Chapter 179

Chapter 179

Translator: Yonnee

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I recalled what Albert said earlier.

He said that he’d tell Mercy to find evidence that Rosé was a dark mage. This was so that Rosé could be condemned.

He must have predicted that Rosé would return to the tower. Perhaps leaving her to her own devices was also part of the plan so that it would be easy to get some damning evidence.

The wand that was pushed up to her neck was quite sharp. As it was digging into her skin, it certainly didn’t look like it was a pleasant experience, but rather than wincing or anything, Rosé just laughed.

“Didn’t you hear that you shouldn’t kill me?”

“Sure, I can’t kill you, but it’s possible to do anything else, yes? I just need to keep you alive enough and drag you back to His Majesty so you could sign a contract with him.”

…Mercy, you’re a lot scarier than I thought you were, huh.

“My specialty is showing illusions. Tell me, would you like to be locked in an illusion so utterly full of pain for the rest of your life?”

The moment she said this, the tip of Mercy’s wand glowed dangerously. And for the first time, Rosé’s relaxed expression cracked.

Mercy, too, looked surprised.

Her mouth slowly gaped open, and her grip on the wand loosened slightly.

Mercy seemed to have shown Rosé and illusion, but I had no way of knowing what it was about.

“You— You’re Marquis Evnen’s…”

“DON’T TOUCH ME!”

Screaming in a fit, Rosé’s hand lashed out at once.

An ominous black light started to emanate from her fingertips, and she quickly flung Mercy back, and she was soon embedded into a wall.

“Ggh…!”

Glaring at Mercy while biting down on her lip, Rosé was trembling like a slender poplar tree. I had never seen such a horrified expression on a person before.

Mercy’s spell seemed to be similar to the nightmare that Alexander had shown Rosteratu in the past…

Again, I had no way of knowing just what it was that Rosé saw, but one thing’s for sure: it set off Rosé in a panic.

The memory that Mercy showed her triggered her trauma.

When Rosé bit down on her lip, a trickle of blood flowed down. Then, Rosé shouted a spell with her increasingly trembling voice.

“Run!”

After the incantation, Rosé began to run fast. I didn’t know what I should do in a situation like this, but I quickly decided to follow her.

Because the first thing I needed to find out was what she’s up to.

I was worried about Mercy’s condition, but it didn’t look anything serious, so she should be fine soon.

Beneath the night sky, Rosé’s face was bright red. She looked like an ill person who was breaking out in cold sweat.

Earlier, Mercy mentioned Marquis Evnen.

Just the name seemed to have elicited Rosé’s fear, but I felt frustrated because I didn’t know what the reason behind it was.

“I’ll kill you. I’m going to kill you. I’m going to make you into a specter that has no consciousness at all.”

“……”

“You can’t be the only one who’s loved. I can’t be the only one who struggled like that. Yeah, if I can’t be loved, I’d rather kill you. Anyway, I…”

Rosé’s eyes were unfocused as she muttered those gruesome words, which were clearly directed at me. Just hearing it gave me chills.

…But the priority was to check where Rosé was going.

Even if I can’t talk right now, maybe I can find a way to use magic. Once I do, I can later tell Albert what Rosé was up to.

Rosé stopped at an empty clearing in the middle of the forest that Albert and I went to before teleporting to the northern region.

Going down on her knees amid the greenery, Rosé tore through her bag like a madwoman took out her tools one by one.

Then, she drew an enormous magic circle on the ground.

What’s she doing?

She wasn’t simply drawing a magic circle—she was hurting herself in order to do so. From self-inflicted wounds, blood flowed down profusely to the ground. This must be part of the process in her black magic spell.

I knew absolutely nothing about black magic, but from what I could observe now, it’s certainly different from how normal spells were cast.

I need to let them know.

Firstly, I found out where Rosé was staying and what she’s doing, so it’s better to go back to the palace now and try to find a way to send a message somehow.

I turned my head towards the palace, but then I realized that my hands had become more transparent than before.

And when I looked down at my body, which should still have the outline and colors of a human being, I turned completely translucent—the night sky’s dark hue could be seen through me.

It was as if my soul was about to disappear.

“…No way.”

Turning around once again, I was surprised to make direct eye contact with Rosé, who was cackling.

There was a hysterical look in her eyes as she was glancing this way, even though I should not have been visible to her. That hysterical look terrified me.

I could feel my soul fading away. I’m starting to lose consciousness.

It’s obvious now that the spell Rosé had activated was a curse to extinguish my soul.

Am I going to die like this?

No, she still needed to enter a contract with Albert in order to have him in her clutches.

And I was an indispensable hostage to ensure that the contract would push through.

Albert left Rosé alone for a while because he thought that she wouldn’t dare hurt me.

It would have been impossible for her to trick Albert otherwise.

If Rosé were to kill me here, she’d lose me as a bargaining chip to get Albert.

But despite that, my body continued to fade.

What am I to do? I don’t want to disappear. I want to continue living. What in the world can I do?

[ …Can you hear me? ]

Blanc’s voice echoed in my mind. I was completely surprised.