The Obsessive Maniac Is Trying To Confine Me Chapter 230 - Side Story Chapter 20

The past year spent searching for Rose.

For Yurtha, that time had been a terrible nightmare and an endless punishment.

When he opened his eyes, she wasn’t there.

With that one fact alone, the world instantly turned into a colorless hell.

Even when he breathed, it felt like his lungs were burning, and though his heart was beating, he didn’t feel alive.

It would have been fine if she despised him.

If she would just look at him—even with hateful eyes—that alone would have been enough.

And yet…

Right now, this cabin felt unbelievably peaceful.

To the point that it felt as if nightmares and reality had been switched.

“Oh, I bought this before… so it was here?”

Rose brought over a dusty box from the corner.

What she poured onto the floor were hundreds of puzzle pieces.

“Yurtha, I’m bored. Want to do a puzzle together?”

“….”

“You don’t want to? It’s fine if you’re too lazy.”

“…No. I will.”

The cabin where only the two of them remained.

Outside the window, a tornado raged as if it would swallow the entire world.

But inside the cabin, it was strangely quiet.

As if the storm had avoided only this space.

Yurtha sat across from Rose and placed his hands on the table.

His large hand carefully picked up a small puzzle piece.

It’s just this.

Just a childish game of matching picture pieces.

And yet his heart kept pounding foolishly.

For Yurtha, this trivial daily moment was unbearably sweet.

He wasn’t even looking at the puzzle piece.

He was staring blankly at Rose’s pale fingers as she chose pieces.

“Yurtha. Thanks for working hard filling the artifacts with mana.”

Rose stopped assembling the puzzle and smiled at him.

A smile without any wariness.

A gentle voice spoken casually.

“It’s nothing. I merely did what I should.”

“Come here.”

She beckoned him.

Had Rose ever called him over first before?

Yurtha leaned forward as if enchanted.

He couldn’t even tell whether this was reality…

or the final illusion before death.

“You must be really tired. Your face is pale.”

Her cool palm covered his burning forehead.

“…Ah.”

Rose brushed back his hair and pressed gently on his temples.

An ecstatic sensation pierced his mind.

The poison of the cursed land was constantly gnawing at his veins, carving pain into every joint.

But the moment her touch reached him, all that pain vanished like a lie.

It was a drug-like peace.

“…Noona.”

“Yes, Yurtha.”

“…Please keep touching me.”

It felt like a dream.

He wished time would stop like this.

He would even accept the tornado outside never stopping—

If it meant being trapped forever in this cabin with her.

But at the same time, Yurtha knew.

Rose’s kindness always had a purpose behind it.

The softer her touch became, the more his insides burned.

He was afraid of what words might come at the end of this touch.

Because he couldn’t even guess what bitter medicine was hidden behind this sweet candy.

 

 

*****

 

 

 

Before they realized it, two days had passed since the tornado began.

I was sprawled lazily across the sofa.

Life with Yurtha had been more peaceful than expected.

Come to think of it… I should probably tell Yurtha soon.

The conversation I had been postponing again and again.

Just then, a dark shadow fell over me.

Yurtha stood in front of me, dressed in a simple shirt.

The sleeves rolled up to his elbows revealed firm muscles underneath.

“Noona, as you asked, the window was shaking, so I repaired it.”

“Yeah. Good job.”

Even with my half-hearted praise, a pleased smile formed on his lips.

Enough to make me feel guilty for answering so casually.

For the past two days, Yurtha hadn’t tried to do anything to me.

He simply followed my wishes obediently.

He’s not usually like this though?

His unusually compliant behavior surprised me at first.

But then again, whenever Yurtha and I were left alone together, he had always behaved obediently.

Of course, sometimes he did things he shouldn’t.

Like cutting out the tongues of nobles who bullied me…

or breaking their arms.

…Isn’t that just completely insane?

…Anyway, if I warned him not to do something, he stopped.

Though he usually caused some other trouble later.

Only then did I realize the fundamental problem in our relationship.

Whenever I tried to push him away—

or when someone else entered our relationship—

Yurtha became terrifyingly cruel.

“Yurtha, I’m going to wash up.”

“I’ll heat the water.”

“Okay.”

Still lying on the sofa, I watched Yurtha’s broad back as he headed toward the bathroom.

See? He’s obedient.

But this peace wouldn’t last long.

Richard would arrive in about a week.

When that happened, Yurtha would probably go crazy again.

What should I do….

I kept thinking about it, but I still couldn’t find an answer.

Unless I planned to live alone with him forever, his personality would always cause problems.

I sighed.

“Noona, I’ve heated the water as you asked.”

“Mhm. I’m coming.”

I got up and headed to the bathroom.

 

 

****

 

 

 

The sky above the cursed land screamed as if it were being torn apart.

The tornado that had begun days ago was still raging as if it would swallow everything on earth.

A hellscape where not even beasts dared approach.

And yet, into that hell, a single silver flash was cutting through.

“Stop him! That lun—no, Captain! Stop him!”

“Captain! Don’t! If you go there you’ll die!”

The knights’ shouts were scattered by the storm.

Richard’s blue eyes had long since lost their reason.

“Move.”

With that low command, the holy sword slashed sideways.

BOOM—!

With a single strike—

the elite knights were thrown into the air like falling leaves without even managing to resist.

And just like that, Richard entered the cursed land without hesitation.

Rose.

She was in there.

And something terrible must have happened to her there.

I can’t be late.

Richard clenched his teeth.

The taste of blood spread in his mouth.

There was no hesitation.

He threw himself straight toward the eye of the storm.

Rose might be curled up crying in the corner of the cabin.

Just imagining it tightened his chest.

After running for some time—

a faint light appeared beyond the storm.

It was the cabin.

Miraculously, even in the middle of that massive tornado, the cabin still stood intact.

Found you.

Richard gasped for breath and ran straight toward it.

Rain lashed his face.

Mud splashed upward.

But he didn’t stop.

Even as he grabbed the handle and threw the door open, his heart pounded like it would break his ribs.

When the door opened, warm air greeted him first.

But…

The scene inside the cabin was strange.

For a moment, Richard’s movement stopped ever so slightly.

Something caught his eye.

A coat.

A black men’s coat was draped carelessly over the back of a chair.

As if it had just been taken off.

Richard’s gaze slowly hardened.

“…No, not there.”

At that moment, Rose’s voice was heard.

“It’s not that I’m pretending. I really don’t know. Please show me one more time.”

And another voice.

A man’s voice that sounded strangely familiar.

…The two voices were coming from the bathroom.