Chapter 77

Chapter 77 – What Ending (3)

I opened my eyes to the sunlight shining through the room and blinked my eyes at the brilliant sunlight that completely illuminated the room. The sunlight disturbed my sleep, but it wasn’t too bad.

Soft emotions rose up.

Tired of crying, I fell asleep and gently pressed my swollen eyes with my hand before wiping my face roughly with the wet towel lying next to me. Enjoying the coolness of the wet towel, I put it on my eyes and opened my mouth when there was a knock on the door.

When I got up and sat down right away, the wet towel fell from my eyes.

“Come in.”

Acacia opened the door and came in. He greeted me in a friendly voice.

“Are you awake?”

I gave no answer and just responded with a smile.

I woke up when Acacia said that breakfast was ready while chatting with him and moved to the dining area. There, I greeted Lepis and had breakfast together while chatting with Derhan. Unbelievably, it was the beginning of a terribly peaceful day that made me wonder if it was a dream.

If only Rewan were here, it would be perfect.

After eating, they busily moved again. They were busy enough to frantically run around the mansion with papers.

As I stared blankly at them and moved into the room, I opened the window and felt the cool breeze blowing.

Even though he was busy, I ate the cookies that Lepis brought for me. Drinking hot tea, I glanced out the window. It was peaceful. It was the mildest day I’ve ever had. If I felt a little lacking, it was probably because I didn’t have Rewan by my side right now.

I tapped the desk with my finger and hummed.

I was looking forward to the day I would meet Rewan.

Acacia came in with a knock. He was looking a little tired. He opened his mouth to say something, but he closed it again. I stared blankly at the open window. He slowly approached the window and put his hand on the window.

Acacia’s low sighs came. He turned around to look me in the eyes and said.

“I’m not forcing you, but I think you’d better keep the windows closed today.”

It was a small sigh mixed with words.

“Why?”

Acacia smiled bitterly.

“It’s going to be, a bit, noisy.”

Some time passed after that, and the sun was setting.

The mansion without people was quiet and desolate. He and I are left in the spacious mansion. There were only two of us left. It was quiet. And as if the peacefulness I had felt until now was all a dream, fire soared in front of my eyes with a thunderous roar.

It was going to be noisy…

The imperial castle, visible through the closed window, was burning with fierce flames. The fire devours everything greedily, leaving no trace. I watched the Imperial Palace and watched it disappear into a handful of ash, enveloped in acrid smoke.

The Imperial Castle, which seemed to have eternal glory, collapsed. It was disappearing without a trace.

Unknowingly, I got close to the window and spread my palms over the window. There was no way the flames could touch me, but the touch of the glass in my palm felt hot.

“Why didn’t you go?”

I asked him.

“…It has nothing to do with me.”

“Why? You helped the rebellion, too.”

Acacia’s lips parted. His words could not be heard properly among the explosions or the loud noise coming from outside the window.

“Bu…t, I… now,… beca… this.”

I approached Acacia and narrowed my distance from him. As I approached, his breath touched my ear. His voice sounded like a low whisper, drowned out by the sound of the explosion.

“…I am no longer a member of the Empire.”

“That… why?”

Startled, I gazed up at him.

Acacia smiled bitterly as he held my hand gently. He placed his lips on the back of his hand.

“I want to be your own knight.”

The two deeply locked eyes turned to me as they contained loyalty.

“Will you take responsibility for the life you didn’t take?”

Why did his expression look distressed when he said this to me? Did he really mean it?

I didn’t know.

After finishing the festival late at night, Derhan came to visit.

He had a very serious expression, different from before. I was briefly nervous about his unexpected visit since I still couldn’t trust him completely. He walked slowly and stood in front of me with the moonlight at his back.

Derhan’s expression showed nothing, and his voice came to my ears.

“Tomorrow, Distria dies.”

…A vivid murderous energy and there was some joy in it. He walked out of the dark.

“However, you cannot directly see him die.”

Derhan suddenly closed the distance and grabbed my chin with one hand. As he made eye contact with me, unknown black eyes stared at me, but I removed my hand and averted his gaze.

The glaring glances made me feel bad.

“Why?”

“They were against it. They said they didn’t want to show you bad scenes, but I think a little differently.”

Derhan widened the distance. He disappeared into the darkness again.

“I think you should see it… the end of the one who made your despair.”

I couldn’t guess what kind of expression he had when he said that. Maybe the feelings I felt at first glance were a mistake.

A low pitched voice reached my ears.

“Actually, I wanted to give you a chance to kill him. However, there are people whose lives have fallen into hell more than you.”

