I'll Decide the End of Your Revenge
In the still heart of the forest, the only sound was Rai pouring tea.
Abigail sat slouched in her chair, her glare locked on Dake and Dake alone. He watched in silence as Rai filled their cups.
As the tea settled, a fragrance that soothed the mind drifted through the air around them.
"I don't know if an introduction is even necessary, but this gentleman here is Baron Dake Filburt — the man you've been hunting even in your dreams. I asked if I could kidnap him, and he very politely came along."
At Rai's playful tone, Dake dipped his head in a slight bow of thanks.
"Less a kidnapping than an invitation, I'd say. I was rather surprised when you walked in so openly and announced you were abducting me."
"It was a rude request, but you didn't get angry. You just went along with it."
"According to my knight-commander, even if every knight and soldier in the territory charged you at once, they wouldn't so much as touch a hair on your head. There was simply no point in putting up a fight."
"Oh, come on. Flattery won't get you anything from me."
Abigail listened to the two of them with a murderous look on her face.
Their cozy little rapport grated on her. The whole thing felt like a performance, and it made her sick.
"Cut the disgusting act and just say what you want."
"...I am doing what I want, though? I just set up a place for you two to talk. Now then — this is Abigail. You've already heard the details, so why don't you two greet each other."
Rai gestured between them, and Dake turned to Abigail with a formal bow.
"A pleasure to meet you. I am Dake Filburt. For the harm my father... my father's wrongdoing inflicted upon you, Miss Abigail, I can only offer my deepest apologies."
"I didn't come here to hear an apology. I came to take your head and burn Filburt to the ground."
Abigail's eyes went wide, killing intent rolling off her in waves.
"Yes. An apology that's nothing but words wouldn't mean anything, would it."
Dake nodded as if he understood exactly how she felt, and met her gaze.
Those gentle green eyes still held sympathy and remorse, and Abigail found his look unbearable.
"Look at me with those eyes one more time and I'll gouge them right out of your skull."
"You were going to kill him anyway."
Rai cut in from the side with a snicker, and Abigail's vicious glare snapped toward him.
"What, was I wrong?"
"Don't piss me off."
"And if I do? What are you going to do about it?"
Rai propped his chin on his hand and looked up at her, a mocking smile on his face.
"You're sitting there quietly because you know you can't do a damn thing in front of me. Or would you rather throw the dice and cling to that scrap of pride? Even if you get lucky and roll a six, failure's already a given."
"..."
Abigail clenched her teeth and her fists at his taunting.
But every word of it was true. If he weren't here, she would have already gone for Dake's throat.
"Please, continue your conversation."
Rai waved a dismissive hand and settled back to sip his tea at his leisure.
Silence filled the space they left behind. Dake licked his lips as if his throat had gone dry, and picked up his cup.
"Please, drink. This is a black tea our territory is famous for... no. You were a resident of the territory, so you would know it well — it's brewed from the tea trees of the Kpen Region."
"You think I'd drink anything you poured?"
"There's no poison in it, but... this isn't quite what I was led to expect."
Dake looked to Rai as if asking for help, but Rai only shrugged with a look that said he had no idea either.
"I never said she liked black tea. Never said she remembered it, either."
All he'd done was pass along information Elin had dug up in her investigation.
The house where Abigail and Linda had lived was rumored to be cursed, so no one had touched it. Four years ago, a fire had reduced their home to ruins.
Almost nothing of their memories remained, but Elin had used her ability on the objects that had turned to ash, and she'd given Rai one piece of information: Linda had loved black tea.
Dake had prepared the tea hoping it might ease the tension, even a little. When it accomplished nothing, he stole a glance at the others, took a small sip, and set the cup down.
"Lin—"
"Don't you dare say Linda's name with that mouth."
At Abigail's words, Dake had the distinct impression that this conversation was going nowhere.
Which only meant her grudge ran that deep. A bitter taste filled his mouth.
His father had not been a good man.
He hadn't been a man of great ambition, either. Just another noble of the kind you saw everywhere — moderately greedy, moderately willing to fold when power pressed down on him.
When Yandes's enterprise had taken off and House Filburt had risen with it, his father's pride had soared into the heavens.
He hadn't done any of the work himself, but he had boasted of growing the family until the day he died. At every gathering, he would launch into the same stories.
And in those stories his father told with such relish, there was no Linda.
No witch burned at the stake. No filthy scheme between Yandes and Laslo.
Dake did not believe his father had hidden it.
He simply hadn't known.
He had been a fool who had no idea what malice and greed were moving in the shadows — a man who had simply been happy that the territory was prospering.
