You are at the End of the Downfall

What is regression? Does it mean turning back time?

Anyway, her husband came back by turning back time. He’s the same person who mistreated her for four years, then confined her in a tower and cut off her food.

So Kaela’s fate was as good as sealed. He would doubt her anyway, and their relationship was already over. Even if she put herself in his shoes, if Kaela were Peon, there would be no reason to trust her.

But why?

‘Has his acting improved?’

Is that why he’s been patient until now, acting completely differently from before the regression? Kaela recalled the last time she saw Peon.

His face, turning pale, was full of shock and denial. After denying it, what eventually spread was fear. The fear that it couldn’t be true. If that was acting, Peon was an excellent actor.

That stoic man, acting?

A crumpled malice that made her want to scratch with her nails stirred. Knowing it was nonsense, she still denied that Peon could be sincere.

If he’s genuinely sorry now, what does that mean? Does everything disappear if he’s sorry? Does it make things okay? She wasn’t okay at all.

She had given up on everything. She wanted nothing. But when the man holding Kaela’s leash showed such a weak side and cried out, when he acted as if he were out of his mind, even the fragile her instinctively knew this was her chance.

Now she could hurt him. Not as much as she had been hurt, but she could inflict some pain, if only for a moment. So she did it. She blurted out the secret she had been keeping like a knife.

“I was pregnant.”

A child. A being too small and faint to even call a child. But not knowing what else to call it, she just called it a child like others do.

She realized it too late, had no strength to care for it, and had nothing to give, so it quietly left the world with her. It’s strange. She came back, and Peon came back, so why didn’t the child come back?

There was a time when she wanted to have a child. Her father had passed away, and her husband was another woman’s man, so she, being alone, wanted to have a family. It was a very selfish thought.

Would a child want a mother like her? It would be better to sleep quietly than to come back to such a scary mother who would choose death without hesitation even now.

In fact, that’s about all she thought about the child.

Back then, she tried to let someone know about the child somehow, but realizing there was no one guarding outside or coming to visit, she couldn’t think more as she suffered from fear, resignation, and pain. There was no future to picture with the child anyway.

After the regression, she easily forgot about it, being busy with shock, adaptation, and endurance. Some say they keep it in their hearts forever, but maybe she’s just not good enough for that.

To use it only to hurt Peon. It’s better that the child didn’t come back. By the way, did that man get hurt? Kaela let go of these meager thoughts and bowed her head deeply.

‘He must have been surprised.’

Peon stuttered at that time, shaking his head.

“I can’t… kill… you…”

He denied it. With wide eyes, he shook his head with an expression full of astonishment and shock.

“Why?”

Kaela tilted her head.

“You said it didn’t matter whether I lived or died.”

His expression changed in an instant. For some reason, Kaela thought Peon’s expression at that moment looked like he was about to burst into tears. Like a child who had made a huge mistake and didn’t know what to do, he looked like he was about to cry.

“I did?”

She nodded her head kindly.

“Yes.”

Seeing his bloodshot purple eyes changing again, she was certain he remembered. Though Kaela didn’t know, the dragon’s memories were cruel.

They became so vivid that they instantly recalled the exact memories he had forgotten. He remembered when he was suppressed, unable to use any inherited abilities, couldn’t distinguish anything, and easily fell victim to dark magic, remaining human forever.

[Your Highness. You are a person of no significance to me.]

It would have been better not to remember that voice, mixed with sighs and irritation.

[Does the life of a passing insect have any meaning? It’s just unpleasant. So whether you live or die, you won’t attract my attention, so don’t bother with useless acts.]

Why did he hear such words then? Ah, right. It was when the Grand Duchess, unable to adapt to Lusenford, finally went out to perform her duties after recovering from a serious illness, and got injured. He said similar things when she broke her leg.

The more Kaela tried, the harsher Peon’s words became. When you keep saying something, it becomes a habit, or it becomes the truth. That’s how Kaela became a passing insect.

“Then since it’s a meaningless death, isn’t it easy?”

Weren’t you so moral and righteous? Kaela unknowingly jabbed at Peon with parting lips.

“It’s easier for you to kill than to save, isn’t it?”

She clawed and hit. She hated this man who only now, after she had died once, prostrated himself in apology and said he would accept any punishment. She hated him so much she wanted to hurt him just the same.

“You just need to make one meaningless cut with your sword. You’re good at that, aren’t you?”

