‘Why…….’
The Count wasn’t his enemy. In fact, Sion had no reason to kill him. Yet he had killed him, and he even thought he should have made him suffer more. Why?
Lost in confusion, Sion eventually realized.
‘It’s because of ……Cecile.’
The man who abused his young wife and died was a Count.
Cecile’s husband was also a Count. So Sion had unwittingly projected Cecile onto Laila.
That’s why he felt so bad for Laila’s miserable situation.
Yes, that was the answer.
He couldn’t think of any other reason.
Laila, who had been silently observing Sion, closed her eyes first. It was as if she was resigned to her impending death.
“…….”
The pale face of Laila, with both eyes tightly closed, briefly caught his attention.
Sion silently raised his sword.
✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧
The dark and cramped space trembled.
Despite waking up in the past, Sion found himself surprisingly unfazed.
Had he become accustomed to going back to the past?
He had heard the expression “man is an adaptable animal” somewhere, but…
Sion closed his eyes.
Unlike the last time, he didn’t feel much of a will to resist the sleepiness.
The carriage arrived at the marquisate. Sion spent a week in the marquis’s underground prison, then was dragged into the forest and shot with an arrow.
And when he opened his eyes,.
‘……What?’
Sion blinked in confusion.
He naturally thought he would wake up in the temple, but once again, he was in the carriage baggage compartment.
His body remained as it was at the age of ten.
It was the past.
The past that he always “restarted.”
As Sion pondered how this could have happened, he soon found the answer.
‘Laila Hildegarde must have died.’
Or something close to it.
Before he turned eighteen,.
In other words, before Laila turned back the time again before Sion could be resurrected, and because of that, Sion opened his eyes in the past once again, not in the temple.
Sion, who had silently stared at the carriage ceiling, soon covered his eyes with his wrist.
Clenching his teeth, the muscles in his jaw stiffened.
As expected.
He had just confirmed a fact he had suspected all along.
There was a predetermined “point” in the past where Sion could return.
No matter when Laila Hildegarde died,.
He couldn’t go back to a past further ahead than this moment.
‘Well, if Laila Hildegarde could have turned back time further than this, she would have done it already.’
As far as Sion could see, Laila was a woman who was determined in her resolve towards life.
She desperately wanted to live, whether it meant hiding in an insignificant kingdom or marrying an old, insane Count.
There was no way Laila could not have come up with the solution that would most likely keep her alive.
It was the fundamental solution.
Namely, eliminating the very source of threat to Laila’s survival, “Sion’s grudge.”
To put it plainly, it meant turning back time just a bit more to prevent Sion’s family from dying in the fire that destroyed his home.
Choosing not to pursue it, even if it involves enduring exile or an unhappy marriage, suggests that it is…impossible.
Even if she wanted to.
Sion chuckled softly.
No, it was a sound that was hard to tell whether it was laughter, sobbing, or crying.
Sion didn’t move his arm, covering his eyes, for quite some time.
The carriage carrying Sion drove diligently, arriving at the Marquisate of Hildegard in no time.
At the marquisate, Sion was met with an unexpected surprise.
“Are you okay?”
A hand reached out.
Laila Hildegarde.
He had fallen while being carried by a knight on the first floor of the marquisate.
As soon as Sion realized the situation, he reflexively pushed Laila’s hand away.
Then he immediately regretted it.
Cecile.
What if Cecile faced problems because of this action?
“Beat him until he admits his crimes.”
Fortunately, or unfortunately, the Marquis just issued such an order.
He’s not going to touch Cecile.
That was a relief.
Sion was dragged to the prison and endured a thorough beating.
“Just admit your crimes, please, just one word! Please…”
The soldier assigned to beat him seemed to have a soft spot in his heart.
Or so it seemed.
Sion closed his mouth and continued to be beaten, ignoring the soldier’s request to confess.
‘I’m tired.’
Eventually, he started dozing off out of boredom.
The beatings were quite harsh. With each blow, he felt his skin tearing and bursting, yet Sion didn’t feel much pain.
It hurt, but he could endure it well enough.
At least compared to the agony he experienced while battling the evil god, the pain he felt now was tolerable.
Sion nodded off and eventually fell asleep.
In his sleep, he had a strange dream.
Laila appeared in the prison and applied medicine to his wounds.
‘What… is this?’
He woke up and realized that what he thought was a dream wasn’t a dream at all.
His entire back, full of wounds, was sticky with the medicine.
He looked down at his hands, which were covered in medicine he’d gotten from rubbing his back, and frowned.
‘What are you doing?’
It didn’t take long for Sion to realize what Laila was up to.
Every day, Laila came to the underground prison to bring him water, food, and medicine.
She also checked on Sion’s wounds to see if they were healing properly and took care of him.
In other words, she constantly made efforts to “look good” to Sion.
She hoped that if she did so, Sion wouldn’t kill her ten years later.
As soon as Sion read Laila’s intentions, he was dumbfounded.
‘Is she serious?’
Applying medicine to his wounds and bringing food.
Does she really believe that she can survive just by showing him a few kindnesses?
Does she think that a few days of being nice to him will make him renounce his revenge against his enemy’s child?
Really?
Did his hatred and desire for revenge seem so shallow and trivial?
How could that be?
It’s not like she doesn’t know what he’s been through.
Even though she clearly remembered it, even ten years later…
For a moment, Sion clearly recognized the identity of the emotion that had been stirring in his chest.
It was a sense of betrayal.
But Sion immediately shook his head and denied that feeling.
Betrayal? It couldn’t be.
He must have been mistaken.
It didn’t make any sense at all. What is betrayal in the first place? Betrayal is when someone betrays your trust or faith.
Sion has never put his faith or trust in the daughter of his enemy. Therefore, Laila Hildegarde couldn’t betray him.
So it’s impossible for Sion to feel betrayed by Laila.
Coming to a conclusion, Sion forcefully pushed aside the confusing and vague emotion.
Then he focused on another, more concrete emotion.
Namely, anger, hatred, and enmity.
The things he should rightfully feel towards the blood of his enemy.
Sion expressed his hatred for Laila without restraint, sometimes even more intensely than reality.
And somehow, the confusion subsided.
Finally walking on the right path after straying from it gave Sion a sense of reassurance.
He didn’t delve deeply into why he felt that way in this situation.
So Sion continued to express deep hatred towards Laila, until…
Thud!
After witnessing Laila embrace him and getting hit by an arrow, he returned to the past.
✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧
After waking up in the swaying carriage, Sion was momentarily frozen and unable to do anything.
He couldn’t even blink; he just stood frozen until he finally started to move his stiffened head.
What happened just now?
A moment ago…
Laila Hildegarde followed him into the woods, then suddenly threw herself at him and embraced him.
And the arrow.
‘Is she crazy?’
Sion reflexively thought.
Who is saving whom, and who is getting hit by the arrow right now?
