IPUAVNP Chapter 124

Episode 124

 

Kyle wasn’t the only one who was a wreck.

Brody, who had spent the entire night curled up on her bed without a wink of sleep, had swollen eyes from crying too much. Her split lips were now dried and caked with blood.

She sat there in a daze until the morning sun poured through the window, her gaze fixed on the door of the cabin in front of her.

Kyle hadn’t returned. She had no idea where he had gone.

“…”

Brody thought it was all over—pretending to love him, that cursed goal of trying to seduce him for her mission.

“…Ha.”

A bitter laugh escaped her lips.

No, looking back, it wasn’t even pretending to love him.

Brody realized it when she had screamed and sobbed at Kyle yesterday.

‘I love him.’

That’s why she had been so hurt and in pain.

As she let out all her pent-up emotions, swept away by them, she couldn’t deny the truth staring back at her.

But that only made her heart shatter further.

‘It’s not true. I don’t love anyone else. You’re the only one for me.’

…Was he being sincere?

Even so, Brody’s tired eyes reflected nothing but exhaustion as she thought of him.

She wanted to believe it was genuine.

But deep down, she convinced herself it was just Kyle being caught up in his own emotions.

After all, wasn’t this the same man who had visited Zelda alone just days ago, the one who had reacted so coldly when asked if he liked her?

As the thoughts resurfaced, a rush of heat stung her eyes.

Brody pressed her fingers against her eyelids with a resigned calm.

‘Loving him was my mistake.’

If she had only stayed focused on her original goal—to change his heart, to save him—none of this would have happened.

Everything fell apart because she had fallen for him.

Exhausted from her own self-blame, she suddenly heard a knock at the door.

Her body tensed. Could it be Kyle?

But she quickly realized Kyle would never bother to knock.

She slumped her shoulders, just as the voice of the visitor reached her ears.

“Miss Brody, are you there?”

Brody straightened up.

It was Zelda’s voice.

‘Why is Zelda here…?’

Surprised by the unexpected visit, Brody quickly collected herself.

If Zelda was looking for her and not Kyle, it meant Kyle wasn’t nearby.

Brody thought fast. If she didn’t take this chance, Kyle might lock her up here forever.

There was no way she intended to live the rest of her life imprisoned in this cabin.

With her decision made, Brody stood up.

Now that Zelda was here, she had to use the opportunity to escape.

 

***

 

Zelda had come to the cabin at Eliza’s suggestion.

The night before, Zelda had approached Eliza, asking if she could meet Brody personally.

Though she didn’t want to worry the leader and his wife, she had overheard the Oswald brothers mention that there had been trouble between Kyle and Brody.

Zelda had something she wanted to tell Brody, so she decided to visit her directly.

Taking advantage of Eliza’s arrangement to temporarily call Kyle away, Zelda arrived at the locked cabin door.

‘It seemed Kyle had locked it before leaving.’

Zelda knocked again, but before her hand could land, a scream erupted from inside.

“Kyaaah!”

“!”

It was Brody’s voice.

Zelda grabbed the doorknob, her heart racing, and yanked with all her strength.

The locked door gave way with a crash, the hinges breaking off along with the lock.

But the moment the door swung open, Brody was nowhere to be seen. Instead, a small, white furball darted out, slipping between Zelda’s legs and bolting outside.

“Miss Brody!”

Zelda called after her, but Brody didn’t look back, sprinting away in a panic.

In her frantic rush, she tripped over a branch and tumbled unceremoniously to the ground.

“Ah!”

Brody’s small body rolled across the dirt, and just as she struggled to get up, Zelda caught up and scooped her into her arms.

“Let me go! I said, let me go!”

Brody thrashed wildly, but Zelda held her tight and walked toward a nearby tree stump.

Sitting down, she placed the struggling rabbit on her lap, firmly holding her in place.

Zelda calmly brushed the leaves and dust off Brody’s fur as her soothing touch gradually quieted Brody’s outburst.

“Are you hurt anywhere?”

Still panting, Brody glared at her and spat out firmly,

“Let me go. I have to leave this place.”

Zelda, hearing her words, realized the rumors about trouble between Kyle and Brody were true.

But for it to have escalated to the point where Brody felt she had to leave…

Lacking the words to respond, Zelda hesitated before finally speaking.

“I know it’s not my place, but… do you really have to go? Kyle loves you very much.”

Brody let out a bitter laugh at that.

Hearing such words from the person Kyle truly loved left her with a strange feeling.

