Chapter 81
Chapter 81
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 80
Chapter Title: The Eve (5)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Quiet garden corridor.
In the silent hush, a man and a woman stood.
The lady had her arms wrapped gently around the man...
Her red tongue slowly exploring his skin.
"Lady Eri...? Is this really treatment...?"
"It is treatment."
Her cheek pressed against my torn dress shirt.
She gazed up at me languidly with those red eyes.
"I'm no healer, so I have no choice. It works better if I apply saliva. Please understand."
Her long tongue tasting just below my collarbone.
I cautiously glanced around.
Whether by chance or design, no one was nearby.
As if the place had been built to keep everyone away.
The moment I realized that, the lady's arms around my waist tightened even more.
"That's really it, right?"
"Yes, that's really it."
Her lush skin pressed against my chest.
It yielded softly like pudding, and I could feel her body heat through the thin dress.
"Haa..."
A strand of clear saliva stretched long between my chest and her tongue.
It dripped into the deep cleft of her ample bosom.
"See? It's already healing."
She looked genuinely pleased that my wound was mending.
But from a man's perspective, that seductive smile and moist lips...
Even a regressor numb to reason found it intensely erotic.
'I'm still far from true detachment. Getting aroused by something like this.'
I calmly touched the wounded area.
It wasn't fully healed like when Anje had cured my piercing wound.
Still, it had closed up considerably, like a wound weeks old.
"It really has improved. If you'd learned divine arts, you'd be a renowned healer."
"I don't have the high divine power like the Holy See."
The pink-haired lady wiped her lips with a shy expression.
"No, this is more than enough. Thanks to you, I should be able to compete tomorrow without issue."
"It's embarrassing. If my faith in God were deeper, I could have buffed you too."
She murmured regretfully.
Yet her lips seemed to curve up just a bit.
"This is already incredible. I don't even believe in God."
"I don't anymore either. I'm planning to make my own god."
Eri's eyes narrowed into crescents.
As a novelist, even her thoughts felt uniquely profound.
"Your own god...? Like becoming a god yourself?"
"Oh? Have you imagined becoming a god too?"
The lady looked delighted to meet someone who shared her fantasy.
As if she'd expected this answer from me.
"Who knows."
It was a strangely profound question, making me forget our close embrace.
While I pondered, she intertwined her fingers behind my back.
Her silk-gloved hands slick with sweat.
'During my repeated regressions, there were times I felt like a god.'
"There were times I felt that way, full of vigor."
But that feeling never lasted.
No matter how far back I went, averting bad ends was impossible alone.
"But in the end, I couldn't change anything by myself."
Shadows fell across my face, backed by the enormous full moon.
Eri gazed at the deep weariness in my 21-year-old eyes with satisfaction.
"So that's why you're content as warden of a remote prison? Just collecting your salary comfortably."
As if she alone knew of my past lives.
"The Derek I know could rise much higher."
Perhaps because it was night,
Anje came unusually vividly to mind today from her appearance.
A hazy, comforting sensation, like sinking into a sea of red blood.
Unpleasant, yet I wanted to surrender everything to her embrace.
"To a 'sovereign' position, leading everyone."
But I shook off the feeling expertly.
I answered the woman whose embrace now felt natural.
"I didn't become warden of a remote prison to settle down."
"Then it's camouflage for a greater leap?"
She pressed her face back to my chest.
Her soft cheek rubbed lightly against the rough scar.
"I think I get the feeling. I'm confining myself for my own leap too."
"Our situations are similar."
Her fine down tickled a little.
But then I snapped to awareness that our skinship had become so natural.
"How long are you going to stay stuck like this...? It's getting a bit hot."
The lady gently released her intertwined fingers.
My dress shirt was covered in sweat marks from her skin.
"Sorry, my healing is weak, so I had no choice—"
Eri bowed her head shyly.
Yet her face peeking through pink strands looked oddly pleased.
"......"
An awkward silence flowed after we separated.
Fortunately, faint music from the banquet hall filled the quiet.
"The next song has started."
"Yeah. It'll be awkward going in while everyone's dancing."
The lady looked at me troubled.
"And this piece is quite long; it'll take a while to end."
"Well, nothing for it. Shall we rest in the garden until then...? Ah, that won't work."
Her treatment had been so stimulating I'd nearly forgotten what I'd done.
"Hehe..., yes. The garden must be chaos now. We'd hear those men's pathetic groans too."
Eri tapped her cheek with her index finger, lost in thought.
She was spending boring time because of me.
So, like in my days as Imperial Prime Minister, I made a dignified proposal with steady eyes.
"Then, since we're here, would you dance one song with me until the music ends?"
