embarrassed, I couldn’t force myself to kiss him.

Instead of our lips touching, we made eye contact. At a close distance, our sweet breaths mixed. Anakin raised the other arm that didn’t hold my waist and carefully began to pry through the back of my head. I stepped into the cabin one step at a time, and Anakin stepped back to suit me.

Until now, I had vaguely thought he had brown eyes, but up close, Anakin’s eyes were brighter than that. It was a mysterious color that changed depending on the light.

This time Anakin started making awkward squirming, noises as I fell into the colour of his eyes and stopped making noises with my mouth.

Cute, I bit my lips to hold back my laughter. I heard the henchman kicking his tongue behind him. Anakin slowly closed the room door. When the door closed, fell off him.

“Has that guy completely gone back?”

“…Yes. Now I can hear him sitting in a chair.”

“Haa, it’s over. I’m sorry I asked you to kiss me all of a sudden. Did you feel bad?”

“No, I did not.”

That innocent face made me bitter. I’m crazy. No matter how urgent, there are things to do and things not to do. I said to him as I opened the room door.

“No, you have to feel bad. It has nothing to do with protecting me.”

To be honest, it would be a little annoying, but I could have told Anakin to overpower the henchman and throw him out of the window because we would get off soon anyway.

And the reason I wrapped my arm around Anakin’s neck was because… I just wanted to get a little confirmation.

My people are different from the people who used to look over me, they’ll respect me.

….Anakin didn’t touch me. I was disgusted by myself for being reassured by the fact that I had initially attracted him out of sheer self-interest.

You’re so ugly. I can’t believe I’m trying to judge and test him myself. I shouldn’t let others do anything offensive when I was attacked, but people were selfish. (QC/N: ‘you’re so ugly’ refers to herself, her thinking/behavior.)

“From now on, if I’m going to do something personal… just say no. If I make you feel bad… don’t forgive me.”

It may not be as selfish as it was just now, but in the future, I could have made him do more than this.

He can’t refuse me, but at the very least, I hope he doesn’t make any effort to understand me. I will only do bad things in the future, and he will have to get his hands dirty because of me.

Anakin nodded his head silently, and I sighed, a little gloomy, and headed out into the hallway.

In front of the cabin door where Hubris was, I lightly patted both cheeks to prepare myself. I didn’t want to show any weakness. I lightly knocked on the door and went inside before he could give an answer.

Hubris stood up and looked at me stupidly.

Surprise. I smiled mischievously and closed the door. I had a lot to say to him before we got off the train together.

“That…… the outfit……. what the hell……?”

“Is this outfit more important than the reason I came to you?

It was then that he felt something was strange, so Hubris shut his mouth and began to look at me, I sat opposite the seat he was standing at and crossed my legs.

“I have to get off soon anyway, but my feet hurt so I won’t stop. Are you okay?”

“……….are you getting off?”

“I’d like to see the Reverend Metheus. Take me with

you.”

“Lady Misérian, won’t you be going to Randol?”

No, how the hell does Hubris know this? Eris doesn’t have any privacy? To be honest, I was surprised, but I tried to act calm.

“On the outside, it is. It’s going to be troublesome if it’s known that I’m meeting Priest Metheus. So, aren’t I asking the priest to help and take me there now?”

“That’s why you’re wearing a disguise. To evade the chase.”

“It is the priest who will complete this disguise.”

A long horn sounded. Soon, the station attendant rang the bell and walked down the hallway. It was a signal that they had arrived in Bonitao province. I naturally put my arms around Hubris’s arms and said.

“Please be an unscrupulous priest who illuminates the dark side for me.”

Before Hubris could say anything, I sprinted out the door. A few nobles who recognized him looked at Hubris, then at me, and looked back at him with contempt.

Hubris panicked and tried to pull my arm out, but I held it tightly to his side.

We got off the train safely, got out of the station, and caught the carriage. The coachman looked at us as if he was looking at the most unscrupulous people in the world, but he wouldn’t believe me if I explained that I wasn’t a prostitute anyway.

Even as Anakin approached to ride the carriage, the coachman looked at me with a pitiful look and gave me a carrot. Then he came up to me and told me to shake the carrot if I wanted to run away. (TL/N: I AM WHEEZING)

I don’t know what the coachman is imagining.

Bonitao really only has fields and forests, so it felt rather strange that a magic train station was built here.

I sat in the carriage and chewed a carrot while looking at the endless wheat field, and then asked Hubris, who was staring at me.

“What are you looking so intently at?”

“No that… These days, I don’t think you are doing self-harm.”

This time I was surprised by the question and looked at him. Then he smirked and asked.

“You see that? It’s fun…..”

“Because the ends of the soul are split and torn.”

“How long has it been torn? Is it dangling?” (T/N: omg she is so savage)

“When we first met, it was halfway through… Now it’s back together.”

“Oh, I shouldn’t… tear it apart again?”

Hubris held my hand in amazement at the words muttered. At the same time, Anakin drew a knife that’s half the size of a sword and held it against Hubris’s neck. I didn’t tell Anakin to take the sword.

“Why? Because it’s God-given life?”

“No, no, no. Lady Misérian…”

“That existence itself is precious…? What is so precious about my existence?”

When Hubris was interrupted and I asked again, Hubris hesitated. Of course he can’t tell me.

Because he is not interested in me. Hubris told me not to die wasn’t because he liked me.

“You just don’t want to hear that someone you know is dead. Right?”

“Are you even afraid that I will resent you? If I had held onto you just once, I might want to come back to life… What is it?”

Looking at Hubris I must have hit the nail on the head. He is starting to stare at me. Somehow it was refreshing. A hypocrite pretending to be nice.

In fact, he pretends not to be interested, but is afraid of being criticized. Then, when the opponent crossed the line while craving affection, he drew the line with a straight face. You’re too brazen to ask me to cross the line.

That’s how the original Eris collapsed. After learning of her brother’s existence, Eris quickly became dependent on Hubris. Because she had no place to turn to. How nice it must have been to have a blood sibling.

But the brother whom Eris relied on declared right before her eyes that he had fallen for the woman she hated the most, and he would cut off ties with her if she hurt her. (QC/N: the woman = Helena.)

If you ask me if I’m defending the original Eris, I don’t know what to say, but if I were to be cold-hearted like that, I could have cut Eris off before she turned to Hubris.

But Hubris didn’t do that. Even though he knew Eris hated Helena, he was silent. To get Helena out of the way by eavesdropping on the plans from Eris.

It was an obvious betrayal.

“You’re confident you won’t regret it, Lady Misérian.”