Chapter 2

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Translator: Harry Potta

Chapter Title: The Obsessive Mad Dog Tries to Confine Me - Chapter 101

-----------------------------------------------------------------

The clattering sound grew steadily closer.

My heart pounded wildly, and the tension made it hard to even breathe.

That's when Rihart grabbed my chin.

"Tsk. You have to breathe, you know."

"...What exactly are you planning to do with me?"

I knew full well that I'd wronged Rihart that day.

But I'd explained the situation, and hadn't he said he understood? Was this really necessary?

"It wasn't me who locked you up! It wasn't me! So why are you doing this to me?"

I'd just been a maid serving Rihart his meals.

Then, through sheer bad luck, I'd become his personal attendant.

"...Please, just let me go."

Anger got me nowhere, so I went limp and pleaded with him.

Rihart gazed down at me silently before flashing a bright smile. He still held me in an iron grip.

"Don't worry. As if I'd ever sell you off."

With that, he scooped me up into his arms. My body lifted into the air, and I stared at him in shock.

"What are you doing?"

"You said you didn't want to get caught."

Rihart carried me into the forest. As we moved farther and farther from the carriage, a heavy despair settled over me.

"I have no intention of handing you over to anyone."

"Just how far do we have to go?"

Gilbert, trailing behind the Count, panted heavily with ragged breaths.

The dark forest felt ominously damp, as if some monster might leap out at any moment.

Gilbert eyed the Count striding ahead, thinking the northern woods had an eerie vibe.

The man had impressive stamina too. The Count showed no signs of fatigue.

His body, honed daily through rigorous training, seemed inexhaustible.

"We're almost there, Gilbert."

"You said that a little while ago! How far do we have to go?"

"I just said we're almost there."

The Count's cold retort carried a sharpness Gilbert had never seen before, silencing him.

"I have something important to tell you."

"Something to tell me...?"

"It's a sensitive matter, so I can't say it here. Just follow quietly."

"..."

What on earth could it be?

It didn't seem like an ordinary conversation, so Gilbert had no choice but to follow in silence.

They walked on for quite some time.

Gilbert had never pushed himself this hard in his life. His legs trembled, erasing the faint unease he'd felt earlier.

Irritation surged, and just as he was about to yell at the Count again, the man stopped.

"We're here."

A cabin stood before them.

Gilbert followed the Count inside.

Several burly men waited within. They looked like knights at first glance.

Gilbert eyed the scene suspiciously.

"...This is an important talk. Don't you need to send them away?"

"Don't worry about that. Because..."

Then, with a creak, the cabin door opened again.

Who could it be?

Gilbert whipped his head toward the door.

A slender figure in a robe removed their hood.

"...Michel?"

Why was Michel here for a secret talk...?

No way!

"Haha!"

Gilbert burst into laughter.

He assumed the Count had dragged him all this way to show him Michel being dealt with.

He believed it without a shred of doubt.

But that illusion shattered in an instant. The Count's knights approached Gilbert.

He looked at them in confusion, but they seized his shoulders with crushing force and forced him down.

"Agh!"

What the hell...!

Gilbert had no choice but to kneel under their strength.

"Count! What is the meaning of this?"

"What is it? Just dealing with an insolent fool."

The Count grinned widely.

No way...

Finally grasping the situation, Gilbert turned to Michel.

"You know, Uncle, these northern woods are so vast that even if someone vanished without a trace, not even a mouse or bird would notice."

Michel beamed at the terrified Gilbert.

Rihart carried me up the mountain.

He showed no sign of ever putting me down, never once letting me out of his arms.

Even climbing treacherous slopes like this, he didn't tire in the slightest. Any hope of slipping away during a moment's lapse seemed futile.

'Must be because he's a Transcendent.'

Why was he doing this to me?

"Achoo."

The constant chill wind made my nose sting.

As I cupped my cold cheeks with my palms, Rihart looked at me.

"Cold?"

"Of course it is. I've been exposed to this biting wind for hours."

His face lit up as if he'd only just realized.

'He doesn't feel it himself.'

Typical Transcendent. I clicked my tongue in annoyance, and Rihart silently set me down.

I stared at him in surprise, not expecting him to let go. Then he draped his outer coat over me.

His large garment settled over my shoulders, leaving me stunned once more. A kidnapper being considerate?

"Just bear with it a little longer. I'll take you somewhere warm."

"..."

"I'll light the stove, so you won't be cold."

Was he seriously saying that?

"Where exactly are you taking me?"

He clamped his mouth shut, clearly with no intention of telling me.

He stepped closer as if to pick me up again. I backed away.

I'd only just escaped his hold after hours; no way was I letting him grab me again.

At first, the shock had frozen my mind.

It still lingered, but at least my thoughts were starting to work again.

"Let's talk this out."

"Talk?"

"Yeah. I know you're doing this because you hate me right now."

Rihart smiled as if urging me to go on. Infuriating.

"Do we really need to fight like this? Think about it. Neither of us gains anything from it."

Even if I stayed by your side now, it wouldn't fix that broken body of yours anyway.

"I'm really sorry for what happened three years ago. But you know now that I had no choice back then."

"..."

"So I've been thinking. I should make it up to you somehow."

"Make it up?"

Rihart echoed the word with amused curiosity.

But I didn't smile back. I nodded calmly.

"Yeah, compensate you."

"And how exactly do you plan to do that?"

"Name your price. Whatever amount you want, I'll give it to you..."

"Ah."

Rihart let out a sigh before bursting into laughter.

Whatever struck him so funny, he laughed until he could barely breathe.

When the laughter faded, his face turned into a chilling mask of indifference. It was so eerie I nearly stumbled back.

'Don't retreat.'

I had to get back to Michel safely.

She had no one but me.

I needed to return and protect her.

I knew what happened when I wasn't around—how drastically she changed...

'She's unstable.'

Michel never showed it, but she was deeply lonely. Without me, her mind became extremely fragile.

And her health was frail too.

I had to go back and watch over her.

So I needed to persuade Rihart here.

"Do you think I lack money?"

"...Everyone likes money, generally speaking. If it's not money, name something else. What do you want?"

"What I want..."

Rihart pretended to ponder for a moment, then his eyes widened.

He closed the distance with long strides.

"It's right here."

He pointed straight at me, leaving me speechless.

"...Nothing else?"

"What else could I want besides you?"

Why me, though?

I was useless to Rihart now.

Only one answer fit.

'He just wants me to suffer.'

Like what he'd done to Arjen in the novel. Make me feel the exact same pain he'd endured?

That's why he wanted to lock me up too?

There were always types like that.

The ones who claimed they wanted nothing but revenge, blind to everything else.

Rihart had to be one of them.

'No way to reason with people like that.'

They charged ahead like rabid beasts until they got what they craved.

I calmly took a few steps back from Rihart.

I pondered how to create an opening.

Rihart watched my movements like a pitiful lamb before the wolf.

The moment I strayed from his reach, he'd pounce.

I stopped after a short distance.

"One last question. Is there really nothing you want?"

"I told you—it's you."

I quietly slipped my hand behind my back and let the hairpin hidden in my sleeve drop into my palm, out of Rihart's sight.

I turned the pin so he couldn't see.

"I have to go back. Someone needs me desperately."

Rihart's brow furrowed in displeasure as he began to move slowly toward me.

"I wanted to make it up to you with whatever I could."

But if you refuse, I have no choice.

I have to get back.

As Rihart drew closer, I gripped the hairpin tightly.

Stab him.