"I came all the way here to reach you. So please, just this once, choose me."
Fenrir's voice settling in her ears was closer to a plea.
Presepe stared at Fenrir with a blank expression.
Then, was my hunch right after all? Did he approach me hiding the truth, just as I expected? To bind me, just like the other characters did...
However, as if he had already read Presepe's thoughts, Fenrir quickly continued speaking.
"The only ones I have harmed, and the ones who continue to harm, are them."
"..."
"Those who killed you. Those who hold the power to be chosen by you. So... I don't know what you think, but I don't regret it. Because it was my only way."
"What do you mean the only way...?”
The inside of her mouth felt dry and brittle, as if sand had been poured in. Presepe asked pitifully in a dry voice.
"Vidar said that if I kill them one by one, and thus take away the male protagonist's authority, I will be able to reach you too."
"..."
"So I did it. Even if I went back, I would make the same choice."
So that was the reason Vidar and the Grand Duke knew each other.
It felt like the puzzle in her head was finally starting to fit together little by little.
In the end, both Vidar and Fenrir. They knew everything from the beginning. And Fenrir had accepted his proposal...
"..."
While the confused Presepe was gathering her thoughts, Fenrir stroked Presepe's cheek with his blood-stained hand.
It was a tender touch, as always, but strangely enough, she also felt a vivid obsession for some unknown reason. Because of that, it felt a little scary.
Were the images of the Grand Duke I knew really the truth?
Everything?
"...But we might not be able to say that is the reason."
Fenrir slowly pulled his lips away.
"I wanted to get revenge."
"..."
"To those who recklessly tormented, violated, and tormented you in the same way."
Attar Hanan, who died with his neck crushed by shackles just as he had tormented Presepe.
Noah DeVern, who was killed by a stuffed monster in the room where Presepe was imprisoned.
It felt as though the corpses Vidar had shown in the video and the terrible ending illustration of herself dying because of them were flashing alternately before het eyes.
Finally, Fenrir's large hand grasped Presepe's white hand. He placed it exactly as it was onto his bare chest.
In the place where a tattoo full of leaves is located.
"From the moment I carved this leaf, I had only one goal."
"..."
"Being chosen by you."
Yes, that was the only thing. Always. Always.
"Not to pester you to stay by my side, forcibly bind you, or make you suffer."
Presepe's eyes, filled with Fenrir, trembled slightly.
"...I wanted to laugh together like that. Not as a pitiful Princess stripped of her status for a very long time, nor as someone trapped in a fake world, but just with Presepe."
"..."
"There was only one reason why I didn't tell you all of this from the beginning."
Why?
Was it because you thought I might run away? Because you thought I would be afraid of you? Maybe it was both. Presepe kept her mouth shut and quietly waited for Fenrir's next words.
"I wanted you to stop being anxious."
And the words that followed were something Presepe had not even thought of.
"I wanted you to stop trembling in fear, and I wished you to stop suffering. Because you were already in too much pain, tormented too much. Though perhaps the opposite ended up happening in the end..."
"..."
"This is everything you wanted to know."
Fenrir let out a slightly melancholic chuckle. It was a somewhat self-deprecating laugh.
I wonder if he regrets it? That he didn't tell me the whole truth sooner. I wonder if things could have been different if he had.
“I love you.”
And then, Fenrir, having wiped the smile from his face before anyone realized it, looked at Presepe with deep eyes and spoke.
"Even if I go back, I could pull off this madness again to my heart's content."
"..."
"To the point where I feel like I want to beg you to love me..."
I could sense no falsehood in Fenrir's eyes as he gazed at me. Just as always.
Presepe realized it not long after. Even if Fenrir had told her the whole truth earlier, and had kept it hidden just as he is now... her feelings for him would not have changed.
The person who continued to watch over her all alone, even when she didn't even know of their existence.
The only one who felt pain for het, even when she had been painfully violated, and her mind had become numb from repeating death until it had completely collapsed.
The person who threw his life into meticulously planning every detail from start to finish, and ultimately managed to truly save her.
...It was true that Fenrir had killed Attar Hanan and Noah DeVern. To say that she was not afraid of him at all would have been a blatant lie.
However, the fact that the reason for all those actions was Presepe's happiness was also an undeniable truth.
She had absolutely no intention of blaming him for why he was killed.
