Chapter 185

“Ugh…”

As I approached it, Walter let out a painful groan. I opened my eyes as I retracted the mana. My face was drenched in sweat as the magic required delicate control.

“Are you alright?”

Walter asked as if I was the one who groaned. I saw him pressing down his chest at what seemed like a familiar pain. I slowly spread my palms and thought about what I had felt ago; if it was a mistake or not. I don’t know how many times I’ve come to the North and felt like I was being stabbed in the back.

Walter’s disease was caused by poison!

‘Exchetra, you really are a terrible person.’

Seeing me tremble, Walter anxiously asked, “What is it?”

“Ah-”

I opened my mouth and immediately closed it again. He accepted his death and even said goodbye to the woman he loved. It was painful to make such a decision. He wanted to live a little longer and see the person he loved alive, so he dabbled in forbidden time magic.

But it turns out that the disease he suffered from was not something natural.. but caused by another person’s malicious agenda?

I felt nothing short of furious. Even I couldn’t accept this horrid truth.

Walter said that his health had suddenly deteriorated. If he hadn’t been weak from the beginning, he would’ve come to the suspicion that he was poisoned. But Walter had a weak constitution from birth. No one would doubt that this man was slowly dying from poison. It was just pure evil!

I clenched my fists and asked, “Walter, who was the person who said you only had one month left to live… was it your doctor?”

“Yes, he’s been responsible for my health since I was little,” Walter said, looking confused.

“Then what about other doctors’ opinions?”

“There was no need for that. After I was told the day I would die, I gave up on everything.”

I got goosebumps. Although it was understandable, it was still a foolhardy decision. A proper doctor would instantly know that poison was the cause of Walter’s sudden deterioration, were they given the chance to examine him. It should’ve been called an unknown disease, such as the poison epidemic that spread in Acrab.

‘The ingredients are slightly different, but it’s definitely poison.’

I also hadn’t fully recovered from the poison, so I was still taking medication occasionally and receiving treatment from Kaichen. The tonic wasn’t as serious as life-threatening as poison, but it definitely contained lethal ingredients – it was poison made up of five ingredients.

‘But Anteresse is already dead…’

I bit my bottom lip. Even though Anteresse died, the only explanation was that he had a disciple of someone with similar poison-making abilities.

‘Could it be cured? No… it’s too late.’

Walter would die the moment time magic was destroyed. Even if he only had a few days left, his body was already weakened from being a medium of time magic. He couldn’t hold out much longer. His time had already expired.

The frustration I felt was unbearable. If I’d known earlier, I might have figured it out and saved his life! Made scapegoat for time magic.. How insidious could a person be?

I gnashed my teeth and trembled. To win Julius…? Taking it this far just to seize the throne?  Ha! The benevolent and well-liked Princess Exchetra? If someone said such a thing, I would spit on their faces. An unbearable anger filled my chest.

When I saw time magic reappear, when I saw Walter who was in pain as a medium, and when I found out that he was actually dying from poison.. It was horrifying to know that all of this happened due to one person’s plan.

‘Acrab could’ve similarly be an experiment,’ my mind suddenly connected the s.

Kaichen was right. Princess Exchetra conducted a huge experiment in Acrab. It was to investigate how to manifest time magic and how well the poison worked. Exchetra thought she had a perfect win, and she used Acrab and me as a stepping stone to further her plots for the throne.

‘She’s terrible. She only sees people as toys…’

“… Excuse me, Count…?”

Walter asked worriedly as he saw me trembling. Yet, I could only hear his voice hazily as I was consumed in an all-burning anger.  I closed my eyes tightly. Suddenly, I lost my temper as horrific memories of me experimenting on people flooded my head.

My body trembled. In the corner of my mind, there was no difference between me and her. What a hypocrite I am!

“Count Alshine!”

I opened my eyes and looked at Walter. He looked at me with serious eyes. It wasn’t until I was snapped back to reality that I realised my body was tight and I was holding my breath, biting my lips until they bled.

“Ah…” I took a deep breath and exhaled. In times like these, I had to keep my head straight. “I remembered a bad memory,” I said.

“Of a hundred years…?” Walter softly asked.

“Yes… That’s right.”

“Didn’t you destroy the magic and gain freedom?”

I accepted the handkerchief that he offered. Pressing my lips to the clean, white handkerchief, I shook my head.

“My body was free, but I also escaped with sins that I have to bear with for the rest of my life.”