Thank you Not a Cofee Lover for the coffee.
━━━━⊱⋆⊰━━━━
The sound of my heart pounding loudly echoed in my ears as I spoke with a trembling voice.
“Clyde. Please.”
Clyde extended his hand toward me with a stern face.
“Come here, Ruby.”
“…Clyde.”
“Take my hand. Quickly.”
“…….”
“Come on, take it!”
Clyde shouted, and I flinched, hunching my shoulders.
My lips quivered, and I stared at his outstretched hand, eventually dropping my head.
Tears began to fall to the floor.
“…Ruby.”
Clyde’s fierce expression suddenly crumbled in an instant.
“I’m sorry, Clyde…. I’m sorry….”
“…….”
In front of me, sobbing with shoulders heaving, Clyde bit his lips tightly.
“…Why won’t you come with me? We made a promise. We promised to stay by each other’s side for the rest of our lives. You said you’d never marry another man; you said you’d always be by my side.”
“…Clyde….”
“You said we’d run away together if we got caught. You said it was real this time. You promised you’d never lie to me again. But was it all a lie? Like seven years ago, were you planning to deceive me and send me away from the beginning?”
“No, Clyde. No. Absolutely not.”
Desperately shaking my head, I continued,
“It wasn’t a lie. I meant every word of it. The promise to stay by your side for life, the promise to run away together if we were discovered—all of it. I meant it.”
“Then why can’t we go together now? If you really meant it, we could go together!”
“I already told you. If we run away together now, we’ll be caught quickly.”
“So, we can just kill them all.”
“No, Clyde. Please. Don’t do that.”
I pleaded desperately.
“…My father. He may be a hateful, resentful man to you… but he’s still my father. Aslan, my youngest older brother, and Nita, my second older brother… They are all my beloved family. The other members of the research team are innocent too. Please don’t kill them, Clyde. Please… I’m begging you.”
Tears had soaked my cheeks entirely.
“…….”
Clyde’s eyes grew darker and darker.
“We can’t go together because we’ll get caught, and you don’t want me to kill them, so that’s not an option. So, it means I have to leave alone.”
Clyde let out a self-deprecating laugh. He squeezed the hand he had extended to me tightly. He squeezed it so hard that his fingernails left wounds, and blood began to trickle down.
“Clyde, you, your hand…!”
“What’s wrong with my hand? You’re not worried about how I’ll live without you, but you’re worried about this? What about this? Will you come with me if I do this?”
Clyde released magic in his other hand. As a result, his wrist was cut off as if it had been chopped into pieces.
“Clyde!”
I screamed and rushed toward him. I grabbed his wrist, which was oozing blood.
“What, what are you doing? Why are you doing this… Clyde, why?”
I trembled uncontrollably as I pleaded, and his hand rapidly regenerated.
Clyde was smiling—a painfully melancholic smile.
“Earlier, you didn’t want to hold my hand. It seems I have to do this for you to pay attention to me.”
“…….”
“I get it. To you, I’m just a pitiful guy. The fact that you helped me escape seven years ago, and all those promises to stay by my side, they were all just out of pity.”
“…No, Clyde. No, why do you think that way?”
“Because it’s the truth. Do you think I didn’t know how bothered you’ve been ever since I came back? But you couldn’t push me away because I was pitiful. I lost my mother, and besides you, there was no one else I could rely on, nowhere to go. So, you pitied me. That’s why you tried so hard to break my curse, right?”
“No, Clyde. That’s not true!”
“It didn’t matter, actually. As long as you kept staying by my side, I thought it was okay. So even when my vision came back, I lied that I still couldn’t see. Because I knew you’d keep taking care of me.”
“…….”
I was left speechless by his shocking confession.
I had thought Clyde had regained his sight during my time trapped in the relic, and he had come looking for me.
“But I guess that’s over now.”
“…….”
Clyde slowly knelt down in front of me. He wrapped his arms tightly around my waist.
“What can I do to make you stay with me? Tell me, Ruby. I’ll do anything you say. If you want me to gouge out my eyeballs, I will. If you want my arm or leg, I’ll give it to you. So, tell me. What should I do? How can I make you stay with me? Huh? Ruby, tell me. Please…”
“…….”