He would have turned away and forgotten. He would have abandoned her in the tower, turned away, and completely forgotten. What’s so difficult about that? Isn’t Lusenford, which is hell for her, pleasant for him? If he can’t trust her anyway, why not punish her early and be done with it?

‘Why won’t you kill me?’

He’s a cruel person. Is he saying to suffer as much as possible before dying?

The man who had been shaking his head several times and backing away as if he was sincerely sorry to Kaela and couldn’t possibly do such a thing, disappeared without a trace. As if fainting, he fell forward and evaporated.

Although quite surprised, she thought that if regression was possible, perhaps people suddenly disappearing could happen too.

It might be troublesome later if the people of Lusenford interrogate her about the Grand Duke’s whereabouts. But thinking that everyone would end up hating and despising Kaela anyway, and that death was the ultimate end, even the troublesome thoughts disappeared.

This was just the kind of relationship Peon and Kaela had. Too much had happened for any affection to grow, and it was a relationship where only one person had fallen to the bottom. Peon might have his circumstances and reasons, but that wasn’t Kaela’s concern.

At one point, she had harbored the utterly ordinary hope that things might be different if this was a new Peon, a new world.

Why did she briefly hope in Peon? She knew it would end up the same, and she was prepared for death even then.

She wrapped herself tightly in the blanket and curled up. Peon had always surrounded her with maids and knights to prevent her from doing anything rash. And then he disappeared, refusing to kill her.

‘It’s just a waste of time anyway.’

It was the inefficient act that Peon so despised.

He would eventually kill Kaela anyway, so why struggle so hard not to do it? Since the regression, his eyes had never been covered in black. Was that why? What was that blackness? Dark magic? No, it wasn’t Kaela’s business to know.

What did Peon’s circumstances matter to her? Kaela tried to stop repeating the same thoughts over and over as she closed her eyes.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

The sound of metal striking metal rang out. Kaela frowned. As the Grand Duchess, she knew well what that sound meant. A trumpet sound would follow.

Bwoooong!

Yes, like that. It was the common battle alert in Lusenford.

When foreign tribes infiltrated nearby or the minions of the evil dragon ran amok, they would ring bells, beat drums, and blow trumpets to signal the knights to immediately engage in battle and civilians to evacuate.

It hadn’t been long since the foreign tribes invaded, so this time it must be the evil dragon Gusalante. It made sense, given that the dragon’s territory wasn’t far from Lusenford.

Regardless, it would be better for the Grand Duchess to stay hidden in her room. Kaela remained motionless with her eyes tightly shut. No one would come looking for her anyway.

“Your Highness! Your Highness!”

No, there was someone. Knocking on the bedroom door, Sir Renard desperately called for Kaela.

“Your Highness, it’s Renard! I’m sorry, but it’s an emergency!”

Cecile, who had been with Kaela due to the Grand Duke’s orders, glanced at the pile of blankets covering Kaela before getting up.

Unlike Kaela, Cecile knew nothing about Lusenford and was startled by the loud bell and trumpet sounds still ringing. She needed to find out what was happening.

“Cecile. Hand me my shawl over there.”

But after a very loud sigh was heard from under the blanket, Kaela emerged, wriggling out. She roughly combed her messy hair with her hand while reaching out to Cecile. Cecile quickly draped the shawl over her shoulders.

“Tell Sir Renard to come in.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

As soon as the door opened, Sir Renard hurriedly entered and bowed.

“Your Highness, the evil dragon is on the move. It’s causing a great disturbance, but we don’t know where His Highness the Grand Duke is.”

It was a serious situation without a commander. Sir Renard looked at Kaela with a questioning expression, catching his breath.

“Is Sir Wilberk in command?”

“Yes, Your Highness. But it’s only temporary. You know how it is.”

Sir Renard couldn’t hide his troubled expression. In the Grand Duke’s absence, the Grand Duchess held all authority. Even if the Grand Duchess was recovering after a major incident, she still had to make all the decisions.

Could the Grand Duchess, who knew nothing about war, handle this situation?

“Has the battle started?”

“Not yet. But it will soon.”

“Are you searching for His Highness the Grand Duke?”

“We’re searching discreetly, but several people haven’t seen him since last night…”

Sir Renard, Sir Wilberk, and Secretary Regen had just confirmed this morning that only the Grand Duchess was in the Grand Duke’s bedroom and were starting to look for the Grand Duke.

