“I really wished you were dead.”
“Altair…”
I swallowed hard. Altair was here? Due to the numerous events that had happened, I had completely forgotten about him. As soon as Altair appeared amidst the chaotic problems, my breath caught in my throat.
“Congratulations.”
Altair approached me.
“Now you have everything you wanted. It seems you became the author, the Demon King. The Demon King’s eyes must be yours now.”
“It’s not mine.”
I quickly denied.
“That belongs to Hades…”
“The author’s possession is essentially yours. Did you think I wouldn’t know that?”
Altair laughed loudly.
“You two are quite a matching pair of cockroaches.”
“…You more so.”
I spoke quietly.
“Where did your companions go? I thought by now, with your little black knights, you would have swallowed up Donovan.”
“Ha, got caught, huh?”
Altair shrugged.
“But it wasn’t as easy as I thought. You resisted more than I expected.”
“…”
“It’s all thanks to you, right? If it had been the real Leodel, those authors would have been a piece of cake.”
“Don’t call them ‘authors.'”
I emphasized my words.
“Donovan’s people did their best. William as well. Don’t belittle those people.”
“Heh.”
Altair stared at me intently.
“Have you completely assimilated here?”
“Uh, um…?”
“I thought it couldn’t be. You…”
Altair exclaimed loudly.
“Have you forgotten that everyone here is nothing more than characters in a game?”
“…I haven’t forgotten.”
I quietly denied. How could I not know? I went back and saw that the events from the game were affecting Hades. I also confirmed that the changes I caused as ‘Angelica’ were influencing Hades in the game.
Altair spread his arms wide.
“Then it’s simple! Use the author. Let’s go back together.”
I took a step towards him.
Actually, I didn’t want to be close at all, but what I was about to say now could be problematic if someone overheard.
“Do you really want to go back?”
“Of course.”
Altair grinned widely in response.
“Don’t you want to go back? Rather than living with these primitive people, it’s better to live as a modern person back there. Regardless of status, the standard of living and consciousness here is much lower than in the modern world.”
“If you really want to go back, there’s a simple way.”
“What…?”
“I tried going back.”
I smiled at Altair’s bewildered face.
“You just have to die.”
“…!”
“If you die, that’s it.”
Altair mumbled in astonishment.
“Is it that simple…”
“Yeah.”
I nodded.
“But in return, since you can easily come back, if you never want to come back, never play Leodel again.”
“…”
Altair stared at me intently.
“Why are you telling me that?”
“Can’t I tell you?”
I was genuinely puzzled and asked.
“Why shouldn’t I tell you? It’s better for those who want to go back to go back. Besides, if Altair, the irregular, disappears, it would be a relief for me.”
“You’re in a position where you can take revenge on me anytime now. With a word from you, the author would torture me mercilessly and survive. You know well what the power of the Demon King is, don’t you?”
“I know.”
I said slowly.
“But since Hades became the Demon King, he has never used that power to harm others.”
“…That’s hard to believe.”
Altair mumbled.
“The human nature passed down through generations of Demon Kings has all been exterminated…”
Wait a moment.
I realized one strange thing.
How did Altair, who had never met the Demon King, know about that point? I’ve played the game multiple times, but I’ve never seen such a setting. If I had known, I might have been less surprised or prepared.
Because I didn’t know that Hades would actually become the Demon King, I had been plunged into extreme despair until now.
“How do you know that?”
I asked, trying to calm my trembling voice as much as possible.
“You… You haven’t been there. Did you put some spy item or something? Tell me. I won’t get angry, so just tell me.”
Altair fidgeted uncomfortably with an uneasy look.
“That… Well.”
“Altair?”
I approached him even closer.
“…What do you know, to what extent?”
Exactly at that moment.
“What’s going on here?”
Certainly, Hades, who led the knights into the castle just a short while ago, appeared.
I blinked.
It hadn’t been an hour yet, and he had already finished talking and come out?
“I was observing these demons.”
I quickly pointed to the demon corpses.
“Something seemed a bit off.”
“I felt it too.”
Hades said sternly.
“But I think I know much better than you, Angel. It’s getting cold, so it’s better to go in now.”
“Wait, let’s talk a bit before going in. It’s been a while, so…”
I turned my gaze towards Altair.
“Nice to meet you.”
“I’m glad to meet you too, Lady Saint.”
Altair politely replied.
“But it seems like we’ve loosened the tension enough for now. It’s better to go in as Lord Duke suggests. I hope you don’t catch a cold on such a cold day.”
What the hell, this guy!
I frowned.
Clearly, he was trying to escape from an awkward conversation using Hades. Hades, not at all following my intentions, had no choice but to let him go like this.
After Being Cheated On, She Picked Up a Treasure (Female-dominant)
One-line summary: The husband I married on a whim had been secretly in love with me for a long time.
On the day when Jun Shao finally obtained the imperial decree for her marriage, Lan Qu, the person she had admired for six years, defied the decree and ran away.
Her gentleness and devotion, her promise of a lifetime together, were all disregarded by him. Instead, he dreamed of entering the palace to serve the Emperor’s sister as a sixth-rank attendant.
News of this incident spread throughout the capital, and the alleys in front of and behind the Lan mansion were crowded with people who came to watch the commotion.
Jun Shao should have been embarrassed and angry.
But someone stepped in to protect her dignity.
The figure was in a miserable state, yet still possessed an undeniable elegance and handsomeness.
The young lord struggled to climb the wall of the Lan mansion and shouted to her, “If he won’t marry you, I will!”
So, Jun Shao took advantage of the situation and married the person.
She thought the young lord did it to save the Lan family from the crime of defying the imperial decree, but never imagined that from beginning to end, what he coveted was her.
*
After the wedding, Jun Shao felt like she was living in a dream.
Her Wife-master was as beautiful as a fairy in a painting, skilled in the six arts, well-versed in poetry and literature, capable of being gentle and attentive, and also grand and dignified. Most importantly, she was the only one in his heart and eyes.
Jun Shao didn’t know how Lan Shiwu, as a illegitimate son without a father and blessed with beauty, had managed to preserve his purity, recklessly escape, and use his last ounce of strength to ruin his own reputation, all because of his love for her, just to stand before her.
She could only see him gazing at her with eyes full of love, and when she bestowed a name upon him, his eyes shone like stars.
“You have come to me like a weary bird perching on a branch. I shall call you A Qi.”
