Chapter 50

When Talli woke up, the young man had already regained consciousness. He hadn’t left, instead, he was propped up on his chin beside her. His blue long hair was spread out, cascading in strands over the bed and shoulders, and he gazed at her with lowered eyelids, while his right hand gently traced the shape of her lips.

Talli paused for a moment, and before she could react, she had already opened her mouth and bitten down on his finger.

Deritz froze for a moment. He saw the faint pink on the girl’s ears and, pretending to be casual, she bit down hard on his knuckle, her soft, warm tongue unintentionally curling over his fingertip.

It felt like her heart had struck him hard.

He leaned closer, almost able to smell the sweet fragrance on her. Unable to resist, he lifted the back of her head and pressed his lips against hers. As their breaths mingled, she gasped a few times before pushing him away with force.

“That’s enough.”

Her eyes, glistening with moisture, stared at him.

Deritz pressed his lips together.

Seeing her expression made his chest burn.

Does she feel the same?

“…Talli,”

He looked into her violet eyes, unable to stop himself from speaking, “Stay. Stay by my side.”

He saw her slightly stunned expression and quickly added, “I’ll make you the goddess.”

Talli paused, seemingly in disbelief, and then looked away, lowering her eyelids, as if mocking him:

“Aren’t you afraid of dying?”

“…”

“Then again, it makes sense. You’ve always been wary of me. No matter the title, it’s just your excuse to keep me by your side, to torment me.”

“…”

Deritz narrowed his eyes, his gaze turning cold. He slowly curled his lips into a smile, “Do you think I’m only here to torment you?”

“Maybe there are some other… complicated feelings involved.”

Talli didn’t look at him, she turned her head away. “But you know, no matter what method you use to restrict my freedom, it’s nothing less than torment to me.”

After a long pause, she heard the young man’s mocking laugh.

“Alright,”

He seemed to stop arguing, “If you say so.”

Talli sensed a change in the atmosphere. She felt a tightness in her chest and didn’t want to stay any longer. She got up, intending to leave the bed.

However, unexpectedly, she felt a weight on her neck.

She touched her neck, and the metal clasp of the leather collar was firmly fastened just above her collarbone. The same carved text was on it, almost identical to the one she had put on the Dusk.

Same model.

She reached out to pull the collar. But the metal clasp seemed welded shut, no matter how hard she pulled, it wouldn’t budge.

Talli was so angry she almost shook with rage, glaring at the young man. “Deritz, do not do unto others what you do not want done to yourself!!”

She knew he was cold-blooded, arrogant, and prideful, but she never expected him to be so cruel, with such a strong desire for revenge.

“I told you, if you don’t like it, you can take it off! If you find it humiliating, just throw it away. Why reverse it and put it on me?”

The young man smiled. “I also told you, anything with my mark on it is mine. If you don’t like it, you can cover it, but its existence will always remind you of who you belong to.”

Talli took several deep breaths, pinched her knuckles, and closed her eyes.

Under the twilight, she had never forgotten the young man’s smile and his pure eyes in the storm. But at this moment, she only felt a chill in her heart.

“Deritz, you…”

Talli spoke with difficulty, each word heavy,

“You don’t understand what love is. I was naive.”

She had once thought that as long as Deritz remained wary of her, he would never truly love her. Now she realized how terribly wrong she had been.

The arrogant ruler didn’t understand what love was, let alone give up his power for someone he loved.

Without her heart, he wouldn’t die.

At this moment, Talli understood just how hard her path had been.

A path with no dawn.

“…Ha, that’s right.”

Deritz grabbed her wrist and squeezed it tightly, a dark smile on his face. He almost gritted his teeth as he spoke,

“I certainly don’t understand. No one has ever taught me this. The only person who made me feel any warmth, her goal was to make me die.”

Talli’s wrist ached, and she broke into a cold sweat as she tried to pull her wrist free.

“…I told you, I didn’t know! I didn’t know you were Dusk!!”

“So what if you knew?”

The young man was relentless, pulling her close. “Would you show mercy just because I’m Dusk? Would you stop wanting to take my heart because I’m Dusk? Would you stay in this world because I’m Dusk?”

He looked into her eyes,

“Talli, you wouldn’t.”

The girl stared at his eyes, her face flushed, trembling all over as if from anger or fear. Her eyes were wide open as she looked at him, her lips trembling. After a long pause, her voice cracked as she finally spoke.

“…Yes, I wouldn’t.”

Slowly, she lowered her gaze.

Whether it was Deritz’s illusion or not, it seemed like transparent droplets of water rolled down from her eyelashes and fell into the bedding.

Her voice trembled, almost choking on her words:

“But at least… I won’t let you die, Dusk.”

Yes, how could she tell the difference?

She always thought she was repaying, trying to accumulate little bits of his good and bad, looking at them through worldly eyes and ways, trying to live in this world without regret.

But how could she possibly do that?

She and Deritz were like vines entangled with each other, dependent on one another. It could no longer be described as a simple relationship between lovers, it was an intimate relationship where they both gave each other nourishment and inflicted harm.

