The Obsessive Maniac Is Trying To Confine Me Chapter 237 - Side Story Chapter 27

I thought the knights of the Piet territory had come to find Richard.

But outside the window, I saw not the crest of Piet, but a familiar emblem.

‘That is…….’

A flag bearing the symbol of the Evantes family was fluttering.

It was clear that even the knights stationed at Piet Castle had followed.

But then—

“I cannot accept it.”

At the cold voice coming from beyond the door, I stopped breathing.

It was a voice too familiar, one I could never forget—full of arrogance.

‘No way…….’

My heart began to pound rapidly.

“I’ll have to go in myself and see what you’re hiding.”

……Argen Evantes.

He had come here.

It felt like my mind went blank.

‘Why did he come in person?’

I could feel the atmosphere outside freezing in an instant.

Argen was not someone easy to deal with. He would never accept the condition Richard offered with his surrender.

He would insist on searching this cabin.

And Richard would never let that happen.

To protect me.

Just as I grabbed the doorknob, feeling uneasy—

“Don’t go out, sister.”

Yurtha stopped me.

“Yurtha.”

A large hand covered the back of my hand. His big body pressed close behind me.

“He is simply paying the price for what he has done.”

“……”

“You don’t need to get involved in that.”

Leaving with them was Richard’s choice.

He made that choice entirely for me.

He had to go with them and succeed in being reinstated to shed his status as a criminal.

But now there was a variable.

If he blocked the cabin search to protect me, if he tried to fight them to the end……

He would truly become a monster.

“Let go, Yurtha.”

I couldn’t become an obstacle.

“I’m not a criminal.”

“As long as you’re with him, you’ll have to explain many things. Even you, who did nothing wrong, could be dragged into the mud.”

Yurtha’s red eyes pierced into me.

“Especially if you’ve chosen not to remain as Hertas.”

“……”

“The price of that choice will be even harsher. All kinds of vermin will bite and trample you because you have no backing.”

His lips trembled slightly as he said that.

“What can you even do as a commoner?”

I quietly looked down at his large hand gripping the doorknob, then raised my head with a calm face.

“……Is that your way of worrying?”

At my blunt words, Yurtha’s eyes widened.

“You try to scare me and put me down, and all you’re really saying is…… you’re afraid I’ll disappear from your side?”

“Sister, I…….”

I gently brushed his cheek.

“We’ll meet again, Yurtha.”

You always made sure of that. There was never a time you didn’t find me in the end.

“As long as I keep my promise.”

For a while, we looked at each other in silence.

After the tense quiet, Yurtha’s lips trembled slightly as he spoke.

“……If you’re truly worried about him, I can take you and run away. I’ll make sure no one notices.”

Those were words I never expected from him.

He had never cared about the things I worried about.

If anything, he used to get jealous and want to destroy them.

“Thank you, Yurtha.”

I slowly pushed his hand away.

His grip had already loosened, and his hand fell away helplessly.

Without hesitation, I turned and stepped outside.

 

 

****

 

 

 

Creak.

As the old door opened, a strong wind slashed across my cheek.

I calmly faced the dozens of gazes pouring toward me.

Even through the fog, the threatening atmosphere pierced my whole body.

“Rose.”

At that moment, Richard stepped in front of me, blocking the knights and shielding me.

From the moment I stepped outside, his blue eyes had been shaking as if they would break.

The calmness he had before the door was gone.

<Stay here.>

Those were the desperate words Richard left me before opening the door.

<Until I leave with them.>

But I broke that promise in the end.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t keep it.

This was an important chance for Richard to return as the Holy Knight Commander.

I couldn’t become an obstacle.

“……Don’t step in, Richard.”

I grabbed his collar and whispered so only he could hear.

“……Why did you come out?”

“I’m okay.”

It was very quiet, but he would have heard it.

Richard’s shoulders stiffened.

The veins on the back of his hand, gripping the sword hilt, bulged as if they would burst—

but in the end, he let go of the sword.

“You may search the cabin freely.”

I stepped out from behind him and spoke quietly to the knights.

Among them, I could feel a pair of deep, cold green eyes sticking to me.

Argen Evantes.

Why had he come all the way to this rotten land himself?

“Search the cabin!”

At that moment, a sharp command came from behind Argen.

It was a familiar face.

Wasn’t he the knight commander I met in Piet territory?

As soon as the order was given, armed knights rushed past us and stormed into the cabin.

“Are you surrendering quietly?”

Breaking through the noise, Argen slowly walked toward me.

Richard stepped in front of me again, releasing a dangerous killing intent as if to protect me.

“Like a dog protecting its master.”

Argen mocked Richard as if he found it ridiculous.

“If I knew it would turn out like this, I wouldn’t have given you that task back then, Rosy.”

Back then?

……Could he mean when I worked as Richard’s personal maid?

“You’d better not come any closer.”

At that moment, Richard warned Argen firmly, as if he wouldn’t allow even a finger to touch me.

At this rate, things might get worse again, so I quickly spoke.

“Marquis, we’ll go with you quietly.”

I turned away from Richard’s desperate gaze.

I had no choice.

This was the path for us.

“Report! There is no one else inside the cabin!”

“The only ones hiding here are those two!”

Soon, the knights finished their search and shouted.

As I had asked, Yurtha seemed to have erased his presence and disappeared.

I calmly closed my eyes.

The sharp fog wind cutting into my skin felt especially cold today.

My peaceful life as a fugitive for the past two years had come to an end.

 

 

 

****

 

 

 

 

The rattling black iron carriage cut through the gray fog.

After leaving the cursed land, we headed toward the castle of Piet territory.

“Please stay here for a while.”

The knights gave me a comfortable room inside the castle.

Their behavior toward me was careful.

Unlike before, when they treated me like a criminal at the cabin, they now treated me politely.

Probably because I was Rose Hertas.

I still carried the bearing of a noble.

‘What does Argen plan to do with us?’

I sat on the soft sofa, deep in thought.

The empire needs Richard.

He was a transcendent being with unmatched power in the empire.

So they would likely want to cover up the incident from two years ago and restore his authority to use him.

But……

Thinking of Argen’s cold gaze, it didn’t seem like things would go smoothly.

‘Why did he come in person?’

Argen didn’t seem like the type to bother with something like this.

He wasn’t someone who would personally search for Richard with his private knights just to reinstate him.

Moreover, Richard and Argen had a terrible history.

To Argen, Richard was nothing more than an obstacle.

‘Could he be trying to stop the reinstatement…….’

A chilling feeling came over me.

Bang!

At that moment, the tightly closed door burst open.

“Come with us.”

The knights standing outside called me.

……I felt that the time had finally come.

They led me to the underground of the castle.

Unlike the luxurious room I had stayed in briefly, this place was damp and dark.

With heavy steps, I walked into a prison with iron bars.

At the center, there was a table.

In the darkness, a blond man sat elegantly with his legs crossed.

When he saw me, his cold green eyes curved into a smile.

“Long time no see, Rosie.”

He raised his gloved hand and gestured toward the worn chair across from him.

“Sit.”

The arrogant command fell.