Chapter 74
Chapter 74
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 74
Chapter Title: He Saw Me
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Lena opened her eyes in the darkness.
“What happened?”
As soon as Lena regained her senses, she sifted through her memories. Hiems Grasha. She had tried to capture that king. But an inexplicable shock hit her, and she let him slip away. And then? What came after that? Did she lose consciousness...? Recalling her final memory, Lena snapped alert. Then she hurriedly scanned her surroundings.
“Am I still trapped?”
The place where Lena stood felt underground—dark and damp. Gloomy gray walls enclosed her on all sides, and torches fueled by cheap oil sputtered thick shadows as they burned.
“This is...”
Lena quickly realized where she was. She had only been here once, but the memory was vivid. Because this was where she first met Uni. It lay on the empire’s fringes. A small city in the western borderlands, where order was worse than on any battlefield—the starving and the murdered piling up in equal measure each day. A place devoid of hope. Those with the means had fled long ago, and the empire’s administration had abandoned this hell-adjacent hellhole. All that remained in that worthless city were those backed into a corner with nowhere left to turn. They were the forsaken of the world, and so they forsook the world in return. They worshipped what suited them instead. Swords or coin, lawless thugs, and wraiths, for instance. The moment Lena met Uni had been just like that. Humans driven mad by fear performed rituals at the altar, desperate for wraithly power. They even prepared offerings for the starving wraiths and summoned beings from beyond the veil with their own blood. But pitifully, no wraith answered their call. What found them first—before any wraith—was Lena Rubel, utterly alone and lost.
“It was right after Regina vanished.”
Lena gazed bitterly at her younger self’s hollow eyes. Back then, she had been like a broken wind-up doll. Having uncovered every secret of the world at the cost of her heart, she had resolved to sink to the grave’s depths and die. Lena’s return to the surface had been the slightest whim. A fleeting curiosity, nothing more. Through the rift carved by blood and altar, she glimpsed a little girl—trapped in a fate identical to her own past. Unthinkingly, Lena emerged. But that was all. The outside air, breathed after so long, felt awkward. The pathetically frail humans struck her as alien. And the child’s plight—captured by these people, awaiting death—was utterly grotesque. Confusion reigned; Lena had no idea what she even wanted. She simply muttered.
“...I saw you from the grave.”
“I came because I saw you. Just... because you were there. So.”
“No one came for me.”
Ah. That was it. Only after speaking did Lena realize the truth. She had come here because no one had ever come for her. No one came for me. Someone by my side would have been enough, but in the end, I was alone. Even the last being I trusted betrayed me like my parents and left. That was why she had been drawn here unthinkingly. Because you—in the same plight as me—seemed so pitiful. The young Lena had watched the weeping Uni with such thoughts. The adult Lena sighed from one step removed.
“Of all memories, this one...”
Lena clicked her tongue at Hiems Grasha’s rotten luck. For dredging up something so needless. What a loathsome creep.
“Has Hiems Grasha vanished?”
Lena averted her eyes from the scene and searched for him. But no trace of the cunning bastard appeared, leaving her needlessly more unsettled. It had been ages since she last found herself in such straits. This mounting peril drove the realization home once more. No help ever comes for me. No salvation. Who would seek me out now, after even my parents abandoned me? Perhaps the gods themselves have forsaken me. But it’s fine. It doesn’t matter. This time too, I’ll manage alone—somehow, on my own. Lena steeled herself with that thought and drew a deep breath. The vision before her hailed from her most bewildering days; immersion in those emotions loomed perilously close. She was desperately reining in her heart when—
“...Huh?”
An illusion appeared. A short distance away stood someone who had no business being here. Lena dismissed it as impossible. She even rubbed her eyes to banish the phantom, but he remained. His presence was too vivid; unwittingly, she murmured.
“Lin?”
Then he saw her.
“Lena.”
And he called to her. He even started running her way. Lin’s sudden appearance—charging straight at her—startled Lena so badly she stumbled back unthinkingly. Truth be told, she wanted to rush forward, but she couldn’t muster the nerve. Fear gripped her: what if her outstretched hand clutched only empty air? Stunned and rigid, she watched as Lin trampled the dark memories and extended his arm.
“Lena!”
The cry—so alive—stilled her breath. Could it be? She needed proof. If that hand touched her, transmitting clear sensation and warmth, then certainty. So she waited blankly as he approached. Then a low voice echoed in her ear.
―Didn’t expect an interloper.
Lena flinched at the sound. Before she could react, the ground beneath her plunged away.
“Ugh!”
Space shattered like a mirror. Lena, standing motionless, plummeted. Lin, mid-stride, lost his footing and receded into the distance.
“Lin!”
Only then did Lena recover and cry his name. Lin shouted back.
“Wait!”
Those words froze her anew. Oblivious, Lin bellowed once more from the devouring dark.
“I’ll come get you!”
The crumbling space confounded her less than his vow.
Wait? Come get me? Why? She ached to ask, but time forbade it. No—even with time, she wouldn’t. She didn’t want the answer. Hesitating, she watched Lin vanish into shadow. Now Lena stood in yet another space. Her terrifying plunge belied the feather-light landing at the end. Even so, unsteady in a way unlike her, she staggered—then caught herself with a jolt. Dazed, she pondered.
