I Regret The Kindness I Gave You - Chapter 69

A chill spread from the crown of her head as if cold water had been poured over her.

The dumbfounding shock shook Therese’s reason wildly.

Therese suddenly looked closely at the flag she was holding. The rough and coarse texture felt at her fingertips.

“It’s not velvet…?”

The flags used in the competition were all made of velvet. So this crude and rough cloth flag could never be the flag they were originally given.

She had been deceived. From the beginning, they had prepared a fake and set a trap.

Once she realized it, she began to recall one or two points that seemed strange or unconvincing.

Huana Ardor, who ran away desperately as if enticing her to catch him, the way he kept crossing swords with her while worrying about Fabio Ardor surrounded by a flock of eagles… All the clues pointed to the same conclusion.

“…You used a clever move.”

She wanted to bite her tongue, but she couldn’t deny it. Even when she felt momentarily dizzy, Therese kept her back straight to the end.

“There was no rule against using a fake, so it wasn’t an unreasonable act. I admit my mistake.”

Like a noblewoman, she admitted her mistake in a dignified manner.

“Then the competition is a draw. We each obtained one flag and failed to obtain the other. We should conclude it as the competition was to be held until the sun completely set.”

Therese gestured to point at the sky.

The reddish color emitted by the sun had completely disappeared from the sky stretched above them, and the darkness brought by the night had already flawlessly settled in.

“To the Lords, the outcome was undecided…”

“No. It’s not over yet, Lady Therese.”

As soon as Merche’s words ended, as if it had been waiting for this moment while holding its breath, the pegasus that had carried her here approached the center where everyone had gathered in a single step.

In a place where gazes were focused to a frightening degree, the pegasus casually spat something out.

Seeing it, Therese and Diego couldn’t hold back and gasped.

“How did you…”

“You hid it in the Coral Sea. Making a kelpie hold it in its mouth and go into the sea. It was a good move.”

A flag with a flawless velvet texture. The crest of Fondo that fit perfectly, undeniably.

“…We won…”

Carla, filled with joy, smiled brightly, unable to lower the corners of her mouth that were rising.

It was a perfect victory, confirmed in front of everyone.

“I bless the successful completion of the competition and the noble victory. Now, let’s hold a banquet to celebrate everything, including our meeting.”

Werner Fondo declared with a wrinkle-free smiling face.

Even Lena Aquila, who was clapping beside him, went a step further.

She even happily clapped and rejoiced while showering Ardor and Venenum with praise that was far too much for them.

“Originally, those kinds of people smile in front and then stab you in the gut from behind. They look nasty at first glance.”

After the competition results were announced, Rude snidely remarked on the way out of the hall.

When he had previously complained about why she didn’t wake him up and went alone. He, who had returned to his neat appearance in an instant as if nothing had changed before the competition, clung to Merche with a crooked smile.

When he even tried to lean in and kiss her on the cheek, Merche looked him straight in the eye and pushed him away with her hand.

His large build, which couldn’t possibly be pushed away by a hand that wouldn’t even amount to a handful, easily retreated from that useless force.

“I won’t do it. You don’t have to if you don’t want to. Look, I’ve moved back this much.”

The distance between his widely spread hands, indicating “this much,” was much larger than the distance he had actually retreated.

The obvious exaggeration in his eyes was absurd yet funny, so Merche didn’t scold him further.

“So. Where are you going? Your quarters?”

“I need to go see the Lord.”

“That old…, why the Lord?”

Rude tried to address him with a familiar title but changed his words, unable to withstand the sharp gaze.

“I need to discuss matters related to the competition. It’s also time to pay a visit since I haven’t seen him for a few days.”

“I’ll go with you.”

The man hugged her from behind as if embracing her. Not only that.

The entire process of resting his chin on her delicate shoulders was done so smoothly that she couldn’t come to her senses in the blink of an eye.

“Wear me like an earring. Don’t you know I’m just an idiot without you?”

For some reason. It was just a whisper, but it felt quite obscene.

The breath was too close. As if he was speaking with her ear in his mouth. Yet, rather than being unpleasant, her body tensed up.

He held her upper body diagonally with one arm and tapped the accessory on her ear with his thick fingers, joint by joint.

The earring, which shone white at each angle as it twisted, made a lively sound. It was a rather pleasant sound to be called noise.

“I’m this to you. Just this.”

