11. I’ll Walk My Own Path
They understood quickly enough to gather only the humans.
Should I be grateful?
Praise their efficiency?
Or maybe they simply wanted to watch us destroy ourselves and laugh.
Apparently I wasn’t the only one who felt that way.
Cletta pressed a hand to his forehead.
“It feels like someone is playing with us.”
That isn’t a feeling.
It’s actually happening.
Still—
we were gathered.
No reason to complain.
I immediately got to the point.
I didn’t know when Holloway might return.
His emotional values were all inaccessible now.
I couldn’t see Possessiveness or Obsession rising.
And I no longer received warnings about bizarre routes activating because of them.
Not knowing was even more frightening.
What if one of those routes was already progressing without my knowledge?
When Holloway was beside me, I felt uncomfortable and constantly conscious of him.
When he wasn’t—
I became nervous and restless.
I sighed.
Then removed all the signet rings I had collected.
The only family missing was Moran’s……
Ah.
And my own.
Sellir still refused to give me House Lodriz’s ring.
Anyway—
as far as I could tell, the only family here that hadn’t sinned was House Eleanor.
Wasn’t the system originally supposed to attach itself to Moran and accidentally chose me instead?
While entertaining that perfectly reasonable suspicion, I placed the rings on the table.
I watched everyone’s reactions.
“This ring……”
Each person picked up their own family’s ring and inspected the inside.
A production date had been engraved there.
They were objects from a thousand years ago.
Meaning—
they had likely belonged to the founding heads of those families.
Cletta looked serious.
“Evelyn. Where did you get these?”
“Cletta……. Do you know of any connection between the founding Duke Schneider and this island?”
“No. None.”
He shook his head.
I slowly asked each person whether they knew anything about the connection between their founding ancestor and this island.
No one did.
Even Cynthia said she had never seen records connecting the founding Emperor to the island.
I casually described the ancient book Samilia had discovered.
Cynthia merely shook her head.
Could the book have been visible only to the Empress?
Why……?
When I saw the memory, it almost looked as if the book had deliberately lured her there.
Why would it lure the Empress?
“Why would our family signet rings be here? Didn’t we arrive by accident because our ship sank?”
Alhulf inspected his ring.
I snatched it back.
And not only his.
I reclaimed every signet ring and shoved them deep into the pouch.
“Why are you taking them back? Didn’t you give them to us?”
Werner asked.
I ignored him.
Moran looked slightly flustered.
“Um, Lady Evelyn. Is there no signet ring from my family?”
“No.”
“Why……?”
I answered firmly.
“Because Moran’s family is the only one here that didn’t commit a crime.”
“What?”
“What do you mean, Evelyn?”
Cynthia’s expression immediately turned cold.
“This island, this hotel, and the beings trying to kill us—
all of them are the result of crimes committed by the founders of our families.”
A sin that remained intact.
A thousand years later.
And those rings were the evidence.
Slowly—
without softening any of the brutality—
I told them everything I had discovered.
Everyone listened silently.
No one interrupted me even once.
“……And because of what they did, the victims became demons and were trapped here. Even though they never committed any crime.”
“Demons……. A sin we created.”
Cynthia muttered.
She repeatedly rubbed her face with both hands.
She looked incredibly conflicted.
Well.
I had too.
“This is everything I’ve discovered so far. Not a single part is a lie.”
When I finished—
silence surrounded us.
Moran looked lost.
Alhulf glanced nervously around.
Then suddenly lunged toward me.
“Give me that ring!”
“Give you what?!”
I kicked him in the stomach.
THUD!
“Ugh!”
Crash!
Alhulf rolled across the floor.
I stood.
Then moved far away from everyone.
It wouldn’t be easy for any of them to accept this.
At the same time—
they probably understood why I had shown them the rings only to take them back.
And what I intended to do.
Showing them meant I intended to reveal everything to the Empire.
Of course—
if the demons didn’t want that, I wouldn’t.
But would they really not want it?
Even if revealing the truth destroyed our houses and left us on the street—
that was something we had to endure.
Generation after generation had desperately hidden the crimes of our ancestors.
‘And that wasn’t all. They kept blindly killing people here without even knowing who remained.’
I didn’t know whether the island’s secret had continued being passed down after the gates were sealed……
Still—
if everyone here learned the truth and chose not to reveal anything—
that would technically be their decision.
‘It’s ridiculous to say we get to choose at all. The demons are the ones who should choose.’
Giving these signet rings back wouldn’t erase the written pact anyway.
I threw Alhulf’s ring toward him.
He looked around nervously.
Then hurriedly snatched it up and clutched it tightly with both hands as though he would never let anyone take it again.
I returned the other rings too.
At the same time, I made my position clear.
“Whatever happens, I’m going to reveal exactly what my family did a thousand years ago and accept the consequences.”
“…….”
Unlike Alhulf, whose face had gone white—
everyone else simply stared at their rings with strange expressions.
