CH 127

To see Johann’s true face, I hid there.

Laura, who was about the same height and size as me, put on a wig and went into the carriage instead of me.

I felt that the defense was weaker than expected.

The brutal truth I encountered made me doubt my ears.

What was that?

The cruel truth bit the nape of my neck fiercely.

‘If blue roses have bloomed on my body, then… all…’

‘Johann, is it all because of you?’

Blood rushed back up my body, and I clenched my fists, trying to not tremble as my bones shook.

My eyes were seeing red.

‘I didn’t even know that…’

In my whole life.

‘I was self-deprecating, even hateful.’

As a matter of fact, a very terrifying question haunted me throughout my life. For example, this kind of question.

If I ever really survive…

Wouldn’t I kill all the things I loved and destroy the world?

Berylia was born that way!

Even when I thought I wouldn’t… Doubts were not put aside as I watched how it fit the original work with little error.

I longed for life, but was afraid to live.

I was afraid I would really ruin everything.

Therefore, even that simple hope as a human being trying to save my life, could not be held in peace.

Die, die, die again… 

During my deaths, I had repeated those feelings over and over again.

‘I didn’t have to.’

The real villain who was going to ruin this world wasn’t Berylia.

There was a fit of false laughter.

“No matter how keen and vigilant she may be, the blue rose is meant to dominate her slowly anyway.”

The blue rose was not a ‘revelation’, but a trap and a snare.

My hand painfully squeezed the rose on my shoulder, crushing it.

Biting down hard, I stared at the door with a grimly distorted face.

‘It’s not going to go your way.’

Swish—

I moved my body that was about to collapse. With my whole body covered in a cloak, I struggled to take each step.

But soon my pace accelerated.

In the midst of the chaos, my mind grew clearer and clearer.

“…Your Majesty! Did you get home safely?”

“Close the curtains, and you guys go out for a while.”

As soon as I got to my bedroom, I gave a brief order.

The other maids seemed worried as they felt my mood change, but Laura, who had good senses, quickly pulled the curtain and backed away quietly.

Tachak—

I aligned the magic stone ring with the groove and immediately opened the drawer.

Inside was a pendant wrapped in black velvet.

A holy relic of the gods that exuded a dreamlike energy in purple.

‘Margot’s Pendant…’

“I was going to break through the temple with this and destroy the prophecy stone.”

I wanted to block the oracle with that.

I wondered if everyone would be happy if I died, but… 

Only one thing.

I didn’t want Rixus to hear that the woman he loved was a demon who would ruin the world.

If he suffered, my heart would hurt to the point of death.

…I felt guilty, but I wanted to live in this country like this somehow.

“I was willing to even try.”

Tuk, tuk—

Tears fell on the back of my hand, as pale as marble.

Traces of the miserable and desperate struggles on the expressionless face of Berylia descended with emotion one by one.

Thud.

I took out another box in place of Johann’s holy relic I was holding with a crushing grip.

What I needed now was not the ‘Margot’s Pendant’.

The more I was faced with a crisis, the more my reasoning rose up along with my nerves, enabling me to make quick judgments.

What I had in my hands.

‘Verdi’s Ear.’

It was a mysterious brooch that gave a slightly bizarre feeling because the ‘ear’ shape was so clear.

I remember clearly what the Marchioness Verdi said when she gave me this.

“Surviving a long history, the successive heads of the Verdi family have heard all kinds of secrets.”

“We documented all of those secrets and put them in one ancient magic stone.”

She had said—

“A secret that will kill a person. A secret that will dry up the bloodline of a family.”

“Sometimes… even the secret that will determine the rise or fall of a country.”

“All of us ‘Verdi’ know.”

‘Do you know the secret I want?’

I went straight to the residence of the Marquisate of Verdi. Refusing all three maids who were going to follow me, I moved alone.

Madam Verdi greeted me with a slightly surprised face as she was already preparing for the night.

“Your Majesty!”

“Madam Verdi. I’ve come to ask you something.”

“…….”

Madam Verdi’s wrinkled face slowly calmed down.

We did not talk for a long time.

