Marriage with the Younger Brother of the Man Who Betrayed Me (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 9
It must’ve been a joke, but for a moment, I couldn’t deny it.
At twenty-five, I had loved Ernant, and because of that, I’d secretly wished for the Captain—who threatened his position—to die.
But that was in the past.
Now, I didn’t desire the Captain’s death.
“…I won’t kill you.”
Hearing my reply, the Captain let out a deep sigh.
“I’m not joking. If I lose my mind under mental manipulation and attack you, you must be prepared to eliminate me. Hesitating even slightly could cost you your life.”
“…”
“So I’m telling you to swing your sword with real intent—before I stop your breath for good.”
Though his words were truly touching, unfortunately, I was never the type of subordinate who followed orders well.
After all, hadn’t I failed to endure even when he’d begged me—after I’d swallowed poison—to just hold on a little longer, and ended up closing my eyes?
So this time, too, I intended to offer a small act of defiance.
“No.”
“…You really won’t listen, will you?”
“Anyone would refuse such an absurd order.”
He put on a deliberately stern expression—the same one he always wore whenever I disobeyed his commands as my superior.
Indeed, that severe look perfectly matched his nickname, “the Heartless.”
Wrapping himself in that icy aura, he stepped toward me, one step at a time.
When we were close enough that his outstretched hand could reach me, his straight lips moved.
“Listen to me. I’m your superior.”
“…”
“I don’t want my subordinate dying by my own hand.”
Despite his cold expression, the words that slipped softly from his lips were unexpectedly gentle.
I found that contrast heartbreaking—and, at the same time, rather endearing.
So for the first time, I decided to act affectionately toward him.
“No need to worry. I’m not weak enough to die by your hand, Captain. If you don’t believe me, go ahead—attack me now and see if I fall easily.”
“…”
“Let’s drop this pointless worry and focus on catching the Queen.”
Even though my words were rather arrogant, the Captain didn’t scold me.
He simply stared intently into my face.
Perhaps we stood there gazing at each other for so long that time itself seemed to stop—
If only the monster’s shriek hadn’t interrupted us at that exact moment.
Keeeeeek…
Startled by the eerie, grating sound—like nails on metal—we both flinched back from the doorway.
The Captain glanced at me once more, then fixed his eyes firmly on the room where the monster lay.
“I hope your claim about not dying easily isn’t a lie.”
“It’s not a lie. So let’s go catch it already.”
Taking my words as a signal, the Captain opened the door.
The Queen froze mid-motion, startled by our sudden intrusion after we’d silenced our presence until now.
In that brief opening, I quickly scanned the Queen’s appearance and features.
Just as before my regression, it had taken on a human-like form.
To clarify, “human-like form” meant it had a head, limbs, and walked upright like a human.
Its silhouette might vaguely resemble a person when standing on two legs, but its face lacked eyes or a nose.
All it had was a grotesquely wide, slit-like mouth.
Noticing us intruders, the Queen suddenly opened that mouth—‘jjeok’—and let out a scream.
Kyaaaaaah!!
Inside its gaping maw were countless shark-like teeth.
Despite the instinctive revulsion its horrifying appearance stirred, my well-trained body had already launched itself toward the monster.
Thud!
My leap off the ground was as light and agile as a feather’s touch.
My body, five years younger thanks to regression, felt as if enchanted—lighter, stronger, and swifter than ever.
In an instant, I closed the distance and swung my sword toward the monster.
But—
Clang!
Unfortunately, my first strike was blocked by the monster’s long, hardened claws.
No matter how much strength I poured into my blade, its claws neither broke nor cut.
They seemed as tough as metal, producing only an unpleasant scraping sound where weapon met claw.
Kkkrrrrck—
Seeing that brute force wouldn’t work, I twisted my sword slightly, redirecting the monster’s blocking claws downward, then immediately swung my blade upward diagonally.
A swift, seamless follow-up with no gap whatsoever.
This time, even the monster couldn’t dodge.
Skkrrtch—
The tip of my sword grazed the monster’s chest.
Had it been human, that would’ve been a fatal wound splitting the heart.
But unfortunately, the vital cores of these human-like monsters weren’t always located in the left chest.
Their “cores”—functioning as hearts—could be in the chest, the head, or occasionally the abdomen.
True to form, this Queen didn’t die despite the deep gash across its chest; it remained perfectly mobile.
