“Kh, keuurgh!”
Giselle didn’t stop. She approached Duke Reshaniel, who had collapsed to the ground and groaned. Then she pressed the lucky stone against him to steal the divine power leaking out through the wound. A thrilling sensation surged through her body.
“There’s not much left, but I’ll make good use of this divine power.”
She had effectively taken it all, yet her anger remained unsated.
Still slumped on the ground, Duke Reshaniel coughed up blood, wearing the hollow expression of a defeated man. “Cough, cough!” His body trembled violently.
Looking down at him, Giselle thought. The way his entire body is shaking makes him look pathetic and despicable.
Still glaring at her, Duke Reshaniel muttered in a voice full of hatred. “So… I lost. Are you satisfied now? Happy that you can send the man who cared for you to prison?”
At those words, Giselle covered her mouth and giggled as if she had heard the funniest joke in the world. “Don’t talk nonsense. My parents died, and I suffered like hell for years. All because of a b*stard like you. Sending you to prison is far too lenient, isn’t it?” Smiling brightly, she raised her hand.
Duke Kalinos nodded in agreement. “Prison’s too good for him.” As he lightly stepped on Duke Reshaniel like he was crushing a mosquito, Duke Kalinos added. “He should pay a far greater price.”
That was right. Though Duke Reshaniel had lost everything, he was still alive.
“But I won’t ever grant you the peace of a simple death.”
In other words…
“Did you know? Everyone possesses life force. It’s strongest when you’re born and disappears completely when you die.”
“Ha. Are you planning to kill me?”
“No. I’m only going to take exactly 99% of your life force.”
What happens to someone who’s lost 99% of their life force?
Giselle raised her hand, tightly gripping the lucky stone before pressing it against Duke Reshaniel again. At that moment, a crimson light she had never seen before began flowing out of his body. It resembled blood itself. His eyes shook violently.
As though delivering a final verdict, Giselle whispered to him. “Your vision will become blurry, your hearing will fade. Even breathing will become difficult.”
“…Cough, cough!”
Looking down at the blood-spitting Duke Reshaniel, she declared. “With the remaining 1%, you’ll barely survive, clinging to life according to whatever remains of your fate. For a very, very long time. I plan to return your stolen life force to this land stained by monsters, so you’ll stay exactly like this for the rest of your life.”
“Just, kill, me.” Blood streamed from the corners of his mouth as he flailed his legs like a dying insect.
Giselle gripped the lucky stone tightly once more and pressed it against him. This time, a pale pink light, diluted like watered-down paint, flowed out.
“Kh, keugh!”
Duke Reshaniel crawled across the ground before suddenly convulsing and thrashing wildly. Before long, his hair began turning white from the roots.
“You, w-what are you doing, to me…” He stared, eyes wide, looking as if he could barely breathe. The once-flawless fair skin that made him so handsome began to wrinkle and shrivel. Age spots bloomed across his skin. The white hair that had appeared moments ago began to fall out.
“People say there’s such a thing as aging gracefully. But not for you. You’ll become the ugliest creature imaginable.”
All that remained where his beauty had been was the sound of his ragged, wheezing breaths. He flailed his hands, desperate to grab at her feet, but with his vision blurry and his hearing gone, he must have been driven mad by it. The elegant, handsome Duke Reshaniel, whom everyone had worshipped, was gone for good.
“You’ll live as the most wretched creature in the world. In the filthiest, most miserable, and disgusting place imaginable.”
Stripped of his fate and drained of almost all his life force, he couldn’t even form words anymore. But his mind would still be perfectly clear.
“My parents had their lives stolen, but at least they didn’t die in disgrace.”
This would be the perfect revenge.
“But for you, who stole my fate, I’ll make sure anyone can spit on your grave.”
Giselle smiled brightly as she watched him crawl pitifully across the ground in silence. The way he collapsed so pathetically reminded her of a bug.
