The Regret Novel Female Lead with Unbreakable Mentality Chapter 95

A blade wrapped in a deep blue aura struck straight through the center of Hwairi’s heart.

 

“W-What…! Uuugh!”

 

The sound of everyone screaming echoed faintly in her ears. Hwairi gasped for breath, clutching the spot where the blade had passed through her. But nothing came out of her mouth, not blood, not anything else. Only a pure white energy slowly seeped out of her body.

 

When the attendants saw her looking inhuman, they all stared at each other in shock.

 

Duke Kalinos murmured quietly. “Divine power doll, Hwairi.”

 

“W-What, what are you talking about?”

 

“Why ask when you already know?”

 

As she glared at him like someone betrayed by love, Duke Kalinos whispered dryly, as if reciting research. “Your divine power is fake. It’s just your life force, disguised as divine power and wrapped around you to make it look convincing. A counterfeit doll, nothing more. That’s why I needed to break the divine power you wear on the outside. My aura is the complete opposite of divine power.”

 

Hwairi’s eyes shook violently. Garno’s eyes did too. She tried to reach out to Garno, who was staring at her, but he only kept his wavering gaze fixed on her.

 

As confusion swept over the crowd, Giselle strode forward and spoke brightly. “A divine power doll. If I had to put it simply, it is someone who coats their body with divine power at the cost of their own life force. That way, it looks like they have a lot of divine power on the outside.”

 

“Aah…”

 

“But once the life force near the heart runs out, they just fade away like that. It’s really quite pitiful, isn’t it?”

 

Garno tried to glare in disbelief, but the sight of Hwairi told him everything he needed to know. And yet, Hwairi gathered what little life force she had left and managed a crooked, mocking smile.

 

Did she really think I’d be the only one to die like this? If she was going to die anyway, she’d make sure to take her enemy with her.

 

With the blade still lodged in her heart, Hwairi slowly opened her hand. There, she held one of Giselle’s belongings, half-broken. Crack! With her last remaining strength, she shattered the switch.

 

Giselle’s eyes widened in an instant.

 

“Cough, cough! Cough!”

 

The sound of Giselle coughing up blood echoed faintly in Hwairi’s ears, and she could see blood streaming from Giselle’s lips. A smile crept onto Hwairi’s lips, and dimples appeared as if they had been drawn on.

 

Stupid Giselle. If I’m going to die, you’re coming with me. She had no intention of dying alone, never.

 

“Cough, cough…”

 

As Hwairi staggered and looked over at Giselle, who was coughing up blood, Giselle’s coughing suddenly stopped.

 

“What, did you really think I was going to die?” Giselle pulled her hand away from her mouth and grinned. Not a drop of blood was there. She looked perfectly fine.

 

I definitely saw blood coming out…!

 

Tilting her head, Giselle leaned in and whispered low, so only Hwairi could hear. “Did you try to use some filthy magic on me?”

 

“N-No. T-That’s not…”

 

According to Hwairi’s own thought, or rather, according to ‘his’ thought, breaking this time was supposed to paralyze the target with a spell.

 

In a panic, Hwairi lowered her gaze to her hand. Her eyes widened in shock, her pupils trembling. Astonishingly, what she was holding now was nothing but a clump of pink hair.

 

“…M-My hair. Why is it…”

 

“I cast an illusion spell on that hair.”

 

“I-Illusion…?”

 

“I just made it look like something precious to me, so you wouldn’t notice. It’s called ‘brainwashing.’”

 

At that moment, a white willow warbler from the Sirentium family soared proudly above Hwairi’s head.

 

“Krrr. (Thank you for snapping that branch for me!)”

 

Watching the willow warbler take flight, Giselle grinned. She’d known all along that Hwairi was up to something. The very first thing she did to prepare was tidy up the trees.

