“Are you really going to go quietly? My condolences, Yoo Jin.”
Seated in front of the dungeon, hugging her sword, Transylvania sneered.
The dungeon where the Four Heavenly Kings, Belphegor, had made his home.
In this perilous dungeon, there was only one person likely to call for Yerina.
It seems Yerina hasn’t noticed yet, but she’ll meet Yoo Jin soon.
“You don’t understand the hatred Yerina holds… You couldn’t even imagine it.”
What was about to happen to Yoo Jin was as clear as day.
Transylvania knew because she’d often heard Yerina talking about him.
Yerina loved Yoo Jin just as much as she hated him.
The more she learned about him, the more she denied it.
But that didn’t last long.
Delusions couldn’t last forever.
Yerina began to accept the truth.
That turning point was at the Petenburg meeting.
Whatever the meeting was about, after talking with the witch and the priestess, a poison began to seep into Yerina.
She often vents about Yoo Jin.
Listing all the women she suspected he had cheated with (according to Yerina, it was 100% certain).
Sometimes, she would get drunk and then cry on Transylvania’s shoulder, falling asleep in tears.
That was Yerina’s way of accepting the truth.
And in the midst of that, she ended up meeting Yoo Jin…
Now it was clear where that hatred would be directed.
Who was at fault first no longer mattered.
Even why Yoo Jin was avoiding Yerina wasn’t important.
What mattered was that Yerina had enough strength to subdue Yoo Jin and drag him all the way to Palana.
“Yoo Jin, you’re totally fucked… huh?”
Just then, two more carriages arrived.
When two rare faces appeared, Transylvania’s eyes widened in surprise.
Three women.
They must have come here for reasons similar to Yerina’s.
Transylvania felt her mind going blank.
| Transylvania… come this way… when you return, we… |
“Damn it! Shut up! It’s about to get fun right now!”
| … |
“Shut up, you bitch…”
Transylvania snapped back at the voice of the Great Demon echoing from inside the dungeon.
Then she switched back to spectator mode.
.
.
.
“I want to take all three of you.”
“······.”
“······.”
“······.”
Immediately after that declaration slipped from my lips, silence filled the room.
For quite a while, the expressions on their faces varied widely.
Yulia wore a somewhat intricate expression, as if she had predicted this.
Jill stared blankly at the dagger, looking dazed.
Yerina glared at me fiercely, her eyes filled with tears.
It certainly didn’t look like the scene of a love confession.
In that chilling atmosphere, Yerina broke the silence.
“Let’s talk just the two of us for a moment.”
“I-I want to too.”
“I do too… I have a lot to say…”
I knew this would happen.
They must have a lot built up against me.
So did I.
If given the chance for a private conversation, it would definitely be necessary.
“Just a quick discussion…”
The three of them huddled together, whispering before finally announcing their turn for a private talk about 10 minutes later.
It seemed like the order was significant to them in their own way.
Yerina was first, Yulia second, and Jill last.
How they decided on this order was beyond me.
Anyway, as Yerina carefully crossed the line and approached me, a forgotten thought came to mind.
“I forgot to mention something. I have someone else I promised for the future.”
“······.”
A chill seemed to fill the room.
I thought long and hard.
Though the given time was brief,
It was more than enough to organize my thoughts.
From the start, my thoughts were already set.
So all that was left was to hammer it home.
As I finally blurted it out, I felt a mix of relief and impending crisis wash over me, with no way to turn back now.
No more need for anxiety.
No more need to hesitate.
Now, I could face Jill, Yulia, and Yerina and finally express what was in my heart.
‘Should I start with an apology?’
Yerina would have been quite shocked by my earlier revelation.
Brutal honesty isn’t always the answer.
Of course, it’s better than just lying and running away…
So I thought starting with an apology would be appropriate.
I did bear some responsibility for how things turned out.
Though neither of us intended it, we contributed to the breakdown of our relationship.
And yet, I still couldn’t forget Yerina.
I loved Yerina.
Among all my numerous emotions toward her, love was undeniably the most prominent.
That much, I couldn’t hide.
“······!”
_Thud._
At that moment, the door swung open and quickly shut.
Turning around, I found Yerina standing there, holding the doorknob behind her.
Cold mana began to gather at her fingertips.
A barrier began to spread, enveloping the room.
Meanwhile, a faint voice from outside seemed to shout, “Hey! Why isn’t it showing?!” from a blood ghoul, but I chose to ignore it.
As Yerina glared at me while manifesting the barrier,
As soon as it completed, she quickly walked up to me with fierce strides.
With her right hand raised, reaching for me…
“Damn it.”
I knew it.
If that hand hit me, I’d be dead.
In a flash, my mind was flooded with thoughts.
“Wait a minute, Yerina! If you hit me, I’m gonna die!”
“······.”
“Can’t you let it be a light smack? Hey, hey! Ugh…?!”
At a speed I couldn’t even respond to, Yerina’s palm flew toward me.
In anticipation of at least having my face caved in, I shut my eyes tight.
But instead of striking my cheek, Yerina’s hand tightly embraced my face.
And I felt her soft lips pressed against mine.
“Ugh, uhh…”
Yerina kissed me while tearing up.
This was a far cry from the light and shy kiss at our engagement.
As if to release the emotions she had held back, Yerina was desperately embracing me.
I didn’t even consider stopping it, nor did I need to.
