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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 33
Chapter Title: The Curse of Love
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To be honest, I was happy that Darcy confided in me about his ability. It was proof that he trusted me.
I had worried that the bond we’d formed in such a short time might be one-sided. It was also true that I'd insisted we couldn't get too close since he was someone who would eventually leave.
But things were different now. He said he wanted me to be happy.
I was glad he cared so much for me. And I was glad that the person who cared this much was Darcy.
It made me want to know just as much about him.
Why hadn't he become a main character? How exactly had my words saved him? There were still so many unanswered questions.
“How exactly does the brainwashing work?”
“I have to say the person’s full name while making eye contact. Using my magic is a given, of course.”
I was the one surprised by his much quicker-than-expected answer.
As I blinked in bewilderment, Darcy raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms.
“So you should be careful about making eye contact with me from now on.”
“…I don’t think so.”
Even knowing about Darcy’s ability, nothing had changed. To me, he was still the same person he’d always been.
My feelings toward him, from the moment we met until now, had been sincere.
It would be a lie to say I wasn't scared at all, but I don't want his ability to come between us.
He shrugged at my words.
“All the better for me, then.”
“Aren’t there any restrictions on using your ability? It’s too overpowered.”
Not only did he have the talent to instantly recreate the magic tools I described, but he also had the power to brainwash. He had it all.
If he could use it continuously, there’s no way he would have lived in hiding all this time.
“…It’s nothing special. But aren’t you afraid of me?”
“Don’t change the subject.”
“It’s really nothing. But isn’t it true? For all you know, I might have brainwashed you without you realizing it.”
I knew he was deliberately changing the subject, but I decided not to press him further.
Seeing Darcy, who had spoken so freely about other things, hide this so adamantly meant there was definitely something more to it.
He was probably not telling me because he thought I would worry. In that case, I just had to get him to tell me in his own time.
We weren't the kind of people who would part ways after today.
…Though I didn’t know when the day would come for him to leave again.
Pushing my worries aside, I shook my head firmly.
“Not really. It’s not like you’ve used your ability on me.”
“How would you know? Maybe the reason we’ve gotten so close is because of my brainwash—”
“That’s an impossible hypothesis.”
I cut off his playful assumption decisively. My feelings for Darcy, from the very beginning until now, had changed purely based on my own experiences. It wasn't something that could be achieved through brainwashing.
The moment I finished speaking, a faint smile appeared on Darcy’s face.
“It’s a relief that you don’t seem to be afraid. And you’re right, I’ve never used it on you.”
Seeing the relief in his eyes, I realized. This was what he had feared most when confiding in me about his ability.
“It wasn’t hard to win you over without using it.”
The way he lifted his chin as he looked at me made me realize once again what he meant.
…Right, you’re handsome.
The narcissistic comment, clearly referring to his own looks, suited him perfectly.
Not just me, but anyone would have agreed with Darcy’s words.
Darcy continued speaking.
“Brainwashing is a very rare ability, granted only to a select few. This curse of an ability…”
After calling his ability a curse rather than a blessing, Darcy raised his index finger and pointed to his head.
“It was the method my mother used to capture the Emperor, and at the same time, the reason the Emperor’s hatred for mages reached its peak.”
The lighthearted atmosphere darkened in an instant. This was the first time he had spoken about himself.
He slowly closed and then opened his eyes, speaking in a self-deprecating tone.
“In truth, it was less like brainwashing and more like begging.”
“…”
“She asked the Emperor to love her. She couldn’t escape the swamp of her first love and passed away just like that.”
A sense of longing for his mother was visible in his bitter expression.
…*So he grew up loved by his mother,* I thought for a moment.
“And that desperate love was the greatest curse that started to twist my life.”
“…Huh?”
What did he mean, that his mother’s tragic love was the beginning of a curse?
“My mother began to truly desire the Emperor’s love, so she made a contract with him when he wasn’t under her spell.”
Darcy’s mother loved Kies. That’s why the more she loved him, the more she wanted his genuine heart, not one born of brainwashing.
Seeing Kies become affectionate due to the brainwashing, she might have believed that perhaps he, too, had begun to genuinely love her.
