It Hurts
When that crazy bitch Lee Hye-yeong tried to kill my personal maid, I screamed with everything I had.
Because of the life I'd lived in the murim world, even if it wasn't quite on the level of a Lion's Roar, I poured mana the same way I'd once channeled internal energy and shouted as loud as humanly possible.
"You fucking bitch, get your hands off her!!!"
"Emma!!!"
Fortunately, the crazy bitch did not bring her sword down on Emma's neck.
I kept screaming with all my strength to protect the airheaded, fragile Emma—to stop Lee Hye-yeong's next move.
"Hyeonwoo! Hyeonwoo!"
That pulled her aggro straight onto me, and in the opening I managed to order Emma to get clear.
"Emma, get out of there now!!"
But then—
Holy shit… is this for real…?
I could not believe the scene that unfolded next.
When Lee Hye-yeong had been throwing her fit in the banquet hall, the Aura pouring from her body—I'd told myself I must have been seeing things. Trauma from past lives. I'd simply been so terrified I'd hallucinated it, then lost consciousness and collapsed.
But.
KWAANG!!
The moment the sound of Aura slamming into Aura reached my ears, I had no choice but to accept that the spectacle before my eyes was reality.
I'd thought the airheaded, weak maid Emma would have her hands full just scrambling out of the way…
Contrary to every expectation, she immediately swung the daggers gripped in both hands and launched herself at Lee Hye-yeong.
At first the situation had been so urgent I hadn't even registered that Emma was holding blades. I'd simply assumed Lee Hye-yeong had ambushed her while she strolled through the garden and knocked her down. Watching them fight again, though, it was clear she'd fallen mid-combat. Fortunately, the instant she was about to be finished, I had barged in.
But—
No—why is both of their Aura so ridiculously huge!?
The Aura wrapping them wasn't merely large; it had a vivid, distinct color. And when I looked closely at Lee Hye-yeong's hand…
She forged a sword out of Aura?
Crazy.
I couldn't deny the reality in front of my eyes, yet it was still almost impossible to believe. A blade made of pure Aura… that was a divine technique only the absolute strongest—on the level of my maternal grandfather from my second life—could ever manifest. And that bitch who'd been living in modern Earth was swinging it around?
I had no idea exactly when she'd been summoned to this world. But judging from the fact that the Pope had first introduced her to the Emperor and my mother the Grand Duchess at the debutante, she couldn't have been here long.
Did she get some kind of cheat when she crossed over? Why the hell does a bitch like her receive the special privileges that manga and novel protagonists get?!
I resented the goddess who'd summoned that damn woman even more. No matter how I looked at it, she'd summoned an assassin meant to kill me.
Emma had shown an unexpected side too, but that was on a whole other level of absurdly strong.
"Grace!"
"Yes, understood, Young Master!"
I hurriedly ordered Grace to go help her. If I left things as they were, Emma would eventually be pushed back and finished for certain.
Fortunately Grace joined the fray at once and rescued Emma, who had been losing ground. Still, I was worried. I knew Grace was strong as a half-dragon half-human, but I doubted whether she could beat that crazy bitch down.
In fact, maybe Emma—who'd created Aura of that size—was the unexpectedly tremendous powerhouse. Because Grace…
Excellent, Young Master!
Every time she helped with my training she would say my level was already quite strong, that someday I would shine, never sparing praise or encouragement. I'd kept a straight face, but at the time those words had made me truly happy.
Watching Emma and Lee Hye-yeong exchange blows now, however, the fact that I'd been proud of myself for getting stronger felt so shameful. I'd been confident I could create Aura, yet compared to them it was nothing more than a worm wriggling. I hadn't even shown Grace that meager Aura of mine…
Could Grace, who'd praised someone like me, really be strong?
That doubt was immediately proven completely useless.
Hwaaaaaak!!
Ah…
It was wondrous. Grace was truly, absurdly strong.
Lee Hye-yeong… just looking at that crazy bitch, I'd thought there was no one in this world who could stop her. Yet Grace unleashed even greater Aura and overwhelmed her completely.
"Haha…"
"Ed! What's wrong? Did you suddenly feel unwell?"
A hollow laugh escaped me. My sister Lirith, watching the battle beside me, worried when she saw my face, but I couldn't even hear her properly.
