“I’m going to put this rope around your neck now.”
Ignoring her trembling hands, Ines reached out to really wrap the rope around his neck. He resisted fiercely, but it wasn’t easy with his body hanging on the ground. She lightly stopped him.
Still, Joseph thought that since he was dying knowing his reason, it was much better than her.
As the wind blew, the reeds cried strangely. Winter was beginning on the mountain without anyone knowing when autumn had come.
“Stop causing trouble, Ines Swenden.”
But at the moment she was really about to touch Joseph’s head, Ines heard the voice she had been longing for. She was so surprised that she couldn’t even breathe and froze in place.
“I... I told you to stop causing trouble.”
“Please, I was wrong. Ines, please, save me. I just did what Count Graham told me to do. It was you I loved!”
But Ines continued as if she didn’t hear anything.
“Then what will happen?”
He shivered and couldn’t answer and his face turned pale.
Looking at his terrified face, Ines showed emotion on her face for the first time. It was a crack that he couldn’t identify exactly. If she tied the rope like this and hung his neck in the air, he would die soon. It was a death as futile as Count Graham.
‘What will happen after I kill you?’
Ines didn’t feel any guilt while making and installing this device.
Had the ten years of suffering worse than hell really turned her into a monster? But even so... Ines couldn’t stop here.
“But you know, Joseph?”
He didn’t answer but only glared at her with resentment.
“I’ve already paid the price for killing you. I’ve already suffered ten years of unimaginable suffering. For killing you... So this is just a slight change in order.”
But Ines continued as if she didn’t hear anything.
“Then what will happen?”
He shivered and couldn’t answer and his face turned pale.
Looking at his terrified face, Ines showed emotion on her face for the first time. It was a crack that he couldn’t identify exactly. If she tied the rope like this and hung his neck in the air, he would die soon. It was a death as futile as Count Graham.
‘What will happen after I kill you?’
Ines didn’t feel any guilt while making and installing this device.
Had the ten years of suffering worse than hell really turned her into a monster? But even so... Ines couldn’t stop here.
“But you know, Joseph?”
He didn’t answer but only glared at her with resentment.
“I’ve already paid the price for killing you. I’ve already suffered ten years of unimaginable suffering. For killing you... So this is just a slight change in order.”
Ignoring her trembling hands, Ines reached out to really wrap the rope around his neck. He resisted fiercely, but it wasn’t easy with his body hanging on the ground. She lightly stopped him.
Still, Joseph thought that since he was dying knowing his reason, it was much better than her.
As the wind blew, the reeds cried strangely. Winter was beginning on the mountain without anyone knowing when autumn had come.
“Stop causing trouble, Ines Swenden.”
But at the moment she was really about to touch Joseph’s head, Ines heard the voice she had been longing for. She was so surprised that she couldn’t even breathe and froze in place.
“I... I told you to stop causing trouble.”
It was definitely him. Carson’s voice mixed with laughter.
She looked around quickly, but she couldn’t see the owner of the voice that rang in her head.
Ah, Ines eventually sat down without doing anything.
She looked around at herself. And she wiped her face with her hand.
Even without seeing it, she was sure that her face would be dirty and ugly. Just imagining Carson seeing her now made her heart rip apart.
“Ines?”
Joseph, who had sensed her change, called her in an earnest voice. But she didn’t hear his voice.
Only a sudden realization swept over her like a strong wind. She could no longer become a monster. No matter how painfully suffocating she felt, no matter how much she felt an uncontrollable urge to kill Joseph at every moment.
How could she face him again with the face of a real murderer?
Ines’ life, which had been running only at the word revenge, had a more sacred and perfect purpose than that.
She thought that the agonizing pain that had been tormenting her would end after witnessing their death properly. The long time that no human being could or should experience had made her into a beast just like them.
Thinking of Carson, Ines did not hesitate. She got up from the floor and went to the pulley to put back the long rope she had pulled. Joseph started to shout loudly as he watched her.
“Ines, you want to save me, right? Then, let me go quickly. Yes?”