 

The Ver Tree. Since the Kalinos family was a renowned mage family, the mansion itself was filled with magical mechanisms, and trees like Ver Tree were planted to suppress the powers of monsters and phantasmal creatures. If it had been a dragon-class creature like Coocoo, things would have been different. But a willow warbler was still just a bird. That’s why Giselle had gone around pruning branches here and there, to sap even a little of the Ver Tree’s power.

 

Everyone probably thought I was just acting strangely as usual.

 

And to make the brainwashing even stronger, Giselle had made sure to have physical contact with her target. If anyone saw me, they’d probably think I was just some lunatic putting a ring on and slapping their cheek… Well, maybe that’s exactly what it was?

 

But there was just one thing she regretted. Giselle was still at a loss as to exactly how to deal with Hwairi.

 

I thought my plan was perfect until I heard from Coocoo that Hwairi had secretly slipped out of the mansion.

 

She’d make Coocoo invisible and keep it close by, and sure enough, it’d catch Hwairi red-handed. Giselle immediately set her brainwashing spell into motion. Using the willow warbler, she’d made Hwairi believe that her own hair was Giselle’s precious switch, then secretly swapped out the real one.

 

Giselle grinned at the willow warbler flapping its wings unnoticed, then turned her gaze back to Hwairi. “Starting to get it now?”

 

Gritting her teeth, Hwairi cried out in anger. “It’s all lies! You’re all trying to frame me!”

 

“Oh my, really? Well, Giselle’s curious about something. That mercenary you healed, where is he now?”

 

Watching the anger flicker in her eyes, Vientin quietly murmured, “I can answer that. The mercenary vanished without a trace.”

 

At Vientin’s words, people began whispering and shooting Hwairi suspicious looks.

 

Hwairi felt as if her entire world were shattering. Her legs trembling, she glared at Giselle.

 

Finally, Giselle leaned in close and whispered in Hwairi’s ear. “It’s about time you died. And also….”

 

“…H-Hiik.”

 

“The one who ordered you to do all this.”

 

Hwairi’s lips trembled uncontrollably. I-I don’t know. Really. Even I don’t know ‘his’ face… No, that wasn’t true. In fact, she knew his face perfectly well. But now, when she tried to recall it, it was as if someone had painted over his face in pitch black.

 

Just then, Giselle leaned in and whispered softly in Hwairi’s ear. “The holy noble house of Reshaniel. Isn’t that right?”

 

At that moment, the face of the gentleman who had looked at Hwairi and asked her to become a ‘divine power doll’ flashed through her mind. A man with blond hair and blue eyes.

 

The moment she realized it, a shattering sound rang out from Hwairi’s body, as if hardened sugar was breaking apart, as all the white energy drained from her. Starting from the spot where Duke Kalinos’s blade had touched, Hwairi’s body began to crumble away. For a few seconds, her form shimmered like water reflecting starlight.

 

“Goodbye, Hwairi.”

 

With Giselle’s calm farewell, Hwairi vanished. All that remained was the tranquil moonlight and the stunned faces of Garno and the members of the Kalinos family.

 

* * *

“It’s over now,” I said flatly, but maybe I’d pushed the willow warbler’s brainwashing powers too hard. Or maybe it was from using Coocoo’s abilities nonstop. Suddenly, my vision spun, and dizziness washed over me.

 

I pressed a handkerchief to my mouth again and coughed up blood. “Cough, cough!” This bout of coughing up blood was unexpected.

 

Looking flustered, Duke Kalinos quickly loosened his cravat and wiped my lips. “It seems you’ve overexerted yourself.”

 

The maids, the servants, all of them were watching.

 

I forced a smile, waving my hand to reassure them. “Yes, I think I pushed myself too hard. I’ll just step inside for a moment.”

 

I didn’t want them to see me like this. Especially not looking weak. Clutching my chest, I tried to walk, but the world went black before my eyes.

 

Duke Kalinos, who had been about to escort me, hurriedly caught me as I collapsed. “Giselle!”

 

And then everything went completely dark.