But after a while, when the ‘ear-shaped brooch’ did its job and was discarded;

I had already heard enough secrets.

* * *

[Emergency! Emergency!]

Toulouse flew through the air, flapping its black wings.

Johann was in a half-lying position, drunk from the Dew of Montaigne.

In one hand, he leisurely held a book with an ancient demon’s black magic diagram written on it.

“Don’t be noisy, Toulouse.”

[Emergency!]

“It’s a good day since I met her today.”

The three-headed crow, which was spinning over his head, flapped its wings even more intensely, as if indignant.

[The ‘she’ you are talking about, she hid like a mouse by the drawing room door and listened to everything you said! ]

Johann’s eyebrows rose.

“What bullshit. I saw her in the carriage with my own eyes.”

[Oh, how frustrating!]

The three heads of Toulouse opened their mouths and squawked in unison.

[What you saw was Berylia’s maid! She heard you all talking about blue roses at the door!]

“……”

[As you know, this black mansion is my realm, and I put a barrier on it, so I can feel everything?!]

[I saw it!]

To the middle head’s words, his left head answered loudly.

[I felt it too!]

The head on the right spoke and the three of them laughed with different expressions. Then the middle head said,

[It’s ruined, Johann.]

Johann covered his mouth with his large, callus-less, soft hand, contorting his dark eyebrows.

‘She figured it out so quickly? Also, she deceived me?’

He felt a tingling sensation all over his body.

“She’s really clever… and lovely.”

[Crazy pervert, it’s not a time to admire!]

As if frustrated, Toulouse jabbed him on the chest with his wings.

Johann gently lowered his long legs and stood up at once.

[Now what?]

“She shouldn’t know my identity yet.”

It was still before the blue roses ruled her.

‘If she just runs away like this.’

‘I’m sad.’

[Then?]

Johann walked to the Black Fountain and raised his palm.

“That memory will put her in danger……. Dangerous memories.”

The flesh with green veins was cut short and deep with a knife.

Drip—

His skin opened wide, and dark red blood poured down like a sticky waterfall into the fountain.

“I’ll have to wipe it clean.”

…For her sake.

Toulouse, who was sitting in the temple, burst into laughter.

[Haha! Hahaha! Indeed, you are fun.]

Johann’s open skin quickly healed as black blood vessels rose up like a tree root sprouting.

A low voice came from his lips.

《Enkini Me Persona Nardei.》

The blood that had already been sacrificed spreaded like a haze.

It was a spell that dug into her head, having heard his secret that she shouldn’t have heard.

《Tenneaseal Fer.》

‘My clever bride.’

‘For a wicked sin… You’d be an ignorant idiot.’

‘But don’t worry.’

‘That will be your salvation.’

‘Because we’ll have this world.’

‘Forever…’

‘In this cage, accept my love that is red as blood.’

* * *

In front of Rixus’ bedroom.

When I came to my senses, I found myself here.

“……”

After the conversation with Madam Verdi, my head felt like it was going to explode.

Today, the entire day, was a very busy day.

I came here on foot, weary like a bird with wet wings.

I needed Rixus. This confused head, this cramped heart, this heart staggering from shock.

There was no one else but him who could catch hold of me.

But even before I could open the door, Rixus, who was about to come out, found me first.

Standing alone in a quiet hallway with no guards… 

He looked down in surprise.

“Berylia.”

‘Rixus. My Rixus…’

I hugged him like I was about to fall and went into the bedroom.

Rixus skillfully accepted me and put me in his arms.

Tuk—

A cold wall touched my back.

“Today I…….”

“….…”

“I want you so much.”

Like a thin groan, I licked my lips and whispered.

I could see Rixus’ eyes quivering hotly.

For a while too.

I kissed him first, and he groaned huskily and accepted it several times more than I approached.

I was swallowed without hesitation, our tongues mingled and I couldn’t breathe.

It was just a kiss, but I felt bliss to the extent that my head was blown away.

It felt like my heart could melt.

As soon as our lips fell apart.

I kissed his wet lips and whispered in a deep breath.

“Leave me thinking all night long.”

Without hesitation, the hem of my skirt was torn by Rixus’ grasp.