“This isn’t something that can be hidden. But I understand why everyone needs time to think. We’re innocent, yet we’ll be punished for something the founders did.”
You couldn’t decide instantly.
I could decide—
‘Sure, let’s destroy the whole family!’
Normally, someone would need to think again and again.
“But remember one thing. If you learn the truth and choose to pretend you don’t know, then you’re no different from the people who committed those crimes.”
You become perpetrators too.
I didn’t want to watch our people live comfortably while the victims remained here suffering, starving, unable to escape.
As expected—
Alhulf was the first to shake his head.
“I-I can’t! My family will collapse!”
I expected nothing from him anyway.
Whatever.
If he learned about the written pact, he’d probably lose his mind trying to stop me.
So for now—
I needed to keep that part quiet.
Cynthia fiddled with her ring.
Then asked,
“……Evelyn. How did you decide so quickly?”
Before answering, I lowered my head briefly.
……Maybe seeing the demons’ past made it easier.
If I didn’t do it—
no one would.
Maybe there was a reason I had come this far.
Maybe if no one else could end this—
I should.
I wanted to show those demons, who had fought desperately not to abandon their humanity, that humans like me existed too.
And if I didn’t act—
this would probably be inherited by our next generation.
It had festered for too long.
Already rotting.
Eventually, it would be revealed.
And by then—
it might be too late to do anything.
More importantly—
if I turned away?
The demons would continue falling endlessly into despair.
Trapped inside this hotel.
Forced to live forever in a place soaked with their pain.
Unable to escape.
I couldn’t allow that.
I knew the truth.
My family was involved.
Maybe my parents or older brother would have to pay for that sin with their lives.
But my family mattered to me too.
Rather than sacrifice them—
I would stand at the front myself.
There was one other concern.
Holloway’s title:
‘Future Conqueror of This World.’
If that truly referred to the future—
then even without me, Holloway and the demons would eventually escape.
I didn’t know when.
Maybe while I was still alive.
So I had to free Holloway and the demons with my own hands—
and prevent them from conquering the world.
For my life.
And my family’s.
A conqueror would essentially force humanity beneath him.
“Because revealing the truth and asking forgiveness is simply the right thing to do.”
Cynthia stared at me as though she had realized something.
Then a faint smile appeared.
“……You’re strong, Evelyn.”
“You can think about it longer.”
I turned toward the door.
Cletta suddenly grabbed my hand.
“Evelyn. You’ve definitely chosen your path? Once we escape, you’re going to reveal everything and accept punishment?”
“Of course.”
I ground my teeth.
Then added,
“I want to dig up every ancestral grave and dump the bodies in a garbage pit.”
“Ghk.”
Alhulf inhaled sharply.
Why keep those bastards buried respectfully?
I didn’t want to praise them just because they managed our families well and made them prosperous.
Their character had been rotten to the core.
Moran, who had silently listened, cautiously joined in.
“I also…… agree with Lady Evelyn. We personally did nothing wrong, but can we really say that and leave it there? We can’t allow something this terrible to be passed to the next generation either.”
Apparently irritated, Alhulf snapped at her.
“Isn’t that easy for you to say because your family isn’t involved?”
Moran answered firmly.
“Even if my family had been involved, I wouldn’t hesitate.”
Moran probably really wouldn’t.
They could argue all they wanted.
My part was finished.
I opened the door to leave and search for Pandora’s Box and the written pact.
Holloway was leaning against the wall directly beside it.
“Huh?”
At my stupid sound, Holloway looked down at me.
Then grabbed my arm and pulled me outside.
The door shut sharply behind us.
“Everyone inside……”
“Were you serious?”
“About what I said in there?”
“You heard all of it?”
Holloway didn’t deny it.
Neither did I bother hiding anything.
“If my family committed a crime, then it should accept punishment.”
“Even though you didn’t commit it?”
“Even so. The fact my family was involved doesn’t change.”
Unless I abandoned the name and blood entirely—
I couldn’t separate myself from it.
“……Is that so?”
Holloway lifted my chin.
Then pressed down on my lower lip.
“They’re only words. I don’t particularly believe you.”
“That’s fair. Still, trust me. Who knows? Maybe this time the result will be different.”
Holloway exhaled lightly at my shameless request to simply believe words.
Then stroked my head.
“Fine. Giving you one chance isn’t difficult.”
“Everything should get three chances—”
The raised corner of his mouth slowly fell.
I hurriedly added,
“Joking.”
Right.
Considering how many chances he’d already given us—
three would actually be quite a lot.
Then I remembered something.
I flinched.
Looking at his relaxed face, I stammered,
“O-Our family……”
“Ah.”
Holloway lowered his face toward my ear.
Then whispered quietly,
“Cletta Schneider.
Werner Hasios.
Alhulf Kersian.
Cynthia Albrecht.
And……”
A-And?
Watching my trembling pupils—
Holloway pressed his forehead against mine.
His red lips moved.
“Evelyn Lodriz.”
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