I’m Trying to End This Possession Chapter 281

Danae Geranze had escaped from the imperial palace. After relocating her to a small, peaceful village in a foreign nation, Rumie declared that he would return to Raios.

 

“Are you really going to go?”

 

“I am His Majesty’s subject. Naturally, I must return.”

 

It was known that there was something special between Raios and Rumie. Perhaps that was why Rumie seemed unable to abandon Raios until the very end.

 

“Raios won’t leave you alone.”

 

“I know. He will surely be angry, but I have to endure it.”

 

“…What if he kills you, Rumie?”

 

At those words, Rumie smiled. “His Majesty likes me more than Your Highness realizes. So please, don’t worry.”

 

“Even so…”

 

“Then, farewell.” And so Rumie left once again.

 

After Dana disappeared, Raios stopped the war. He begged her to return, saying he would listen and never act recklessly again, promising he’d never do anything she forbade if only she returned. He said it was so painful that he felt as though he were dying, and sent telegrams across the entire continent.

 

Danae Geranze’s heart softened. It was because Raios was clinging to her even at the cost of humiliating himself before the entire continent. Maybe he really has changed. Perhaps he truly won’t wage war anymore. Yes, perhaps he had finally come to his senses. Perhaps he had returned to the Raios of the old times, the sincere and kind Raios she had once known. Holding on to that belief, she returned to the imperial palace. However…

 

“Raios Geranze, you liar!”

 

The moment she returned, Raios imprisoned her in earnest. He locked her away at the very top of the western tower and stationed heavy guards from the bottom floor all the way to the top. So that she could never escape again and that no one could ever take his beloved away from him.

 

“Liar!”

 

“Didn’t you betray my trust as well, Sister?”

 

“Let me out, Raios! And what did you do to Rumie?”

 

“Do you like Rumie that much? Enough to abandon me and run away with Rumie on a romantic elopement?”

 

“You idiot! That’s not it! I left because I wanted you to stop the war!”

 

“How am I supposed to believe that? I do not believe the words of a traitor.”

 

And Raios started another war.

 

Danae Geranze became certain. That Raios had become a warmonger. She did not know what had driven him this far into madness, but there was no turning back now.

 

One day, Raios confessed to her.

 

“Shall I be honest? I will continue waging the war. I will keep going for ten years, twenty years, a hundred years, even two hundred years. Until Ramun religion disappears from this world, until every believer of Ramun disappears, no!” Raios shouted with bloodshot eyes. “Until Ramun disappears from this world!”

 

Dana knew that he meant it. Raios had prepared himself to wage a religious war for the rest of his life. The promise he had once made to her, that he would end it within two years, had been nothing but a lie!

 

In that case, there was only one way. Danae Geranze had to become a hostage of Ramun Church. Pope Yustio will surely help me. If she became a hostage of Ramun Church, Raios would eventually have no choice but to stop the war. Because Raios loved her.

 

Love. Love… Is this really love? Can this still be called love? To lock me at the top of the tower, turn everything around me into a sea of blood, soak the continent in blood, can such violence still be called love? No. This is no longer love. It can’t be love anymore. Raios and I had definitely loved each other once, but when, where, and how had that love disappeared?

 

I have to leave. Only if I become a hostage of the Ramun Church will the war end. But she was trapped at the top of the tower, and there were more than a hundred guards stationed there. Escaping from this place was, realistically, impossible.

 

“Have you been well?”

 

That was certainly how things stood, until Rumie came to visit her.

 

“It has been a long time.”

 

Soaked in blood, Rumie opened the massive iron door at the top of the tower. He smiled so calmly, speaking so lightly that it was impossible to believe he was someone who had broken through hundreds of guards and entered this place with such ease.

 

“It must be suffocating being trapped at the top of a tower. Shall we go for a walk?”

 

Danae Geranze never wanted to fall in love again. Love had ruined far too many things. She truly did not want to do this anymore.

 

“Rumie!”

 

And yet, she could not stop herself from rushing toward him and embracing him. The moment she fell into his arms, Rumie also pulled her tightly into his embrace. That moment felt like an eternity, but… in the end, that was all it was. They soon separated from each other.

 

“Shall we go?”

 

“…Yes.”

 

That was the first and last time they ever embraced each other. If she had known that it would be the last time, she would have held him a little longer. No one knew what the future held. It was something as fragile as a sandcastle, something that could crumble at any moment.

 

They fled, evading Raios’s pursuit. It was truly a harsh and difficult journey. Raios even mobilized the imperial army to chase them.

 

“Once you cross here, you will be within the territory of the Holy See.”

 

A suspension bridge connecting mountain to mountain. There had been so many hardships on the way to this place, which crossed between the territories of the Holy See and the empire.

 

“Rumie.”

 

“Go ahead.”

 

“Let’s go together. Please.”

 

“You know there is more than one pursuer chasing us right now. They may try to cut this rope while we are crossing the bridge. One of us has to stay here and hold them back.” Rumie spoke gently, but firmly. “His Holiness is waiting for you. He has promised to protect Your Highness safely, so hurry and go become a hostage. Only then will the war end.”

 

Perhaps they might have loved each other. But they never once allowed those feelings to escape their lips. They could not even casually touch so much as the tips of their fingers. What were they to each other back then? In that timeline, they were neither lovers, nor friends, nor siblings.

 

“Once you cross this bridge, there will be a horse tied to a tree.”

 

“Let’s go together, Rumie. Please.”

 

“If you ride that horse and continue straight down the mountain, His Holiness will be waiting for you.”

 

“I will never go alone!”

 

As Danae continued clinging to him, Rumie sighed. Then, with absolute firmness, as though cutting her off, he said, “I betrayed His Majesty in order to stop the war. So don’t act spoiled and leave now.”

 

Faced with those resolute words, Danae Geranze had no choice but to leave him behind and cross the suspension bridge.

 

Watching Danae Geranze’s back as she departed, Rumie murmured, “…Actually, that was a lie.”

 

In that lifetime, he never spoke of love. But Danae Geranze knew.

 

“Everything I have done until now was because I did not want to see Your Highness cry.”

 

There were things in this world that could be understood without ever being spoken.

 

“So please, do not cry anymore.”

 

Rumie watched Danae Geranze cross the suspension bridge, then turned around. Atop the sheer cliff, the emperor had finally arrived. He was glaring at them while leading a vast army. Rumie smiled.

 

It was an archer corps. They could at least have shown the mercy of using guns. But it seemed the emperor was truly furious to the very tips of his hair. He intended to pierce every inch of Rumie’s body with arrows, killing him slowly and painfully, then thoroughly humiliate even his corpse until it was impossible to recognize. That, at least, would go according to his will. That alone.

 

Arrows came flying. But Rumie raised his head high. The sky darkened. Arrows pouring down like a torrential rain had covered the sun like clouds. It was a truly magnificent sight, demonstrating the might of the imperial army. Fortunately, Danae Geranze had just safely reached the very end of the suspension bridge. He fulfilled his final duty by cutting the bridge.

 

And at that moment, Danae Geranze turned around. She saw the arrows pouring down like a storm. “…!”

 

No.

 

Danaena Rolland screamed. Just as Danae Geranze was screaming inside the vision she was seeing now.

 

“No!”

 

No.

 

“No!”

 

No.

 

“No!”

 

Fear came rushing in. Her mind went completely blank. Even though it was a scene she already knew. Despite the fact that she had already seen this scene. Though it was a distant past that had already flowed away long ago.

 

“No, Rumie, Rumie!”

 

Even though she already knew the ending of this story.