When My Enemies Began to Regret

This was the end of their conversation. Afterward, Fanora wiped away her tears and returned to way she had come. Carl seemed to have mixed feelings when he saw her tears, but he didn’t chase after her.

“…”

It was a heartbreaking parted way.

Fanora passed through the classical-style castle, crossed the training ground, and reached the castle gate before she finally lightly rubbed her reddened eyes. But somehow, she stopped crying and became too quiet. Her expression wasn’t anger or betrayal but silent with a thoughtful expression.

In fact, the goodbye from earlier was just a trick. At that time, she hugged Carl’s neck and spoke in a very low voice from an invisible angle.

What followed was enough of an answer.

The royal castle was a place where all kinds of schemes and tricks were rampant. There was no harm in being careful with eyes and ears in there, so Fanora continued her play, even squeezing out her tears. And her judgment was correct.

“Marchioness. What are you looking at alone in this hallway?”

“…Garden.”

In fact, Carl was being watched by several people, and Marchioness Andras was also observing her younger brother all the time.

“The peach-colored trees are in full bloom in the garden again this year. There is probably only one such gorgeous garden in the whole world.”

The marchioness, who was standing at the end of a shadowy hallway, ignored the nobleman who approached her and looked out the window. At the end of her gaze, she saw Carl’s lone figure.

On the other hand, Fanora had no way of knowing the details of the situation. She walked out of the castle gate, following the shadow cast by the clouds. She was momentarily worried that Carl might break the promise, but she soon shook off that thought.

Carl Andras is a man who keeps his promises very well. He will definitely appear at the appointed place, even if it means shortening his life with Ganimede. That fact alone was enough.

“…”

Fanora moved on with a determined face. She had caused many butterfly effects so far but never wanted to change the future as strongly as she does now.

* * *

A few hours later, early in the morning, the servants weren’t even awake. Fanora left her room alone. As soon as she left her room, the first thing she noticed was the grandfather clock in the hallway.

Fanora thought she wouldn’t have any memories of this mansion, but surprisingly, she had a few good memories. For example, waiting for the grandfather clock to ring every midnight to read the midnight novel. In the end, she was stabbed in the back by that midnight novel, but if this magic hadn’t happened, she might still have been haunted by the dream of becoming Aloken’s bride. When she thought about it, she realized she was really lucky in this life.

“…”

She swept the wooden grandfather clock with her fingertips and moved back. The view of the corridor with dim moonlight left looked rather bleak.

She stood in place and checked for a moment to see if she had done all she had to do. Fanora had already sorted out her property and perfectly researched the kingdom she would move to.

With her last remaining conscience, she mailed an anonymous letter last night to a few Kasius people who had helped her all these years. Fanora warned people like Countess Maquil in advance of the dangers of the future war. She even wrote, ‘Suddenly telling you to run away from the kingdom you were born and raised in may not make sense to you, but it’s for the best.’ This would be much better than being used as they please by people with higher ranks and then abandoned.

Thinking so, Fanora picked up her heels and walked quietly. She did everything she had to.

“…”

Fanora had stolen the stable key before leaving the mansion. Once again, she stopped in the first-floor hallway, holding the iron key. At the end of her sight, she saw the count’s office. She herself expressed that she had done everything she had to do during the day, but in fact, she felt that this was her last regret.

A noble lady who quietly ran away at night due to a disagreement with her family. And a criminal on the run after murdering their family member. How can this be the same?

In the end, Fanora doesn’t get the revenge she had originally planned, but she can’t help it. She had so much to protect now. She wanted to preserve her life, fortune, and even honor for her future. In other words, she wanted to live.

But at this time, Fanora feels that she has no great regrets, even though she gave up her enemies with her own hands. She was once a person who couldn’t even live without her desire for revenge. But now, Fanora has finally realized what she really wants.

Now she remembered. She actually wanted to be happy. Revenge was her last struggle to regain her smile, even if only for a moment. Now that she has remembered how to smile even without it, she’s no longer obsessed with revenge anymore.

“…”

She quickened her steps with a sad heart.

As she walked for a long time, the dark night sky turned into a cool dawn. It was around 3.40 AM. Fanora reached the eastern hill, the appointed place, with two horses stolen from her family. It was the same hill where she read the book with Carl.