Having already confessed to all three, there was no way for a 100% completion rate ending…
I simply absorbed the passionate breaths and reckless desires that Yerina hurled at me.
“Ahh…”
When I regained my senses, I found myself pushed onto the bed.
Yerina was on top of me, drooling like a sleeping child as she pulled her lips away.
After a moment, she calmed her excitement and buried her face in my chest, sobbing.
“I missed you…”
“······.”
Yerina cried like a baby.
She must have wanted to say this the moment she saw my face.
As the Frost Duchess, she needed to maintain her demeanor in front of others.
But once we were alone, she couldn’t hold it in and finally burst.
In this moment, what was sitting on top of me wasn’t the Frost Duchess, but just a woman named Yerina.
“H sniff sniff… Haah… Haah… It’s really Yoo Jin. It smells like Yoo Jin…”
“Yeah. It’s really me.”
“Shut up. H sniff…”
“······.”
Covering my mouth,
Yerina buried her nose in my chest, nape, and head, inhaling deeply without pause.
Like a predator ready to devour its prey, she took a long time to sniff me, then wiped her tears as she looked down at me.
It seemed like she was finally calming down.
“I can trust you now… you said there are no other women…”
“······.”
Yerina brought up the story from the last round.
I was at a loss for words.
Back then, I indeed deceived Yerina.
She who had hurt me and pressured me only existed in my memories.
But I, who had deceived her and left, remained in both our memories.
It was a bit unfair, but the one who was most at fault here was me.
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t apologize…!”
“······.”
“If you apologize… it means you regret the time we spent together… and I don’t want that… please don’t…”
“······.”
“You wouldn’t know. How happy I was being with you. Do you think I’m clinging to you just because I remember my regression? It’s the opposite. I can’t forget you, so my memories came back. Remember, Yoo Jin? The day we first met…”
I remember.
I remember it clearly.
Even if everything else fades and is forgotten.
I’ll never forget the moments I had with them.
No matter how hard I tried to forget, it was no use.
No matter how much I burned with hatred for them, I couldn’t forget.
The ones who had vanished beyond the timeline were still in my heart.
And miraculously.
I managed to save three of them.
Jill from my first run, Yulia from the sixth, and Yerina from the twelfth.
Those who I thought would only exist in my memories and nowhere else.
They appeared before me again.
The myriad emotions I felt at the first realization were surely mixed with joy.
And that sense of joy was certainly significant.
“Do you remember? Right after we arrived in Palana, you picked a fight with me out of nowhere. Saying you wanted to marry me and that you’d take me down.”
“Did I really say that so aggressively?”
“Yeah. Everyone was really surprised. I was too… I didn’t think there was anyone among the humans so reckless.”
“There are many crazy ones among humans.”
“That’s not what I mean. There are many who act without thinking about the consequences. But not many humans consider everything and throw themselves into an uncertain future. I think that’s what enchanted me about you… Yoo Jin, no matter the circumstances, you never give up and always seek the best option. You may make mistakes, but you don’t have regrets. Sometimes you look back, but you never hesitate to move forward. That aspect is precisely what is necessary for a ruler. Even if that choice turns out to be regrettable and makes you lose confidence, you can’t show any weakness before those people you must be responsible for… That’s why I admired you and fell for you…”
“······.”
I had never heard such words before.
I’ve met countless Yerinas.
But she was the first to share such inner thoughts with me.
The Yerina who climbed back through time to reunite with me was the one standing before me, no other.
As if to lay over all of her past selves, she wrapped her hands around my face and captured my lips once more.
“If you look at only me from now on, I’ll let you off. Yoo Jin, can we do that? Hmm?”
“Yerina.”
“Yeah…”
“The me you think of and the real me are a bit different. You see me as reckless, but honestly, I’m quite cautious and a bit cowardly.”
“No way.”
“I had to do what I did. I was simply thrust into situations where I had to act. I envied your aggression. I wanted to become a beast like you.”
It’s a given, but the one who invests earns.
And there aren’t many who would stake their money on an uncertain future.
Only beasts, only wolves throw themselves into uncertainty, tasting success.
But I was just pretending to be a wolf.
Through regression, I was simply making an uncertain future certain.
“I was also scared and hesitated many times when it came to regression.”
There were plenty of times I should have turned back time already.
Even knowing it would lead to disaster if I waited too long.
Even knowing I would have to bear their hatred, anger, and twisted affections.
Even as I knew that taking it all meant my mental state would crack, making future regressions even harder.
“Scared me, I always wanted this time to be the last. I didn’t want to erase the memories of you…”
I was afraid of letting go.
I was afraid of being left alone.
As I went through regressions, I found myself with more fears than I had before.
“But now, a miracle happened. It wasn’t intentional, but you all from the lost timeline have returned. And now, I don’t want to let any of you go again. I can’t force you to understand. This is merely my greed. But if I could be a bit more greedy… I love you, Yerina. This feeling couldn’t possibly change no matter how much time passes.”
“T-This fucker…”
Yerina buried her face in my chest again, breaking down in shivers.
After a moment, she sniffed and swallowed hard, making eye contact with me.
“What can I possibly do to refuse when I hear that… I clearly know I can’t live without you… Damn, I love you too… I love you, you bastard…”
As she said that,
Yerina’s soft lips attacked again.
Entering the thirteenth round, having given up on conquest and even while I ran away, it was only after we burned our mutual hatred that I finally aligned my heart with Yerina.
This was probably what you would call a love-hate relationship.