If a contract with the Emperor was connected to a curse on his life, it could only mean the contract was about him.
“Was that contract about you?”
“That’s right. My mother didn’t have much time left to live.”
The timing was peculiar. A question arose in my mind. Her not having much time left to live bothered me.
“…What were the terms of the contract?”
Was she really just frail, or was there a reason her body had weakened? I was in the middle of playing detective in my head.
“In exchange for the Emperor loving my mother, she made me his dog. If I didn’t obey his words before I came of age, I would die.”
“…What?”
“Literally.”
…My god. I was speechless.
I couldn't curse openly in front of him, but it was true that I felt a sense of revulsion hearing such an irresponsible story.
If she had truly loved him as a son, she could never have done this.
It had been a long time since I’d had such a deep conversation with someone, and I was seriously debating how best to respond.
Should I offer comfort? Or would silence be better?
“Marso.”
He called my name. I lifted my head to face him.
As if to tell me not to overthink it, he placed a finger on my forehead and gave it a gentle push.
“I’m not looking for comfort. The reason I’m telling you my past is because I was able to live thanks to you.”
“…”
“The palace has always been a place where weapons are forbidden.”
But since the gun I mentioned was a completely new concept, they didn't realize it was a ‘weapon.’
“What you did was more than enough. Thanks to you, I was able to avoid death.”
I had made assumptions that were close to certainty, but this was the first time Darcy had confirmed it so clearly.
Realizing that my decision had saved Darcy, my heart swelled with emotion.
After possessing Marso, I had made many choices to break free from the original story’s framework. And now, my choice had finally changed the original story.
Only after I had thrown everything away.
Did he misunderstand my silence? Darcy gazed at my eyes and murmured in a light tone.
“If it’s too much of a burden, you don’t have to think of it that way. I would have left this place anyway, even without you.”
No, I know he wouldn’t have been able to. I know the contents of the original story.
That’s why this moment, with him and I talking, was all the more precious.
And his choice to find me, instead of leaving.
A realization dawned on me in an instant.
Darcy is precious to me.
I want to spend more time with him.
The desire revealed itself like a newly sprouted seed.
Just as Darcy wants me to be happy, I want him to be happy too.
I want him to be with me through my process of change.
Watching Darcy carefully study my reaction, I smiled with all my might.
“Thank you for telling me everything. Can I ask one last question?”
“Don’t mention it. And what are you curious about?”
I sat up, facing Darcy.
“You said you wouldn’t leave until I became happy.”
“I did.”
“So, are you happy right now?”
As if struck by my question, Darcy’s eyes widened before he propped his chin on his hand.
“Happiness. I’ve never thought of it as something for me.”
“You want me to be happy, but you don’t care about your own happiness?”
“I don’t have the right to it, either.”
“Darcy, you have as much right to be happy as I do.”
“No. When I think of the people I’ve imprisoned, tortured, and killed, it’s impossible.”
At my words, Darcy’s expression hardened as he shook his head. The fleeting look on his face and the aura around him were completely different from usual.
It was a time I had never experienced.
“I don’t deserve to be happy.”
“…You were being used.”
“The fact that I did it doesn’t change.”
His tone was light, as if stating the obvious. Soon, he smiled, his eyes crinkling. His usual smile took on a completely different meaning.
I stared blankly at Darcy.
How deep was the shadow hidden behind that smiling face? What kind of life had he endured to reach this decision?
In the end, he had chosen exile, not bloody revenge against Kies.
Instead of punishing the Emperor who had stained his entire life with hatred, he had wanted to let everything go.
Even though it couldn’t have been because he didn’t want revenge.
And at the last moment, instead of leaving, he had returned for me.
*He chose my happiness over his lifelong wish.*
This was my chance. I realized.
I knew what I had to do. I called out to him.
“Darcy.”
Just as he had reached out a hand to me when I hated going outside.
“Darcy, if you want me to be happy, there’s something you have to do.”
I, too, willingly extended a hand to him.
“You have to be happy.”
Hoping I had a brainwashing ability like his.
“Because until you’re happy, I can’t be happy either.”
Or perhaps, I was casting a spell, hoping for a miracle.
