16. Before the end – 05
All things are inherited, and all things in the world have a common end. Death is not a simple end, but only a part of the great providence that makes the world go round.
Kirie knew that fact better than anyone else in the world. And the fact that death will no longer come to him.
She, too, was not immortal from the beginning, and it was not a body that did not forget anything. There was also a time when she, too, grew up and grew older and was gradually approaching death.
But not anymore. Living over a thousand years, she has seen countless deaths. Even the same elves, without exception, died of old age before her or chose their own death, and other people also died before they got used to it. After all, it didn’t take long for that death to be taken lightly.
Eventually, she got fed up. As for what I was tired of, I was tired of everything. In this time that flows without meaning, about one’s own life itself, which flows without meaning, about one’s own happiness without meaning. All.
As a result, it was worn out and dulled. The only thing that could ignite a spark in her heart, which had been worn out after countless years, was only the human being itself. Seeing people moving towards destruction like moths with unreasonable hopes, it seemed to revitalize my heart a little bit.
But in the end, it’s all just a stopgap. In a world where goddesses have disappeared, true rest is not given to her, who is taking on their responsibilities instead. She was destined to be stuffed, neither old nor dead, and suffer endless pain like this. This must have been her punishment.
And I gradually got used to it. The world is vast, and there are as many people as there are grains of sand in a sandy beach. Wouldn’t there be at least one human being worth playing with as a toy in every generation? I thought that if I passed the time like that, I would get used to the boredom that fills my body.
…No, I thought so.
Cain von Estel. Until you meet him, stay with him, and form a ‘string’ that symbolizes the bond between you and your husband.
At first, it was just boring. Since he was such an insignificant and incompetent human being, he did not know when and where he would die, so it was nothing more than a prank set up. It was just one of the devices to easily look into his appearance anytime, anywhere.
But it was good. The way of life of a person named Cain von Estel did not seem so bad even to a woman named Kyrie. No, I don’t know since when, but I ended up thinking that I was truly fortunate to know him.
It was beautiful. And it was also a wonderful thing. The time I spent with him was only one year at most. Even if the time after the regression was added together, the time she had known him would not be one-tenth, no, not even one-hundredth of her total life.
A very short time, just an instant.
That short time completely shook the woman named Kyrie El Denaris from the very beginning. And in the end, he changed her.
so it was embarrassing I couldn’t help but feel envious. For the first time in my life, I was envious of humans and of other women.
I was so jealous of Bianca del Castana, Iris El Devhardt, and Ariel Thier. Those who can bear his children, those who can live the rest of their lives with him. He was madly envious of the women who could grow old with him and die with him-
Is that why? For the first time in a long time, she felt fear.
In front of Iris, he had confidently said that it would just have to wait until you and the other women died of old age, but in reality, he was just afraid.
I was afraid of my future self who would think of this time as ‘boring’ as I was feeling while looking at him. He felt so disgusted with his future self, who would casually let go of this wonderful and happy feeling he was facing now.
That’s why Kyrie el Denaris waited. I had given up on a certain wish that I had never had, and never even thought of having.
The desire to live with Cain, to do many things by his side, and to make many memories with him.
…and at the end, a small wish to die of old age together.
For the first time in her life, she sincerely wished for her own death.
****
It just happened in an instant.
Goo Woo-woong-
“…!”
Something foreign, a very unpleasant sound was shaking the Estelle family. At first glance, it was just a sound that was nothing more than a rough hole heard from a considerable distance away. However, at this moment, some of the personnel staying in the Estel family could clearly sense what it was.
“…Bianca.”
“Yes, I felt it even without saying it. Cain.”
For a moment, I was short of breath. That moment ago wasn’t creepy. This unpleasant sensation, as if something tingling rose from the tip of my toe and penetrated all the way to the top of my head, was by no means something I could easily forget.
“…No way, this.”
…And I had the experience of feeling this sensation sometime. You didn’t have to go far to relive the experience. How can I forget this feeling.
A pure white world, bleached to white, where only snowstorms rage. A woman who looked down at us from inside. It was the cold chill that I couldn’t help but feel when that woman let out a murderous intent to kill me and others.
“…aria.”
The moment I realized that, Bianca and I jumped up from our seats. There was no time to go call Iris or Ariel. 1 minute 1 second was rushed. Right now, I had to check what happened to Arya. I had to check with my own two eyes to see if she was giving off the same sensations as in the past, because something was wrong with her body.
“Bianca!”
As I hurriedly turn to Bianca and look into her eyes, Bianca nods as well, realizing the seriousness of the situation.
“The location has already been confirmed through magical backtracking. northwest of here. The distance is approximately 4 km. And, as far as I can tell, the person who is there now is probably-”
“I’ll listen to the rest as I go. Hold on tight, Bianca!”
“Ka, Cain!”
I held onto Bianca’s waist with one hand and threw myself out the window as I applied an aura to both legs. For reference, my office is on the top floor of the castle. It was located on the 9th floor of a decent building.
“Oh, you’re stubborn and stubborn!”
