Hikan and Adrisha blankly stared at Dalia.
After a while, Adrisha sat down on the sofa and patted Dalia on the back and said.
“…… Dalia, have you been under a lot of stress lately?”
Dalia glared at Adrisha with a terrifying expression. She awkwardly put her hand back.
“I’m very serious, talking about this.”
Dalia said in a low voice.
Whatever she said with that expression was always real. The two fixed their posture and began to listen to what she had to say.
Dalia slowly began telling them the whole story. From where she came from, to how she remembers her previous life.
This world is actually a world that Dalia has experienced in her previous life. In that world, Hikan was the villain and Adrisha was the female lead.
That’s why Dalia wanted to fix this world differently. And that it was successful.
She didn’t talk about Lewayne. It was an act of consideration for him. Whatever he intended to call her, it wasn’t Dalia’s story.
Lewayne said.
“Miss Dalia, if you fail to save Aceras, he will surely die or run wild the moment this holy power terrorism fails. That’s the pattern I observed.
If we don’t kill him then, only His Highness Prince Cedric can stop him when he runs wild.
Everyone else will live because of him, but in return he will die.”
“…….”
“His Highness must be someone precious to you. So I hesitated to speak.”
Now Dalia knows why Lewayne was so obsessed with saving Aceras.
It was actually because of Dalia herself. She’s the only one left that’s precious to him.
“……Even if we fail, we can kill him before then. Don’t worry too much. There is always a way.”
Lewayne continued.
Dalia knew that his words were clumsy consolation.
However,the death of someone has always been an uncomfortable matter.
In the end, Lewayne’s words were simple.
If Dalia cannot save Aceras, either Cedric or Aceras will die.
Dalia was angry with Lewayne and wanted to blame him. Why is he putting this burden on her. Why is he giving her such a hard time.
However……she couldn’t bear to think of him who must have wandered around for so many years.
‘Can I forgive Aceras?’
However, no matter how much Dalia thought about it, it seemed that she would never be able to forgive Aceras.
The last time she saw him, Dalia almost got kidnapped by him again. Although she avoided the situation by exerting all her acting skills, her heart still pounded when she thought of that day.
And after learning that he was the reason for the former Duchess Mary Blueport’s mana explosion, there was no room for sympathy.
Dalia was scared and afraid of him.
She was angry again. The negative emotions were so great that she couldn’t even feel any other emotions.
It seemed that it would be the same no matter how much time passed.
‘Maybe it’s because there are so many things that haven’t been solved yet.’
So she decided to sort out the emotions she could handle first.
First is to tell the whole truth to the people she really cares about. As she had told Lewayne before, the time has come for Dalia to confess the truth.
However, she couldn’t make up her mind easily. She spent a lot of time in bed worrying. But in the end, she decided to tell them.
After she finished talking, the two didn’t say anything for a while.
Dalia looked at the two alternately.
After revealing everything she had hidden, only then did she feel relieved, but she thought maybe the two would feel betrayed. She pretended not to know their future from the original work and deceived them by pretending to see it for the first time.
However, her confession did not start without such determination.
She examined their reactions, but neither of them had a look or response that could be read.
Dalia repeats a little more calmly.
“…… So that’s what happened. You can be angry if you want to.”
“I see.”
Hikan replied without any expression.
He didn’t seem angry, but she couldn’t figure out what he was thinking either.
After a while, he continued.
“You’ve worked hard all this time.”
It was a much calmer reaction than Dalia had thought.
She carefully took Hikan’s hand. Rather than avoiding her, he reached out and stroked her hair.
“……Are you not angry?”
“Why would I be angry with you? You must be the one who has suffered the hardest because of me.”
Hikan closed his eyes and slowly exhaled. And he said.
“I thought it was strange. You were like a gift to me.”
“…….”
“But it was really a gift from somewhere. I’m glad to hear that. Because I have you.”
Hikan took a moment to organize his words, then slowly spoke again.
“I don’t think you’ve deceived us. Since you are always doing your best in your own way, that must have been your best. And you held me back and saved me several times without running away. Even if you haven’t told me everything, I don’t think your feelings are a lie.”
Dalia bit her lips.
Tears welled up from his warm feelings.
“Thank you for always being by my side, Dalia.”
Hikan continued.