Hearing his expectant voice, she did not let him go down to the floor.
“You will not be able to use your legs for a while.”
She continued, turning her back to him.
“I knew all about your plan. Your plan to make me a murderer. Then I would have to go to Romfield.”
“What? How, how?”
Ines heard his panicked voice and untied the noose that had bound his legs. He fell to the floor with a thud. She felt Joseph getting up from behind her. Even if he ran straight to kill Ines, there was nothing she could do. She really wanted to end this tedious suffering. If she died now, at least she would die as a human and not as a beast.
“I, I guess I was crazy.”
But he didn’t. Had Joseph also returned from the brink of death and given up on becoming a beast?
Just then, something moved on the mountain path they had come up. As Ines squinted to see what it was, something that was either a beast or a human jumped out and rushed straight at Joseph.
‘Zemern?’
Immediately, someone's groan was heard. When Ines turned around, Zemern was thrusting a knife into Joseph's stomach. Joseph looked down at the knife in his stomach with eyes of disbelief. Soon, their eyes met.
When he fell, Zemern ran his bloody hands over his flowing hair.
Then he looked at her and smiled.
In that moment, Ines realized that her sins were not over yet.
"Ines."
He called her as if he had been in Romfield.
"Ines Swenden."
At that moment, the wind blew behind Ines. Zemern took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and shivered. After a moment, he opened his eyes and ran straight to her. In an instant, he grabbed her arm.
"You must be upset that a Baron like me touched me."
Ines was surprised and instead of shaking his hand away, she let out a long breath and laughed. This was how it was going to end up.
Zemern had become obsessed with Ines as soon as he saw her in Romfield. Her resigned smile brought a look of doubt to his face.
“Are you laughing?”
“...”
“Well, you’re not in your right mind to do something this crazy. Did he become your lover? Last time he was a lord, what’s this? A commoner? How many people did you have sex with?”
“Why on earth are you doing this to me?”
“If I can’t go up, I’ll have to drag you down.”
“Is dragging me down and crushing me your goal?”
He lowered his head and buried his face in Ines’s neck. His inhalation was the same as Zemern’s at that time.
“Yes, that’s my goal. Your smell... Your smell drives me crazy. So this isn’t my fault.”
Ines straightened up and glanced at Joseph. He was lying there motionless.
“Why on earth did you quit work just now? You missed out on a beautiful scene. But it doesn’t matter. Thanks to you, I got to decorate the end of that piece.”
“...”
“You will soon be sent to Romfield. Because you killed your lover. And in such a cruel way.”
“That’s crazy.”
“I will now be the guard of Romfield. Then you will be mine.”
He slowly swept Ines’s shoulders from her elbows. When she pushed her shoulders hard in a terrible sensation, Zemern slapped her in the face.
Ines staggered greatly but did not fall to the floor. She had been hit hundreds of times by him. The moment she fell to the floor, the indiscriminate attacks began. So she instinctively resisted.
Zemern furrowed his brows for a moment. No woman had ever stood up after being hit by his hand.
All the women who fell like that became helpless in the same way. They all trembled with terrified faces. That moment was the moment Zemern felt the greatest satisfaction. Everything after that was too easy.
While he was momentarily confused, Ines started to run away. Zemern, who had regained consciousness, quickly ran over and grabbed her shoulder, throwing her to the floor. Ines, who had fallen to the floor, spat out blood-mixed saliva. This time, he climbed on top of Ines.
Just looking down from above made Zemern feel very happy. The white nape of her neck under her luscious golden hair that seemed to pour down fueled his sadism. And her dark green eyes that resembled her mother’s.
“You’re mine. Strangely, I knew you would be mine from the beginning.”
“...”
“You were like that too? That’s why you made that expression when you first saw me. I thought I would die from holding back my feelings of going crazy.”
Ines knew best how Zemern would act from then on. She lifted one side of her skirt while he was looking at her face.
Then she untied one side of the gusset that was tied tightly around her thigh.
