Chapter 91
Translator: uly
Chapter: 91
Chapter Title: Bad Fate (2)
The man who entered the room was a complete mess. The buttons on the cloak stylishly draped over his shoulders had come undone, barely clinging to him, and his neatly combed-back hair had been disheveled for ages.
The man, who despised dirtiness, vulgarity, and anything unrefined more than anyone, had arrived at the room in such a state of disarray.
Unbelievable.
Unbelievable.
Unbelievable.
Asherad stared with wide eyes at the figure lying on the bed. As if denying the situation, he shook his head and took steps forward. A sigh-like breath escaped from his closed lips.
The woman lying on the bed looked like a corpse. Her face was pale, and her lips were blue. He stroked Daphne for a long time.
Daphne was dying. It was certain she would die. This was her final living appearance.
But could one even say that the Daphne right now was alive?
Daphne's face lacked its characteristic warmth. He knew it well from always caressing her face and pressing his lips to hers. As if the warmth would return, he stroked her face over and over in disbelief.
Pale white skin with rosy cheeks. Red lips smiling—how lovable they had been. But now, it was all gone.
“Why…….”
Words that barely qualified as language slipped through his gritted teeth. Asherad's eyes trembled. His always-smiling mask of gentleness had crumbled, and he muttered like a fool.
Why, why on earth why?
There was no reason for this.
“You didn’t want to die.”
Daphne had hated dying. If he threw a dagger at her and told her to die, she would have stabbed him instead. A woman who feared death so much—why was she dying?
“I didn’t tell you to die.”
On the contrary, he had threatened to kill others if she died. She hated dying so much, so why was she lying there like this?
“I was trying not to hate you anymore.”
He had cleared away all the filthy things surrounding her. Now he could finally do something for her.
“I said I love you, I love you!”
Asherad bellowed. His face flushed red with rage. But he could not see any terrified or hurt expression on Daphne’s face.
He had said he loved her so many times—why, why was she dying? He… he…?
What was he supposed to do?
Asherad knelt beside Daphne’s bed. This was clearly the same setup as before, with them. Except now, it was Asherad who was kneeling.
Then, the sound of footsteps approached. Still kneeling by Daphne’s bed, Asherad looked at her face again and again. At last, he realized something was terribly wrong with that cold face.
“It was inevitable.”
Asherad turned at the voice resounding from behind him. Yohannis was looking down at him. Asherad glared at him with a chilling expression.
“What was inevitable?”
“You seemed to know.”
“…….”
“That your mother killed her mother.”
Confusion clouded Asherad’s eyes. To that gaze questioning how he knew, Yohannis let out a sigh.
“If you were going to cage a bird, you should have been kinder and gentler.”
“…….”
“You were so immature when it came to loving someone.”
“No!”
Asherad shouted. Yohannis glanced at the recumbent Daphne. A faint glint of anger tinged his usually impassive face.
“What’s no?”
“…….”
“What on earth did you do for her?”
At that icy tone, Asherad wore a murderous expression. He was already steeped in the arrogance that he had done so much for her.
“You didn’t give her a single thing she wanted.”
“…….”
“Treated her like a dog, toyed with her, deceived her.”
“That’s……!”
“I’m not talking about why you tormented that woman. I’m talking about why she chose death.”
His flesh quivered at those harsh words. His breathing quickened. To Asherad, who displayed clear fury, Yohannis said,
“When Miss Daphne once treated you like a dog, you should have given her love.”
“Shut up!”
“At the very least, if you succeeded in keeping her in your arms, you should have been a decent ‘master’ at least.”
Asherad’s eyes blazed. In contrast, Yohannis’s gaze was ice-cold.
“What do you know! What could I have done!”
In Yohannis’s eyes, he saw the young Asherad. Always wandering around with bruises, nearly dying from the poison fed by the emperor… He knew all too well that he had been a crown prince in name only, all flash and no substance. It was natural for him to harbor hatred. Would it have been better if they had abused him outright and laughed about it?
His father, the emperor, had coldly joined in the abuse and offered the poison, while his mother had scolded him harshly amid her sorrow.
“No matter the situation, all you did was vent your anger.”
