32 - Marquis Maron
Episode 32
Hayley collapsed. She didn't cry, but she could feel her heart breaking.
Staggering, she clung to Eugene.
"I made you a Cardinal. You're definitely responsible for the evil I committed. Causing the Floodwood, causing the epidemic! You went to that place and became a Saint of Miracles! Who helped you survive that awful orphanage, and who helped you rise to that high position!"
"Hayley."
"I did it for you! How can you abandon me too! Eugene! Please!"
"Yeah, now that I hear it, I'm no different from those bastards."
"Ah…"
"Then… then you'll forgive me too, right?"
Eugene sobbed. He confessed, crying until his pretty face was soaked. He desperately wanted Hayley, and if she had come to him, they could have destroyed the world and turned their backs on it, as they had promised when they were young. But she abandoned him and embraced another man.
And now she was trying to die for them.
Hayley couldn't do anything in front of Eugene's crying face.
The hand that had been reaching out to cling to him cupped his cheek. She wiped away the tears flowing down his face and embraced his sobbing body. She took on his sorrow, swallowed his pain.
She was originally that kind of person.
"It's okay."
Hayley said again.
Her heart, which had been collapsing and breaking, became solid again. When Eugene cried, Hayley became stronger. It was always like that.
"I'm okay. I'll take care of my own business. So don't cry."
"Go."
"I'm sorry for hurting you like this. My brother."
"Don't come back."
"Okay."
Goodbye.
As you said, let's end this family game here.
Hayley left. Eugene regretted that day over and over, but he couldn't find her after she disappeared.
* * *
Selbon was sealed off. It was Eugene's doing. She just knew it. He had set a trap in Selbon to meet Hayley.
This wasn't in the main story, and Hayley wasn't the protagonist, plus I was the one who had taken over this body. Eugene was faithfully playing the role of the regretful male lead in the novel.
In many novels, the regretful male lead becomes the protagonist's doormat, rolling around until he is grudgingly forgiven and achieves a happy ending, or is ruthlessly abandoned and becomes a wreck.
If Hayley had been the protagonist, would Eugene have met such an end? It was impossible to know.
What if the real Hayley had been here? Would she have been happy to see Eugene, even if only in her heart? Or would she have slapped him across the face, seething with betrayal?
I didn't think it would be either.
Hayley cherished Eugene like a real family member. Maybe she didn't even think what he did was a betrayal.
The only people who can hurt each other and be forgiven without a word of apology are family. Because they love each other. Because they firmly believe that it's the right path for the other person. Because it's common.
When that solid belief is shattered, people usually abandon their families. Rather than seeking revenge or tormenting them, they want to leave far away and forget about them.
Hayley probably would have done the same.
Eugene was a sickly and tearful boy when he was young. He wasn't fierce or cunning like Hayley. So in her heart, Eugene was always a little puppy that needed to be taken care of.
If that precious puppy bit its owner, it was the owner's fault.
Hayley, you idiot.
Unfortunately, I don't think so.
If Eugene is your only family in this world, then I will be your only advocate in this world.
I decided to meet Eugene.
"Marron sent me! Cardinal Eugene Widemark, come to the Contamination boundary alone!"
Even though he had sealed off the village, he couldn't stop Reikart. He jumped over the walls, which were taller than a person, like hurdles, and shouted at the Order soldiers.
"Marron sent me! Cardinal Eugene Widemark, come to the Contamination boundary alone!"
"Catch him!"
"If you don't come alone, we'll contaminate this entire village!"
Well done, well done.
I clapped my hands excitedly and cheered him on.
I wanted to threaten to contaminate not just the village but all of their Order members, but Reikart and Fatima strongly dissuaded me, saying that my notoriety shouldn't get any worse here.
"Do you think the Cardinal will really come alone?"
"He will."
"Cardinals are very high-ranking people, aren't they? They must have a lot of escorts, but will he really come alone?"
"Can you trust me a little?"
Fatima couldn't let go of her suspicion until the end.
"I trust you, Lady. But…"
I was about to explain why Eugene had no choice but to come alone, but I couldn't figure out how to summarize the long and complicated story, so I just shut my mouth.
We moved to the place where we had met Eugene before. The place where Fatima had been hanging.
I stood proudly inside the Contamination, and Fatima hid behind a tree so she couldn't be seen. Reikart, whose throat was sore from shouting, stood behind me like a real escort knight.
And not long after, Eugene appeared. With two Holy Knights in tow.
This bastard? I even yelled at Fatima, but he brought escorts?
I narrowed my eyes and glared at him, and Eugene said to the Holy Knights.
"That's enough. Withdraw."
"Cardinal, it's dangerous!"
"Don't worry about me and go."
"Rather, let us punish them here…!"
"If you are willing to enter the Contamination for me, I will not stop you."
The Holy Knights could no longer resist Eugene's command. They knew that I was inside the Contamination, and they seemed to have judged that they could not attack me with anything.
"I'm fine."
Eugene said.
"As long as God is with me, no one can harm me."
There was a strange power in Eugene's words, and the Holy Knights soon bowed their heads. Then they dropped a man they had been carrying on their backs to the ground and retreated.
The way they glared at me until the end was outrageous. I glanced at the man who had been thrown to the ground and smirked.
"Rango."
"Ugh…"
"Your skills are all gone. You're being caught by a Cardinal who only has the strength to turn the pages of the Bible."
"Ugh, that's not it…"
"I was waiting in advance."
Eugene said in place of Rango.
"I investigated the dead poacher and found out that he had been killed by an assassin, and I was suspicious of the rumors that the Demon Marquis had appeared."
"How did you know it was me?"
"Hayley, how could I not recognize you?"
Eugene took a step towards me. His purple eyes were full of regret. He didn't care even when Reikart drew his sword and blocked his path.
Eugene held out his hand to me.
"Give me a chance to apologize."
"Why?"
"Hayley, I…"
"What are you trying to apologize for? For using me to become a Cardinal and then abandoning me? Or for stealing my Mana and insisting that I be thrown into the Contaminated Zone?"
"It's a misunderstanding."
"It's okay. I didn't call you here to talk about that."
I was annoyed with Eugene. It didn't matter how deep his affection for the real Hayley was.
"Listen carefully. One of the two Holy Knights you left in Selbon turned into a monster and killed people. His arm was cut off, and his neck was half-severed, but he kept moving. Only stabbing him in the heart stopped him from moving."
Eugene didn't say anything. His eyes were fixed on me, unmoving.
"Lift the blockade. Don't touch the people of Selbon. Otherwise, I'll tell the whole world what kind of monster your Order created and what's going to happen in the future."
"Hayley."
"How long has it been since you became a Cardinal? It's been a little over a year since I was thrown into the Contaminated Zone, right? The Order won't completely trust you yet, so someone dispatched from the headquarters will come soon…"
"I was trying to protect you."
"What?"
I was so dumbfounded that I was speechless.
Protect? Who?
Hayley?