As Carson had said, Ines had attached an armor-piercing dagger to one end of the gusset. It was something she had never taken off a single day since he had put it on her body.
There was no hesitation. Ines drew her dagger, raised her arm as high as she could, and stabbed him right above his collarbone.
“Ugh!”
Zemern screamed and pulled away from her. Ines pushed him away and got away completely.
“It’s not your turn yet, Zemern.”
But his madness didn’t stop there. He picked himself up and pulled the sword out of his shoulder.
Blood gushed from the spot where he had pulled it out, but he didn’t care at all as he picked it up again. He creaked as he walked, like the grim reaper.
But she was determined not to die by Zemern’s hand. If he stabbed her with the sword, she would strangle him with the gusset.
The moment she made up her mind, Zemern began to rush at her.
Just then, two men dressed as knights appeared, unbelievably. While one kicked Zemern’s hand, knocking the sword he was holding down, the other grabbed his arm and held him back.
The knights’ clothes had a familiar horse emblem.
“Are you okay?”
Ines sank to the spot after seeing Carson’s emblem. He had finally come to her rescue again.
Zemern’s screaming rang in her ears. The knight’s face, politely asking if she was okay again, blurred and cleared repeatedly.
Seeing him completely tied up and kneeling on the floor, Ines slowly got up. However, her legs gave out, and she had no choice but to sink back down.
Joseph lay in the distance, pale.
She had no choice but to crawl to him slowly. Then she hugged his clearly dead body.
She looked around quickly, but she couldn’t see the owner of the voice that rang in her head.
Ah, Ines eventually sat down without doing anything.
She looked around at herself. And she wiped her face with her hand.
Even without seeing it, she was sure that her face would be dirty and ugly. Just imagining Carson seeing her now made her heart rip apart.
“Ines?”
Joseph, who had sensed her change, called her in an earnest voice. But she didn’t hear his voice.
Only a sudden realization swept over her like a strong wind. She could no longer become a monster. No matter how painfully suffocating she felt, no matter how much she felt an uncontrollable urge to kill Joseph at every moment.
How could she face him again with the face of a real murderer?
Ines’ life, which had been running only at the word revenge, had a more sacred and perfect purpose than that.
She thought that the agonizing pain that had been tormenting her would end after witnessing their death properly. The long time that no human being could or should experience had made her into a beast just like them.
Thinking of Carson, Ines did not hesitate. She got up from the floor and went to the pulley to put back the long rope she had pulled. Joseph started to shout loudly as he watched her.
“Ines, you want to save me, right? Then, let me go quickly. Yes?”
Hearing his expectant voice, she did not let him go down to the floor.
“You will not be able to use your legs for a while.”
She continued, turning her back to him.
“I knew all about your plan. Your plan to make me a murderer. Then I would have to go to Romfield.”
“What? How, how?”
Ines heard his panicked voice and untied the noose that had bound his legs. He fell to the floor with a thud. She felt Joseph getting up from behind her. Even if he ran straight to kill Ines, there was nothing she could do. She really wanted to end this tedious suffering. If she died now, at least she would die as a human and not as a beast.
“I, I guess I was crazy.”
But he didn’t. Had Joseph also returned from the brink of death and given up on becoming a beast?
Just then, something moved on the mountain path they had come up. As Ines squinted to see what it was, something that was either a beast or a human jumped out and rushed straight at Joseph.
‘Zemern?’
Immediately, someone's groan was heard. When Ines turned around, Zemern was thrusting a knife into Joseph's stomach. Joseph looked down at the knife in his stomach with eyes of disbelief. Soon, their eyes met.
When he fell, Zemern ran his bloody hands over his flowing hair.
Then he looked at her and smiled.
In that moment, Ines realized that her sins were not over yet.
"Ines."
He called her as if he had been in Romfield.
"Ines Swenden."
At that moment, the wind blew behind Ines. Zemern took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and shivered. After a moment, he opened his eyes and ran straight to her. In an instant, he grabbed her arm.
