Chapter 177
Chapter 177
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 177
Chapter Title: The Day the Divine Spear Fell
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"Pounce on that man and make a child with him."
The moment she heard those next words, Mary was stunned.
She had to doubt her own ears, wondering if she'd really just heard that.
But Sigrin Epania's eyes were utterly serious.
How could Sigrin give her an order like this?
Sigrin and she had given their hearts to the same man for life.
Arthur Gramalte.
It was utterly unforgivable for her—the one who loved the same husband and whispered affections together—to receive such a command.
"Lady Sigrin, even so, I...!"
"Mary."
At that moment, Sigrin called out to her sharply, like a reprimand.
Mary flinched and looked at Sigrin, only to find not a shred of emotion left in her eyes.
"You don't think the old you and the current you are the same person, do you?"
Those probing words tore ruthlessly into her heart.
But Sigrin had no intention of stopping there.
"The old you certainly deserved Arthur's love. I could have gladly allowed it. But does the current you have any worth left for that?"
Mary's eyes trembled faintly.
She knew all too well that she no longer had that worth.
"La-Lady Sigrin, even so... I only have Arthur! Please, can't you withdraw just this one order? I'll do anything else!"
"Ha."
Sigrin gave her an incredulous look.
She slowly brushed back her hair, crossed her arms, and stared down at Mary.
"Mary, there's nothing else you can do anymore."
With her innate talents as the Princess Slayer and the memories of regression, she was still facing a makeup exam in the midterms.
Anyone could see she was now utterly worthless.
"But the one last thing a pathetic woman like you can do is wield a woman's weapon."
Bear a child.
If she succeeded, it would be a surefire way to bind Krash Valheim.
"And Arthur thinks the same. He directly ordered you to drag in that cursed bastard no matter what."
"A-Arthur did? Arthur really gave me that order?"
"Still denying reality? This is Arthur's last chance for you too, Mary."
A blooming smile crept across Sigrin's face.
"He doesn't care about means or methods—that's Arthur, isn't it? If we don't support his ideas, who will?"
Mary's lips parted mutely, like she'd swallowed honey and lost her voice.
But she had no more words left to say.
"Now, I've prepared a little gift for someone like you."
Sigrin handed a gift to the dazed Mary.
"It's called Charm Scent. Just release it in the room, and it'll make him find you irresistibly alluring."
Mary took the item from Sigrin in her continued stupor.
"Release it, and the cursed fool will come to you. Seal the deal then."
Sigrin's finger extended straight out, tapping Mary's belly.
"Make sure you fill it up."
With that, Sigrin left Mary behind and stood up.
She flashed her usual radiant smile.
"Good luck then, Mary Diana."
Now calling her by her full name, Sigrin left the room.
It wasn't until much later that Mary snapped out of it after hearing that order.
Only after night fell did she come to her senses and leave her dorm room in a trance.
The final order.
Arthur's request.
Herself, with nowhere left to go.
The one woman's weapon she still had.
Charm Scent.
A whirlwind of thoughts finally led her to Krash's room.
And now.
Behind her, the Charm Scent was spreading through the room.
Krash's nose twitched ever so slightly.
He caught the sweet fragrance filling the room, tickling his senses.
'This.'
The moment Krash smelled it, he realized what Mary was planning.
While he'd stepped out for tea, she must have used the drug Darling had mentioned last time.
A sigh of disbelief escaped Krash's lips.
He'd expected some desperate stunt.
But he'd never imagined she'd use Mary for something this pathetic.
'How far gone are you?'
The dignity that once emanated from the Divine Spear was long vanished.
Mary trying to seduce him with something like this was just pitiful beyond words.
One of the two dials filling up to steal Mary's Accel with Black Hood:
[Isolate Mary]
A crack began to form on that final dial.
Is that why?
"Mary."
When Krash called her name, her shoulders jolted violently.
As if imagining what was to come, her face flushed bright red.
Her shame, humiliation, and shattered pride left nothing but dust behind.
"Do you really think everything that's happened to you is your fault?"
The moment those next words followed.
Mary's head snapped up.
She hated this man.
Yet she had to mix bodies with him and bear his child, so Mary was exposed to the Charm Scent too.
Maybe that's why.
Krash no longer looked entirely repulsive, unlike before.
"It's... not my fault?"
Mary responded cautiously to Krash's question.
Her mind was already frayed from the chain of events.
So she didn't care how Krash knew about her ordeals.
It was just an instinctive reaction to him touching the horrific thoughts she'd buried deep in her heart.
"I've clashed with you as rivals from enrollment until now."
Krash replied to her amid the Charm Scent, his demeanor unchanged from the start.
"I know your skills better than anyone. You're the only one in Raheln Academy who can fight me on equal terms like this."
Mary's shoulders trembled at his words.
No matter how desperately she tried, no one respected her.
Just persecution and cold stares.