He finished talking and glanced at Adrisha. He seemed to ask if there was anything she wanted to say.
Dalia prepared herself.
‘Adrisha may feel betrayed.’
Since she is the female lead in the original work, wouldn’t she doubt Dalia if she was being so kind to her and approached her on purpose? Besides, Dalia already knew from the beginning of her past and how she didn’t want to get caught.
‘I think it would be really heartbreaking if Adrisha cried and asked about it.’
But instead of getting angry, Adrisha told her.
“Dalia, how hard must it have been?”
It was a warm voice.
Dalia was so taken aback that she couldn’t say anything. Adrisha smiled and took Dalia’s hand.
“Thinking about it, Dalia seems to have been trying to protect me from the beginning. It’s stupid to only realize that now right? Thank you. Truly.”
“……No. I’m sorry.”
“But I just want to ask you one thing.”
Adrisha said in a playful voice.
“In your previous life, I was the one that Dalia liked the most in this world right?”
Those words brought tears to Dalia’s eyes. Dalia sniffled and nodded her head.
Quietly, the time for them to accept each other passed.
Dalia felt that the people gathered here are her ‘real family’.
“…… So, this is not the main point, right?”
Hikan spoke after a while.
He completely returned to his usual self, sighed, and touched his forehead.
“Isn’t that the reason why you brought this up because there is something else? And tell me how you’re trying to worry me.”
Dalia smiled bashfully. Hikan knows her too well now.
“I’ve seen this world once in my previous life. Looking back at that time, the last event will be when Aceras will come to renew the treaty. If we finish this well, everyone can be happy.”
“…….”
“Please help me, so that it will end well.”
Adrisha and Hikan looked at each other. And at the same time they looked at Dalia.
“You don’t have to ask about that.”
“Because we’re always on Dalia’s side.”
Above all, it was a sufficient answer.
Dalia hugged them.
* * *
A few days later, there was a carriage crossing the border between the Frederic Empire and the Holy Empire.
The carriage door was marked with the crest of the Holy Empire.
There were two people in the carriage, one person was Aceras, and the other was a young man of ordinary impression with grey hair.
Other than that, there were several carriages secretly crossing the border.
“Wow, this is the Frederic Empire. Of course, it takes three more days to reach the capital.”
The young man lifted up the curtains of the carriage and looked outside, and spoke in a frivolous tone.
Aceras removed his hand from his forehead and turned his gaze to the side. But he soon lost interest and closed his eyes again.
“I see.”
“What is the charm of this place that two of our devotees have betrayed God.”
“…….”
“Even the person who we trust the most, can only do one thing. As expected, I want to quickly destroy all the traitors here as well.”
Contrary to the lively tone of speech, the young man’s eyes were flashing with madness.
Aceras said calmly.
“That’s why we’re here.”
“Yes. Go ahead and kill them all.”
The young man smiled brightly.
Aceras did not smile. He thought the young man was annoying.
When he chose that person as his assistant, he looked as if he had the whole world. But the only reason Aceras chose him was because his hair color reminded him of someone.
Something went wrong.
He doesn’t know when and where it went wrong, but everything went wrong anyway. But with her in his hand, everything will be fine.
‘First, kill Cedric…….’
He repeated only that thought.
‘Kill him then…….’
‘Then…..’
Strangely enough, it occurred to him that nothing else mattered. Even though the original plan was to let all the transcendents of this Empire run out of control.
‘Oh right. That’s what I’m here for.’
Aceras suddenly came to his senses.
The Frederic Empire knows nothing. If he can mix the holy power into a potion, then he can mix it elsewhere as well.
There were many, plenty of ways to bring them down. Even Dalia Pesteros’s ability will have its limits. When everyone runs wild, she can’t hold out because her physical condition is weak.
‘That’s why……I gave it to her.’
Of course, he’ll steal her away before then.
The Darby-Gatran Treaty will be broken. This negotiation will end in blood.
Aceras imagined Dalia, who would remain there alone, staring blankly at him. Even though he had been running after that figure, his heart was just empty.
No sympathy, no guilt, just a gloomy feeling overtakes him.
Still, if he kills Cedric and gets Dalia, everything will be over. He closed his eyes and imagined Cedric dead as if he was asleep. Oddly enough, the imagination was as vivid as if he had actually seen it several times.
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