I hear Bianca’s complaints with one ear and send them out with the other. The shock caused by the fall was completely offset by the aura concentrated on her feet. As soon as my feet touched the ground, I guessed northwest, focused the aura on my whole body, and started kicking.
“Kyaa, kyaak-!”
I thought I heard Bianca’s screams somewhere, but I doubt I was mistaken. Rather, one o’clock is in a hurry, so I hurriedly move my feet. My aura-enhanced body cannot even compare to that of an ordinary person. It is enough to run several tens of meters in an instant simply by kicking off one foot. Perhaps, to an ordinary person, my appearance is only an afterimage.
“Damn it, eat-”
But it’s slow. Even if I kick the ground with my legs torn apart, even if I go as fast as I can with Bianca in my arms, it’s just too slow for me. In the first place, no matter how light Bianca is, her speed slows down dramatically just by carrying a person while running.
“Hey, bastard! I don’t care at all! uh!”
I didn’t stop teasing my legs, even though I somehow managed to hold back my rapid exhaled breath and listened to Bianca’s grunts. And at the end of it, I could barely finish the long, long run. You have finally arrived at your destination.
“…here is.”
It was a place I do not remember. It wouldn’t be a crowd. Because, no matter how you look at it, the place was in the middle of a battlefield.
“…..”
The beautiful tree was roughly broken and bent as if it had been dug up by something. There were dented scars everywhere, as if an earthquake had occurred. In the middle of the clearing, there was a huge crater as if someone huge hit the anvil called the earth with a hammer.
“…ah.”
I feel dizzy. I didn’t think anything would have happened, but seeing what had happened with my own two eyes made my head hurt.
“…aria.”
In the middle of the crater, I see a white-haired girl I know well, lying unconscious. It seemed that he was not dead, for the slightest movement of his hair with his breath.
And right in front of such Aria, the back of Kyrie looking down at Aria.
As if she noticed that I was looking there, there was Ariel looking straight at me.
“aria-!”
Either way it doesn’t make sense, and I don’t know what happened, but I realize that Arya, now distraught, needs to be put first. First of all, I tried to jump into the middle of the crater to run to Arya who was lying on the floor, ignoring Kyrie and Ariel.
“Cain! Calm down!”
“Ugh-”
Because of Bianca’s hastily grabbing my shoulder and holding me back, I had no choice but to stop running towards them.
“You still don’t understand the situation? No matter how you look at it, those two are the culprits that created this situation. What kind of rough things are you trying to get close to! Did you also want to lie down on the set next to that girl, Aria?”
“…..”
Bianca’s words cooled my head, albeit just a little bit. Certainly, as Bianca said. As Bianca once told me, Arya is the woman who has absolute power in this world, and even if other women join forces, they are only barely equal.
But if you turn that word upside down, doesn’t it mean that if other women join forces, they can at least reach Arya’s teeth, if not at all.
…That’s why I don’t understand. There is a mountain of incomprehensible things, but the most incomprehensible thing is why they subdued Arya. I don’t understand at all why Kyrie and Ariel joined forces to attack Arya…
“You’re talking a little harsh, Bianca. I don’t know if anyone else knows, but it really hurts my heart to hear that from you, who kidnapped and imprisoned Cain yourself.”
“…What? Kirie, are you done talking now?”
Bianca, who seems to have been stabbed to the point by Kyrie’s words, shows a hot temper.
“Amazing. It must have been quite a distance from the Estelle duchy to here. You seem to be in a hurry, Cain. Well, it’s already one step too late.”
And Kyrie, who smiles as if she is having fun watching Bianca and me.
“…Kyrie. I don’t know what the situation is, but I’ll leave it as a joke. It’s not too late now. So, come on, aria-”
“…You’re kidding, right?”
At my words, Kirie moved her eyebrows as if her heart was twisted very slightly. The smile had disappeared from her face before she knew it.
“I’m sorry, but it’s no joke. I was nothing more than subduing her with my will.”
“…What.”
“I won’t make excuses. The reason why Ariel and I are standing here right now is because our two goals coincided. And since I needed Arya to achieve that goal, I subdued her using rather rough means.”
Kyrie looks at me and lifts a finger. And at the same time, Arya’s body, lying unconscious on the floor, rises into the air.
“So, even if I don’t know about anything else, I can’t concede this matter to you. Because I came to the Duke of Estelle for this in the first place.”
yes, it’s all because of you Cain von Estel. Because of the one person you are, I myself, who has to believe in and protect order more than anyone else in the world, took the lead on my own to commit a crazy act of breaking the order of this world.
If I die thanks to that, I will definitely fall into hell, but what does that mean? I’m experiencing hell enough just to live and breathe.
However, if there is one thing that worries me, it is.
“In return for running all the way here, let me tell you one good thing.”
After everything is over, I wonder if my place will remain by your side, Cain.
“My one and only purpose for falling into a life of immortality is that.”
So please don’t forgive me until the end, Cain. Because I want to remain a villain to you until the end.
“It is none other than killing the ‘Witch of Winter’ with my own hands. Cain.”