Chapter 19

Blink, blink.

Only the bright blue system window sparkled in the blank space. I finally came to my senses, sighed, and reached for the system window.

[ヽ(*. >Д<)o ゚] "Hey, hey, don't cry! I've seen you die once, but I thought I was really going to die."

Just because you've died once, it's not easy to die twice. When I felt the daunting feeling of the fast-falling chandelier, I thought for a moment that it would be better to bite my tongue and pass out. As a result, I seemed to have fainted. I opened my mouth, pretending to stroke the restless, shiny system window.

"Am I still stunned?"

[Can I turn off 'load'? ≧ _ ≦]

"No, no. Don't release it, just let him regain consciousness for a while." Above all, Kyle. I'm still suspicious of myself, but I'm going to disappear in front of his eyes again.

[Consciousness is restored!]

[10....] [9....]

What countdown? I stared blankly at the numbers and opened my mouth with my eyes wide open.

'... Hey, wait a minute. No way.'

[1....]

My distant mind came back in an instant. I gasped like someone who had just been rescued from the water. At the same time, I bit my lower lip hard and swallowed the screams that rose up my throat.

"...!"

Crazy. Insane. Truly crazy! How could this be? Is it possible to be so sick? I curled up into a small ball, my body shaking like crazy. My vision became blurry. The back that had been hit by the chandelier was burning hot. I felt like I had been branded with a well-heated iron skewer. I squeezed my grip on my collar and managed to look around. For now, there seemed to be no one. The place was familiar, it looked like a study. Kyle probably brought him with him. Anyway, I'm glad I did....

"Hey! System! Cancel... Release it!" I shouted in desperation.

When I first died, it was so instantaneous that I didn't even have time to feel pain, but this is no joke. There's a reason for the countdown. Was it time to prepare my mind.... A white flash like a chandelier filled my view. When I closed and opened my eyes, I was back at the hamster's house.

―Taken! (Evil!)

My body slid and I tumbled down the slide. System! Isn't the positioning right?

[(;′⌒`)]

... Okay. You're going to be crazy too. I sighed heavily and lay down on the sawdust. My body and mind were tingling. It was resolved somehow, but did I really block that big chandelier with my back? It is absurd. But it was a retrieval body, so I lived. No, it was probably because I wasn't really in my body. In fact, it is true that my body went out first without even having time to think about such things.

'Kyle, you must have been surprised,' I said, turning and lying on my back. Then I fell off the slide and reached for my back. I couldn't reach it. I turned back and stretched out my other arm. However, it still did not reach. I just scratched my hand and dropped my hand.

... Eh.

The doctors entered the study five minutes later. I piled up a thick layer of sawdust in front of the house, sat on it, and looked at the front. The doctors were shocked to see the sofa, which was littered with bloody clothes. The Grand Duke himself ordered it in a hurry, but the patient was gone.

"Uh, where... Where did he go?"

"Search everywhere!" the doctors argued among themselves, and only after snooping under the sofa, under the desk, and under the table, did they leave the study, saying that the ghost was about to cry. No, I'm not an assassin in the first place, and a patient is hiding in such a place.

About two minutes later. I heard a heavier and hasty footstep than before, and the door to the study was swung open. The man strode a few steps and stopped in front of the sofa. He clenched his fists and then gave an angry command to the knight outside.

"Search the area. He wouldn't have gone far."

That line sounds like a villain. He could hear the knights moving away, and he could see Kyle with his head bowed and his forehead furrowed. I took a moment to see it. Anyway, if you save me and fill up all the miracle numbers, I'll go back to where I was.

'So, don't be too affectionate. Whether it's a hamster or a human,' I hugged the macadamia like a cushion.

Kyle was picking up the clothes I had left behind. The white tailcoat was dyed so red that I couldn't even tell its original color. My back is completely torn, and the blood won't be removed even if I wash it. It must be expensive clothes.

"... Don't offer to accept these flowers," muttered Kyle, who had been holding my clothes for a long time. The flower on his chest was tattered with a few torn leaves. It was originally a red flower, but the front pouch was wet from the blood I spilled, and the leaves were stained with red.