She was just anxious.
She's afraid that, just as he kept secrets from her from the beginning, all the kind actions he has shown her so far might also have been a lie.
However, Presepe knew it well.
If Fenrir really intended to forcibly ensnare me, humiliate me, and violate my body and mind like the other characters...
That must have been a very easy task for Fenrir for a long time now. From the moment she slipped out of the Imperial Palace and went to the mansion until now.
But Fenrir did not do that.
Instead, I did other things.
He risked his life to rebel against the Emperor to save her, and without hesitation, he tried to cut off his own arm with his own hands.
He smiled when I called his name, smiled more brightly when I held his hand, and would stiffen slightly when I held him in my arms, as if something unbelievable had happened and he didn't know what to do.
And if anything happened to Presepe, he jumped in at any risk.
Like right now.
Without ever missing a single moment.
In the end, Fenrir was right.
The man in front of her was still begging for affection.
"..."
Presepe's pale purple eyes, gazing at Fenrir, shimmered quietly.
Was there ever a way for me not to like the Grand Duke?
Really nonchalantly, choosing the easy path to stay by Vidar's side.
Even if I returned to reality like that, could I have ever forgotten? The voice calling me, the red eyes reflecting me, and that embrace and warmth holding me so carefully.
Considering that the original me doesn't even remember what kind of person Yoon Ju-yeon was.
Somewhere away from this person. Could I have deceived myself by saying that I really did make the right return, that everything would be alright now...?
No, I didn't think so.
"I thought it was a world where everything ran exactly according to the settings..."
Presepe, who had been quietly gazing at Fenrir, parted her lips in a cracking voice.
"It seemed like Grand Duke Fenrir was the only one who was vividly alive and breathing."
"..."
"At first... I was scared, wondering what was going on, but at some point, it became a source of comfort..."
"...After that?”
“I was scared.”
Fenrir hesitated at Presepe's honest answer.
"I keep feeling like I'm going to make absurd choices..."
Maybe that is why I kept feeling anxious.
I was afraid that I might make the absurd choice of wanting to stay by his side for a long time, forgetting my original purpose.
...But you can't remember anything.
Not even who Yoon Ju-yeon was, or what kind of person she was.
If so, isn't this place where you are reality to me?
Even though I knew it was an incredibly stupid thought, irresponsible feelings kept holding me back.
"..."
The tips of Fenrir's fingers trembled slightly as he looked at Presepe.
It was a strange thing. Although he begged and pleaded, he could not hold onto any hope that Presepe would give up her original purpose. All the more so because he knew she had gone through countless regressions for that purpose.
However, what Presepe is saying right now is exactly...
“Grand Duke, I..."
She could not easily utter a single word. Presepe looked at Fenrir with eyes filled with countless emotions.
[I want to be with the Grand Duke.]
And then, suddenly, she recalled a conversation she had with him some time ago.
[Is that okay?]
[Yes.]
" I am..."
[...If that is a choice made by Presepe herself, then all the more so.]
I want to be with you. I want to be together.
Even if everyone points fingers and calls me crazy.
Even if I can never go back to being Yoon Ju-yeon...
It was the very moment Presepe was about to continue speaking while choking back tears.
A pungent wind blew in. It was a strong gust of wind, as if it were going to sweep everything away. Presepe instinctively flinched, and Fenrir held her tightly in his arms as if to protect her.
"..."
And at the same time, Presepe, who had gone into Fenrir's arms, hesitated greatly.
Behind Fenrir, right in front.
'Vidar...!'
It was because of the two blue eyes gleaming in the darkness.
"Grand Duke, run away..."
Run away.
However, unfortunately, Vidar's movements were much faster than Presepe's muttering.
Vidar suddenly stretched out his hand, and before he knew it, a black mist had formed on the tips of his pale fingers, devoid of any trace of blood.
The fog poured out in a rush without hesitation, and Presepe squeezed her eyes shut as she blocked Fenrir's path to protect him.
However, she didn't feel any pain.
"..."
Presepe opened her eyes with a puzzled expression and realized one thing.
It was not me and Fenrir that Vidar attacked.
‘Book of memories...!'
She saw bright red flames descending upon the Book of Memories, which was rolling on the ground covered in monster blood.
Also, Vidar looked at her with a cold, ice-cold gaze.
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