Chapter 23
Episode 23
Did he catch me trying to escape? It's fine. Just act natural......
Like I'm just out for a stroll......
I can say I brought this luggage out to store it somewhere.
With that thought, I walked forward casually. But those footsteps approached me at an increasingly rapid pace.
A bad feeling made my breathing ragged.
Deciding I couldn't wait any longer, I tried to run, but a strong force yanked my waist.
In that instant, I couldn't breathe at all.
"Sister."
Yurta Herthas.
The sub-antagonist of this novel.
"Got you."
Ah.
My breath tightened.
His firm arm wrapped around my waist like a thick python coiling around my body, suffocating me.
I exhaled ragged breaths, struggling to regain my senses.
In that moment, Yurta buried his face in my neck. The hot skin touching mine sent chills through me from the unfamiliar sensation.
"Haa...... sister."
"......"
"Sister, sister."
His persistently low voice calling me repeatedly was chilling.
His hot breath spread across the back of my neck.
"Why did you run away?"
"......"
"Were you upset that I left? I even suggested we enter the academy together."
"......"
"You said you hated it. So I went alone. I thought I was respecting your wishes, so why exactly......"
Did you abandon me?
Before the voice filled with quiet, deep-seated resentment, I couldn't utter a word.
I couldn't understand what he was saying at all.
Because I wasn't the Rosie he knew, I had no idea what to say in this situation.
"Why no answer, sister? Hm?"
"......"
"You're the first person to make me exercise this much patience."
His other hand, not wrapped around my waist, gently stroked my shoulder. His hand rose slowly with a soft touch, grasping my chin and turning my face.
Meeting his brilliantly shining red eyes made my already labored breathing completely stop.
"Was your game fun?"
"......"
"But what to do. Now it's time to go back with me."
Even if I said it was a misunderstanding, like I told his subordinate who came to deliver the message, it seemed pointless.
At that moment, I finally made up my mind.
If I couldn't avoid it or enjoy it, I had to face it head-on.
Only then did I meet his red eyes directly.
"Who the hell are you?"
A sharp, needle-like tone slipped from my mouth naturally.
I knew it wasn't wise to provoke the sub-antagonist.
But meeting his eyes made a cold expression form naturally, as if I had become the Rosie from my dreams.
"......Sister."
"Who the hell are you to take me away?"
The corner of his mouth twisted.
But strangely, facing him slowly calmed my trembling heart.
Why?
The Rosie from my dreams never felt fear, no matter what harsh treatment she endured. Was it her influence?
It might actually be a good thing.
If I acted differently from the Rosie he knew, this paranoid, mad sub-antagonist might suspect me and do who-knows-what.
"Don't you know why I left that dump?"
In truth, I didn't know either.
But I pushed forward brazenly anyway.
"Don't you really know why I abandoned you?"
"......Sister, it's best not to provoke me."
"I hate that house, and you. So let go."
"......"
"Let's never see each other again."
I truly didn't want to get involved with any of this novel's sub or main characters. So I firmly pushed Yurta away.
According to the memories of Rosie from my dreams, to him, she was nothing more than a toy.
Anyway, once he met Arjen, he'd fall head over heels for him......
No, in the novel, the story progressed with Rosie already dead, so maybe it's different now?
'But he's still the sub-antagonist......'
I had no idea what would happen, but escaping this situation seemed priority.
"Why do you keep saying such nonsense."
However, Yurta had no intention of listening to me.
"For now, let's go back."
"What?"
"I said let's go back."
As I twisted to escape his arms in refusal, my body suddenly lifted into the air.
Yurta had slipped his hand under my knees and picked me up.
This sudden situation left me blinking in confusion.
"......W-What are you doing right now?"
"Can't you see? I'm taking sister home."
"To where......!"
"Our house."
Damn. This guy showed no sign of being reasonable at all.
What should I do?
"I like it here. I don't want to go!"
"Then what's with the luggage?"
Yurta seemed to have realized long ago that I was trying to sneak out of the Evantes Marquis Family in the middle of the night.
The one thing I hoped he wouldn't know had been exposed so easily.
"It's because you came here. I'm leaving a good job because of you."
I had planned to leave even without him, but I lied casually anyway.
Fox den or tiger den. The scales still wouldn't tip properly to either side.
Because both were the worst.
"Sister really......"
A cruel smile hung on Yurta's lips.
"Are you that oblivious, or do you always give the worst answers like before and now."
Strangely, the more I looked at him, the more I felt a stubborn refusal to lose to him.
Where on earth was this strange emotion coming from?
I had somewhat strong pride, but I didn't act recklessly.
Yet in this moment, an inexplicable certainty that Yurta couldn't do anything to me settled in, and I grew bolder with my words.
The moment I saw him, I felt like I was assimilating with Rosie.
"Put me down."
"You abandoned me, sister, but I have no intention of letting you go."
He strode forward carrying me. I flailed desperately, pounding his entire body to escape, but it was futile.
Instead, Yurta raised an eyebrow as if annoyed.
"And sister, aren't you being too cruel?"
What did I do to be cruel?
"Do you know how much I suffered without you for those two years?"
"You don't know how peaceful I was without you."
Rosie probably lived well without Yurta.
Yurta let out a low sigh at my response.
"I took Mana Suppressant, which I hadn't eaten since I was young. It was still the worst."
......Mana Suppressant.
From my memory, Yurta was one of the rare Transcendents.
One of the few who could stand equal to Rihart, the obsessive antagonist of this novel.
"When you were there, being with you kept the pain away, but without you, my whole body felt like it was burning. Even after taking Mana Suppressant."
......Come to think of it, Rihart said the same—that he didn't feel pain when I was there. Something about my scent erasing the pain.
Was that real?
And it worked on Yurta too?
At this point, it was baffling that Rosie, who clearly wasn't an ordinary character, wasn't mentioned much in the original story.
"But now we'll be together, sister. I don't want to suffer anymore."
With that, Yurta smiled brightly.
His vivid red eyes filled with madness.
"Physical pain is fine, but heartache is unfamiliar."
"......"
"It was a truly unpleasant sensation."
Despite my icy retort, Yurta seemed simply delighted to have found me, his voice laced with languid excitement.
That sight chilled me to the bone.
"......What are you planning to do with me."
"What do you mean? How could I dare do anything to you, sister."
As if.
I had seen it in my dreams. The cruel Yurta.
Of course, I hadn't seen everything. But the horrific emotions Rosie felt afterward washed over me as if they were my own.
It was an indescribably bizarre experience.
"However, now I must put shackles on you so you can't run away."
