Chapter 42

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***

Ton finally gave up upon hearing Nelia speak calmly.

“How are you going to pet its head?”

Nelia glanced at the snake.

The snake would be able to eat the little human in front of it, but for some reason it was holding back.

She imagined a somewhat hopeful scenario where he remembered the people around him, and that his ferocious mind might be crushed by his consciousness, but it was hard to think that way when she saw his piercing silver eyes.

Rather, it seemed as if he was thinking about how to play with a funny toy before devouring it.

“Ton, come behind me. I’ll move forward and provoke the snake.”

If she provoked the snake, it would take an action, whether it would come near her or try to devour her.

At that moment, she was going to reach out and stroke him when he got close enough.

It was a simple yet risky plan, but she had no other way at that moment.

Nelia crept forward, and the snake slowly moved its head.

Nelia, contemplating how to provoke him, shouted loudly.

“Your Grace!”

Her voice didn’t reach the duke, but she had to do anything in order to stroke the snake’s head that’s high in the air.

The snake, which was moving its head gently from side to side with its upper body, suddenly stood up.

‘Don’t… don’t tell me calling his name work?’

But he soon realized that it was his own illusion.

KAAGH!

The snake was making a painful cry again.

She didn’t know what provoked the snake, but he seemed to be in pain while shaking his head around, as if he had been hit by a fire arrow.

And the spark splashed toward Nelia. The snake’s frantically swinging head turned toward Nelia.

“It’s dangerous, Lady Nelia!”

Thud~! Ton ended up bouncing off far away because he rushed in and was struck instead of Nelia.

“Ton!”

His body was slammed against the wall.

“Cough…… I’m alright, so…… before it……”

Nelia hurriedly averted her eyes to the front.

The snake, who was losing himself in pain, was slowly getting up.

‘I think I’ve seen this scene somewhere……’

Nelia felt a strange sense of deja vu looking at the sight of the tormented snake and the previously faint burnt smell from before became thicker.

But the thought didn’t go on.

Because the snake approached in a flash and wrapped its body around Nelia’s body.

Nelia had to try to get a hold of herself at the powerful force it exuded at that moment.

When she barely opened her eyes at last, ths saw the face of a snake coming closer to her.

As the snake approached her, there was a smell of something burning, as if her surroundings were a sea of fire.

The snake’s eyes were murky. Like you’ve lost your soul somewhere. The snake’s eyes were hazy. As if it had lost its soul somewhere.

Nelia knew where this sense of deja vu came from.

It was the dream that she had this morning.

Although it was a little different, it’s almost the same as the situation she was in at that moment.

‘Did I really have a dream about the future?’

There was no time to feel happy after finding out an ability she didn’t know she had before. She was about to die being devoured by this snake.

If it was going to happen according to her dream, it would open its mouth in no time and swallow itself in a flash.

However, the snake only stared at her, barely moving.

Nelia thought it was a great opportunity to stroke the snake’s head, but she found it hard to squirm. The snake’s steel-like body wrapped around her tightly.

Nelia felt suffocated, even if she hasn’t eaten by the snake just yet.

She found it difficult as it tightened its body around her even more.

“Your Grace…….”

The only thing she could do was muttering words.

She couldn’t finish her remark with grandiose and beautiful words, but she simply wanted to mutter something.

Nelia used her voice with difficulty.

“Don’t suffer even when I die……”

She thought the snake’s eyelids were shaking slightly, or was it her imagination? When she struggled with the oxygen supply, her consciousness grew increasingly hazy.

“When I die, you’re…… not His Grace, but a monster.”

At the end of her sentence, Nelia realized that her thought wasn’t just an imagination.

It was because she saw the snake’s eyelids closing and opening repeatedly in an anxious manner.

‘…… Is he agitated?’

Eventually, the snake’s body, which was wrapped around it like an impenetrable fortress, loosened so slightly.

Haah, haah. Nelia took a short breath thanks to it.

Finally feeling at ease a little bit, Nelia thought it was her chance.

She wriggled her body and pulled out quickly, she couldn’t reach its head, so she placed her hand on the snake’s cheek.

She felt its cool temperature.

Because she had been staying by Duke Hart’s side for a while, this temperature wasn’t strange anymore.

Nelia, feeling sorry, stroked its scales carefully.

It was then.

PRAK!

At the same time as the strong force was released from the snake, the scales that brushed against her hand disappeared.

Moreover, the burnt smell, which was so strong that she couldn’t breathe, gradually subsided.

While wondering what just happened for a moment, Nelia surrendered to her unconsciousness after colliding with an unknown strong force.

***

Blink.

When Nelia opened her eyes, she realized that this was not reality again.

‘Is this heaven…….?’

She had no idea what good deeds she had done to deserve heaven, but she didn’t think it’s hell either, because she had lived without causing any troubles to others.

So is the view she’s seeing now.

Nelia was standing on a vast meadow, where the fluttering breeze blew.

The endless grasses moving following the passing wind was such a spectacular sight.

However, Nelia’s admiring thought didn’t last long.

Because she realized what this place was.

‘Here is…… the place I dreamed of yesterday.’

She looked around and saw the forest. She was caught by Duke Hart, who turned into a giant snake while running away from him yesterday.

She almost got eaten, but she quickly woke up from the dream.

Nelia looked around while keeping her guard up. She was worried that a furious snake would appear again and attacked her.

Then, she found a shiny silver scale in the distance.

There was undoubtedly the existence of a silver snake radiating magical light beyond it.

He didn’t look as angry as she saw him last time, but she could not afford to be loose.