And that karma had come full circle, and landed in Dake's lap.
He didn't feel wronged. He wasn't even angry. His father had made a mistake as the family grew, and as the son, it was only natural that he clean it up.
He himself had enjoyed plenty of benefits growing up in a House Filburt that had fattened itself on other people's pain.
Dake looked at the young girl seething in front of him.
She said nothing, but the emotions boiling in those red eyes spoke every curse she couldn't voice.
She didn't look much older than his own daughter, and yet her eyes were filled with every kind of darkness and killing intent.
Thinking of the daughter waiting at home made his heart ache — and at the same time, it steeled his resolve. This revenge had to end here.
"I am sorry that my father — no, that House Filburt — left such wounds on you, Miss Abigail. All I can offer is an apology, and the restoration of your mother's honor. I will go to that village myself, first, and apologize and explain everything to every last person who lives there."
"Heh... honor... Ahahaha. Fucking nobles, I swear."
Abigail let out a loud, harsh laugh, then roughly knocked the cup off the table and glared at him.
"Go on. Tell me. You restore her honor, does Linda come back alive?"
"...No."
"There's only one thing I want. To reduce Filburt to ashes."
Looking into Abigail's eyes, burning with vengeance, Dake found he had nothing left to say.
Any further conversation was meaningless.
It would only fan her rage.
"I've got a question."
Rai, who had been listening from the side, raised a hand.
"So if you reduce Filburt to ashes, does Linda come back?"
"..."
This time, Abigail had no answer.
Rai chuckled, stood, and went to pick up the teacup Abigail had knocked away.
Luckily it had landed in the grass and hadn't broken. He blew on it, dusted it off, set it back in front of her, and poured her more tea.
"How far do you have to go before you get to see Linda? After you wipe out Filburt? After you burn the villages of the Kpen Region and slaughter the people living there? For all you know, if you die, Linda might be waiting for you at the gates."
"..."
Having refilled her cup, Rai rested a hand on Abigail's shoulder.
"Revenge all you want — Linda isn't coming back. Ah, I'm not telling you not to do it. If someone slaps me across the face, I at least need to knock a few teeth out of their head before I can sleep with my legs stretched out. So. How far is it? The point where you can stretch out both legs and sleep, dreaming something happy."
"..."
Abigail stared at the teacup without a word.
The tea sat perfectly still, so clear it showed the bottom of the cup.
There is no end.
Linda was already gone. Stretching out her legs and sleeping had been impossible from that moment on.
Rai leaned in and spoke as if whispering, and Abigail's face twisted.
"Who the hell are you to decide my end?"
"Because if I feel like it, there's not a thing you can do about it."
Rai answered with an infuriating smile.
"What, did you think I was going to start talking about bonds and connections? You wouldn't swallow that kind of obvious crap. This is a privilege of the strong. You got hurt because you didn't have the power, didn't you?"
"You son of a bitch..."
Still needling her, Rai stood and stepped back.
"If you want to do as you please, get stronger. Get strong enough to take me down, then kill Baron Dake and burn every village you want. Hell, let's just wipe the Bel Federation off the map."
Abigail measured the distance between Rai, now behind her, and Dake in front of her, calculating whether a surprise attack was possible — then stopped.
Even if Rai were ten more steps away, her exhausted body would be subdued in an instant.
"Don't bother running the numbers. I don't go easy."
"What... why... Why are you getting in my way?!"
The last target was right in front of her, and she couldn't do a thing. Everything Abigail had been holding down exploded.
Grief for Linda. The hunger for revenge. Frustration. Sorrow. Helplessness. A snarl of feelings tore through her.
She glared at Dake as if she wanted him dead, but her eyes looked so fragile that he quietly looked away.
Rai watched Abigail's small, hunched back and spoke.
"Because once the revenge is over, you'll fall apart. It'd be a waste to end your life like this. There's a lot of fun left in the world."
"Hahahaha! So it was the obvious crap after all. Fuck. I've got nothing left."
"You've got nothing left, but you can still fill it back up. Ah — and the things that were filling that empty life of yours, even a little, just arrived."
Abigail turned, and Rai grinned, jerking a thumb over his shoulder.
In the distance, Philia, Diana, Zeroa — and even Aslan — were walking toward them.
"Looks like we made it in time."
"Hey, you crazy bitch — I barely made it out of getting buried alive."
"It's been a while, Miss Abigail."
"We finally caught up!"
They had arrived far faster than Abigail had expected.
She'd barely slept, had even used Divine Power on her horse to keep running — and they'd still caught up. Her eyes went wide in disbelief.
