Johann smiled softly and swept his hand past his neckline and ribcage.
Then he whispered softly as if seducing.
“Even if you don’t like it, you will have no choice but to sit.”
“……”
‘Damn bastard.’
Berylia looked away from him and took a sip of tea. It was as if he had no interest in such craftsmanship.
Then she asked about it in a quivering line, longing for attention.
“Are you curious? The contents of the oracle.”
Berylia then looked at him. Without erasing the expression of expectation, Johann continued.
“Tomorrow at noon the door of Marsephone will open.”
“!”
“Aren’t you curious? How the world falls apart. All arrogant humans will learn to obey. Of course, Rixus, that arrogant bastard will die before he learns to be servile.”
“……”
Berylia’s breath was quickening.
Things were going much faster than expected.
‘I didn’t think so…’
‘Are the doors really opening tomorrow at noon?’
Her heart was pounding and her mind was giddy. The blood in her body circulated so fast that she felt dizzy.
All she could think of was that she had to tell Rixus about this as soon as possible.
It was when she was in a hurry.
Chaengrang—
Subconsciously, Berylia tried to get up from the table, and knocked over the glass of wine that was on the table.
The shattered shards of glass shone, they were as sharp as a blade.
“….…”
Reading the change in atmosphere, Johann’s eyes darkened.
Then he asked sharply with his reddened lips.
“Why are you flustered?”
“!”
The front that Berylia had covered with smoke collapsed in an instant.
Not missing that moment, kwaak— Johan’s hand grabbed her arm.
Berylia looked at him with quivering eyes.
“…Let me go.”
“It’s strange to be nervous. Is it because the situation is scary? …Don’t be afraid, even if the world collapses, you will be safe.”
Goosebumps rose on the part he touched.
Berylia’s eyes suddenly turned red.
“I’ll protect you. Forever.”
As if she was fed up with him, she struck back with a shrill voice.
“I don’t need it.”
Then she shook his hand away violently and stood up.
Tak!
In a moment, Johann grabbed her arms and stared at her as if peering at her face, much closer than earlier.
Dark eyes pierced her abyss-like eyes.
“…If you like a man with power. Tomorrow I will have all the power in the world…”
Johann’s forehead narrowed greatly.
“But why do you look like that?”
“Let go of me!”
As Berylia resisted fiercely and unleashed her powers, icy thorns scratched his cheek.
Red drops of blood… dripping from his cheek.
As if he had experienced a strong shock, Johann’s arms slacked, and he watched her with trembling eyes.
It was like the expression on the face of a child abandoned by his or her parents in front of an orphanage.
Berylia moved her tongue relentlessly.
“Power didn’t matter from the start. Not even once from the start, I’ve never thought of you.”
Her words tore Johann’s heart to pieces.
But she didn’t stop there.
Berylia exploded the anger and misery she had been trying to hide, and her rejection of him.
“It’s terrible. Every time you look at me like that, I always only get goosebumps on my skin.”
“….…”
“I’ve only been acting to bring you down.”
Johann blinked, in utter disbelief.
Her words turned into a mace and slammed into the back of his head, as if crushing it.
“The one I chose was Rixus. From the beginning, and even after I lost my memories… It’s a fact that hasn’t changed at all.”
“….…”
“You damn monster.”
Under Johann’s weakly stretched sleeves, a large hand was shaking minutely.
He asked, with incredulous eyes that still couldn’t believe the reality.
“Now… Why are you telling me that now? You could have hidden it.”
‘If you’re going to destroy me anyway, you could have kept it a secret until tomorrow, right?’
At his question, Berylia shot at him with a mocking face and a voice full of hate.
“Because I don’t want you to die thinking I was even a little bit interested in you.”
“….…”
How strong was her hatred, how wide her hatred was.
‘…Does that mean that even the slightest misunderstanding is not allowed?’
Johann was dazed and recalled the events of his previous life.
[Johann, this is ‘Berylia Spinel’. The woman of your destiny!]
“She’ll be with you forever…”
The moment when an inhuman monster who did not know love learned blind longing.
“When my power is perfect, I can save her. With the power of the gods, I can rescue the souls of the dead…”
During the seven lifetimes, he alone loved her, and even the moment when he hugged her cold body, unable to let her dead body go.
Even if he was cursed by god, the heart that wanted to revive her…
It was still vividly felt.
Slowly, from some part of his heart, Johann collapsed.
His soul was being dismantled.
Suddenly, with a low metallic sound that seemed to scrape the bottom of hell with a knife, Johann opened his mouth and let out something like a moan.
“…You love that bastard who killed you seven times? …I was first, always…”
“…….”
“I love you and want you.”
‘It was me who endured the heartbreaking sorrow when that bastard killed you.’
Berylia looked straight at the teary Johann who had been through eight lives, and she was sober.
“No matter when you met me, I don’t even care about your heart.”
Such a garbage obsession.
“…It’s terrible.”
Each and every word she spoke became a rake and scraped Johann’s heart, creating a deep wound.
In that hellish pain, Johann’s reddened left eye twitched… Tears fell.
Tuk, tuk—
He said to Berylia as he walked forward.
“Then let’s die…”
“!”
Berylia backed away with a bewildered face.
But abruptly, his two hands grabbed hers.
“Hey, let me go…!”
However, the long-stretched obsession with her, his young love, stuck in her like hooks; he tenaciously did not let go.
He was close to madness.
“I’d rather we die. If we die, I’ll make you forget everything… I’ll start over.”
“Ugh…”
His tough hands clung to her like a spider’s web. The more she resisted and writhed, the more he clutched and strangled her.
“With the memories alone, in the next life… I’ll meet you first.”
“I… as a child.”
Berylia stared at Johann tiredly, with tears in her eyes from the wrath and misery, then unleashed her powers and pulled away.
Bang!
There was a loud noise.
A long drop of blood trickled from Johann’s sleeve.
“……”
Their furious gazes met as if they were about to tear each other apart.
Those eyes, like barbed wires, stabbed each other’s hearts closely, sharp and tangled.
“Even if you die ten thousand times, hundreds of thousands of times, and then be reborn…”
Berylia chewed the blade-like words and spit it out.
“It won’t be you.”
“….…”
“Forever.”
Berylia stared at him with eyes full of contempt, then left the room, leaving Johann in a complete mess.
Left alone, Johann stood there for a very long time, helplessly, with a face wet with blood and tears.
Then suddenly, his knees, which had lost strength, bent.