"Then I wouldn't have had to dance," he says, with guilt in his voice. But whether it was a dance or a flower, it was going to happen anyway. I couldn't stop Belial from attending the banquet, so I had to blow myself up. It was purely my choice, and I did it. I'm sorry. Your pet hamster has a big liver.

The tumultuous banquet ended successfully. How did Kyle, who left me lying down and went down to the banquet hall, manage well? There were protests from the nobles of Hwangseong that the prince was almost injured, but they were silenced by the fact that the budget sent to the north every year was less than half of that of Hwangseong. In addition, it was said that the chandelier in question was actually from Hwangseong. The imperial gift almost caused a big deal to Belial, and I, a northerner, even prevented the accident. In any case, it was well settled.

"But... Are you sure you're okay?" Sen looked at me with a worried face. She carefully inspected everything from head to toe.

"It's fine," I said, waving my hands to distract Sen. It was already the third question. Of course, my body is not okay. The system didn't hurt as much as it did the first time, but it felt like it could jump up to the ceiling if someone hit its back. I stayed away from Sen and chewed the maple pecan pie she had brought me. The fragrant sweetness comforted this bitter wound.

"... And yesterday. I went to His Highness Belial's residence."

I looked at Sen with my eyes wide open. "Huh? Why?"

"His Highness wrapped me around him and cut himself on shards of glass. So I tried to treat it. You know, everyone was crazy yesterday. ... Half of them said they were looking for you, Shu," she said, looking at me with suspicion once more.

Don't look at it too much. I had my own reasons. Yes?

"Anyway, he wasn't seriously injured. ... If you hadn't wrapped your arms around me, you wouldn't have been hurt," I said casually, looking at her strangely depressed and devoured every piece in my hand.

"Hannah If the man who is to become the king of Ra abandons his people and runs away, that would be a bad thing."

"Gao?"

"... Pride?" I scratched the bridge of my nose uncontrollably. If you use a buzzword incorrectly, you will become a strange person. I have to be careful.

"But, you know...." Sen's face darkened. I waited silently for her words. But I knew what they were worried about. Now that you're a little closer to Belial, you'll see it as an opportunity. Sen's goal is revenge. And in order to achieve that, you will have to go to Hwangseong. In the I read, Sen was originally the maid of the Imperial Castle, and almost everything happened in the Imperial Castle.

However, now that he has settled in the north, it is not easy to go to Hwangseong as a maid. This is because entering is not everything. You need power. One way or another.

"Why? Tell me."

"... His Highness Belial asked me to be a maid."

It's just Belial's idea. He knows the North well, has a good eye, and has a good grasp of it, and Kyle's recent interest in the maid, and if he gets his hands on her, he'll feel like he's won a little bit. There is no way Sen does not know that victory. However, how important is the other person's intention? Whatever it is, it will be important to be able to go to the imperial court and carry the prince's attention on his back.

"That's great."

"... That's right."

But Sen didn't seem to be happy. On the contrary, she seemed to have a complicated mind. It is difficult to leave even though it is the moment they have been waiting for. Is it because I have become fond of the North?

"I think about it sometimes." Sen said quietly. "It might not be a bad idea to just cover it all up."

Revenge is like a swamp. Even if you can't let go of the grudge and give it back to you, all that remains is endless emptiness. From the moment you step in, you sink slowly but endlessly.

Why don't you know? Whenever I was wronged, I felt sick to my stomach. The world is not a very green place for a child who has lost his entire family to survive alone.

At least I know Sen's heart. We have no choice but to know.

"Still...."

I was about to say something, but I was silent for a moment. But I know. You are the one who will choose revenge. I didn't want to endure it all, so I emptied it and avoided it, but you won't.

You are strong.

I spoke quietly in my heart. That's why you ended up becoming 'Serena.' It didn't matter who possessed it or not.

"Make a choice you won't regret."

That was the only thing I could say.

Sen laughed as if he was crying.