Marquis of Marron

 

 

As I dragged the fallen man back to the castle, Bellflower left the farm and came running in surprise.

 

“Are you crazy? Why would you pick up a dead body?”

 

“He’s not dead yet.”

 

Although he looked like he was about to die,

 

Bellflower dusted the dirt off his hands and looked at the man from top to bottom.

 

“He’s covered in dark energy. If you had found him a little later, he’d be wandering around as dead as the rest of the bodies out there. By the way, isn’t it great? Normally, when humans come here, they lose their senses within a day….”

 

“That’s because he’s the main character.”

 

“What?”

 

“He is an unfortunate character in the original story who wakes up here as a half-human, half-demon, unable to live or die. Eventually, he commits suicide after hovering around the female lead.”

 

“Don’t say that crazy thing.”

 

Bellflower scolded me in a stern voice.

 

“You are both human. He’s not completely corrupted. If you purify him now, he’ll wake up in no time, so do something quick. Are you going to leave him like this?”

 

Actually, that was the problem.

 

This man is here to kill me.

 

In the novel “I think it’s okay to have multiple husbands,” Hailey, a demon maker, was abandoned at Marron Castle and cursed the world for a year before dying at the hands of this man.

 

Her death was the last key to the appearance of the demons, and Marron Castle later served as the cradle of the demons.

 

Demons born from consuming Hailey’s anger, sadness, and fear burst out of the contaminated zone, engaging in all sorts of atrocities. The main character and the four male leads who love her risk their lives to exterminate them.

 

…That’s the story.

 

He is one of the four male leads in the original story.

 

I know this man’s name.

 

Reikart Winter.

 

Heir to the family I destroyed.

 

Speaking for me as I fell silent and lost in thought, Bellflower flipped Reikart’s eyelids.

 

“What’s wrong with you? Are you really going to leave him like this? Then why the hell did you bring him here?”

 

“I’m thinking.”

 

In the novel, he originally had pale golden hair. His closed eyes must have been a light blue, like a frozen lake. He’s such a handsome man; even in his contaminated state, it would be amazing to see him back to normal.

 

Although right now he is half dying and turning dark,

 

“Ah, so that’s why he wears a mask all the time.”

 

“Hailey!”

 

“All right, all right! I can’t say anything!”

 

Should I purify him? In the original, he’s supposed to wake up after absorbing dark energy and become a half-human and half-demon with tons of power, but… what do I know?

 

The demons won’t appear, and I’m not the heroine, not even the real Hailey.

 

I’ll let you live.

 

The reason for letting him live, even though he came all the way here to kill me, was actually not that significant.

 

Because he was the victim.

 

Reikart was the only pure victim of the four male leads. Only he had the right to hate Hailey. He’d lost everything—family, property, and people—and now he dedicated himself to revenge.

 

Hailey, I’ll settle this for you.

 

I’ll help him just this once and send him back outside quickly. I don’t care how pitiful he is; I don’t want to get involved with the main characters of the original story.

 

“Purify.”

 

I put my hand on Reikart’s neck and took a deep breath. The mass of dark energy that had taken over his body seeped into me.

 

The black, heavy energy flowed out of his body, into my palm, up my arm, and into my heart. As it did, his face regained its original color.

 

His cement-colored skin was now clean and healthy, and his hair, which had been dyed a mottled ash color, was a pale gold.

 

Bellflower asked.

 

“What is this human’s name?”

 

“Reikart Winter.”

 

“How do you know?”

 

“I have a way of knowing.”

 

Reikart had a fair amount of dark energy in him. It was a wonder he wasn’t dead by now, as Bellflower had said.

 

It took me quite a while to purify. My heart, saturated with dark energy, pulsated pleasantly.

 

At that moment, he opened his eyes.

 

“……!”

 

His watery pupils fluttered wide.

 

I was worried that Reikart, who just woke up, was going to brandish his sword in an attempt to kill me, but thankfully that didn’t happen.

 

He looked confused and silent.

 

I said sternly.

 

“I am your benefactor.”

 

In the original story, after killing Hailey in the contaminated land, Reikart, who became a half-human, half-demon, forgot all his memories.

 

With no recollection of his human identity, he falls into greater confusion, not knowing whether he is human or a demon. The male lead, exuding a pitiful and tragic aura, becomes entangled in this state of chaos.

 

According to the original storyline, he should currently remember nothing.

 

Not even the fact that Hailey is his nemesis!

 

Reikart stared at me unblinking, his gaze fixed on me and me alone.

 

His ice-cold, watery eyes scanned every inch of my face, my hands, and my attire.

 

He stared so intently that I thought my face would be pierced.

 

What is this? Some kind of imprint.

 

Like a baby bird hatching from an egg, it follows the first person they see, like a mother bird. Is that about it?

 

I endured the time as graciously as I could. I was hoping that Reikart would imprint me as a benefactor.

 

When he was done observing, he finally spoke.

 

“Who do you say you are?”

 

“Hailey.”

 

His eyebrows twitched subtly. I doubted whether he remembered, but there was no hint of hostility in his gaze fixed on me.

 

He opened his mouth again.

 

“Are you living here by any chance?”

 

“Yes, this is my home.”

 

It’s my home because it was ownerless when I came here, and I’ve purified it, cleaned it, and farmed it.

 

“You’re the one who cured me?”

 

“That’s what I’m saying.”

 

Amnesia, for sure!

 

I chuckle. At least I didn’t have to worry about Reikart killing me.

 

Hailey, we’re alive.

 

You owe it all to me.

 

Reikart was in agony; even if I had drained the dark energy from his body, his damaged body would not instantly recover.

 

Pushing himself up to his feet through the pain, he slowly looked around.

 

It was then that the bellflower in the field squealed.

 

“Miss Hailey, I’ve sprouted a potato!”

 

“Potatoes?”

 

What, potatoes? My potatoes!

 

Even though I know nothing about farming, I know that if he succeeds in growing potatoes, we will be freed from the chronic food shortage in this castle.

 

Astronauts lived on potatoes on Mars, so why can’t I?

 

I sprinted toward the potato patch. I didn’t care if the male lead had amnesia or not; right now, it was more important to me that there were potato sprouts in my field.

 

“It’s real! It’s sprouting!”

 

Tiny green leaves were poking through the soil, and I hadn’t even realized the potatoes had sprouted as I was distracted by the strawberries.

 

“When I thought we might starve to death after eating all the strawberries…”

 

Bellflower huffed and puffed, squatting down to nurture the potato sprouts. I, being no good at farming, wasn’t allowed to touch it. 

 

The potato sprouted, and then it leafed out….

 

“Ha, life….”

 

The sky was bursting with clouds.

 

It was a sudden spring rain. Rain that falls on a contaminated area turns into polluted rain, but inside the walls I had cleansed to the point where I got nosebleeds, it was clear rain.

 

I took off my hat, looked up, and felt moist raindrops on my face. Here, with no fine dust and no acid rain, even the rainwater was sweet.

 

“This world must be favoring me.”

 

“What?”

 

“Isn’t life so beautiful?”

 

“Don’t be ridiculous and think of a way to send that human man back or something quickly. There’s not enough food for the two of us to eat, let alone feed that big human man.”

 

“What? That’s not possible!”

 

I jumped up and shouted.

 

Reikart turned to look at me.

 

Brushing himself off, he stood in front of the towering castle of Marron and looked at me with an inscrutable face.