No More Regrets, Just K*ll Me

 

Ariadeline opened the door first, and Pierne followed behind her. The atmosphere in the general store was quite cold. It oddly seemed to have a low temperature.

Most of the items on display were strange things that seemed to be used for some kind of sorcery.

Pierne thought it was ominous, but Ariadeline’s eyes sparkled with interest. Could it be that she is acting this way because she knows how to use black magic?

“Welcome, cough, cough. Welcome.”

The owner of the general store was an elderly woman.

“Hello! We came to browse the items.”

“Please, feel free to look around over there.”

Ariadeline began to examine the displayed items one by one. Necklaces made from what looked like bones. Decorations resembling human fingernails. Even a strange object that formed bizarre patterns and was fixed in a circular shape.

Despite their unsettling appearance, Ariadeline seemed fascinated by them, and she soon reached for a small dagger placed on a red cloth.

“What’s this?”

The dagger, about the length of an adult male forearm, was surrounded by a crude leather sheath with no decorations.

Ariadeline pulled it out, and to her surprise, the blade was quite sharp.

“Wow, the blade is sparkling!”

Ariadeline seemed to like the dagger and looked at Pierne as she spoke.

“Do you really need to buy it?”

“Hmm, I don’t really need to, but I would like to have a special souvenir.”

She smiled brightly. After all, she had probably never even held a sword handle in her life, so it must be fascinating for her.

The elderly woman from the general store interjected between the two.

“That item dates back to my mother’s mother, and even further back.”

“Really? It’s that old? If it’s such an unsellable item, it wouldn’t be strange to throw it away.”

“It’s not that it’s never been sold.”

The old woman shared quite a mysterious story.

“It’s been sold many times, but it always finds its way back to our shop. As if it belongs here.”

At those words, Ariadeline’s eyes sparkled. Although Pierne didn’t know what she was thinking, it seemed she liked the story.

Pierne sighed inwardly. Such stories are often just sales tactics. But given that Ariadeline had never been to such a place before, she might easily fall for them.

“So if I buy this here and leave, will the dagger eventually come back?”

“There’s a high chance.”

“Hmm, in that case.”

Ariadeline glanced at Pierne. Seeing her look at him, he sighed and pulled out a pouch of coins.

“Hoho, thank you.”

The old woman took a few coins, and Ariadeline left the store holding the sheath tightly with both hands.

“Do you like it?”

“Yes! Doesn’t it look like a cursed doll?”

“What’s a cursed doll?”

“Ah, I guess you wouldn’t know. It’s something like a doll that keeps coming back no matter how many times you throw it away.”

“……Is that related to black magic?”

“Sadly, no.”

Ariadeline and Pierne returned to their lodging. Pierne headed to the lower floor, where his comrades were staying, while Ariadeline went to the top floor, where the Duke was.

At that moment, he thought that he and Ariadeline would likely never cross paths again.

“Pierne! You’re on guard duty in front of the Duke’s room tonight!”

Pierne looked up.

“I don’t think it was supposed to be me.”

The knight who delivered the message scratched his head and said, apologetically,

“Mars, who was supposed to be on duty today, got drunk and passed out in broad daylight.”

“Damn Mars.”

“I’ll swap you with Mars when it’s your turn next time, so please cover for him tonight.”

Pierne nodded. As he did so, the knight who had asked him for the favor questioned him.

“But the Duke has always forbidden anyone from approaching his room, hasn’t he?”

“That’s true.”

“And the same goes for the outside, too.”

“Right.”

“So why, this time, is he asking for someone to stand guard?”

The answer came easily.

“It must be because of Ariadeline.”

“Does the Duke really think that much of Ariadeline?”

The knight spoke with displeasure. When the knights talked among themselves, they didn’t even attach an honorific to Ariadeline’s name. That showed just how much discontent they had toward her.

Pierne found that oddly unsettling. After all, he had only recently agreed with their sentiments.

“Miss Ariadeline is delicate, after all.”

“Uh, what?”

His words surprised the knight.

“Hey, did you get cursed by black magic after going outside with Ariadeline during the day?”

The knight laughed jokingly.

“She must have been pretty, if you’re calling her ‘miss.'”

“Shut up.”

