~Chapter 93~
‘She asked me to hold her?’
Ares felt his chest swell.
‘Finally…! She understands my true feelings!’
He pulled Camilla tightly into his arms.
The sword he had been holding fell with a splash onto the wet floor, but it didn’t matter.
Camilla’s body, cold from being wet so long, fit snugly in his arms.
Ares smelled the mix of water and herbs that was uniquely hers. It felt like his chest was swelling with emotion.
“Does this make you warmer?”
“……Yeah.”
Camilla shivered slightly.
‘Finally, Camilla… this damn girl is relying on me!’
“Ares, I… I was always lonely in the Mowin mansion.”
“Really?”
Ares stroked Camilla’s wet hair.
“But you always came to me first.”
Camilla reached out and caressed his cheek.
Ares felt his heart pound loudly. Thump… thump… the sound echoed across his whole body.
‘Could this be…!’
“……Ares.”
Camilla’s eyes were wet, looking at him with longing.
“Close your eyes.”
The desperate look in her eyes made him lose control.
He bent down and kissed her. Camilla’s hands ran along his neck.
Eyes closed, trembling with joy, they kissed.
At that moment, when he surrendered to the sensation…
Pluck!
A sharp sting ran down the back of his neck.
“—?!”
Camilla bit her lip and pushed him away.
“Tch!”
She spat onto the floor and wiped her lips, disgusted, stepping back.
“……You… what is this?!”
Ares’ eyes widened as he noticed the syringe in Camilla’s hand.
“What did you do to me?!”
“Fun, isn’t it? I don’t even know what was in the syringe I stuck into your neck. My mother gave it to me.”
“Hah?!”
Before pushing him away, she had grabbed his hands and slipped the syringe into his grip.
“But one thing I want to ask, Ares.”
Camilla’s dead black eyes whispered.
“After killing my mother, did you really want to kiss her daughter?”
“You… you…! You tricked me?!”
Ares, furious, reached out for her, but his arms felt stiff from the tips of his fingers.
Soon, he coughed up blood violently, struggling to breathe.
‘P-Poison! Poison! I’ve seen this somewhere…!’
“Don’t you understand why it’s wrong to be tricked by the one who killed my mother?”
Camilla smiled down at him as he collapsed.
“Ares. Thank you for pushing lonely me down the stairs.”
Ares wanted to speak, but pain overtook his body. He could only groan softly.
“When I was young, I was naive. If someone had been even slightly kind to me, I would have followed them, calling them ‘Brother, Brother.’”
Camilla laughed loudly, as if it was funny to think about.
“Luckily, you didn’t. You helped turn me into the Mowin witch, you worthless brat.”
“You… I even gave up being Glamis’ leader for you!”
“I never asked for that.”
Ares glared at her with bloodshot eyes, but his eyelids rolled back and his head collapsed.
Thunk!
Camilla looked down at the unmoving Ares.
The floor, mostly drained, had two bodies lying on it.
Camilla stared blankly, then took a step forward.
But she had to stop in front of Meisa.
“Ha… haha…!”
Meisa had the poison that could kill someone instantly.
Yet instead of using it on Camilla, she died and placed the poison in her hand.
“……Why?”
All her life, she had never acted as a proper mother.
‘Even if it doesn’t work on me, she didn’t try to hurt me.’
“Why did you do that?”
She asked softly, but the dead could not answer.
The Empress Dowager could return at any moment; she needed to leave fast.
“I hate you. Why did you leave me those words?”
—Live freely too.
And then die.
It made her furious.
“You never properly apologized.”
After handing her location to Kabul, the passing apology was not an apology at all.
At the same time, she hated herself for surviving and resenting the dead.
Camilla lifted her head, reaching for her vacant neck.
The Grand Duchess’ signet ring, taken by the Empress Dowager.
‘Dane.’
Camilla stared at the ceiling blankly.
‘I really don’t belong with him.’
She had helped kill the mother she met after eight years.
She had killed her own enemy with her hands.
‘A murderer.’
The self-loathing she thought she had forgotten crept back, all thanks to Dane’s touch.
Then, suddenly…
Bang!
“Camilla…!”
The door upstairs swung open.
Footsteps in perfect rhythm, a voice she had longed for so much.
Dane had finally arrived and stopped.
Camilla, soaked, bloodied, her dress ruined, stood among the corpses.
“Dane.”
She smiled at the sight of the man she had missed desperately.
In her mind, Yunmira’s voice echoed:
—See? Who would truly love someone like you!
‘Shocking, isn’t it?’
She had suggested falling into hell together. No wonder Yunmira could say such things.
“It was my mother and Ares.”
“……What?”
“They died because of me. But I don’t regret it.”
It was the best outcome Camilla could achieve.
But she still wanted to ask Dane, whom she hadn’t seen for years:
“Do you despise me for that?”
Meanwhile, Amelia leapt at Lux with her dagger.
Blood spurted.
“—Grand Duke!!!”
Romulus shouted, relaying the Emperor’s orders to the guards.
Dane’s hand, blocking Lux, was pierced by Amelia’s blade, spilling blood.
The guards quickly restrained Amelia.
Romulus helped Dane stop the bleeding.
“What are you doing, Lux! If you care for me, you shouldn’t save her even if it means killing that girl!”
Amelia screamed, but no one looked back at her.
“How dare you to the Grand Duke…!”
Meanwhile, Yujinia ground her teeth, late after taking out the Empress Dowager’s guards and chasing the fleeing Empress.
“Let go! I am the Empress Dowager! How dare you—!”
The Empress struggled but couldn’t escape Yujinia’s grip.
Thunk!
Dane glared at the Empress, thrown before him.
“Where is Camilla?”
“H-Huh! She must already be dead… ah!”
When Dane raised his bloodied, bandaged hand to wield his sword, the Empress panicked.
“Y-You cannot kill her!”
Yujinia was also shocked.
And just as chaos was about to erupt, Dane changed targets.
His cold eyes turned toward Lux, who seemed barely able to breathe.
“Finish what you were going to say.”
“……The fountain near the White Rose Palace… th-there’s an underground space… If you don’t believe me, I… I can guide you…”
Amelia screamed, but Lux obediently answered, adding that she should be spared.
“Stop his bleeding enough to move him forward immediately.”
“He doesn’t seem to have the strength to go first.”
“Then you support him and run.”
Romulus hesitated, but Dane had no time to argue.
‘Damn it, I’ve wasted too much time.’
He felt he might go insane.
If he arrived too late and found Camilla dead, he would never forgive himself.
Finally, guided by Lux, he found the underground space and opened the door.
‘Please… please…!’
Descending into the mossy, musty underground space, Dane silently called upon God for the first time.
And finally, he saw Camilla.
He had to stop.
She stood in a shallow puddle at ankle height.
Her dress soaked in blood, hair disheveled.
Her pale face looked like she might collapse at any moment.
Yet Camilla, standing among corpses, wore a poisonous smile.
She was so beautiful it hurt his heart.
“Do you despise me for that?”
Any words of gratitude or longing vanished.
He couldn’t even ask her what she meant.
Like a devoted follower under a witch’s spell.
Dane stepped forward through the shallow water, the splashes echoing.
“No… you’re lovely.”
He kissed her deeply, eyes dazed in rapture.
