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“You don’t know?”

“Put yourself in my shoes and think. Isn’t it only natural for me to not know?”

“Bullsh*t! There’s no way you didn’t know!”

This was hilarious. This was spectacular, actually.

I stopped smiling and crinkled my nose, hoping the disgust was evident on my face.

Cesare, grinding his teeth and roughly sweeping his hair back, clearly reeled in his feelings and grabbed my shoulder. “We don’t have the time to sit idle and talk here. Let’s continue this while on our way.”

“Where are we going?”

“What do you mean where? Home. We’re leaving and going back home.”

What the hell was wrong with his head? What kind of nonsense was this?

“You’re going to kidnap me and get on a ship that’s been prepared in advance?”

He didn’t even blink as I correctly guessed all of his plans. “Yes.”

“Are you drunk? This is not Romagna! Do you think that’s possible? Everyone will catch you immediately—”

“Don’t worry, by the time we depart, everyone will be preoccupied with something else. Come on, we’re running out of time.”

He had slid his hand down my shoulder to my wrist, trying to drag me out of the room. So I dug my feet into the ground and shook off this madman’s touch.

He turned back around, perplexed and eyes wide, his hair fluttering in the wind.

Although Cesare was insane, he was not such a fool for his plans to be sloppily made. No, Cesare’s plans always showed results.

In other words, he would definitely get me to the Port of Elmos and on that ship no matter how much I struggled, and he would definitely have the whole of Elendale distracted.

What could it be? What would have the whole capital city of Britannia in such a state on this happy day?

Hurry up and think! Think about everything that’s happened!

Pietro’s beastly face flashed before my eyes.

The disturbances that took place while I was staying in Elendale also flashed by.

Two incidents that were completely unrelated intertwined and merged together in my mind, and then I came to the horrifying realization of what he would do.

Because there was only one thing the entirety of the capital could be distracted by.

It wasn’t something any ordinary man could do.

However, if it was Cesare... Plus all of the powerful cardinals and Romagnian loyalists disguised as priests staying in the city right now... Everyone hiding and waiting in the streets and around the palace...

Judging by the looks of him, it had probably already begun.

I tried to calm down my heaving chest.

Calm down. Even if Elendale goes up in flames, you can’t stop it anyway. You have to proceed as planned...

I raised my eyes and faced him. “What makes you think I’ll go back there with you?”

“Ruby, you don’t have time to be stubborn. I know that you’re mad at me. I’ll even let you—”

“You don’t have to do such a thing. I like it here. I don’t want to leave.”

The silent moment that passed lasted for too long. The room was dimly lit, but I could see the veins in his neck throb as he moved his jaw. His cold eyes were fixated on the wreath in my hands.

Then, he threw his head back and laughed.

“Is it because of him?”

The silence was my answer.

“Is your heart wavering just because he’s nice to you? Do you think he really loves you? Don’t get me wrong, Ruby, all others see when they look at you is my father’s crown and gold. Why do you keep forgetting that when I keep telling you so?”

Time was running out for me as well.

“So you’re the only one who truly loves me?”

My question had the smile on his lips fade away, and something ruthless replaced it instead.

“Really? Is that even a question? Don’t you know that no one in this world can love you as much as I do? Don’t try to deny it, Ruby. We’re the only ones in the world who can love each other.”

“You don’t love me.” I thought of Izek.

“What...”

“You don’t love me. You hit me and you whipped me and you tortured me and you sold me to other men. How is that love? What kind of love is that?”

The cracks in my soul were growing bigger, they were on the verge of breaking.

“That’s... It may be hard for you to fully understand yet, but...”

“No matter how you try to justify it, it’s not love. You don’t love me.”

I thought of all the moments I shared with Izek.

“You stupid woman, what do you know about love?” He grabbed me by the shoulders and shook me, but he didn’t scare me. I wasn’t afraid of him anymore.

“At least I know more than you do. My husband taught me properly.”

I chuckled to myself. Looking down, I saw that I had crushed some of the flowers in the wreath Izek had gifted me, so I tried to be as gentle as I could, smoothing it out. The scent of roses filled the air.

“He’s never hit me before. No matter what lie I tell him, he never hit me.”

I thought of the day we both saved the frost wolf. The day he found me again after I had run away. The desperate and broken-hearted look in his eyes. How he never once thought of me as a witch.

“When I’m sick or when I’m crying, he’s never once raised his voice.”

I thought of the day when he first carried me in his arms, the day I was unwell. I thought of what he had wanted to ask me that night as he put me to bed. That time we spent on his balcony, him letting me drink from his rum. That was the first time I had ever tasted that foul drink.

“When I’m having a hard time, and when I don’t know what to do with myself, he’d always be patient and try to help me.”

I thought of that day in the stables. The confusion. The anxiety and the unease. The whip that he threw far away, to somewhere I couldn’t see. How he had held me. He didn’t know it, but he had saved me that day.

“He’s never forced me to do things I didn’t want to do.”

I thought of all the nights we spent together. The kisses and the tears, the touches and heavy breaths. I thought of his soft eyes, the sweet way he’d move his lips. How he’d always hold my hand. How he’d stroke my scars.

“When I don’t listen, he doesn’t punish me. He’s never once insulted or mocked me.”

He actually had, especially in the first week when I arrived here, but Cesare didn’t need to know that. Those days were long gone now. Now, I thought of the way he’d make fun of me for having demons as friends. How he’d call my best friend a fat lizard. How he had tried his hardest to deter his fellow knights from capturing them to put them in the Match.

