“I don’t care what you say. So do as you please.”

Elaina glared at Hister with sharp eyes and said.

“And let’s see. If your struggling will change anything as you wish.”

Even at Elaina’s words that felt like clear, sharp thorns, Hister showed no reaction.

It was so unexpected. She thought he would resort to violence like before, unable to control himself, spewing nonsense and threatening her.

So Elaina watched Hister with full tension, and at that moment when she was observing him tensely, he suddenly started giggling like a madman.

…… And his gaze was directed at a different place than before.

It was Elaina’s ring finger.

The ring that Ren had given her.

“……”

Elaina, noticing Hister’s gaze, reflexively hid her hand, but it was already too late.

“Did you clear up the misunderstanding?”

“…… What?”

“As far as I know, it seems you couldn’t clear it up.”

Hister reached out and snatched Elaina’s slender wrist, saying.

“What is this……!”

Elaina pushed him with all her might at the rough force that seemed to twist her wrist at any moment, but it had no effect.

“Now you should know who gave you this ring, right?”

For a moment, Elaina’s eyes filled with Hister’s image shook briefly.

How does Hister know about that?

‘Come to think of it…….’

From the very beginning, when he hinted about the room where the portrait was hidden, there was something strange about Hister’s attitude.

Didn’t he act as if he knew everything that had happened between Ren and Eli?

‘But even if we talk about that now…… what’s the point?’

“Yes, you seem to know after all. The information I gave you must have been very helpful, Elaina.”

Hister said with a smirk.

“But there are still many things you don’t know.”

What I don’t know?

What on earth?

“For example, what happened in that valley where you two used to whine all the time.”

“……”

“Or, the reason why Sinclair killed my mother in broad daylight, even though he knew exactly what predicament he would face because of what I had done.”

…… What?

At Hister’s words that she never expected, Elaina faced him, unable to hide her bewildered emotions.

She thought she already knew everything about that day. She didn’t need anyone’s explanation anymore. She could recall it like it happened today just by closing her eyes. Ren, who had run away leaving her behind with her foot caught in the valley.

Also, even after learning that Sinclair had approached her while hiding the fact that he was Ren, she couldn’t completely erase him from her heart because of her own foolishness.

Moreover, she had never heard about Yuria’s death either. All Elaina knew was that Yuria was beheaded by Sinclair in the imperial palace in broad daylight.

“You really don’t know anything after all.”

“……”

“It’s quite unexpected, but Sinclair is quite tight-lipped. It’s really ridiculous.”

Hister, noticing Elaina’s bewilderment, gazed at her with a face full of ridicule and moved his lips.

“I’ll tell you myself.”

Hister had already grabbed Elaina’s chin tightly and continued speaking while greatly enjoying her shaking pupils.

“Do you really think that on that day, Sinclair abandoned you for no reason?”

“What are you talking about……”

“Would that Sinclair have simply run away leaving you with your foot stuck in the rock crevice out of fear?”

How does Hister know about what happened that day? Elaina’s fingertips trembled slightly.

“And why do I know so much detail about what happened between you two?”

And as if reading Elaina’s mind, Hister laughed in an unpleasant way. As if he had become a demon.

“I received a report.”

“A report……”

“From my mother’s private soldiers who had been tracking Sinclair that day. To be precise, they were trying to attack you two.”

Suddenly, Elaina’s face turned pale.

“They said that if Sinclair had lingered a little longer in that valley, they could have easily killed both of you without any difficulty, expressing their deep regret.”

“……”

“They even said that the girl didn’t notice anything, and that they had misjudged. That if they had taken the girl hostage and threatened him, they could have prevented Sinclair from escaping the valley like that. Yes, you. Elaina Aswald.”

[Help me, Ren…….]

For a moment, it was as if the words she had said to Sinclair, to Ren, on that day flashed through her mind.

“In other words, do you know what that means?”

“……”

“The reason Sinclair left you alone and ran away at that time was ridiculously to save you.”

[…… Don’t abandon me and leave!]

“Not knowing that fact, every time I saw you unable to do anything after learning that Sinclair was that boy, do you know how delighted I was?”

Not even once……

She had never thought of that. No, it was natural that she couldn’t have. Because the Elaina at that time, Eli, as Hister had just said, had no idea that Ren was being chased.

“I kept thinking. Why didn’t he say anything to you? If he had honestly revealed everything, your relationship wouldn’t have grown distant like this.”

Regardless of what Elaina was thinking, Hister continued.

“I realized that reason, Elaina. After seeing you living together with Sinclair in the imperial palace.”

“What……”

“Sinclair was very sincere to you. Even more than I had expected.”

“……”

“So I figured it out. Quietly accepting your resentment without a word was because he didn’t want to bring up such stories to justify his actions.”

[Tell me that you hate me, that you can never forgive me again. Every day when you wake up. As naturally as breathing. You also push me into hell that way.]

“Or because he hadn’t been able to forgive his own actions on that day.”

[I won’t beg for your forgiveness. I’ll just wait by your side.]

“Despite that, he couldn’t let you go in the end, so he rather chose to suffer.”

[I’ll give you my breath and my neck. Whenever you want. It was yours anyway. Because it was what you gave me. Even pain would be meaningful to me if it’s from you.]

“And you must have constantly hurt Sinclair, who was so desperately clinging to you.”

[If you tell me to go through everything I’ve been through until now to meet you again…… I’ll do it. Losing my mother before my eyes, being abandoned and rejected by my father. I can repeat such things as many times as needed.]

…… I love you. There was never a moment when I didn’t.

As Elaina was mulling over Sinclair’s words alone, transparent tears began to well up in her eyes.

“You don’t know that the most decisive reason he killed my mother was also you.”

Hister glared at Elaina with blazing eyes and said.

“That day, as soon as he returned from the war, Sinclair went to the Aswald estate to see you, as he always did. To be precise, to see you limping around near the estate after being flogged without fail, as usual.”

It was so pathetic. Hister laughed like a madman, then suddenly changed his expression to a cold one as if nothing had happened.

“Then he returned to the imperial palace and did that damn thing. Maybe he couldn’t stand it. Or the anger he had been holding back exploded.”

Sinclair knew better than anyone.

What consequences his actions of killing Yuria would bring.

Even though he knew, he couldn’t endure it. The self-reproach for not being able to do anything, and the hatred towards Yuria.

…… In the end, it was none other than Elaina herself who turned Sinclair Butler, the warm and kind Ren, into a rogue of Edenbell.

And she was the only one who didn’t know that.

She felt as if all the blood had drained from her body. Elaina stood there with a blank expression, unable to say a word, and Hister grabbed her collar with all his might and continued in an ominous voice.

“Why am I kindly explaining this to you one by one? Elaina.”

Then he asked.

“You said you would never fall for my tricks and test Sinclair. But will Sinclair really think the same way?”

Suddenly, Elaina’s face turned as white as if she was about to collapse at any moment.

“In my opinion, even if it means throwing away his life, Sinclair will come here to save you. And he will die miserably at my hands, and you will shed tears of blood and regret. Because I told you everything!”

Hister shouted loudly and threw Elaina to the floor. Elaina fell to the ground without even trying to avoid it and lay still.

“So, I told you, didn’t I?”

“……”

“You are my last card and the best weapon I have.”

Hister looked down at Elaina, who had fallen frozen without uttering any answer, like a bug. Then he said, mocking her.

“Wait patiently. Whatever you do, it’s too late. Sinclair is already on his way here.”