Chapter 208
‧₊˚ ☁️⋅♡𓂃 ࣪ ִֶָ☾.
“…Ha!”
A laugh of relief escaped him.
Even though her face was hidden by her cloak, he recognized her immediately.
He knew exactly who the woman pointing the sword at his back was.
This was the situation she had longed for.
She probably didn’t know just how much he was enjoying it.
“Shh.”
Mikhail muffled her mouth while the knife remained embedded in his body.
Startled, she tried to pull away, but he tightly held her against him, quieting his breath.
The closer they got, the deeper her dagger pressed into his body.
‘This is madness.’
He didn’t make a sound. Emilia’s body stiffened in his embrace, but it was clear from his smile that he was enjoying the situation.
“Almost died, and now you’re smiling?”
“Should’ve killed me. The chance was there, why didn’t you push it deeper?”
“…Do you want to die that badly?”
“You wanted to kill me, didn’t you? Then go ahead. Push it deeper.”
He gripped her hand tightly, forcing her to hold the dagger.
Emilia’s eyes widened in shock as the blade sank deeper than before. As she gasped, her hand tried to loosen, but he didn’t stop.
“Wasn’t this why you left?”
“…”
“Kill me here. Finish it. This is the only way to get out of this—our wretched relationship. You wanted to end it, didn’t you?”
Emilia’s hand trembled.
Mikhail gripped her hand firmly. She inhaled sharply.
“…I can’t.”
“Why? Didn’t you resent me enough to want to kill me? Didn’t you want to escape me? So, kill me, erase all traces of me, and push me into torment.”
“…Why did you come looking for me? It would have been easier if you’d just believed I was dead.”
“Easier? That would have been for you, not me.”
Mikhail’s voice turned cold.
Barely moments after they had hidden in the alley, the knights burst in.
Mikhail raised his hand and gently covered her mouth.
Emilia tried to pull his hand away, but hearing the knights’ voices, she just rolled her eyes.
“Didn’t you hear that the suspicious woman went this way?”
“Right. Looks like we missed her. She couldn’t have gone far, we’ll search around.”
“Search every corner of the alley! We’ve received word that the king is coming. We can’t afford to miss her.”
Their excited voices echoed through the alley as they scoured the area.
At this rate, Emilia would be caught. When he first apprehended her, she had thought he might hand her over to the knights.
But now, as he watched the situation unfold, he seemed to be trying to protect her.
‘Does he want to kill me with his own hands?’
She had already escaped from the Duke’s estate and now found herself in a place where there might be anti-royal factions.
When the signal came, Dell had quickly sprinted but was caught by the knights. Emilia hid in the alley, watching the scene unfold.
Thankfully, Dell had orange hair, which made her harder to identify.
She didn’t have short hair, but long, flowing locks, so the knights immediately took her to where the women had been gathered.
It didn’t take long for the knights to realize that there was no brown bob cut, and they released the women. They then ordered each of them to follow the trail.
Fortunately, Dell managed to avoid the knights’ gaze and veered into an alley leading to the bookstore, and Emilia, relieved, followed her.
Had it not been for the sudden appearance of a familiar man trailing Dell, Emilia would have gone to meet her and left the area.
With his tall frame, golden hair, uniform, and sword at his waist, Emilia’s eyes gleamed as she recognized him.
Before even seeing the sword, she was certain.
The man chasing Dell was Duke Mikhail von Heinrich.
He had finally found her.
She was relieved that no one else recognized Dell’s appearance, but Mikhail was different. Dell had worked at the Duke’s estate, so he was unlikely to forget her face.
Emilia gripped her dagger tightly, then jabbed it into his back.
“One day, I’ll kill you, Mikhail von Heinrich.”
That moment had arrived, but she couldn’t bring herself to push it deep enough to kill him.
She couldn’t do it.
His smile, unbothered and almost pleased, filled her with emptiness.
Instead, he grabbed her weapon and pressed it deeper into her, closing the distance so she couldn’t escape.
“Why hesitate?”
She couldn’t see his expression, held close in his embrace.
“You said you’d kill me one day. The chance has come, why hesitate?”
“I… didn’t hesitate.”
“Liar.”
She felt a burning gaze on her head. Emilia clenched her teeth and tried to pull the blade away.
“You’d better not.”
“You’re going to die like this.”
“You hoped for it, didn’t you? Isn’t that what you wanted?”
“Why… Why are you doing this to me?”
Emilia’s voice trembled. Why was he being so cruel to her?
“You should’ve just lived ignorantly.”
“I couldn’t. You seemed to be doing well. You looked happy when I wasn’t around.”
His voice grew rough.
“You still haven’t buried your mother. It doesn’t make sense to have a funeral without the child present.”
“…Don’t pretend to care now.”
“Does it sound like I’m pretending?”
He muttered to himself. Emilia slowly raised her head.
“Take this path and find Sir Byne.”
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