I Regret The Kindness I Gave You - Chapter 50

The recipients were Venenum, Lupinus, and Ardor.

The sender was the head of the Fondo family.

Omitting the long, elegant figures of speech and meaningless sentences taken from some classic poem, the gist of the letter was this:

[We wish to hold a meeting where all six families gather. Those who wish to attend, please reply.]

It was already a well-known fact that the six families were divided into two factions, excluding Sano, the only neutral ground.

A meeting? The justification sounds plausible. But it’s obvious it will end up being a battlefield with only superficial harmony.

Yet the reason they had no choice but to accept the proposal for a meeting was clear.

Simply watching and wasting time being indecisive is inefficient.

If a clash is inevitable at some point, it’s better in every way to hurry and confirm each other’s stance and officially test their strength against one another.

As the two factions’ opinions aligned, the meeting was quickly confirmed.

Before they knew it, less than a full month remained until the meeting would be held.

To prepare for the fight, it was right for the Ardor siblings to return to their own family now.

In fact, it was strange that they had stayed in Venenum all this time without leaving.

“Lady Merche.”

Fabio, recognizing the need to leave, suddenly knelt on one knee.

“I wish to pledge my loyalty to you. I implore you to please accept it.”

…Ha! Even without looking back, a sharp, mocking laugh rang out, as if knowing where it came from.

Rude, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed delinquently, moved.

With just a few strides, he reached right behind Fabio.

“This bastard, what non-”

“Stop. Halt right there, Rude.”

Rude stopped his abruptly advancing steps.

“…Merche.”

His gaze, glaring crookedly at Merche, flared up. However, Merche didn’t spare Rude a glance until the end.

Scanning Fabio with stern eyes, she spoke concisely.

“Lord Fabio. Please stand up.”

“I will stand if you accept my loyalty.”

“Is loyalty obtained through coercion the right thing? If that’s the kind of loyalty, I do not wish to receive it.”

“…That’s not what I…”

“Please stand up.”

At the cold rejection that left no room for argument, Fabio finally stood up.

“Regarding your oath, I will consider it until the meeting. I believe the Lord Fabio I know is a polite individual and will not force an answer beyond this point.”

Arguing further here would only have the opposite effect. It might just breed more resentment.

Fabio, swallowing hard, gave one last proper farewell before leaving to pack his belongings.

Now, the only ones left in the room were Merche, Rude, and Carla, who was playing the role of a spectator.

“…Merche.”

Rude called her name again.

His voice seemed to contain a faint sadness, as if suppressing something.

His expression looked a bit miserable, Carla thought absentmindedly, then shook her head violently.

Miserable? Who, that mad wolf?

Perhaps it was because she had seen a terrifying monster straight out of mythology not long ago. She seemed to be out of her right mind.

“…Yawn. Oh my, I’m so sleepy.”

Even Carla, who had been watching the vicious engaged couple, finally made an excuse and ran off.

The two were left alone in the room. The already cold air in the room sank even more chillingly along with the silence.

[This is the timeline separator]

Rude desperately suppressed the rage boiling up inside him as if it would explode.

They clearly hadn’t been like this until recently when they had moved as one body while hunting the basilisk.

But what on earth was the problem? Merche’s attitude had completely flipped in the opposite direction over the past few days.

Was it because of that white-haired bastard Faboa or Fabia, bickering nonsensically with him? In the first place, it was that guy who had provoked him, so why was it his fault?

Feeling suffocated, he was about to take off and throw the gloves on his hands, but restrained himself again. He took a deep breath and walked over to the sofa, plopping down.

“…Can we talk?”

Merche, who had her back turned, slowly pivoted her body and looked down at him.

“If you have something to say, go ahead. I’m listening.”

“…Please. Are you doing this on purpose? I’d rather you curse at me and get angry! What’s the problem?”

Merche’s lake-colored eyes, at a lukewarm temperature, brushed over the man who was clearly getting angry.

As if lost in thought for a moment, Merche walked over to the sofa opposite him and sat down.

Then, she brought up an unexpected topic. A recollection of some old, long-forgotten conversation that he never imagined even in his dreams.

“You said before. That I desire you.”

−There’s a look I’m sick and tired of seeing in my life, so there’s no way I wouldn’t know. Do you know what that is, Merche?

−It’s desire. You desire me too.

At that time, Merche had been undeniably shaken by those words. But now, she echoed his words with utmost composure.

“Those words are true. I did desire you.”