Then I’d have to aim for the head next.
Just as I was about to swing my sword again—
Kyaaaah!!
The monster opened its mouth wide and let out another desperate shriek, just like before.
In that moment, I clearly saw inside its gaping maw—and made a startling discovery.
“…Eyes? Eyeballs?”
Incredibly, eyeballs were embedded inside.
During my previous life, so many squad members had accompanied me that I’d been overwhelmed and hadn’t inspected such details closely.
Thus, this was the first time I’d truly looked inside—and never expected to find something like eyeballs there.
What kind of twisted anatomy was this?
The mere thought made my stomach churn and my vision wobble.
“Yulia! Fall back!”
The Captain, who’d been gathering his power while I fought the monster, shouted urgently.
Guessing he was about to unleash a powerful strike, I immediately pulled away from the monster.
But then, the Captain shouted again.
“No! Stay right where you are!”
“…?”
The Captain wasn’t the type to contradict his own orders so easily.
Confused, I turned toward him—but couldn’t see him anywhere.
Then his voice came again, from somewhere else.
“Yulia! What are you doing?! Stab your stomach with that sword right now!”
“Die quickly, Yulia!”
“Drink the poison and die, Yulia!”
I couldn’t see the Captain—only his commands echoed from all directions.
And they were orders the real Captain would never give.
It seemed I’d fallen victim to the monster’s mental assault, and now hallucinatory voices filled my mind.
High-tier Awakeners like the Captain and me rarely succumbed to monsters’ mental attacks—but that didn’t make us completely immune.
Even weakened, the attack could still affect us, subjecting us to auditory and visual hallucinations.
Just like now.
“Die! Die quickly!”
“Die! D-d-d-die!”
“Die! Die! Die—!”
Grotesquely distorted voices screamed from every direction.
In this state, I couldn’t possibly defeat the monster.
I needed to break free from the mental manipulation immediately—and there was only one way.
Thwip—
I pulled out the small dagger I always carried and gave my palm a shallow stab.
The sharp pain jolted my mind clear and lucid.
Thanks to that pain, I finally snapped out of my impaired state and quickly scanned my surroundings.
“Yulia! Snap out of it!”
While I’d been incapacitated moments ago, the Captain had taken over fighting the monster.
I immediately relayed what I’d discovered.
“I’m fine! But don’t look inside that monster’s mouth—ever! There’s an eyeball in there, and seeing it seems to trigger mental manipulation!”
In my previous life, I’d only known this monster possessed such an ability—not how it worked.
Since I’d just learned this myself, I hurriedly passed the information to the Captain.
Fortunately, he seemed to understand my warning clearly.
Without staring directly at the monster, he swung his halberd first, cleanly severing one of its arms.
Then I stepped in.
Crackkkle—!
Ice spikes, summoned by my ability from the frozen floor, pierced the monster’s entire body.
A normal human would’ve died by now—but not this monster.
To kill such human-like monsters, we had to locate and destroy their core—and it seemed the Captain aimed to finish that final task.
Whoosh—!
A sharp burst of flame shot from the halberd the Captain swung.
It struck the monster’s head with perfect precision and exploded mercilessly.
Thud!
The Captain’s black flames, still burning fiercely, consumed the monster’s body completely.
The monster ceased moving entirely.
Staring blankly at its corpse—pierced by ice and burning in flames—I spoke.
“When I was under mental manipulation, I heard your voice as a hallucination. It ordered me to die.”
“…”
“First you told me not to die back at the door, then suddenly ordered me to die just now—I thought you were being awfully inconsistent.”
“Is this really the time for jokes?”
The Captain grasped my wrist, his voice low and grave.
Anyone could tell he was furious, so I sheepishly closed my mouth right there.
Turns Out He’s Been Secretly in Love with Me
One-line summary: He acts like he doesn’t like her but is actually playing hard to get.
Synopsis:
Xu Muzhou like her. He has liked her for a very long time, and through repeated schemes, he finally closed the distance with her.
But this is still far from enough.
He wants to be the one who stands out among her many suitors, to fight for her attention, and to make her take the initiative to pursue him.
_____
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Yulia is exceptionally intelligent and always finds creative solutions to difficult problems.
Took you so long!! I suspected him when he sneek up on you at the river and finally confirmed my suspicion of him since the Ball!!