I sobbed with my face buried in my hands. Despite clamping my mouth shut, the sobs kept flowing.
“Tell me, Ruby. Please….”
Then Eleanor’s voice echoed in my mind.
– You have only one minute left.
Suddenly, my mind went cold.
I lowered my tear-soaked hands.
There was no more time to delay.
“Now go, Clyde. The time-stopping spell will be released soon.”
“…Ruby.”
Clyde looked at me with trembling eyes.
I smiled sadly and self-deprecatingly. Just like he had just moments before.
“If you’re willing to sacrifice everyone here for the sake of taking me with you, I won’t be able to stop you. But understand, if you do that, I will undoubtedly shatter. Even if I survive, it won’t be living. I’ll be nothing more than a broken, hollow shell haunted by the fact that my family died because of me, and I couldn’t prevent it. If you’re okay with that… do as you wish.”
“…….”
Expression drained from Clyde’s face, leaving behind a blank and emotionless mask.
He slowly pulled himself up.
“Clyde, please. Don’t get caught. I promise I’ll find a way to see you again. So…”
“When? How would you know where I’ll be?”
Clyde’s voice was chillingly cold. I managed to speak, fighting the sinking feeling in my chest.
“…If you have the necklace I gave you, I can find you no matter where you are, so when things get better, I will definitely…”
“What? You’re going to make another promise with your pinky finger?”
“…Clyde….”
I couldn’t help but cry. Tears streamed down my face.
“I won’t believe your promises ever again. Never.”
“…….”
Clyde pulled the hood of his cloak over his head, turned, and left the chamber where the artifact was.
After he disappeared, I collapsed onto the ground, feeling drained.
~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~
Clyde ran out of the cave. It was pitch black. A normal person wouldn’t be able to see a thing in this darkness.
Clyde, without bothering to wipe away his tears, let the wind carry them away.
His refusal to believe Ruby’s promises wasn’t just a fit of anger; it was a genuine decision.
He would no longer blindly trust Ruby’s words and wait, as he had done before.
The next time they met, it would be on his terms, and come what may, he wouldn’t let her go again.
━━━━⊱⋆⊰━━━━
Shortly after Clyde left the room, the time-stopping spell was broken.
Simultaneously, the restraints on the members of the expedition were lifted.
People looked around with bewildered expressions.
“What just happened? Where is he? Where did he go, Eila?”
My father’s words pierced through. I summoned every ounce of strength left in my shaky legs to force myself to stand.
“Please don’t pursue him, Father.”
“Eila.”
“I’m begging you. Clyde had no intention of harming anyone. He came all this way because he was worried about me, and he didn’t hurt a single person here. Please, Father.”
“…….”
My father looked at me with a mixture of emotions in his eyes.
“Please, I’m begging you.”
For a moment, everything went dark.
“Eila!”
I lost consciousness and collapsed into my father’s arms.
━━━━⊱⋆⊰━━━━
My father used his authority to remove me from the expedition and bring me to the capital, Trachen.
According to what I later heard from Cecil, Caden Colliwood strongly argued that I should be brought to trial for conspiring with demons. It was my father who prevented that from happening.
「Eila was merely ensnared by that half-demon’s magic. I will return to the capital, Trachen, immediately and do everything in my power to lift the enchantment on her. Identifying the true culprits can wait until after that.」
Upon hearing my father’s words, Caden’s face visibly crumpled.
「Yes? No, even though she’s the daughter of the head of the magic department, allowing this to slide like that—」
「Deputy Head Coliwood, do you question my judgment as well?」
My father’s voice was as cold and unyielding as the perennial snow of the northern mountains.
Marquis Colliwood calmly responded,
「No, sir. If it’s true that Miss Eila was ensnared by an enchantment spell, I believe it’s a fair course of action.」
「Thank you. I will handle my daughter’s situation personally. As for your son, you will oversee him.」
「…Yes, Sir.」
That was intense!!!! AAAAAAA
TY for the translation!