If her luck had been just a little worse, Estelle would have been torn to death by the Crollin. Just the thought drove him mad, unbearable.

He rubbed Estelle’s cheek with his bloodied thumb.

Crollin’s blood smeared on her. The white became stained black.

“You say you wish to die so much; shall I let you die?”

Estelle’s blue eyes quivered weakly. But she spoke in a feeble voice.

“Thank you.”

“…What are you thankful for?”

“I’m content with you trying to protect me until now.”

The funny thing is, Estelle’s words felt sincere.

‘You want me not to abandon you.’

Even though Estelle acted thoroughly, she couldn’t act out the fleeting emotions.

‘Why are you asking me to leave you?’

The sound of the Crollin swarm approaching could be heard. More Crollin than before.

In a situation where he couldn’t even use a sword, it would be more difficult to fight them.

Cold rationality whispered.

‘Wasn’t she just a woman to use and throw away for revenge?’

Darkness glimmering, the peach platinum blonde hair, long white elegant eyelashes, eyes that droop like a rabbit’s, a woman who looks as sweet as a sugar doll.

Not a single strand of hair that isn’t lovely—

‘Estelle Libertan.’

For a moment, the hatred towards Libertan filled his mind.

Libertan did not merely kill Johan’s family. At that time, they also killed Johan along with his family.

Since from that moment, nothing but revenge remained for Johan.

Johan had to get rid of the past, the noble and affectionate Blanchette, and become a cold and cruel avenger.

He had to completely deny himself and burn himself out.

Johan slowly caressed her cheek with his hand.

“My lady, you’re saying only disagreeable things today. Behave prettily, as usual.”

“….As usual?”

“Yes, you know what I want you to say.”

The hatred towards Libertan had not yet disappeared.

He didn’t find Estelle hateful either. But at the same time, he found her unbearably adorable.

He wanted to keep her by his side somehow.

He didn’t want to lose her smile, smiling at him right beside him.

“How could I let you die?”

Estelle’s smile wavered.

“This is still a foolish act. You could die because of me.”

“Just ask me to save you!”

Estelle, who seemed to find her life meaningless, begged.

Johan was enraged by her.

“Why! Why do you keep saying you want to die?”

Johan growled, gripping Estelle’s shoulders.

“You’re not such a stupid person!”

The faces of his family overlapped over Estelle’s face, which strangely was on the verge of tears.

They had tried to smile, even in hardship, without any resentment.

“Beg to live!”

“…….”

“Don’t talk about someone’s life so lightly, wish to live!”

At that moment, Estelle’s faint smile completely shattered.

“Wish to live?”

She stared at him, tears streaming down her clear eyes.

“What would change if I did?”

(This is a time separator.)

At that moment, the angry Johan faltered.
“You treated my life like someone else’s, as if I could give it up so easily?”

“…….”

“You think I don’t want to live?”

I shrugged off Johan’s hand from my shoulder, scoffing.

“Why do you keep trying to die so easily then?”

“Did it look easy?”

The crying grew louder.

“Why would you think it was easy? How could it be easy?”

“Then.”

“It wasn’t easy.”

The sound of rain grew louder, and the thumping sound of the ground came from beyond the forest.

I met eyes filled with inexplicable emotion, the red pupils.

Something surged inside me at that moment.

“What does Johan know about me?”

I felt angry, annoyed, wronged, and sad. Anxious, scared, stifled. And hopeless too.

A wave of emotion I couldn’t even explain myself.

“Do you know how I came to give up like that?”

“…….”

“Why did I do that? You can’t even guess.”

The emotions kept bursting uncontrollably.

“And you dare tell me to want to live?”

Johan’s angry red eyes wavered.

‘Just discard it easily.’

If I had shown that I could easily discard it, I would have given up all hope.

“Do you think someone is doing this because they want to die?”

Johan kept showing me that he cherished and cared for me.

“You don’t know anything.”

He made it impossible for me to protect my heart.

“I, I also[dash]”

I grabbed Johan’s forehead, shouting.

“I don’t want to die either! I want to live too!”

“Then, say you want to live.”

The falling rain mixed with my tears.

Johan held my hand that was holding his forehead tightly.

“Ask me like that. Say you want to live, that you don’t want to die.”

“Will you really save me then?”

I shouted, gripping Johan’s hand.

“If I cry and beg, will you save me!”

“Yes, beg.”

Johan’s red eyes were sad yet shone strongly.

“Say you want to live. That you want to survive somehow.”

“Why do you want to save me so much?”

“Why?”

Johan brushed my wet hair back, kissing my forehead.

“Because I want you by my side.”

“…….”

“I told you, even your death should be mine.”

Johan embraced me. The man’s hot hug embraced me roughly. Even in the cold rain, his body heat was clear.

“Don’t die on your own in front of me. Rather, die by my hand or ask me to kill you.”

The man who hated me more than anyone is trying to save me.

“Estelle, you can’t die until then.”

Desperately.

With a groan[dash] the trees in the forest broke, revealing the appearance of the dreaded Crolin flock that the knights feared so much.

‘Because…….’

It was terrifying just looking at one earlier, and the pressure was greater with several gathered together.

Even if I had asked the trees for help, it seemed like there would have been no way.

I asked Johan with a blank face.

“What do we do then? A way for both of us to live…….”

“There are plenty of ways to get out without abandoning you.”

The rings that shimmered above Johan’s red eyes caught in that moment.

“I have succeeded in all the things that were said to be impossible in my life.”

The rings in Johan’s eyes began to rotate.

“Nothing is impossible for me.”

Then the rings collided with each other like shattering stars, leaving fragments.

‘These rings…….’

It was Johan’s constraint and protective magic.

‘If it comes to this.’

I felt a lump in my throat without realizing it.

‘Even throwing away his own life.’

Using dark magic for a long time contaminates the soul. It is because of the impure energy flowing from dark magic.

So these magical rings protected the soul of the dark magician. But if they were broken, Johan would find it difficult to control dark magic.

Finally, all the magic rings were extinguished.

The fragments twisted, and the dark magic that had not been gathered from Johan’s body desperately leaked out.

In the original work, there was a scene where one of the rings that Johan possessed was broken.

‘The end of the original.’

It was the situation where Liandro desperately resisted to save Estelle.
At that time, Leandro forcibly broke a protective spell, and Johann almost lost control due to the uncontrollable dark magic.

“If you were worried about me, you were mistaken. I’m not that weak.”

Johann whispered softly.

“Watch closely.”

The swirling black powers even shook my hair as they passed by.

“How great your husband is. And how your misconception falls apart.”

The dark powers Johann had conjured quickly penetrated the forest floor. Then the stones and trees split, massacring the swarm of Krollin.

“My goodness…”

No matter how extraordinary Krollin was as a monster, it didn’t have the ability to fly.

The dark powers completely destroyed and overturned the forest.

A splendid yet cruel catastrophe.

Only now did I understand why everyone saw him as a demon they couldn’t deal with. Could this be called human strength?

I blankly stared at Johann’s face.

“Do you feel like begging now?”

Johann smiled lazily with his eyes.

“If you beg, I’ll give you everything.”

With a face as perfectly beautiful as ever.

“Estelle.”