It would be nice to wear it. It looks decent too. Along with his enticing words, his breath moved down from her ear to her neck.

He buried his face in Merche’s neck as if flirting.

“Wear me. The Lord might unexpectedly want to see me.”

The Lord? The image of Mariette immediately came to mind, slapping the armrest and asking what nonsense he was spouting.

The scene was quite vivid for an imagination, and Merche couldn’t help but let out a small laugh.

“What, what are you laughing at alone…”

“Lady Merche.”

The gentle energy of Rude, who had been like a meek sheep, sank down coldly. Even the breath touching her neck seemed to have dropped in temperature.

The moment a tamed beast becomes a wild beast again. It felt like witnessing that transformation, Merche thought briefly.

The tense nerves expanded the muscles. Thanks to that, the wool of the jacket covering the back had been in a precarious state, as if it would burst at any moment.

“Sir Diego.”

If she hadn’t interrupted him first, he would have undoubtedly spewed out profanity or a scathing mockery.

Seeing his Adam’s apple bobbing, Merche gently grasped Rude’s wrist and then let go.

Understanding her intention, he silently observed the conversation from behind, even though his breathing was rough.

“I stopped you knowing it was rude because there’s a matter I must inform you of.”

Diego’s complexion was dark.

It could be because it was night and the surroundings were pitch black, but even so, his face with distinct light and shade had an indescribable gloomy hue.

“…Someone is trying to threaten your life.”

Merche didn’t react much and waited for his next words.

It wasn’t shocking or frightening enough to be surprised. Rather, it was something she had expected to some extent.

The one who lured her with the eagle-marked flag and made her fall into the primordial sea. She was convinced that it would be a story about that person.

“First of all, I apologize. Someone of our family’s bloodline tried to harm you and put you in grave danger.”

“…Is there someone from Fondo who pushed me off the cliff?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“…Who is that person?”

Diego hesitated but slowly opened his mouth.

“Magnus Fondo.”

Who could it be? Was it someone she had heard of before?

Instead of her, who couldn’t gauge it well, Rude, who had been staying in the shadows, provided the answer.

“You’ve seen him before. The guy who proposed to you at the Lupinus castle, the blond guy next to him.”

−My name is Magnus Fondo. It’s a pleasure to meet you for the first time, esteemed one of Lupinus.

The eyes that curved roundly, the friendly yet somewhat eerie corners.

Memories she had forgotten poured out like a flood through a collapsed embankment.

−My purpose, you ask? Well, I’m just curious about you, Lady Merche.

−The true eldest son of this family who suddenly fell from the sky has returned, and at the same time, a mere branch family member who was driven to the brink of death… Lady Merche, how do you plan to navigate through this predicament in the future?

The bizarre question he had posed to her. And…

−If it were me, I would kill.

−Isn’t that appropriate? As a punishment for the heartless Lord who killed my parents and now tries to abandon me.

The cruel words he had uttered in a gentle tone.

And at the end of it, the belief she couldn’t understand as he claimed with an eerie face devoid of all expressions.

−A position is something to be seized. By snatching what I desire from others, killing the owner, and even crushing them. Only after obtaining it like that and making it my own does it become my position.

“…Magnus Fondo.”

As she held the name in her mouth, her body temperature turned chilly for a moment as if she had bitten into ice.

So it was you. The person who tried to kill me.

Even though she didn’t know the motive behind his murderous intent towards her, it didn’t feel strange.

Perhaps it was something quite plausible and natural.

Long ago, when they first met and had a conversation, Magnus was angry at every word Merche said.

Even though he didn’t particularly express it outwardly, she knew. That he found her presence as irritating as a thorn in his eye.

As she had felt back then, Merche didn’t try to understand his murderous intent.

The reason he disliked her, the fundamental cause. Or his own complicated circumstances that might exist. She didn’t want to put in the effort to delve deeply into those things.

The wicked are simply wicked.

Trying to look into their inner thoughts and dipping one’s feet in the pit would only stain the heart with black mud. There was no need to expend energy to see the depths of an evil person’s mind.

“…Thank you for sharing this valuable information.”

“He’s a sinister guy in many ways, from his way of thinking to his actions. Please be careful.”

Concern like lingering attachment dripped from his faintly frowning face.

No matter how you looked at it, it was too much emotion to be just a polite worry.

The unpleasant sensation that was not only irritating but also grating finally made Rude, who couldn’t bear it, step forward and stand in front of Merche, blocking her.