Regrets Too Late
“Hah… hah…” Isabelle burst in, bent over with both hands on her knees as she gasped for breath. I stared at her in bewilderment, my mouth hanging open.
“…What are you doing?”
“Hoo… just… just give me a moment to talk. Please.”
Isabelle’s eyes gleamed with madness even as she tried to steady her breathing. I clicked my tongue in disbelief.
She’s actually lost it, hasn’t she?
Isabelle had always been the very picture of noble refinement, valuing decorum above all else. Yet here she was—hair disheveled as if she had just rolled out of bed, still in her nightclothes, having chased after me with her maid in tow. No wonder the count’s face had turned so dark.
“…I’m begging you.”
Isabelle bit her lower lip, her expression desperate. Whatever terrified her so much, she stood frozen like a rope-bound prisoner, shoulders trembling as she stared at me.
“…”
Normally I would have walked away without a word. But now that the engagement was officially broken, perhaps a sliver of leeway had opened up. Before I left, it might not hurt to hear what she so desperately wanted to say.
“Um… shall I show you to the drawing room?”
A maid who had been watching the scene cautiously asked me. When I reluctantly nodded, Isabelle drew in a shallow breath. The maid immediately began leading the way.
We passed through a corridor lined with gold ornaments and white marble before arriving at a familiar entrance—the drawing room on the first floor of the Ustia estate. The very place where Kyle had come countless times to whisper his love to Isabelle.
Creaaak—
I pulled out a chair and sat down. Isabelle kept her gaze fixed on me as she carefully took the seat across from mine.
“Could you bring us some light refreshments and tea?”
“Yes, my lady.”
The maid left at Isabelle’s instruction and soon returned pushing a cart laden with pastries and tea. After neatly setting the table, she bowed and offered a polite farewell before withdrawing.
“…”
“…”
An icy silence filled the air. I regarded Isabelle with a bored expression.
Just what is she thinking?
I had always wondered. Why had Isabelle despised Kyle so blindly? Was it because the world had cast him as the villain? Or was all of this simply a scripted tragedy designed to deliver the “villain’s fitting end” the system demanded?
There must have been a reason. That was why she had treated him so cruelly. I had tried my hardest to understand her. But even that had not been easy. No matter how much of a modern person I was, possessing someone else’s body in a game world, another person’s hatred was not something one could easily grow accustomed to.
The flood of contempt—simply because he was the villain, simply because he was a bastard—had felt unbearably alien. The malice laced into the daily torrent of insults had been sharper than any blade.
I want to go home.
Not this wretched world filled with hatred, but my own world, where my family waits for me.
Yes. That was how it should have been.
“……Sorry.”
Why? For what reason? At this point?
“I’m sorry……”
I’m the one who wants to cry.
“I’m…… sorry……”
I barely managed to keep my expression from twisting.
“For not being able to trust you…… for hurting you……”
Isabelle could hardly even breathe properly, her chest heaving with ragged gasps. She trembled violently, repeating the same words over and over in a broken, quivering voice.
“……”
I was speechless. I had never expected such a sudden apology, nor the raw regret pouring out of her. Staring at Isabelle’s tear-streaked face, I forced myself to speak.
“It took a year.”
“……”
“A year for you to start treating me coldly. A year for me to begin letting go of my feelings for you.”
“Kyle……”
“That was the resolve I forged over the course of that year—carved into my bones.”
The image of Kyle from a year ago flashed before my eyes. The version of him who had lain awake night after night after hearing Isabelle’s vicious words demanding the engagement be broken. It was one of the memory fragments I had gained upon possessing his body.
“Why?”
“……”
“Why now, of all times?”
“……”
“It took me a whole year just to sort out my feelings, and now you want what? For me to forgive you? Or to pat your head and tell you I understand everything?”
Isabelle avoided my gaze, only letting out occasional shaky breaths.
“After a year of agonizing over it, I finally managed to say I wanted to break off the engagement.”
“……”
“And yet you, Isabelle, are demanding my affection after only a few days.”
“That’s……”
“You know it’s already too late.”
I slid the annulment documents bearing the count’s signature across the table. Isabelle carefully examined them. Moments later, the hand holding the papers went limp and dropped.
Scenario Progress: 15%
Progress has increased.
Yet I could not stop the words from spilling out.
“Why did you treat me that way?”
Scenario Progress: 16%
Isabelle looked at me with unfocused eyes.
“Do you know? Your voice, the one that used to mock me, still rings in my ears like a hallucination every night.”
Scenario Progress: 17%
Isabelle’s throat bobbed.
“I already told you. I don’t love you anymore.”
Scenario Progress: 18%
Whatever she was trying to deny, Isabelle kept repeating that it wasn’t true. I let out a short sigh and continued in a low voice.
“Please, just leave me alone.”
“……”
I had said everything I needed to say. Isabelle should have understood by now—that clinging to me any longer would be meaningless.
“Hoo.”
I slowly rose to my feet and gathered the documents. That was when I heard it.
“…Kyle.”
A hoarse voice reached my back.
“…Don’t go. Please. Kyle.”
I ignored her and kept walking. Soon, a maid who had spotted the half-dazed Isabelle came running toward her in alarm.
“My lady! My lady? Can you hear me?”
“Kyle… left…”
“Pardon? What do you mean?”
“When he’s around… I can’t breathe…”
“My lady! Please, pull yourself together!”
“He’ll come back… yes… once he sorts out his feelings…”
Isabelle muttered in a vacant voice. Without so much as a glance back, I stepped out of the drawing room.
It was the last time I would ever see her.
****
With the engagement broken, I returned to the mansion without hesitation. The atmosphere there remained as unchanging as ever. No one paid any attention to Kyle, which allowed me to quietly waste time in my room.
Only one thing remained now.
To leave this damned ducal estate forever. To move my residence to the Imperial Capital and find the Holy Relic.
“Diana.”
“Yes, my lord.”
Escaping the mansion itself was simpler than I had expected. All I had to do was slip out in the dead of night while everyone slept, using the carriage I had prepared in advance.
“Have you packed everything?”
Diana gave a light nod.
Time to go.
The lightstone I had won at the auction and the proceeds from its sale had been entrusted to the association’s bank. The lightstone taken from the Ustia estate would be collected in the Imperial Capital. On top of that, I had also secured a blank check bearing the Winfred seal.
I looked out the window. It was still deep night, the perfect hour to depart.
“Let’s go.”
“I’ll lead the way.”
Following behind Diana, whose sharp ears would catch any danger, we made our way down the central staircase to the first floor. After crossing the hall carpeted in brilliant fabric, the mansion’s front door came into view in the distance.
“…”
Holding my breath, I moved forward. Diana kept her ears pricked, scanning our surroundings. We reached the main gate.
Creaaak—
The door opened with a faint scrape. A cool dawn breeze brushed against my nose. After a deep breath, I stepped out of the mansion.
We walked along the path leading to the city gate. Roughly five minutes later, a faint light appeared in the distance.
“…”
The carriage.
My steps quickened. Moments later—
“This way, please.”
The waiting coachman opened the door. Though it looked shabby from the outside, it was large enough for just the two of us. I climbed in first, followed by Diana. The door shut with a thud, and the coachman’s call to depart rang out.
That was when—
“…My lord.”
Diana called to me with a grave expression and pointed out the window with one finger.
“Someone is running this way.”
What the hell?
Panicked, I urged the coachman.
“Go! Now!”
The carriage lurched into motion and shot forward at terrifying speed. I turned my head in the direction Diana had indicated. Focusing my eyes, I saw a woman collapsed on the ground.
“…”
It was Luna Winfred.