Even when she'd tried to assassinate the Fourth Princess, she'd given her all.
It had gone wrong, but she'd done everything she could.
Yet reality was cruel.
It mocked her efforts, belittled them, and denied her respect.
"Think about it."
Krash rose from the bed and approached her.
Mary looked up at him slowly, entranced.
"Whether all your hard work turning to nothing is really your fault."
"If not mine... then whose is it?"
Like begging for an answer.
Mary pleaded with Krash.
Watching her deny reality to the end, Krash slowly curled his lips.
"Who gives orders to a hunting dog? The master. Do you usually blame the dog for the master's mistakes?"
Mary's eyes began to widen gradually.
She knew exactly who Krash was pointing to.
And it was the doubt that had always lingered in the dark corner of her heart.
All she'd done was faithfully follow orders.
Even if she failed, maybe the orders were flawed from the start.
"This happening to you isn't your fault. It's because of the orders from your master, Sigrin."
The doubt she'd harbored deep inside.
Wasn't all of this because of Sigrin's commands?
Krash had just ripped it open.
In Krash's room, thick with Charm Scent.
Amid her clouded mind.
Krash's words echoed repeatedly in Mary's head.
Charm Scent disrupts the mind and draws one deeply into the target.
Normally, Mary wouldn't have needed to succumb to it.
But cornered as she was, her mind clung to it just to bear Krash's child.
And so, in her disrupted state, his words burrowed in like brainwashing.
She'd unwittingly dug her own grave.
"It's all... Lady Sigrin's fault."
Krash was sharp by nature.
Seeing her unraveling gaze, he lowered himself to meet her eyes.
"Right. Has following that woman's orders ever led to anything good, even once? She never takes responsibility, and you always bear it all."
Just as he said, Sigrin had never taken responsibility once.
It always fell on Mary herself.
She issued orders and demeaned her repeatedly.
The image of Sigrin in Mary's heart began to fracture.
Always considerate, loving her empire like a true master.
But now, arrogant, petty, unable to care for even her subordinates—a rival in love.
That's how Sigrin started to appear.
Tears welled up in Mary's eyes.
She couldn't hold back her sorrow as they streamed down.
She knew she was at fault too.
That's why she'd repented over and over, striving to regain Sigrin's approval.
But Sigrin was always heartlessly cold.
Just once would have been enough.
"Good work, Mary."
She'd longed for those simple words.
Yet Sigrin used her as a tool, never once offering kindness.
No matter that she'd sworn lifelong loyalty—cracks kept forming in Mary's heart.
"Mary."
Krash called her name again.
Her tear-streaked, messy face lifted.
The makeup she'd applied to follow Sigrin's final order was smearing with her tears.
"You can stand on your own."
His next words shook Mary once more.
"What have you gained from following Sigrin all this time? Power? Position? Status? A lover? She never gave you a single one."
Just as he said, Sigrin was insufferably arrogant.
Her possessiveness was so intense it often sparked fury.
Just look at the Generation of the Sky she'd assembled.
Craving love from the whole world, she gathered only those smitten with her—especially the men.
That was Sigrin's reality.
And now it was time for Mary to face it.
Sigrin was certainly exceptional.
Her prowess aside, her twisted desires like possessiveness made her sharp-minded too.
But she wasn't the hero to save the world.
She was a fool who'd eagerly hand over someone who loved her empire.
"How long will you just keep obeying orders?"
"I..."
Mary had lived her whole life as Sigrin's knight.
She was used to orders, craving them even.
With her dim wits, thinking for herself only led to mistakes.
"Stand on your own now. The you I saw could stand alone."
His next words shook her again.
Krash, who had personally crushed her with raw power.
Though she hadn't fully regained her Divine Spear strength, true.
Even straining to win, she'd been utterly defeated by him.
From the entrance exam on, Mary had always appeared weak before Krash.
Her slumped shoulders and averted eyes now proved it.
Maybe that's why.
Subconsciously, Krash had risen higher in her heart than herself.
Normally, Sigrin was above, so she ignored it.
But with Sigrin crumbling, Krash sat right below.
Having lived as a subordinate her whole life.
A superior's words rang as pure, true advice.
Krash—far greater than her—said she could stand alone.
She was acknowledged.
This worthless self, acknowledged.
"Hah... ahh."
For some reason, her body prickled all over.
With her flushed skin, a hot breath escaped her lips.
Ever since regression, Mary had lived craving acknowledgment.
Yet no one fulfilled it.
Not even Arthur, whom she loved so dearly.
Mary's reddened eyes grew even hazier.
The room-filling sweet scent now seemed to emanate from Krash himself.
In Mary's heart.
The moment Sigrin fully shattered, leaving her isolated.
The final dial appeared before Krash's eyes.
The moment Krash saw that dial, he slowly smiled.
Mary would never know the reason for his malicious grin.