But they didn't look much better. Dust caked their hair and clothes until they were nearly gray, and exhaustion they couldn't hide sat heavy on their faces.
"I've been waiting forever. Speed it up next time."
"We haven't slept a wink in three days. Still, it seems we weren't too late."
Philia said this while studying Dake, who sat across from Abigail.
Rai turned, glanced at the two of them, whistled, and went back to his seat.
"Raikkang, I'm thirsty. I'm having some of this. Ah — a pleasure to meet you. Baron Dake Filburt, yes? I'm Diana Deschubella, daughter of House Deschubella."
Diana came trotting over looking like a beggar, offered Dake an elegant greeting, then picked up Rai's teacup without asking and drank.
It wasn't polite in the slightest, but after gulping down the black tea, Diana let out a long breath and a blissful smile.
"Hahh— that's good. This'd be even better as milk tea."
With Diana leading the way, the other kids crowded around the table and started sharing the tea.
"Haha. You lot look like a pack of beggars."
"We did all the suffering while you sat here waiting for us."
Aslan grumbled as he snatched up the tea snacks on the table and stuffed them into his mouth.
"You made such a cool entrance, and now a few days of hunger and you can't even keep up appearances?"
"Hahaha... We were in such a rush we didn't even pack supplies. I haven't eaten anything since yesterday."
Zeroa, carefully picking at the snacks, laughed in embarrassment.
The mood had been deadly serious moments ago, and now it was chaos. Dake rolled his eyes in silence, unable to adjust.
Still, the noisy scene suited their age. It was a good look on them.
From what Rai had told him, these children had come all the way from the Empire for their friend.
The girl who wanted him dead still had so much left. It would be a waste to let her life end here.
Dake exchanged a look with Rai, his expression set with resolve, and nodded.
"Shall we pick up where we left off, then?"
Abigail, who had been glaring at the kids in silence, turned her eyes on Rai.
"Your revenge—"
"What were you talking about?"
"Hey, you're not even gonna apologize? I almost got crushed to death."
"Hahaha... Miss Diana was very worried about you, Miss Abigail."
"Ah, I grabbed that. Don't steal it!"
"Augh, let me get a word in too!"
Rai raised his voice, and the kids shut their mouths.
"Please, go ahead."
"Raikkang, are you mad? Don't be mad, okay?"
"..."
"Just say it. Who's stopping you?"
Watching the kids who — Zeroa excepted — each had to get one last word in, Rai sighed and looked at Abigail.
"You're pretty pissed that I butted in, aren't you?"
"If I could, I'd ram a knife down your throat."
"But you can't. Go on. Stab me. Try it."
He grinned that infuriating grin and opened his mouth, and Abigail ground her teeth.
Satisfied with her reaction, Rai cackled and leaned back against his chair.
"Still, it's a little cheap, isn't it? Me inserting myself into a fight between kids isn't exactly fair either."
"..."
"So I figured I'd give you a shot at your revenge."
The more Rai spoke, the quieter the kids' eyes became.
He was offering her a chance to kill Dake.
He joked around constantly, but he wasn't the type to spout nonsense. Everyone gathered around hung on his next words.
"This right here is the end of your revenge. Fight one person. Win, and I'll help you with it."
"I don't need your help."
"Right, of course you don't. I'll take that as 'I won't get in your way,' then. That work? You win, you get your revenge. You lose, you walk away. I'll spend the rest of my life stopping you — so if you want it later, beat me first, then take it."
Diana muttered into her tea.
"The rest of his life. That's kind of romantic."
Abigail, who had been staring at Rai in silence, bared her teeth in a grin.
"You're not telling me to fight you. You think these brats can stop me?"
At Abigail's provocation, Rai snorted a laugh.
"You in? Think it through before you answer. You can turn down my offer and look for another shot at revenge."
"I'm obviously going to win. Why the hell would I refuse?"
The moment Abigail accepted, Philia, Diana, and Aslan shot to their feet.
"I've had a lot piled up. Looks like I can finally pay it back."
"Yes! Rematch time. I'll smack that cocky mouth of yours shut."
"We came all this way. Leave the finish to me."
While the kids were itching for a fight, Rai spoke.
"Zeroa. Get ready."
"What?"
"Huh?"
A name no one had imagined. Zeroa's face went blank — and so did Abigail's.
"What? Scared you'll lose?"
Everyone had frozen. Only Rai was smiling, sipping his tea at his leisure. Zeroa, wearing an expression that inspired no confidence whatsoever, looked at Abigail and gave an awkward laugh.
"H-haha... Please go easy on me..."