Twisted Desires
I set off immediately. It didn’t take long to reach the Empress Palace, where Princess Rudine Eckhart usually resided.
“Kyle! What brings you here?”
Rudine greeted me with her usual bright, sunny smile. I slowly scanned her face from the corner of my eye. Her right cheek was faintly flushed, unlike before.
“What are you staring at? Is there something on my face?”
Her eyes sparkled with innocent curiosity, as if asking what was wrong. I steadied my breathing and slowly opened my mouth.
“Did something happen between you and Isabel?”
“Ah… Kyle, so you’ve heard about it too…”
Rudine lowered her head with a downcast expression.
“It seems I unintentionally offended Lady Isabel.”
“Offended her?”
“Yes, but I’m not quite sure. I only gave her a few pieces of sincere advice for her own good.”
A laugh nearly escaped me. There was no way Isabel would have slapped the princess’s cheek unless she had lost her mind. No, it was obvious Rudine had deliberately provoked her, scratching at her nerves until Isabel lost all reason and couldn’t even think straight.
“Then what will happen to Isabel now?”
“Hmm… I’m not sure. Under normal circumstances, it would be execution without question, but…”
Execution. I barely swallowed the hollow laugh that rose to my throat.
“She wasn’t seriously injured, and she’s the only daughter of the prestigious Count Justia family. Wouldn’t the severity of her punishment depend on how sincerely the Justia family shows loyalty to the imperial family?”
Rudine covered her mouth with her right hand and let out a shy giggle.
“In a way, it’s worked out well. At least for the time being, she won’t be able to bother you, Kyle.”
“…”
“Whatever happens to her has nothing to do with you, does it, Kyle?”
What a load of utter bullshit. Was this what they called eliminating a rival? Just as she said, whatever became of Isabel truly had nothing to do with me. The real problem was that I couldn’t read Rudine’s true intentions at all.
Isabel was the only woman capable of purifying the Black Fog that was devouring the continent. Since Rudine had personally revealed that she had returned from the past, there was no way she didn’t know that fact.
What the hell is she planning?
Without Isabel’s purification ability, the world would be swallowed by the Black Fog. I was planning to leave this world anyway, so it didn’t matter to me. But would Rudine, who had to live here for the rest of her life, really be fine with that? The same woman who had struggled so desperately in previous rounds to save the world?
I was sick of it. There was no one I could trust. No one around me was in their right mind. All that remained was suspicion, suspicion, and more suspicion.
I was exhausted. I didn’t want to live like this anymore.
“You’re right, Rudine.”
I smiled brightly.
“It has nothing to do with me.”
Rudine’s face flushed a deep red. What a repulsive woman.
“I’m glad you weren’t hurt.”
Yes. You can’t get hurt. Not until that Rosary around your neck falls into my hands.
“…”
Rudine’s eyes widened in surprise. She blinked blankly for a moment before taking a step closer to me.
“I’m glad you’ve come to your senses, Kyle.”
A thick, satisfied pleasure stained the corners of her lips. I stared directly into her face.
“Lady Isabel and Lady Luna may look convincing on the surface, but in the end, they’re nothing but rotten ropes that could snap at any moment.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. I’m relieved that you won’t have to be disappointed by them, Kyle.”
Rudine whispered in a gentle, coaxing voice. As expected, Rudine was completely out of her mind.
“Hold on to me.”
“…”
“Power, honor, wealth. Whatever you desire, I have the ability to place it in your hands.”
“…Anything at all?”
“Yes. Anything at all.”
A conviction bordering on madness flickered in Rudine’s golden eyes. She looked ready to kill anyone I wanted dead on the spot if I asked.
“Use me, Kyle.”
Her voice echoed softly beneath the dim lighting.
“If you want, you can treat me like a tool. I don’t ask for anything in return. No matter how unreasonable or selfish you are, I will always stand by your side.”
Her pale yellow eyes burned with fierce intensity. A chill ran down my spine at the twisted obsession she directed toward me.
“Just one thing.”
Rudine’s voice slowed little by little until an eerie silence settled over us.
“…”
Not even the sound of breathing could be heard. Then, as if time itself had stopped, her lips parted ever so slowly.
“Don’t abandon me.”
“…”
“That is the one thing I will not allow. No matter who you are, Kyle, I will never forgive you for that. Stay by my side. Just like now. Always by my side.”
Before I knew it, Rudine had leaned forward, her face now inches from mine. A sinister, eerie gleam flashed in her eyes.
“Do you understand?”
I held my breath.
In a narrow solitary cell where even breathing sounded faint.