Looking up at Zelda, who seemed to genuinely believe what she was saying, Brody spoke impulsively, her twisted emotions getting the better of her.

“Zelda, the truth is, Kyle loves you. A lot.”

Zelda didn’t look surprised. She simply gazed at Brody with a quiet smile, her expression slightly awkward.

Then she said softly,

“Miss Brody, Kyle has never loved me. Not even once.”

Zelda’s blue eyes shone with a clear light, as if conveying the truth.

“Don’t women just know?”

“Whether a man truly loves them or not, you can tell just by looking into his eyes. But he’s never once looked at me with the eyes of love.”

At the mention of ‘eyes filled with love,’ Brody unconsciously recalled the way Kyle had once looked at her.

Those warm eyes that she’d mistaken for love.

“But it was different when he looked at you,” Zelda continued.

“His eyes showed warmth only when they were on you.”

At some point, Zelda’s hand had started gently stroking Brody’s fur.

It was a habitual motion, done without realizing it, but strangely, Brody found comfort in it and didn’t resist.

As she continued to stroke Brody softly, Zelda spoke again.

“Kyle and I were bound together out of obligation. At the banquet not long ago, Kyle told me, ‘We were never anything.’”

Brody’s body stiffened at those words. She lifted her head to look at Zelda.

Was that what they were talking about in the garden back then?

Brody’s skeptical eyes searched Zelda’s expression, but Zelda simply smiled at her, as if understanding the doubt in her gaze.

“He kept a stiff face the entire time we talked, but the moment your name came up, his expression softened into such a warm smile. If you had seen that smile, you’d never be able to say he loved me. That smile… was full of love for you.”

Brody’s eyes wavered, her tiny body frozen as her heart pounded loudly in her chest.

‘The smile I thought was for Zelda… was really for me?’

She couldn’t believe it.

“But,” Zelda continued,

“it seemed like Kyle himself didn’t fully understand the depth of his feelings for you. That’s why he probably hasn’t expressed it clearly to you. So I came here, even if it’s not my place, to tell you myself. Kyle really loves you.”

That was the reason Zelda had come to see Brody in person.

Finishing her story, Zelda gently set Brody down on the ground, as if to say she respected her decision, whether she stayed or left.

But Brody, after hearing Zelda’s words, couldn’t do anything. She could only look up at Zelda with a shocked expression.

Even after Zelda left, Brody remained seated in the same spot, dazed.

‘Kyle loves me…’

Brody’s eyes glazed over as she replayed Zelda’s words in her mind.

‘At the banquet, Kyle told me, ‘We were never anything.’’

If he had said that directly to Zelda, it meant he had sorted out his feelings.

And more than that… the smile she had seen that day had been directed at her?

‘Then why… why did he react the way he did when I asked if he liked me that night?’

Confusion swirled in her mind, but Zelda’s voice rang again in her memory.

‘Kyle doesn’t fully realize how deeply he cares for you.’

If Zelda was right, then Kyle’s actions—locking her up here—might have been because he was afraid she’d leave him.

Was his anger last night not from hatred, but from fear and hurt?

‘Right now, I don’t love anyone else. You’re the only one for me.’

As Brody recalled Kyle’s desperate words from the night before, her heart pounded harder in her chest.

The actions she had believed were rooted in his love for Zelda… were all misunderstandings?

Her chest grew warm at the thought, and Brody trembled, unable to steady herself.

It was then that she heard a faint rustling sound nearby.

At first, it seemed like nothing more than the wind brushing through the bushes. But her instincts picked up on something unusual, and her senses sharpened.

Brody quickly scanned her surroundings, and soon, she noticed movement in a distant bush.

Something was there. And it wasn’t just one.

They were hiding, which meant they weren’t friendly.

Brody’s instincts screamed at her to run.

Realizing the danger, she slowly backed away before turning and bolting in the opposite direction.

But she didn’t get far—less than 100 meters when…

A small needle shot through the air, piercing the back of her neck with a sharp thud.

“Ah!”

Brody let out a pained groan as a sharp sensation dug into her nape. But even through the pain, she pushed herself to keep running, desperately trying to reach the safety of the dense forest ahead.

However, just a few steps later, she felt the paralysis creeping down her spine from the point of impact.

Her body stiffened, and she collapsed to the ground with a thud.

‘No…’

As her vision blurred, Brody struggled with all her might to move, but her strength failed her.

Moments later, her consciousness faded into darkness.