“…Is that Rewan?”

He didn’t answer my question. I was sure in his silence that it was Rewan, and I was overcome with unknown emotions.

…It was I who created Rewan’s despair.

…It was I who created his pain.

My heart was beating anxiously.

…It was I who threw him into the abyss.

Derhan grabbed my hand. My gripped hands were hot.

“But anyway, it’s unfair that you can’t see his end. So anyway…”

Swish.

As he pulled me, I was drawn to him helplessly and my unbalanced body swayed greatly.

“Would you like to go see him now?”

Derhan held me tight so I wouldn’t fall. The distance between us shortened, and I could see his expression was visible in the deep darkness.

He was smiling.

Due to his coercive attitude, I followed him down to the basement.

I wondered where Distria was hidden in the mansion, so I grabbed his hand and went down to the basement. Every time I went downstairs, there was a shady, damp cellar-specific smell. Where was the water leaking?

Drip, drip.

The sound of dripping water could be heard in the quiet space.

“We’re here.”

“….”

“Why, are you disappointed that he looks better than you thought?”

In an iron cage, he was bound to his knees with a cloth over his eyes and a gag over his mouth. Distria, who was quick to notice that someone had come, lifted his head but he didn’t make any fuss.

Perhaps he just noticed that I was here, his head was raised towards where I was.

“Ah…”

I’d never imagined this man to look like this. He was like a bitter wind in the middle of winter. Even if the cold wind stopped for a while, I never imagined for a moment that the cold of midwinter would break him. For a moment, he quietly lifted his head.

My heart was beating with an uneasy sound.

“Arne. It is thanks to you that this person became like this.”

It wasn’t what I intended. Even if my actions caused his downfall, there was no reason for me to be praised. My heart thumped, and I was filled with uncomfortable feelings.

…What was the reason for this uncomfortable feeling?

“Urrrr… uh…”

Distria, which had been quiet, made a beastly sound as if something was scratching inside. He, who had been quiet, moved with a limp, and the sound of metal thumped through the basement. I took a step back.

Boom.

My steps were blocked by the iron cage on the other side that reached my back. I had nowhere else to retreat.

Slowly, my legs gave out and I sat down.

“Are you scared? Are you still afraid of that person who became like that?”

Derhan’s voice hummed in my ears.

After a while, I shook my head at his words. No, that was not it. My fingertips were cold, and my heart was cold. It felt like my reason was cooling off. With what qualifications would I see Distria’s end? I was not qualified…

It was the end of a man who was ruthless, cruel, merciless, and bearing death. There were times when I genuinely hated him, resented him, and feared him.

However, I couldn’t enjoy his death.

The reason why I couldn’t happily accept his death was because my heart beated uncomfortably and anxiously.

It was because I was the same as him.

Therefore, I was neither happy nor sad… I couldn’t make any reaction. I also deserved to be imprisoned like that.

I was just glad I was not the one sitting there. Even if I correct my mistakes now, the sins I committed do not go away. Even if the traces were erased, the memories did not disappear. There was only one difference between Distria and me.

Was it seen or not?

The difference between good and evil was as thin as a piece of paper. The reason I was good was because it was not visible… that was it.

I felt fear at Distria’s appearance as I felt like my place was over there as well. The sound of metal in my ears was still there, and he was moving in a fit.

I wanted to run away from this spot because of my suddenly awakening anxiety.

That was not going to happen, though. I led the destruction of Sorano Kingdom in order to feel pleasure… If Rewan knew about these things, or if someone else knew, wouldn’t they hate me and resent me? How did I dare to think of standing next to him?

I was afraid.

As I curled up in fear and trembled, I could feel Derhan’s strange gaze.

“You’re really a b*stard, aren’t you?”

He sighed softly. His eyes, brimming with hatred, were fixed on Distria.

“Do you think other people’s lives are easy, so anyone can be easily killed?”

Derhan pulled a set of keys from his chest. Taking a key from his chest and opening the iron cage door, he kicked Distria’s body, who was still rioting.

As his head was bent, a violent sound came.

There was a series of loud noises that made it hard to believe that it was the sound of dull and sharp flesh touching each other.

“Stop…! Stop, don’t.”

When I hurriedly got up and grabbed Derhan, I met his eyes that glistened with anger and hatred.

As he was beaten, the undone eye covering ran down his face. The gagged lips were torn open, and blood gushed out. With his forehead torn and his eyes red with blood, his lips parted as the gag’s seams loosened.

Distria’s gaze reached me. He took a deep breath, exhaling through his blood-stained mouth.

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“I miss you, Arne.”

He laughed.

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