"You must be upset that a Baron like me touched me."
Ines was surprised and instead of shaking his hand away, she let out a long breath and laughed. This was how it was going to end up.
Zemern had become obsessed with Ines as soon as he saw her in Romfield. Her resigned smile brought a look of doubt to his face.
“Are you laughing?”
“...”
“Well, you’re not in your right mind to do something this crazy. Did he become your lover? Last time he was a lord, what’s this? A commoner? How many people did you have sex with?”
“Why on earth are you doing this to me?”
“If I can’t go up, I’ll have to drag you down.”
“Is dragging me down and crushing me your goal?”
He lowered his head and buried his face in Ines’s neck. His inhalation was the same as Zemern’s at that time.
“Yes, that’s my goal. Your smell... Your smell drives me crazy. So this isn’t my fault.”
Ines straightened up and glanced at Joseph. He was lying there motionless.
“Why on earth did you quit work just now? You missed out on a beautiful scene. But it doesn’t matter. Thanks to you, I got to decorate the end of that piece.”
“...”
“You will soon be sent to Romfield. Because you killed your lover. And in such a cruel way.”
“That’s crazy.”
“I will now be the guard of Romfield. Then you will be mine.”
He slowly swept Ines’s shoulders from her elbows. When she pushed her shoulders hard in a terrible sensation, Zemern slapped her in the face.
Ines staggered greatly but did not fall to the floor. She had been hit hundreds of times by him. The moment she fell to the floor, the indiscriminate attacks began. So she instinctively resisted.
Zemern furrowed his brows for a moment. No woman had ever stood up after being hit by his hand.
All the women who fell like that became helpless in the same way. They all trembled with terrified faces. That moment was the moment Zemern felt the greatest satisfaction. Everything after that was too easy.
While he was momentarily confused, Ines started to run away. Zemern, who had regained consciousness, quickly ran over and grabbed her shoulder, throwing her to the floor. Ines, who had fallen to the floor, spat out blood-mixed saliva. This time, he climbed on top of Ines.
Just looking down from above made Zemern feel very happy. The white nape of her neck under her luscious golden hair that seemed to pour down fueled his sadism. And her dark green eyes that resembled her mother’s.
“You’re mine. Strangely, I knew you would be mine from the beginning.”
“...”
“You were like that too? That’s why you made that expression when you first saw me. I thought I would die from holding back my feelings of going crazy.”
Ines knew best how Zemern would act from then on. She lifted one side of her skirt while he was looking at her face.
Then she untied one side of the gusset that was tied tightly around her thigh.
As Carson had said, Ines had attached an armor-piercing dagger to one end of the gusset. It was something she had never taken off a single day since he had put it on her body.
There was no hesitation. Ines drew her dagger, raised her arm as high as she could, and stabbed him right above his collarbone.
“Ugh!”
Zemern screamed and pulled away from her. Ines pushed him away and got away completely.
“It’s not your turn yet, Zemern.”
But his madness didn’t stop there. He picked himself up and pulled the sword out of his shoulder.
Blood gushed from the spot where he had pulled it out, but he didn’t care at all as he picked it up again. He creaked as he walked, like the grim reaper.
But she was determined not to die by Zemern’s hand. If he stabbed her with the sword, she would strangle him with the gusset.
The moment she made up her mind, Zemern began to rush at her.
Just then, two men dressed as knights appeared, unbelievably. While one kicked Zemern’s hand, knocking the sword he was holding down, the other grabbed his arm and held him back.
The knights’ clothes had a familiar horse emblem.
“Are you okay?”
Ines sank to the spot after seeing Carson’s emblem. He had finally come to her rescue again.
Zemern’s screaming rang in her ears. The knight’s face, politely asking if she was okay again, blurred and cleared repeatedly.
Seeing him completely tied up and kneeling on the floor, Ines slowly got up. However, her legs gave out, and she had no choice but to sink back down.
Joseph lay in the distance, pale.
She had no choice but to crawl to him slowly. Then she hugged his clearly dead body.
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