Pierne waved his hand to dismiss the knight, feeling that continuing the conversation would only worsen his mood. The knight, realizing it was just a joke, didn’t press further and left the room.

‘Guard duty, huh.’

Indeed, if a woman was involved, such things could happen, and that’s probably why a guard was assigned.

Pierne suddenly felt a blasphemous thought cross his mind and briefly stiffened his face. After all, the two of them had been married before. It wouldn’t be strange if something happened now.

Not wanting to harbor impure thoughts about his lord, he stopped thinking and quickly finished preparing for his guard duty.

Thus, evening arrived.

“The duke is in his room with Ariadeline.”

“Got it.”

“Ignore any sounds that come from there.”

One of the knights chuckled. Pierne stood up and slapped the knight’s face.

Thud!

Other knights jumped up in surprise. However, Pierne only warned the knight with a stern face.

“It’s best not to have any blasphemous thoughts about the Duke.”

The knight who had been hit sat down on the floor, rubbing his cheek.

“Okay, okay. I went too far.”

No matter what anyone said, everyone’s loyalty to the Duke was the same, so no one criticized Pierne.

He climbed the stairs and reached the Duke’s room. With his hands behind his back, he began to stand guard at the door.

He was quietly planning to spend the night there. If it weren’t for the sounds coming from inside, it would have been a peaceful night.

Time passed, and it grew late. Pierne remained alert, eyes wide open, scanning his surroundings without a hint of drowsiness.

Even though the path to the tourist area in a bustling town had a low chance of trouble, he was diligently performing his duties.

Fortunately, everything was quiet. It seemed that everyone in the inn was asleep. The hallway was dark to the point of being eerie, and there was no sign of movement.

Thud!

But at that moment, a loud noise from inside the duke’s room reached the door. It was so loud that it could be heard from outside.

Pierne sharpened his senses and knocked on the Duke’s door.

“Duke, is everything alright?”

A response came immediately.

“There’s nothing wrong!”

The duke’s voice was slightly out of breath. Pierne took a moment to gather his thoughts, which were wandering into impure territory, and turned his back to the door to continue his watch.

“Ahh—!”

But the moment he heard a scream from inside, Pierne froze in place.

It was unmistakably Ariadeline’s scream.

Ugh, ah. Carlothian.

The continuing cries sounded like screams and didn’t seem to end. Though muffled by the thick walls and door of the inn, Pierne could clearly hear it since he was standing close by.

With wide eyes, Pierne turned to look at the door again. Just then, he heard Ariadeline’s soft voice once more.

I love you; please love me.

The desperate voice reached him from beyond the door. But that voice was not a whisper of affection to a loved one.

Rather, it was a cry. A scream. It was more than just a pleading; it was desperate, like a final gasp.

In the end, Pierne opened the door without permission.

Bang!

“Get out—!”

As soon as he opened the door, Carlothian’s shout echoed.

But Pierne couldn’t hear his command. He saw Ariadeline pinned beneath Carlothian’s large body.

The duke’s large hand was covering her mouth. Ariadeline’s slender fingers dug into the duke’s shoulder with her nails. Her eyes were filled with tears, enough to drench her face.

Pierne was frozen in shock at a scene he had never imagined.

When he didn’t move, Carlothian growled immediately.

“Get out right now—!”

His face was filled with rage, contrasting sharply with Ariadeline’s tear-streaked face. The Duke’s furious gaze felt like it could pierce through Pierne.

“What the hell…”

Pierne opened his mouth, but Carlothian cut him off.

“Shut up and leave. And don’t tell anyone about what you’ve seen tonight.”

His dark eyes gleamed ominously. As his knight, Pierne couldn’t defy such repeated orders.

He stepped back, feeling the pressure of Carlothian’s murderous intent. Trembling, he closed the door with shaking hands.

“Ha.”

Only then did Pierne realize he had been holding his breath. He exhaled and collapsed to his knees in front of the door.

‘What? What did I just see?’

His mind was a chaotic mess. Ariadeline, crying with her mouth covered. A plea that was almost a scream. Carlothian Denaves, exuding a menacing aura while pinning her down.

Pierne’s thoughts were a tangled mess.

He looked up at the door once more. He was the Duke’s knight. He had always been proud of that fact. However, the scene he had witnessed was shaking him to his core.