The place I was born this time is a gender-reversed world. I'd thought it was simply a world where women were a little stronger than men and men took on women's roles—just a modest swap of traditional positions. But was women's power really this overwhelming?
Of course Grace and Emma might be on the strong side. Still, to survive this life I had trained hard since childhood so I could become strong enough to defeat even those called powerhouses.
And yet—
KWAANG!!
Grace and Lee Hye-yeong's blades clashed again, sending another massive shockwave through the air.
Ah… fuck… we're screwed…
I'm supposed to beat that?
"Haha…"
"Ed…?"
"Um, Sister…"
"Hm? Don't worry! Grace will win!"
I know that too. Lee Hye-yeong, who lived in modern Earth, came to this world, is called the Hero, and is displaying absurd power—but looking at the current exchange, anyone can see Grace is stronger. That isn't what I want to ask.
"Sister… can you create Aura too, by any chance?"
"Huh? Why so suddenly? Aura is something any woman can naturally… ah! There's that, isn't there…"
Lirith seemed to grasp the intent behind my question and hesitated.
"Please answer me honestly…"
"I can make it! But men have always found it hard to create Aura, so don't get depressed, Ed!"
Any woman can naturally make it… Men have always found it hard to create Aura…
Lirith seemed to say more after that, but I couldn't hear properly.
We're screwed.
As a man in this world… I cannot even protect my own body. No matter how much more I train here, in this irrational world where the difference between men and women is so absolute, it seemed impossible.
Since childhood I had declared I wanted to become a strong person even though I was a man—that I would train until I surpassed even the female knights of the family. And while I hadn't gone around openly bragging about growing stronger day by day, I'd probably shown it off in subtle ways.
But maybe they were afraid I'd be crushed if I learned the truth… or maybe a frail man struggling so hard simply looked cute to them. In front of me Emma had always acted weak and fragile. Watching me train, Grace had always forced herself to praise me. Lirith and everyone else in the mansion had never once shown me their Aura; they only ever cheered me on.
Of course none of them meant any harm. Yet I felt betrayed. That this was a world where women were this strong. If I'd known in advance, I never would have trained so hard or been so proud of my own strength…
Haha… what a loser…
In this life I'll probably just get run through by the kind of Aura that crazy bitch Lee Hye-yeong is pouring out.
"Kyaaaaaak!!"
"Ed! Grace won!"
The Aura sword in Lee Hye-yeong's hand shattered.
Yeah. For now, that damn bitch who killed me—I hope Grace just finishes her right here.
Why? Because she's someone who lived on the same Earth, so maybe I should leave room for sympathy?
Fuck off. I'm not that kind of nice-guy sucker. I can't even count how many times that bitch stabbed me in the gut. Just kill her!
"No! No! Hyeonwoo! No—Ed!!"
Fuck. The bitch values her own life, huh. It was so disgusting. The way she called my name to beg for her life was utterly shameless.
You never even asked me, did you? And…
Hyeon… Hyeonwoo…
The class president from the nightmare—my childhood friend Suyeong's face—floated up before me.
"Ha…"
"Ed! No matter how kind you are, you can't stop Grace!"
As if I would stop her. Even if it was only a nightmare… I had vividly watched my childhood friend Kim Suyeong and my friends die by that bitch's hand.
Yeah. I don't know whether I can keep surviving in this world… but at least I can watch that fucking bitch Lee Hye-yeong die.
The moment I held that hope—
"You must not!"
Ah, fuck.
Really. No matter how I looked at it, this world too… just seemed to be telling me to die.
It was absurd. Some man called the Pope appeared and somehow took that crazy bitch away in one piece. Why the hell?
Lee Hye-yeong looked as though she were being dragged off by force. Even then she kept calling for me, but of course I gave her no answer at all.
Thud.
"Heh heh…"
"Ed!?"
I sank to the ground as emptiness washed over me and could only laugh alone. Lirith supported me and fretted when she saw me like that, but it was useless. It was too empty.
"Ha…"
Because this situation was so utterly despairing.
The expression Lee Hye-yeong had worn as she was forcibly dragged away—it was the same face she'd made when she stabbed me. The look that said even though she'd thrown the fit, the fault was somehow mine. She would never give up on me. Just like in the first life, she would come to kill me.
The reason Grace had shown her true colors and pressed even harder… was because even then that fucking bitch was growing at an absurdly steep rate. I'm not an idiot. I may not have turned twenty yet, but I've lived enough years to know. Even while she was being pushed back, with every exchange her Aura weakened—yet her body movements were clearly changing.