She thought about running away toward the forest again, but Nelia quickly gave up that thought and approached the snake, since she knew that the snake could quickly catch up to her if it wanted to.

At least this is a dream, so she thinks it won’t feel hurt to be devoured here.

The snake barely opened its head in a crouching position despite sensing somebody’s presence around.

She felt hurt seeing it close its eyes weakly.

As she somewhat felt pity toward the snake, Nelia reached out and stroked it, as if she was bewitched.

Her hand glided slowly along the smooth curves.

“Your Grace.”

The snake’s eyelids trembled when she called out to him. The silver eyes appeared in a flash.

His eyes weren’t as cloudy as before. It was radiant and bright as if it captured everything.

Nelia felt a strange feeling.

The enormous snake she encountered earlier looked more like a monster that lost its mind and hurt people, but now she felt like it was a magical creature.

It was as if he had two sides on him, like Lord Asura*.

[Nelia, I’m sorry because I hurt you…….]

She heard the duke’s voice. She felt relieved the moment she figured out that the snake was dominated by the duke.

“It’s okay. You didn’t do it on purpose anyway.”

[But……]

“Your Grace, let’s talk about the future, our future.”

The snake lowered its head powerlessly at Nelia’s assertive voice.

[I don’t have any clues……. I don’t know what I’m going to do in the future.]

“You said you’re going to remove the curse. I will help you find the heart.”

[How would Nelia do that……?]

Nelia smiled at the disheartened voice of the snake.

“It’s a secret.”

After all, she knew the information about Sigrid’s heart, the nuke of this world.

Of course, finding the heart was a different story, but wouldn’t the possibility of finding it increase if she participated, rather than the duke finding it on his own?

Nelia’s smile was seemingly contagious, and a bit of shade was lifted off the snake’s eyes.

Then the snake lifted its head slightly. She could tell from the movement that he was a little more collected than a moment ago.

[I would prefer Nelia to not do anything. Just stay by my side, so that I feel like I’m losing myself anymore…….]

As he spoke in a calm and affectionate tone, Nelia thought she could see a glimpse of Duke Hart through the snake.

But that is only a supposition of your thought anyway.

She’s undoubtedly in a dream now. Therefore, this snake isn’t really Duke Hart.

Nelia stared at the silver eyes.

‘Since I’m in a dream now, I might as well bring up the talk regarding the emperor.’

The closer Nelia became to the duke, the more frustrated she became. The reason she felt this way was because she knew about the revenge that Duke Hart was preparing for.

The fact that this man, who acted so kindly and courteously to her and society, was secretly plotting to kill someone afflicted her like a thorn in her neck.

It wasn’t because she was scared like when she met the duke for the first time.

If she were to give a definition to this emotion, it would be a sense of disparity when she was face to face with the duke’s double personality.

This problem was always on her mind, but she couldn’t pretend to know about it before him, therefore she just kept her mouth shut.

So, she wanted to talk about the emperor with the duke in her dream.

“Your Grace.”

The lofty silver eyes turned toward Nelia.

[Yes, Nelia.]

“Your Grace……. Do you think you must avenge the emperor?”

The snake halted for a moment. Nelia grew a little bit anxious at the snake’s changing behavior.

[How did Delia……]

The duke seemed very surprised upon learning the fact that Nelia knew he was trying to avenge the emperor.

Finding the crack in his confusion-laced voice, Nelia clenched her fist and let out a mutter again.

“I don’t want Your Grace to hurt anyone.”

[But, I……]

“I know, why you do it. However……. Revenge will only lead to another revenge.”

Nelia stared straight into the duke’s eyes.

Revenge would beget revenge.

It’s similar to a line in the movie, but in reality, it would definitely happen that way.

When Duke Hart successfully carried out his revenge, Carlos would sharpen the blade of revenge on the duke later on.

It’s something she could know without having to read the whole book. However, was it such a difficult thing to accept for him even in her dream?

[Nelia……. I…….]

The hardened snake’s eyes were cracking. The hardened eyes of the snake were cracking apart.

“Your, Your Grace…….!”

At last, the silver eyes broke into pieces like shards of glass. Nelia shook the duke in panic, but didn’t get any response from him.

“Your Grace…….! Your Grace…….!”

Only Nelia’s hasty voice resonated in her ears.

***

“Your Grace…….!”

Nelia leapt up from the bed while calling out for the duke. The soft blanket brushed on her hand. The vivid touch made her realize that the event from earlier was just a dream.

‘As expected, it was a dream……’

Even though she knew it was a dream, why did she feel so dizzy?

Looking around the room, she realized it was the room she usually occupied in the duke’s residence.

Her last memory before she fainted was an intense light coming from the duke, but unfortunately, she didn’t seem to be dead yet.

As her half-conscious mind gradually became clear, Nelia wondered what happened to the duke.

She was trying to get up in order to go outside, but the door opened before she managed to.

It was Duke Hart in his human form.

“Your Grace!”

Nelia called him loudly, there was a combination of surprise and joy in her tone.

The duke has returned to his human form safely! That information made her completely forget about her unsettling dream.

But there was something strange.

She thought he would come closer and engulfed her in a powerful hug, but the duke just stood still and looked at Nelia.

***

[*For those who wonder about the context, again, Asura is a mythical creature in Indic religions who either does good deeds or bad deeds, so basically there are two sides of them. There are some who spread bad deeds, such as encouraging disastrous events, and some are found worshiping Trimurti/triad of the Three Gods; Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva.]

[*Also, sorry for the long wait, I just finished my entrance college exam today. Hope everyone has a good day!]