She sat on the stump with the wrought iron handle of the bag she had brought. “

…”

Soon, Carl Andras will appear at this place. She glanced in the direction from which the sound was coming. But no matter how long she waited, she didn’t see a human figure, so she thought that something like a wild animal had passed by.

“Lady Fanora!”

“

!”

But it was then. Someone placed a hand on her shoulder. Fanora, who was concentrating on the bushes, was startled when something warm touched her.

“I almost lost my liver! When did you come?”

“I’m sorry for startling you.”

When she looked back, she saw Carl’s face smiling awkwardly. He must have been in the castle just a moment ago, and he was wearing a knight’s uniform with a large leather bag on his shoulder.

“As expected, you sneaked out using the holy relic.” Fanora’s face as she said that was calm as if she had predicted that he would appear using Ganimede.

Carl stopped his hand from arranging the used holy relic in his inner pocket, and his complexion turned blue. “Ah! First, I… I have something to tell you. I want to apologize. About what happened in the garden yesterday. All of that—”

“I knew.”

“Yes?”

“I knew it was a lie from the beginning. That’s why I made a separate appointment.”

The knife stopped the hand that was organizing the used holy material in its inner pocket and dyed its complexion blue.

Again, Fanora’s attitude remained unwavering. She shook her head and told him not to apologize since she already knew the truth.

When Carl saw her reaction, he looked dumbfounded for a moment and then whispered softly. “Was it that obvious?” No matter how hard he tried, everything was in vain if he couldn’t deceive the watching people.

“…I don’t think so? Well.”

“…”

“I didn’t have a natural talent like you, but why did I think you were lying back then?”

She put her hand on a long bag set up nearby. Standing with her hand on the bag, she took a look around the wide hill. A fresh dawn breeze flowed through the green grass. Fanora thought as her eyes captured the quiet scenery where no birds were chirping. A quiet moment like this would be an opportunity to clearly convey what she wanted to say.

“…But actually, it was okay even if it wasn’t a lie.”

“…Yes?”

“I don’t care if you meant it when you said you would give up our relationship and choose Kasius.”

Carl had a hurt look in his eyes for a moment after hearing the beginning of her words because he thought he was such a trivial person that she wouldn’t care what he chose. But after hearing her next words, his thoughts changed.

“You know what? Carl, if this world we live in were a novel, I would be the villain.”

“…”

“I didn’t mistreat my stepdaughter to prevent her from going to the ball, nor did I cause a princess to fall asleep by pricking her finger on a spindle…”

“…”

“But I killed someone.”

One step, two steps. Fanora stood right in front of him, crushing the soft grass.

“Is there anything a person like that can’t do now? Normally, villains will do whatever it takes to achieve what they want.”

She raised her black eyes and looked up at Carl. There had once been such innocence in her dark eyes, but now there was no trace of that.

“You know. I imagined you dying one day.”

Fanora gradually distorted her eyes sadly. It was not difficult to imagine Carl’s death. She was sitting on an old wooden chair in a safe city, opening the newspaper and reading the news of Carl Andras’s death in the corner of the newspaper. It was something she had already experienced once. However, despite the same incident, her emotions drastically differed.

“But just imagining it makes me feel like the sky is falling…”

“…”

“To confess after facing something as extreme as death… Why can’t I fix my stupidity even after regressing?”

A drop of clear tears fell from Fanora’s eyes. Those tears contained her regret for hiding her true feelings for so long.

“It ‘s hard for me to live without you too.”

“!”

“I have finally made up my mind. I want you to be safe even if all citizens of Kasius die. So I beg you. Don’t go to war, Carl…”

She reached out and grabbed the hem of his uniform. Carl looked at her, who was pleading with tears in her eyes, with a somewhat softened eye.  

“Lady Fanora…”

As he called Fanora in a trembling voice, the strength of her grip on his hem gradually strengthened. But by the time Carl noticed it, Fanora had already tightened it to the point making him unable to move.

But I have a plan too if you request my request until the end.”

“Lady Fanora?”

“I told you just now. I am the villain in this story.”

Carl was embarrassed by the inability to move his body and tried to retreat reflexively. However, Fanora’s hand didn’t flinch even in the face of his power.

“So, like the bad guy, I have to threaten you.”

“…”

“Carl, let’s run away together. Otherwise, I will kill the Kasius citizen you’re trying to protect with my own hands. No, if you’re going to say you’re going to the war, I’d rather die right here.”