That one phrase stabbed straight into Asherad’s heart. Venting anger? Is that what it was? That girl’s fault, the one who went around with that disgustingly bright smile? It was all just me venting?
“Shut up.”
But to Asherad, who had lived his whole life believing that, the words fell on deaf ears. He was cowardly, and he had discarded any guilt for the pleasure he felt upon seeing Daphne.
“Then you think it’s just retribution?”
“Looks like you want to die.”
Asherad sneered. In truth, he carried a dangerous glint. If Asherad went mad and ordered him killed, he would die without a chance to resist. No, even before that—not once had Yohannis failed to take Asherad’s side.
“You liked Daphne, didn’t you?”
“Don’t make such an ugly display.”
Yohannis retorted sharply. He let out a low sigh as he regarded Asherad’s contorted face. At that, Asherad’s expression twisted further. Yohannis opened his mouth.
“Asherad. You’re rational everywhere else—why can’t you be rational about this?”
“…….”
“You took revenge on Miss Daphne. She suffered, and from there, the two of you became… ugh!”
Asherad could no longer hold back. He stood and grabbed Yohannis by the collar. Yohannis’s dark brown eyes glared at Asherad as he enunciated each word.
“The two of you are a bad fate.”
“No.”
“A bad fate that should never have met.”
“No!”
At Yohannis’s repeated words, Asherad cried out in anguish. He shook Yohannis by the collar. But even shaking him to silence the words, the truth did not change.
“Miss Daphne said that before she died.”
At that, Asherad’s eyes wavered. Daphne had called him a bad fate? Him?
“Absolutely not—I’m not that!”
Yohannis pried away Asherad’s hand, which gripped his collar fiercely.
“You’re just an immature child.”
“…….”
“You’re throwing a tantrum.”
This time, Asherad glared at Yohannis with reddened eyes, without shouting. Seeing that, Yohannis continued flatly.
“It’s not important whether you think you’re a bad fate or not.”
“…….”
“If she saw you as her bad fate, then you were.”
It was the truth.
Unable to respond, Asherad looked at Daphne’s closed-eyed face, grasped her hand, and pressed his cheek to her cold one. His desperate grasping for warmth looked like frantic struggling. Like a child denying it all, refusing to hear anything. Seeing that, Yohannis left his final words.
“This woman chose death to escape from you.”
“Stop it, shut up! Before I kill you!”
Yohannis clicked his tongue at the sight of Asherad frozen beside Daphne and stepped out of the room.
* * *
Left alone in the room, Asherad let out a hollow laugh. He released Daphne’s hand and gazed at the woman’s face.
“Haha, was that fool right?”
He stroked Daphne’s hair.
“Was he right? Were you trying to escape me?”
But of course, Daphne gave no answer. Her breathing was faint, after all. Swallowing the something surging up inside him, he recalled Yohannis’s words.
‘The two of you are a bad fate.’
He shook his head and grabbed Daphne’s body, shaking it.
“Wake up, you idiot.”
He squeezed his eyes shut.
“Wake up, I said.”
Even shaking her body, Daphne didn’t so much as twitch. It was Asherad who grew frantic at that eerie blank expression.
“Suicide? Suicide? Is this how you tried to escape?”
Then, suddenly, he seized a fistful of Daphne’s hair.
“You can’t run away. You can’t run away.”
Strength entered the hand clutching her hair. It seemed like she might wince in pain and wake if he pulled. If there was any reaction, any movement, perhaps there could be hope. But she was a living corpse, destined to die soon.
“Wake up, wake up, I said!”
Asherad bellowed. Ah, Asherad finally realized it. Daphne, suffocated by this toxic relationship, had at last escaped him with the perfect method.
She had hated dying so much, yet because she hated him, she had gone far away into Keres’s embrace. Now, Daphne was no longer in this world.
That alone left him reeling. With vacant eyes, he stared into empty space. Then, with a suddenly calm face, he spoke.
“Wake up, Daphne.”
“…….”
“Wake up so you can at least hear my apology.”
He shook her to rouse her.
“You can’t escape. I’ll follow you, even into death.”
Death was not Daphne’s perfect liberation. Asherad was confident he would gladly pursue her. Was it fervent love or vicious hatred? Mimicking lovers mad with love who choose death, Asherad smiled through his tears.