Chapter 104

Chapter 104

The first thing Ahibalt did was to move Irene as detaining Edith, reaching out to Otis, and managing the situation became an afterthought.

Irene’s condition seemed to be life-threatening, so it was a natural thing to do.

But things were too quiet for that, and Ahibalt was strangely nonchalant as if this whole situation had anything to do with himself.

For Louise, who had watched the whole thing unfold from the sidelines, it was all very strange.

‘…Of course, I knew that the Young Master wasn’t as friendly as Miss Irene thought.’

Even though Irene would always tell her that Ahibalt was such a kind and friendly person, Louise had to swallow the denial that filled her throat every time she thought that.

The outstanding maid didn’t seem to realize how different Ahibalt was when he looked at Irene than when he looked at anyone else. Because of that, she had always thought he would rather look at a plum pie with a kinder eye.

‘Even thinking about it seems a bit strange…’

Everything about him resembled the original Ahibalt, which was really strange. His usual leisurely pace had turned into something more contemplative than relaxed—disparate and sharp, yet somehow inexplicable… it was the feeling as if the mercy was gone.

Was it really because he was a manager who couldn’t die even if he was killed like Edith said, or was there another reason…?

‘It’s really strange.’

She was definitely here, but she didn’t feel like she was here. Edith’s experiment was a success, and neither Ahibalt nor Irene died.

…Why do I feel so vague and sad?

‘Why do I… feel like I’ve lost everything?’

Feeling hollow, Louise knew that something seemed wrong though she couldn’t figure out the cause. As she stood guard over Edith’s laboratory, which had been in disarray for a long time, Louise hurriedly took a step at someone’s call.

Hopefully, this ominous sign would soon disappear.

Lavrenti’s dungeon.

“I heard you haven’t taken the medicine, Edith.”

Across from Edith, Ahibald sat down.

“Do you still need more stories to talk more?”

Ahibalt’s voice was cold. The ‘story’ he was talking about really couldn’t have been through words.

At those words, Edith gasped for air, desperately trying to suppress the pain coursing through her limbs from the torture.

“Finally seeing your face, Ahibalt. Why would I need a story to talk about? If you give me the medicine, it’s obvious that it will kill me.”

Edith grunted, spitting blood onto the floor as she continued her words.

“I want to hear from you.”

“What?”

“Don’t pretend you don’t know. No matter where the flaws were in my research, it doesn’t change that you have higher authority than we do. Do you think an ordinary human could have such formidable resilience?”

“I don’t know why you’re saying that. Your son was born soon, too.”

“Are you kidding me now?”

“Do you think I’m joking?”

Asking that, Ahibalt rolled his gaze crookedly with a smileless face. It was only then that Edith was able to make eye contact with the man sitting in front of her.

…An opponent who made her feel scared just by making eye contact.

She knew that this was the person she had been looking for, but it was also difficult to bear the fact that she wanted to avoid her gaze the whole time they were looking at each other. Was it because he was an unknown existence? Or was it because he had been deceiving others all along?

“I’ll tell you in advance. I’ve never deceived others.”

“Can you read my thoughts?”

“Maybe if you stopped looking at me like I’m some kind of fraud, we could talk.”

At those words, Edith suddenly realized that she hadn’t been managing her facial expressions. Still, it didn’t make much of a difference since it was a question that needed to be asked anyway.

“As I said before, Edith. I think highly of your achievements. This is the first time I’ve recovered ‘this memory’ without seeing the ending.”

“…Recovering your memories?”

“It’s a pretty simple system, don’t you agree? You wouldn’t know about the administrator until you’re dead.”

This meant that death became some kind of switch.

“Edith, until I die once in this world, I know nothing. I’m just a young master of Lavrenti, and I lived as Knox’s underboss. It’s not much different now either though I’ve just learned something I had forgotten about.”

“Memories you had forgotten, then.”

“It’s a memory from after the world ended, or before the world began properly. As you might have guessed, a lot of things happen when you go back in time countless times like that.”

Not dying when you should, or dying when you shouldn’t…

“I exist to correct such errors of that time.”

“Then, who’s the manager of time?”

“Do you think I’m going to tell you that?”

Ahibalt raised his upper body, which had been leaning against the backrest, to face her. A similar tension gripped Edith as he approached her with his deep blue gaze.

“The reason I’m telling you these things is simple: don’t go any further. It’s commendable enough that you’ve come this far through your research, but that doesn’t change anything.”

Every syllable that came out of Ahibalt’s mouth seemed to pierce Edith’s heart like a dagger.

It didn’t matter that her research and hypotheses were flawed. Even though she had all the answers right in front of her eyes, did it matter? Ahibalt didn’t want to talk about the manager of time. However, the more he hid it, the clearer its presence seemed to her.

‘There can be no one else.’

…Otis Lavrenti, he must be the manager of time.

Since Ahibalt cared about his younger brother, he didn’t open his mouth hastily for fear that she would kill him. Nevertheless, the original human being would be inherently broken when you awaken your desires.

Edith asked, trying to kill the tension creeping up her back.

“Then you know all this time, all the time we lost.”

“…Yes, I know.”

“Have you ever thought about getting away?”

At her words, Ahibald’s mouth closed in a straight line. It was clear that she had hit the nail on the head.

“If you’ve wandered for that much time, don’t you think you’d like to stop doing all this? Don’t you get tired of it? Don’t you wish time would stop turning? Don’t you wish you could change your destiny?”

“Edith.”

“You can break this fate, Ahibalt… You can kill the manager of time. Of course, I know you can’t do it in the normal way, so I couldn’t kill you either, but I’ve created a weapon that can! Kill him and stop the time—”

“Edith!”

Bang!

With a hit, Ahibalt slammed the table between them violently as a deep rage hung like a flame on his face.

“I know what you’re thinking, but I’ve already told you. I said no. I’m not going to go along with your crazy ideas.”

“No, my idea will come true.”

“…Why do you think that?”

“Even if you don’t mind this bondage, do you think the other person will think so, too? Will he turn down the opportunity I’m offering?”

A person trapped in a bridle was inevitably worn out. However, if the only choice left at the end of it was the death of one of them… the rest was obvious—murder or suicide—either gave up on one’s own life or tried to get out of the bondage even by killing others.

“Perhaps you know better how it’s going to end.”

There was contempt in Ahibalt’s gaze as he glared at Edith.

“…You’re a terrible person.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment. So, what’s your answer?”

As soon as Ahibalt’s mouth was about to open, the urgent footsteps separated them.

“Young Master, Miss Irene has woken up!”

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