“Guide me to the tower.”

“Are you going personally?”

Kaela sighed. It was obvious what she had to do.

“Someone has to be there until His Highness arrives.”

Perhaps in this life, she might die in war. Anyway, she had to force her heavy body to move. Sir Renard looked very anxiously at the Grand Duchess who had just barely woken up after sleeping like the dead for a month.

“I should go.”

He finally closed his eyes tightly.

“Then it would be better if you changed your clothes.”

“Alright.”

She put on the clothes Cecile hastily provided and left with Sir Renard’s escort.

Working until the brink of death was as natural as breathing, so Kaela didn’t dare think of shirking her duties to others because she was tired or in pain. She had to work no matter how broken her body was.

“I didn’t expect you to come looking for me.”

“Isn’t it the law that I should come to Your Highness if the Grand Duke is not present?”

That was true, but the Sir Renard that Kaela remembered was someone who showed anger beyond contempt towards her.

He had been furious at how she could betray His Highness the Grand Duke. It was quite interesting and surprising that he now came to Kaela as if it were natural, even in this situation.

As they approached the tower, the sound of bells and trumpets grew louder. The soldiers were taken aback to see the fragile Grand Duchess instead of the familiar Grand Duke, but Kaela silently climbed up the castle walls.

If it was something that needed to be done, it just had to be done. She was used to receiving looks that questioned, ‘Why are you here?’, so it didn’t matter.

Boom!

Lightning and thunder were striking furiously in the blackened northeastern sky.

“That’s the evil dragon’s territory.”

Kaela knew that too. She tried to recall her memories.

‘I don’t think this has ever happened before…’

Usually, monsters would spring out, or spirits would advance to this point. That’s all Kaela knew. The Grand Duchess was never supposed to be involved in matters of war.

Anyway, as far as she knew, there should have been an attack by now.

Just by looking at the anxious expressions of the knights preparing for an attack, she could tell they were thinking the same thing. But instead of an attack, only an eerie sound like a dragon’s wail could be heard from afar.

The forests and mountains covering the evil dragon’s territory shook. Lightning struck and thunder roared incessantly, tearing the sky apart.

“Now it’s really going berserk.”

Sir Renard barely muttered, his face pale. No, it wasn’t rampaging, that was the sound of wailing in agony. It was the sound of crying as if the heart was being wrung out, sobbing and gasping as if the liver was melting.

“Your Highness, you should go inside. We’ve never seen anything like this before.”

This won’t do. Sir Renard had a duty to protect the Grand Duchess. In her current state, she didn’t seem capable of handling this situation.

If a knight said so, the Grand Duchess, who knew nothing about combat, should naturally obey, but Kaela first lowered her voice and asked,

“What about the search for His Highness the Grand Duke?”

“Still no news. But what’s worrying is that His Highness often patrols that area alone…”

He was worried that Peon might have been caught up in it. Kaela, who knew well how Peon had disappeared, unconsciously bit her lip and looked towards the border of the evil dragon’s territory where Peon was said to patrol.

“Anyway, please go inside, Your Highness. I’ll look for His Highness the Grand Duke myself.”

The evil dragon was crying. Kaela felt as if that crying sound was somehow grabbing her and pulling her out. As if it was capturing her and dragging her somewhere, it kept catching in her ears, her heart, her whole body, and pulling.

“…Alright.”

Kaela nodded and went back down from the castle wall. Although the distant, piercing cry of the evil dragon sounded like mere madness invoking fear to others, even if it sounded special only to her ears, there was nothing she could do.

Life was already overwhelming, should she go comfort the evil dragon too? What if her intuition or feeling was wrong? Would she be crushed to death by the dragon? Or burned to death by its hot flames?

Sir Renard quickly escorted Kaela to the castle entrance, then excused himself and ran back to the castle wall. He couldn’t leave his post either in Peon’s absence. It was the first time Peon had neglected his duties since becoming the Grand Duke of Lusenford.

“Oh my, how frightening.”

Even the castle staff shuddered and hid. In the middle of the empty castle hall, Kaela alone heard the dragon’s wailing. It was a sound that struck the bones and shattered the heart. It was begging to be heard.

‘Ah… really.’

That’s why I asked to be killed quickly. Kaela had to fulfill her duty in place of her absent husband. She sighed and turned her body, which was barely recovering.