“……”

“And as you said, I also wanted to be loved by someone.”

A dry affirmation flowed out without hesitation.

It was this easy. She should have just laughed it off.

Merche let out a deflated laugh.

Her past self had been so stubborn. Not only stubborn, but also filled with twisted obstinacy.

But the her standing here in Venenum now was different from before.

Here, there was Mariette who had accepted Merche into her fold, and Carla who was like a friend and a sister.

Just a small bit of difference. That allowed Merche to let go of her stubbornness and reflect on herself.

“When I was at Lupinus Castle, I was so thirsty for even a little bit of affection that I could wear myself out. That’s why I didn’t quite dislike the excessive attention and obsession you gave me. Because the only affection I could receive was from you.”

“…Sigh. Merche. Don’t beat around the bush and get to the point. So, what do you want to say to me now.”

That you’re different from who you were then? So don’t cling to you like a leech?

Rude twisted the end of his sentence crookedly, but Merche didn’t get dragged into it.

Merche looked at him squarely. His distorted face was fully reflected in her transparent, glass marble-like eyes.

“Rude. Your love is harmful to me.”

“…What?”

“So I cannot accept it. Our engagement is nothing more than a nominal contract for the sake of the factions. Once everything is over, I will annul it and return it to as if it never existed.”

“Don’t joke around. …Annul? Who says. You think that’s possible?”

The tanned leather caught in his rough grip stretched taut as if it would tear off.

Rude’s threatening momentum was ferocious. As if he would rush and sink his teeth in at any moment.

In stark contrast to his greatly distorted face, Merche, with indifferent eyes, let out a short sigh.

“Looking back, Rude, your methods are always the same. Both then and now, without a single change.”

“……”

“Threats, coercion, and oppression. Are those the only weapons you have to move someone’s heart?”

Rude rapidly muttered as if chewing his lips.

“Stop thinking about annulling the engagement. It’s a futile hope, Merche. That engagement you made has Venenum’s lifeline, which you’ll fight for until you die, at stake. And you’re saying you’ll break it? …You must think I’m a blithering idiot. Even if my head is just for decoration, I won’t fall for such a shoddy lie.”

He at least thought she would stiffen her eyes. He believed that after he spoke, Merche would surely glare at him, filled with anger.

But Merche burst into laughter.

A clear, tinkling laughter filled the room like rolling marbles.

Thanks to that, it was rather Rude’s face that had frozen stiffly. He stared at Merche’s brightly blooming, laughing face with an intensity as if he would engrave it in his eyes.

Merche, who had been laughing merrily with the corners of her eyes crinkled, gradually erased her expression and returned to her initial expressionless state.

Even colder than before, she opened her mouth.

“…Lord Lupinus. Your methods do not work on me.”

The following words were even smaller and chillier.

“If you want to deal with me, find a different way, not threats or coercion.”

A warning like a blade fell, concluding the conversation.

At that moment, Rude realized that no words could hold Merche back. His end had finally arrived.

[This is the timeline separator]

“Ah, you startled me!”

Carla, who had been strolling in the garden, fell backwards.

Roughly brushing off the dirt on her hands, she opened her eyes wide. It became certain that the person in front of her right now was not a hallucination.

Rude Lupinus.

The mad wolf obsessed with Merche.

His curly black hair spread out widely, not fully covering his deadly pale eyes.

Mixed among the weeds bent this way and that, although the color was foreign, he looked just like the same kind of grass.

Is he dead?

He was so still that she carefully poked her index finger under his nose to check.

“…Eek!”

Thud!

Her wrist was grabbed and twisted painfully, and her body was thrown.

Carla, who found herself lying on the ground looking up at the sky in an instant, gingerly rubbed the back of her head that felt like it had grown a lump.

“Wh-what are you doing!”

Purple eyes flashing frighteningly swept over Carla in the blink of an eye.

As if determining something, the crazed eyes sank back into blackness.

“Ugh… The smell. Did you bathe in cigars? How many did you smoke?”

Come to think of it, the ashes of half-smoked cigars were also scattered around where he lay.

Carla, wrinkling her nose bridge, looked at Rude with a reproachful gaze, then hesitantly asked in a small voice.

“Um, did something happen with Merche?”

“Piss off.”

A sharp response shot out like a curse.

Something did happen.

She had already clearly seen the eyes that had rippled gloomily the moment Merche’s name was mentioned.

Even while flinching in case she might be thrown to the ground again, Carla sat close to him, sticking her bottom to the ground.