It wasn't that she could simply kill me easily. She was a talented crazy bitch.
When I meet her again… probably no one will be able to stop her. No one will be able to protect me. No—I shouldn't let anyone try to protect me.
Stab! Stab!
Aaaargh!!
The nightmare I'd just had floated up vividly again. Ah—not only me, but the people around me too. That crazy bitch will try to kill them. Looking at the atrocities she's committed from the debutante until now, it was obvious. The scenes I'd seen before regaining consciousness were not mere nightmares. They were prophetic dreams.
"Hahahahaha!!!"
Ha… this is ridiculous…
I couldn't hold the laughter back. It's already enough to drive me insane with how unfair it is just being murdered like that—and she's going to harm the people around me too? Hero? The goddess of this world is a crazy bitch from the start.
All this time, in this irrational world, far from protecting the people around me… I hadn't even cultivated the strength to protect my own body. No—what I'd cultivated was this pathetic mess.
"Hahahahaha!!!"
Ah… I don't want to be murdered! I don't want to die anymore to that bitch, or to anyone… What did I do wrong to deserve this!!
"Physician! Please examine Ed at once!"
"Yes, understood! Young Master, please try to calm yourself for now!"
Lirith, realizing I wasn't merely laughing loudly but having a fit, hurriedly ordered the physician. Yet even if the doctor examined my body it would be useless.
Ah, I feel like I'm going to go crazy. I might go mad like this. No—maybe I already have. Fuck.
"Ahahahahahaha!!!!!!"
"Ed!!"
Ah…
It hurts so much.
After the Pope, the Hero, and the rest of the church personnel left the Frigid Grand Ducal Castle, the Emperor, the Grand Duchess, and the women who had witnessed the incident gathered in a prepared chamber.
They had originally intended to summon only Grace, but because Emma had also been drawn into the fight, Camilla permitted her to attend as well.
"Your Majesty! No—Mother! Explain it now!"
"Yes. I will explain, so calm yourself…"
Charlotte pressed Elizabeth for answers.
"We would like an explanation as well—please!"
"Please! Why on earth would you spare a Hero who brings harm to the Young Master…"
Grace and Emma joined the demand. Why send the Hero who had caused such chaos away without a single punishment? Just what was a Hero? How important was she, that they had to leave her alone even after she committed such atrocities? The three of them could not accept this irrational situation at all, and so they strongly insisted on an explanation.
"Your Majesty, the other two originally should not hear this, but…"
"Huu… Yes. It would be better to tell them."
"Yes. Then I shall explain…"
Just as Camilla was about to begin explaining the Hero to them—
Bang!!
"Your Grace!"
Amelia—Camilla's personal maid and Emma's mother—roughly threw open the door and entered.
"The Emperor and the Imperial Princess are present as well—what is the meaning of barging in without manners!?"
Camilla scolded Amelia for opening the door without even knocking.
"My apologies! It is urgent, so I must speak even if it is rude! The Young Master has woken, but the shock seems severe—he is suddenly having a fit!"
"What? Edward has woken!? More importantly—a fit!!"
Hearing Amelia's report, everyone in the room could not help but be shocked.
"Ed!" / "Young Master!" / "Young Master!"
Charlotte, Grace, and Emma immediately shot up from their seats and rushed out of the room. Following after them—
"Your Majesty, I shall go as well!"
"I'll go with you, Camilla!"
—the Emperor and the Grand Duchess also rose and hurried toward Edward's chambers.
They hurried to Edward's room. And when they opened the door—
"Wh-what is this!… Edward!!"
"Ed…?"
"Young Master, what on earth—!"
"Young Master, no!!"
They could not help but freeze at the sight of him.
"Ed! Ed!!"
Beside him, Lirith kept calling his name, doing everything she could to calm him even a little.
But—
"Hahahahahahaha!!"
Edward simply kept laughing alone at the top of his lungs, tears streaming endlessly down his face.
They could see it—the smiling face of the person they had long loved and longed for. In truth, even at the banquet hall he had forced a smile to feign composure toward the Hero. Yet because he had been writhing in pain, no one would have called it a true smile.
Right now, however, anyone would say his face was smiling.
Only…
What they had wanted was never this kind of sad smile.
"Ahahahahahahahahaha!!"