“Was that real?”
Or perhaps Hiems Grasha’s ruse. Like the women at the pyre, that vile king’s handiwork.
“Either’s possible.”
Lena forced cold logic. Hiems Grasha might deceive to manipulate her. Or Lin might have come via Authority. Which rang truer?
“Hiems lacks time.”
Heartless, Hiems Grasha was already unraveling. Squander his scant power upheaving space? Proof the Lin before her was genuine. Her thoughts reached that point, and her chest fluttered again.
“The real Lin came...?”
Dazed, Lena pictured his face. Unbelievable. How? Why...? Sudden dread gripped her. Something irrevocable had transpired, though the cause eluded her. Floundering amid vertigo, she at last seized a safe conclusion.
“We’re allies.”
The notion soothed her churning heart.
“Lin’s a good man. And I’m still useful.”
Plausible enough; Lena nodded, tension easing. Resolved, she exhaled deeply. To dispel lingering distractions, she declared aloud—to herself.
“I’ll settle the debt once I’m out.”
She had botched the finish, burdening Lin. Time to snap to, seize control. And repay him, without fail. Yes—that would do. Vowing as much, Lena reassessed properly. Hiems Grasha lingered nearby, it seemed. Lurking unseen, biding to evade capture. If this persisted, Lin’s return spelled trouble.
“Chasing me endlessly to sabotage?”
Pointless time-buying. As Lena questioned Hiems’s true aim, fresh imagery surfaced amid the oppressive dark. Crimson sky, ebony earth. A graveyard. Vast necropolis backdrop to her girlhood self—and a man kneeling before her.
“That’s...”
Lena’s brows furrowed instinctively at the sight. Impressively smooth brown skin defined the man. Charcoal-black locks cascaded like a lion’s mane; once-provocative red eyes lifted meekly, soft with deference. Fine, lightweight silk clad him—desert garb for sweltering aridity. Ornate golden baubles atop bespoke nobility. Lena muttered inwardly at the striking figure.
“King with Many Hearts.”
The Snake King, dubbed Pervert King. Lust’s boundless avatar, who tormented young Lena—only to be stripped to his last bone.
“Deliberately surfacing this memory?”
Like her first meeting with Uni, this too marked a pivotal recollection—a turning point. Hiems Grasha cherry-picked such moments. Evidently, the arrogant king meant to peer into Lena Rubel’s baffling life and render judgment. Swallowing revulsion, Lena observed the scene.
That Lena was fourteen. Her fiercest era: learning combat from Regina upon learning the Snake King stalked her. The girl gazed impassively down at him kneeling. Poised to wrench free his heart. The umpteenth one-sided slaughter, the abuse—count lost to memory. Yet that day differed.
“Smiling?”
Lena muttered, peering at the King with Many Hearts. Slyly, he grinned up at her. Unprecedented. Her initial assault had shocked his heart from him. Revived barely, her return snatched it anew amid his rage; thereafter, he groveled awhile. Resisted, rebelled—fiercely. Failing that, appeased. Failing further, begged. Begging unavailing, wept. His tears before her heart-reaving visits were recent. How long would they last? Today, abruptly, he smiled. She asked flatly.
“Amusing?”
“No. Merely wondrous.”
He replied deferentially. Contextless, she eyed him queryingly. Poignantly, he continued.
“I never knew a woman could be so mighty. Nor how blissful domination by a great lady.”
Woman? Barely fourteen, Lena found it repulsive—but watched. Mistaking interest, he pressed fervently.
“You’ve seized my heart dozens of times. Meaning you’ve restored it as many.”
“So?”
“Is your obsession mere vengeance?”
Insane. Lena gaped, speechless. Undeterred, the King with Many Hearts prattled. I revere your strength. I honor your being. Our bond feels singular. I’m yours already—never such pull in life. I love you. Be my bride. Lunacy or desperate scheming? One truth shone: abject flattery, every word. A lifetime first. Someone pleading so elaborately. Persuading, wheedling, currying favor. His abjectness yielded revelation. Hitherto, Lena deemed herself strong. Frail flesh, resilient spirit—undespairing riser. Rethought: no, weak. Servile. Devoid of solo survival faith, she curried favor. Failing, feigned nobility, blind to sins. No strength, no virtue—just craven foolery, endured for want of fight. Disgusted, Lena unleashed: butchered the King with Many Hearts, claimed his heart. As the gabbling Snake King dissolved to dust, a murmur arose from void.
―Enough tantrum.
Regina, overseeing from above. Face marred, expression unreadable—yet Lena knew her disapproval.
―That wretch won’t hound you again. Cease. Further, and you shatter.
Shatter? Now? Lena sighed tediously at the warning.
“I was done anyway.”
Pre-death, the Snake King beamed blissfully. Meant to slay till rage ebbed, his mug snuffed desire. Yet the fire-ball wrath endured, blazing, prodding. No long deliberation; Lena muttered.
“Heading home.”
―Home?
“Must see Father.”
―Then?
At Regina’s query, Lena replied like one braced for drudgery.
“Kill him.”