Isabel crouched in the corner, breathing in shallow, ragged gasps. She had fallen for that damned princess Rudine Eckhart’s provocation and was dragged away by knights, thrown into a solitary cell for the first time in her life.
Perhaps because her mind was in turmoil, time passed agonizingly slowly. Rudine’s venomous words kept flashing through Isabel’s head.
— You’re the one who killed him.
— You, who were his only support.
— With those filthy hands, you killed Kyle yourself.
Those words had left Isabel stunned. The sudden exposure of her bare, ugly truth was unbearably shameful.
— Kyle will forget you.
— He’ll be held in another woman’s arms. With new memories to replace you.
The blades hidden within those words mercilessly stabbed at Isabel’s sanity. She couldn’t refute a single thing. The more she mulled over the princess’s words, the more a terrible chill crept up the back of her neck.
The holy trial. It would be a lie to say she hadn’t been tempted. Rather than being completely erased from Kyle’s memory, she would rather remain in it—even if it meant being hated.
Regret, misery, shame. All kinds of emotions tangled chaotically, gnawing away at her reason.
A short while later, the door to the solitary cell opened. The person who came to see Isabel was an imperial inquisitor. The reason for his visit was to hold her accountable for her crimes and to hear her statement about what had happened.
“Lady Isabel, are you aware of what you have done?”
“…I am.”
“Many people are furious about your transgression. The Count Justia household has been sending statements of protest without missing a single day, and high society is in an uproar as well.”
The inquisitor gently rebuked her. His voice was so soft it was hard to imagine he was speaking to a criminal. The Justia family was a prestigious house with a long history, practically the heart of the empire. It meant that even striking the princess with the back of one’s hand wasn’t a crime worthy of taking her life.
“For the time being, you will not be allowed to leave this place.”
“…I know.”
“It may take quite a long time.”
Of course. The princess must have been aiming for this from the very beginning. Rudine Eckhart truly was a dangerous woman.
“Any visits will also take place in this room.”
Visits? Did he just say visits? Who on earth—?
For a moment, a flicker of hope stirred in her chest. Kyle. Her husband. Could it be that he was worried about her after she was locked away and had requested a visit…?
“Yes. The Countess Justia has requested a visit.”
Ah. Mother. Of course.
There was no reason for Kyle to come see her. She already knew that. Isabel’s expression darkened with every passing second. The dark emotions she harbored toward Kyle began to multiply uncontrollably.
Her heart pounded. Her lips dried out and felt rough. A burning heat, as if all the blood in her body was boiling, made it difficult to stay sane.
Isabel knew exactly what state she was in. Longing for Kyle, love, and guilt all mixed together, bubbling like molten lava.
“…Was there no man asking about my current situation?”
“A man, you say?”
The inquisitor tilted his head. Then he answered in a casual tone.
“There was none. No one at all.”
Isabel leaned her swaying body weakly against the wall. Like someone abandoned by the world, she lowered her head and repeatedly wiped her dry face with her hands.
She didn’t want to be hated any more than this. So what could she do to avoid being hated?
The answer was simple. She just had to be forgotten by Kyle. That was the only way.
But…
“……Kyle.”
I don’t want to be forgotten. I want to be remembered forever. I don’t want to be taken away by anyone.
A deep, dark desire writhed in her chest. Through the disheveled strands of her hair, her deep blue eyes gleamed with a sinister light. The ring on her finger sparkled in the moonlight slipping through the window bars.
The moments she had shared with Kyle before returning to the past flickered through her mind like a film reel. Isabel’s face flushed bright red. The last shred of conscience left in her heart shattered into pieces.
A lightning-like realization struck her mind.
She had to seize him. That was why she had returned. For that sole purpose.
“……”
If he saw her like this, still unable to come to her senses, what kind of expression would Kyle make? He would despise her terribly, wouldn’t he? He would look at her with utter disgust and condemn her with that sweet voice of his.
Ah, how awful. But so what? She was already an unforgivable existence anyway.
Crack—
Isabel’s sanity shattered into fragments and realigned itself.
I want Kyle. I want to touch even the tips of my fingers to that soft skin. I want to see Kyle saying my name. A terrible thirst set her reason ablaze.
Isabel swallowed hard.
“…Excuse me.”
“Speak.”
Cold sweat formed in Isabel’s clenched fists.
“I request an audience with Her Majesty the Empress.”
The First Princess of the Empire, Rudine Eckhart. While her relationship with the Emperor was quite close, Isabel knew very well that Rudine and the Empress did not get along.
The calculations were complete. Eliminate the princess and claim Kyle for herself.
“I possess the ability to purify the Black Fog.”
Even if it meant kidnapping Kyle to do it.