“From the first moment that I met him, he has always protected me. Always.”

The tears welling up in my eyes were not tears of sadness.

“You asked me if I wanted to be a queen? When I’m with him, I’m not just a queen, I’m a goddess. When he looks at me, I feel like I’m the only girl in the world. When he looks at me, I don’t have a single flaw. I’m a goddess in his eyes. I’m perfect. Who knew that being loved would feel like this?”

“Stop... Stop it, you’re...”

“Do I still look like I don’t understand? No matter what anyone says, I know for sure. I know what love is. Because I’m happy. I’m so happy to be with him. I’ve never been so happy in my life.”

“Stop...”

“I’m no longer the little girl my brother saved from that hell of a monastery. You’re my brother. The brother that took me from one hell to another hell. So don’t talk to me about love. No matter how much you deny it, you could never compare to a man like Izek. I will never let go of his hand and run to you!”

The loud noise of a mirror shattering to pieces sounded throughout the room.

I couldn’t figure out where it had come from, and something was blocking my sight.

My body, slowly taking note of the pain coursing through my veins, seemed to be too exhausted to realize what had just happened.

Cesare was breathing hard as he slammed me down on the ground. He had his hands around my upper arms and his nails were digging into my skin.

Even though my whole body was throbbing and screaming in pain, I kept on sneering. This was nothing. I was used to worse.

“You’re so pathetic.”

“Shut up.”

“Do you want to know what the difference is between you and him? When I’m with you, I want to kill myself!”

“Shut up!”

Another crack, another mirror shattered. The pain really struck me now. There were shards embedded in my flesh and blood was staining my hands, dripping on the floor.

I let go of the Flower of Glory.

Cesare brutally and violently pulled on the ends of my hair, like he was about to rip it all out of my skull. He loomed over me as I raised my head and saw his face.

He looked like a young man sentenced to his death.

His eyes held nothing but anger and despair, loathing and anguish.

Oh my, what a face.

I don’t remember what exactly made him stop. Whether it was the unafraid curl on my lips or if it was the sound of the door opening. The important thing was that, fortunately, the timing was impeccable.

Because I made sure that Freya saw me leave with Cesare.

It was so obvious what she would do if she saw me go somewhere alone with him. Right, Lady Furiana?

No one moved a muscle for a quiet moment. The whole place seemed to be frozen in time.

You would have been able to hear a pin drop, with the way no one was breathing.

I wondered if my forehead had mirror shards stuck in it. The area around my brows was itchy and blood kept getting in my eyes.

Blinking rapidly to try and get my vision back, I looked to the side and at my dearly beloved Northerners.

There were quite a few people standing, but I could only see one.

Beneath his sweat-soaked and disheveled silver hair, his lovely eyes glistened and lost focus, taking this scene in, and then I couldn’t see him anymore.

My heart pounded with guilt, the pain of the shards stuck in my flesh couldn’t even compare.

I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I’m sorry for making you witness this... I’m so sorry for being like this.

I licked my lips, wanting to call him. Blood was on my tongue but no sound came from my dry throat.

And then—

“Izek!”

A loud bang shook the entire room as something collided and I fell back, realizing that the grip on my hair was no longer there.

Curses rang out as the once silent room filled with the sounds of thunder.

Why was everyone screaming?

I rubbed my eyes and tried to blink away the blood stuck to my lashes. My vision slowly returned and only then did I see what was going on.

My husband’s sword was hacking into Cesare’s divine shield.

The holy sword and the divinity dazzling with a bright blue light clashed with each other, the sound of thunder following after the collision each time.

The entire room was engulfed with the bright light of divinity at work. Izek’s was purple and Cesare’s was blue. The colors meshing together and the thunder booming was overwhelming.

During the last match earlier in the day, I had wondered what would happen to ordinary people if they were to get caught up in the collision between two divinities.

Ironically, that question was being answered right now.

“My Lady... Lady... Guys!”

Ivan’s cry sounded like it came from a distance, which was strange, because he was only a few steps away.

He was holding on to the two young teens in the room and crouching down, his face contorted in a grimace of pain.

The same was true for the familiar faces trying to approach Izek, shouting something I couldn’t hear.

Even the minority elite of the Paladins were grimacing, so I didn’t know whether it was purely because of the collision of divinities or whether it was that strange holy sword Izek was swinging around.

Not to mention the young boys who were still apprentices. Especially Lorenzo, he looked like he was going to pass out.

But how come I didn’t feel anything?

My wrist burned, so I looked down at my bloodied arms, seeing the black bracelet I had been wearing throughout the entire festival. It was glowing red.

The bracelet that Izek had given me the other day, made from the heart of a dragon that had died a long time ago.

“Iz... Iz... Izek!”

T/N: I can die with no regrets now :”))))) Ruby finally realised she’s in love, and they all found out abt the b*tch Cesare,,,,,,, WHAT MORE DO I NEED T_T

Ah right, I’ve mentioned it before too but I’m still gonna say it again, in case readers missed it. I split the raws on my own since we bought the volumes from Ridibooks. They don’t have any chapter segregation. I try my best to split them equally so it won’t be the same as the kakaopage chapters but on par, more or less. Saying this cos I saw there are spoilers with the chapter numbers on NUF; they may not necessarily match with the ones I’m translating. Sorry for the inconvenience >.> bear with me. I swear I don’t cut short the chapters xD all are of a good 4.5k+ korean characters [1.6k+ english words-ish] length, which is average chapter length.