The Obsessive Maniac Is Trying To Confine Me Chapter 234 - Side Story Chapter 24

“Are you serious, Rose?”

Richard, who had come out of the bathroom and changed into new clothes, frowned as if he didn’t like it at all.

“You’re saying you want to talk to that guy? Instead, how about we leave together while that troublemaker isn’t here?”

“No. There’s something I absolutely have to say to Yurtha.”

Wasn’t that why I had worked so hard to maintain such a fragile peace while staying with Yurtha?

The knot I tied had to be cut by my own hands. I couldn’t delay it any longer.

As I was about to walk toward the door, I slowly turned back to Richard, who couldn’t hide his displeasure.

Light slipped through the window and scattered over his silver hair.

“Thank you, Richard.”

At my quiet words, his lips, which had been about to keep complaining, paused.

“…I know you’ve taken care of me a lot.”

There was no way I wouldn’t know.

The person who built this hut to protect me in this barren, cursed land, chose the soil, and prepared warm meals every morning.

The person who always used his own body as a shield and stood in front of me first whenever danger came.

“Thank you. Really.”

Richard couldn’t say anything for a long time.

His lips were still tightly closed, but his cheeks seemed slightly flushed, like a boy receiving praise for the first time.

“…That’s unfair.”

When he finally broke the silence, his voice was soft and gentle, almost as if soaked with emotion.

“With just one word like that from you… I can’t even voice any complaints.”

Richard let out a low laugh, as if declaring surrender, and ran a hand over his face.

 

 

 

****

 

 

 

I left Richard in the hut and went outside.

I looked up at the gray sky as I waited for Yurtha to return.

This sky of the cursed land, said to have been created by an ancient demon—today would probably be the last time I saw it.

Paradoxically, my life here had been the most peaceful and happy.

Then, beyond the gray fog, I saw a man with jet-black hair limping toward me.

“Yurtha.”

At my call, the dull red eyes that had been staring at the ground suddenly lit up.

He closed the distance in an instant, his face full of emotion.

But I spoke in a flat, emotionless voice.

“I have something to say.”

At that moment, Yurtha stopped in his tracks.

Up close, he looked terrible.

Like Richard, his clothes were completely torn, and dark blood had dried all over him.

“…But are you okay?”

I pushed my main point aside for a moment and looked him over.

It felt like I had picked the wrong timing.

These crazy bastards—if you were going to come back like this, why did you even go out to fight?

“Let’s go inside first and treat your—”

“…Please speak, noona.”

Just as I tried to lead him into the hut, Yurtha cut me off with a cracked voice.

The expression that had brightened when he saw me was gone, replaced by a deeply dark aura.

‘I haven’t even said anything yet—why does he look like that?’

If it was just pain, his expression wouldn’t have dropped this suddenly.

“…Just follow me, Yurtha.”

I walked ahead.

The sound of mud squelching followed heavily behind me.

“Was it okay, living with me all this time?”

“I was happy.”

As I asked while looking at the wreckage left by the tornado, his answer came immediately, without hesitation.

Happy. That was good.

It meant my effort to let him feel that had paid off.

“Yurtha, I’m planning to go to the capital.”

I told him the same thing I told Richard. But there was something more—something only meant for Yurtha.

“I’m going to Hertas.”

“…Why?”

His eyes shrank as if they had burst. A beast-like sound scraped out of his throat.

“Is it because of Dylan?”

It was a name I hadn’t said in a long time.

His voice was soaked in intense jealousy and killing intent, and I could see his large hands clench so tightly the veins bulged.

But I met his gaze calmly.

“It’s not for that reason.”

“Then…?”

“I’m going to leave the Hertas family.”

At that moment, Yurtha stopped breathing.

“I’m going to give up that family name. I want you to help me.”

“……”

“Can you do that?”

Silence fell.

“…Noona.”

His blood-stained lips trembled.

“…Are you trying to leave me again?”

His gloomy voice was filled with deep despair.

If I said yes, he would lose control and try to keep me by his side.

I lowered my gaze from the sky and looked straight at the man much bigger than me.

“Yurtha, what do you want from me?”

His Adam’s apple bobbed.

His gaze, filled with twisted desire, slowly traced over my lips and eyes.

“You know this, but… I can’t love you.”

“…I know.”

“And yet, you won’t leave me alone. What is it you want from me?”

Yurtha knew.

He could never receive my full love. But even so, he couldn’t stop craving me with that terrible thirst.

“…I want to stay by your side.”

“Is that really all you want?”

A lie.

He was arrogant and greedy.

“I want to be the only one by your side.”

He revealed part of his dark truth.

“Even if that makes me unhappy?”

“……”

He couldn’t answer.

He was the kind of person who would be satisfied as long as I stayed within his sight, no matter what happened to me.

I already knew that about him.

That’s why I hated you so much.

“Yurtha, I’m going to give you a chance.”

At the word “chance,” Yurtha lifted his head sharply.

“I’ll let you stay by my side.”

“…Noona, do you mean that?”

His eyes shook, unable to believe it.

“You said you were happy living with me. I can let you feel that happiness sometimes.”

“……”

“But if you try to control me like before, you’ll never have that happiness again.”

I spoke clearly, like driving in a final nail.

“So choose. Take the chance I’m giving you, and decide what you’re willing to give up.”

I knew what he wanted. And I knew what he feared.

“…Are you crying?”

Yurtha was crying. I was stunned.

“I refuse.”

An immediate rejection.

Even as tears streamed down, his eyes still burned fiercely.

“Even if you don’t like it—”

“What can I do if this is how I was born? I can’t stand that. I never will.”

“……”

“…I’d rather have my whole body burned with hot iron than watch that happen.”

Twisting in his obsession, he stepped closer to me. He had rejected the last chance I gave him.

“Even if I can never feel that happiness again, even if I become completely miserable…”

“What if I die?”

At my words, Yurtha froze.

“…Why would you die, noona?”

All color drained from his face. For a moment, it seemed like he forgot how to breathe.

“If you treat me like that again—if you twist my ankle and try to lock me up like before.”

I said it firmly.

“I’ll kill myself.”

I knew exactly what he feared.

It was the strongest weapon I had.

No matter how much I tore at him, this man would always collapse in front of it.

“Ah… noona, please…”

In the end, his knees gave out, his face trembling.

“Yurtha, listen carefully.”

I spoke coldly.

“The reason I’m giving you this chance… is because there was a big misunderstanding between us.”

He already knew.

Because of that misunderstanding, he had suffered like a beast, struggling in pain that strangled him.

But with a cursed mouth, he had never once been able to tell me the truth.

“I thought you killed my mother.”

“……”

“…But now I know that’s not true.”

Yurtha’s broad shoulders shook.

But my words didn’t end there.

“Even so, that doesn’t mean I’ve forgiven you.”

“…Noona.”

“My mother was a sacrifice for you, a transcendent. So even if the misunderstanding is gone, I still hate you.”

“Noona, I—”

“So think carefully about the chance I’m giving you.”

With that, I walked past Yurtha.