“Don’t worry. I’ll make sure to hunt down and deal with all your subordinates, too.”
She flicked her hand at him.
As Duke Kalinos approached, Giselle leaned in and whispered to him. “Lock that b*stard in the coldest prison cell you can find.”
No sooner had Giselle finished speaking than a loud chorus of shouts rang out in the distance. The knights who’d been stationed near the cave had found them, and now they were rushing in like madmen. As though pushing around a criminal under arrest, she nudged Duke Reshaniel with her foot.
“It’s all over now, isn’t it?” Letting out a deep sigh, Giselle looked at Duke Kalinos.
“Yes, it is.”
Some people say revenge leaves you feeling empty, that forgiveness is the highest virtue… As if. I could go for even more revenge. It’s so thrilling. What she felt after the final battle wasn’t emptiness. It was a sense of accomplishment, knowing she’d delivered rightful punishment to the one who took what was hers, for her parents’ sake and for her own. But there was just one thing nagging at her.
“Ah, but…” Giselle pressed a hand to her head and pursed her lips. “Why do I feel… so dizzy?” The moment she said it out loud, the world spun before her eyes. The last thing she saw was Duke Kalinos, looking shocked as he hurried toward her.
“Giselle?”
And then, thud, her collapsing body was caught in his arms.
* * *
“Where am I…?”
“…At home, Giselle. They say you pushed yourself too hard.”
As I tried to sit upright in bed, a sharp pain shot through my shoulder. “Ugh.” I groaned and collapsed back onto the mattress.
“Your family is all worried about you, too.”
“Duke too?”
“Yes. I was the most worried of all.”
It had been a teasing question, but meeting Duke Kalinos’s gaze, which was full of genuine concern, made me strangely self-conscious.
“So, it’s really over, right?”
“Yes. Duke Reshaniel has been safely handed over. However, they say there are still many monsters left that didn’t die even after losing their host. The damage to the northern villages is severe, so I’ll probably have to leave after seeing you recover.”
No wonder there were dark circles under his eyes. It was only then that I noticed the report in his hand and the map on the nightstand.
“So even though we destroyed the monsters’ host, there are still so many people suffering…”
“Yes.”
“Then, could Your Grace handle reconstruction in the east while I take care of purification efforts in the west?”
“No.” He cut me off coldly. “The people of the North are important, but what matters most to me is you. You’re the reason I live.”
At those words, I remembered what he had said in the cave, and my face immediately grew hot.
“I too… want to face life seriously, like you do. And I thought, I want to be happy with you for a long time. My answer is, in the end, it’s you, Giselle.”
He had given me his whole heart. Then perhaps I should also…
Should I confess now? The thought suddenly took over my mind, and I quickly shook my head. No, let’s wait a little longer until true peace comes. That’s what I decided. Besides, I was too embarrassed to say it right now. Maybe it’s because I just woke up, but I can’t quite put my feelings into words. Is it excitement? Butterflies? Is that what this is?
I’d always been a little mad, but when it came to love, I couldn’t help feeling strangely fluttery and shy. So, if I had to put it into words…. Have I come to like this person who’s grown because of me? My heart was half in turmoil, but for some reason, it felt awkward to meet his eyes.
Then, once all of this is truly over… I’ll confess my feelings too. After all, we’re bound together in a lifelong contract marriage now. So instead of blurting out a confession, I grabbed his collar and quietly asked, “How much longer will the restoration take?”
“I can’t say for sure, but I’ll handle it as quickly as possible. I have Giselle’s portrait with me, so… I think the urgent work should be done in about a week.”
A week. I clenched my fist tightly, then relaxed it. Alright, I’ll confess in a week. Now, there was only one question left to ask him.
“By the way, did you send that mosquito… I mean, Duke Reshaniel, to prison?”
“No. I gave him the most effective punishment possible.”
The phrase ‘most effective punishment’ made me curious. Could there possibly be a punishment even worse than that?
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