"Here?"
Eri's eyes widened round.
"Yes, why not?"
I pointed to the large full moon shining through the corridor window.
"Moonlight instead of chandeliers, flowing music... and..."
I extended my hand lightly.
"A partner to dance with."
Eri stared blankly at my offered hand for a moment.
Then she giggled like any ordinary woman.
"Looks like the author has to let Duke Derek take her place."
The lady clasped my hands lightly.
She naturally accompanied me to the center of the corridor.
The piece was the Waltz of the Red Moon.
A title that suited her wine-red eyes perfectly.
"You're good at dancing. Did you train formally?"
"My father hired a tutor when I was young. Though he soon realized I was worthless and stopped."
"Similar to me. I only learned briefly before my family fell."
"You dance remarkably well for that."
This was sincere.
Sorry to my princess sister, but Lady Eri's skill was superior.
"Thanks. It was my one happy childhood memory. After that..."
Her eyes saddened briefly as we danced.
I comforted her as the pillar partner in the dance.
"Afterward, you learned something even better. Writing novels everyone raves about."
"I was lucky."
As I lifted her hand, she spun lightly.
Citrus apple scent wafted with each shake of her pink hair.
"Most fallen children end up in orphanages—or worse, sold off."
"Sold...?"
"Yes. Noble blood gets special treatment."
"Feels like merchandise."
Even though it wasn't her story, Eri looked bitterly rueful.
"Noble lineage can re-enter society. They brainwash them into puppets."
"I know. There's a group I know that does exactly that."
"Really? That's not easy information."
"One of my prisoners was used by them."
Just before the climax, as the music softened.
Eri stopped abruptly.
"Is that person doing well now?"
"Hard to tell; she's inscrutable. But..."
I pictured one woman seriously.
"Lately, she smiles more. It's nice seeing her change bit by bit."
I thought she'd dislike me thinking of another woman with my dance partner.
But Eri's expression remained bright.
"You seem quite naive, Warden."
She resumed steps upon hearing my reply.
The music swelled with her movements.
"Me?"
"Yes. Do you really believe that prisoner can be reformed?"
I thought of something to convince the author.
"They say people are like blank paper. So until my prisoners are released, I plan to fill them with good content."
"What about those already stained full, with no room left?"
The music grew tense.
The Waltz of the Red Moon pressed me hard.
Perhaps because of it, my partner's eyes felt cold.
Questioning how a mere human like me could sway others' hearts.
"Can soft beds and good food really cover their rage at the world?"
The music cut off sharply.
Our dance paused too.
"......"
The pink-haired lady stared up at me intently.
She, whose family had fallen, who lost her parents, furious at a world coveting her beauty and talent.
Eri was asking me now.
Was I just placating prisoners lightly to collect my pay?
Or did I truly want to reform their lives?
In answer, I smiled gently.
"If the front page is full, just turn to the back."
Eri looked exasperated for a moment.
But her lips parted at my next words.
"Even if the early story is bleak, a happy ending changes the genre, doesn't it?"
Her ruby eyes, lifeless as a red blood sea.
She'd thrown a pebble into them.
"From tragedy to comedy."
The swelling music finally exploded.
Bright violin melody filled the corridor, like a happy ending.
"...You're too glib with words."
It was time for lively steps.
But Eri seemed done dancing.
"Plenty of novels end in bad endings to the last page."
"Depends on the writer. At least, I hope that person finds true happiness."
We'd been talking prisoners, yet she bit her red lips hard.
She murmured softly after, but the loud music drowned it out.
"Just like a prophet..."
Eri looked up at me, her face strangely flushed.
"Don't say that so casually to others. They might misunderstand."
"Misunderstand...?"
As I tilted my head, she abruptly released our clasped hands.
And hurried into the shadows.
"Are you leaving?"
"Yes, I am."
Had I said something wrong?
While I pondered, Eri had already gone far.
"...You want me to be happy?"
The lady turned the corner, murmuring in a trembling voice.
Her face returned to that of the saintess she hid from the warden.
"So you want to make only me happy?"
The fake saintess's lips quivered.
In the darkness, she grinned chillingly, muttering darkly.
"You said it clearly. With your own mouth."
She had already depicted her own happy ending in her novel.
And the male lead in that ending...
Lived happily ever after with the heroine.
In their secret utopia, unknown to all, forever.
"Since you said you like it, shall I start too?"
Anje extended both hands amid the ecstatic music.
Soon, the slaves scattered around the northern palace began to move.
To make one man the champion.
To escort him to the underground of the northern palace she would claim in the distant future.
"Yes, everyone will be happy."