The left-behind Ile would again lure wanderers in loneliness, falling deeper into it, repeating the cycle…
Decades, centuries passed in an endless vicious cycle.
But Ile couldn’t break the cycle.
Even though his physical age was indeterminable, his mental age was just like that of a child, as he was abandoned right after birth.
“Ile.”
I looked at the black form and spoke.
The form shuddered in response.
“I won’t attack you.”
I showed my unarmed hands to the black form, trying to persuade it.
“Let’s talk.”
The form hesitated at my words.
“I know you weren’t trying to harm us.”
Reading its hesitation, I approached the black form directly.
“You were just lonely, weren’t you? Enduring the years alone in this vast forest.”
Instead of fleeing, the form looked at my face intently.
“I’ll stay by your side.”
I reached out my hand towards the black form.
“Come with me. You don’t have to harm people anymore.”
The form stared at my palm for a while.
Then suddenly, it spat a fierce black mist towards me.
“Princess!”
Anselot quickly pulled me aside, saving me from the attack, but the black form merged into the air and fled far away.
“Ah….”
I watched the receding black mist with a sense of emptiness.
“Are you okay?”
Anselot asked without letting go of his hold on me.
Remembering how he had attacked me without recognition just a moment ago, I felt a pang of annoyance at him, even though I knew it was due to Ile’s mist.
“Let go.”
I tapped Anselot’s chest with my elbow.
“Ouch.”
He exaggeratedly acted in pain.
“Stop pretending.”
Ignoring Anselot, I picked up Piya, who was lying on the ground.
With a faint breath, the small bird’s chest rose and fell, apparently passed out.
Anselot looked at Piya, lying limp on my palm, and slightly furrowed his brows.
“Why is this bird like this?”
Why indeed. You attacked her.
I swallowed the words and glanced briefly at Anselot.
“Don’t you remember?”
“……?”
Anselot blinked slowly.
As I expected, he didn’t remember what he had done.
I glared sharply at Anselot, then swiftly turned away.
What’s the use of questioning someone who doesn’t even remember their actions, who was unconscious at the time?
I was annoyed with Anselot for attacking me without remembering, for not recognizing me and attacking me, and for being beguiled by the mist despite my warnings.
And I was even more irritated because I knew it wasn’t his fault.
‘But what can I do? It was all because of Ile’s mist. And the fact that Anselot couldn’t escape from Ile’s mist means…’
I recalled Anselot, who had been in the embrace of the black form, shedding tears.
Ile’s black mist is a trap that digs into a person’s inner weaknesses.
It couldn’t be that Anselot, of all people, had weaker mental strength than others and couldn’t escape from the mist.
Maybe Anselot has some deep, hidden wound I don’t know about…
“Wait a moment, Princess.”
It was then.
Anselot grabbed my shoulder and turned me around, cutting off my train of thought.
He asked in a subdued voice.
“Is this a wound?”
He approached me with a hardened face, one step closer.
Anselot carefully held my cheek, then gently rubbed around the fine scratch with his thumb.
“Oh, this.”
It was left by Anselot, who was delirious under the influence of the black mist.
“Right, a wound.”
Anselot’s expression turned grim.
“Oh, just. You know. Fighting with the mist.”
Feeling uneasy about the atmosphere, I awkwardly deflected, unable to tell him he was the one who caused it.
“So, the mist did this just now?”
“…….”
No. Actually, you did it.
But I swallowed the words, and Anselot seemed to believe it was the mist’s doing.
Anselot bowed his head and sighed.
“I’m sorry, Princess.”
“Eh?”
“I said I would protect you, but I ended up hurting you.”
“…….”
As I struggled to find a response.
Anselot suddenly lifted his bowed head.
His red eyes, staring intently at me, flickered with a dangerous aura.
“I’ll kill the bastard who hurt the Princess’s face.”
“What, what?”
Perceiving my confusion, Anselot slightly curled his lips and added.
“Don’t try to stop me.”
No, the XX who hurt my face… that’s you?
Male lead reborn without memories — but he still falls for her.
The person he finds displeasing in this life turns out to be his cherished wife-master in previous life…
Xie Zhi and Fang Xianxing who had known each other for less than three days through a blind date sat in the same car in front of the civil affairs bureau. They had a disagreement and failed to get married.
Xie Zhi immediately took out his phone, slid through his contacts, and randomly selected the next marriage candidate.
The woman snatched his phone and hung up. Looking at his phone wallpaper, she awkwardly changed the subject: “An ancient painting, eh? It looks pretty good, it’s just that the person in the painting looks a bit like me.”
When he heard this, he sarcastically mocked her for being so delusional, completely unaware that, the person in front of him was the reincarnation of Wen Ru, the famous prime minister of Yuan Shun whom he most admired…
The female CEO who doesn’t want to get married with a divorce agreement in hand × The male archaeological researcher who will only get married if he’s sure he can get divorced