The relationship between master and pet, companion, friend, lover, enemy by position, prey and predator, none of these could describe their intimacy. They rubbed against each other, filled with both so-called love and deep hatred, yet still unable to part from each other.

…This reckless and foolish true heart.

Deritz watched her sob, and without realizing it, he released his grip.

He didn’t know why, but his heart, which had once been burning hot, now ached, as if her voice was slowly tearing at it.

At that moment, a knock on the door was heard.

Deritz furrowed his brows, stood up, and changed into his clothes. “What is it?”

His voice sounded terribly displeased, and the officer outside the door spoke with trembling respect. “…Your Highness, we’ve captured a new group of adventurers and war criminals. There are even more of them this time, including mages from the Abyss… The list was prepared this morning, would you like to come review it?”

Deritz paused for a moment and then said, “I’ll be right there.”

He walked out the door, and a few little fairies flew in to take care of Talli.

The young man’s footsteps faded away.

The girl placed her hand over her eyes, and her tear stains slowly cooled with the rhythmic beating of her heart.

She opened her eyes, her expression tired, but her clarity had returned.

She declined the fairies’ help.

“I’ll do it myself.”

—

On the terrace, the little white bird that Talli had modified was slowly learning to fly.

Lina held the mechanical bird in the palm of her hand, watching it wobble and fly up two inches before falling with a “clap” sound. She was even more anxious than the bird itself.

“Can’t it be improved any further?”

She asked the girl sitting at the desk, frustrated.

The girl with black hair and purple eyes wore a heavy hat and kept her gaze down. She said, “You’ll have to wait a few more days.”

Lina stood up and asked, “What are you busy with?”

“My friend… I suddenly can’t get in touch with him.”

In front of Talli was an open book that she had asked Lina to borrow from the library. It contained advanced versions of magic spells, which she had been practicing for several days, almost without resting.

Lina sat beside her at the desk and leaned forward. “By the way, Talli, how did you escape from the Monarch that time? I honestly thought you were going to die when I was at the door.”

“It was really scary,” she added. “Although I don’t dislike you, I won’t help you do that kind of thing again. You have no idea how terrifying the Monarch’s smile is, I almost became a blade of grass on your grave.”

Talli made a hand gesture, opened one eye, and glanced at her. “Do you really want to know?”

Lina propped up her chin and nodded. “Mm-hmm.”

Talli said, “Watch closely.”

She recited a spell, and a beam of light released from her palm. Lina instinctively covered her eyes, and the next second, the girl disappeared. In her place was a butterfly fluttering its wings.

Lina’s eyes widened.

“You can transform now!?”

The little butterfly said, “I just learned it a few days ago.”

It flapped its wings. “How’s it look? Not bad, right? That’s how I escaped that day—the Crimson Witch turned me into a butterfly.”

“In such a short time…?”

Lina was speechless. “If you were in our elven tribe, you’d definitely be chosen as the next goddess.”

Talli didn’t say anything. She just fluttered around Lina in a circle and muttered to herself, “My transformation magic isn’t very advanced. The time I can maintain it is still too short.” Shorter than when the Crimson Witch did it.

This short time wasn’t enough to carry her far.

She saw the little white bird Lina was playing with and had an idea. She transformed, and almost exactly the same little bird appeared before her.

She mimicked the mechanical bird’s movements, took a few steps, and felt like she was getting the hang of it.

The little bird could fly much faster than the butterfly.

The mage’s messages had stopped since the day before yesterday.

He had always sent his voice to Talli every day, telling her that he was doing fine. But since the day before yesterday, Talli hadn’t received any messages from him.

She remembered the conversation she had heard that morning and began to have doubts in her mind.

If Alex had really been captured, she knew very well that Deritz would never show mercy. Most adventurers and war criminals would be escorted to the city walls to work, while a small portion of offenders would be publicly executed on the walls.

No matter what, Talli had to go to the city walls and see for herself.

She needed to confirm and ensure Alex’s safety.

She didn’t want him to be hurt because of her.

The bird flapped its wings, launching itself like a fired ball, flying low over the long line of people on the desolate land. When she had been transformed into a bird by Deritz before, she had experienced a fast escape, and now, using her two wings, it was incredibly smooth.

As she flew past the long line of people, Talli noticed the dark clouds gathering in the distance, filling the sky. Lightning flickered under the clouds, like vicious silver snakes. The dark clouds were slowly moving towards this place.

Talli lowered her body and dove towards the distance.

After flying over the snake-like long line, Talli finally saw the execution squad on the high city wall at the end.

She quietly lowered her body and overheard some of the construction workers talking.

“I heard they’re all unforgivable criminals, heinous and wicked…”

“Crimes so evil that not even the Black Water can cleanse them…”

“I really hope we don’t end up like this one day. If we perform well, it’s possible to be forgiven and work in the tower, right?”

“Forget that, I’m more worried about accidentally falling off into the Black Water while drowsy. That’s more terrifying than any beast. It will devour you whole, leaving not even bones behind…”

—

The blindfolded criminal knelt on the city wall, trembling like a leaf, unable even to scream. When a thunderclap struck in the distance, he collapsed to the ground.

The young man in black stood at a distance, the officers holding an umbrella over him while the judge read out the man’s crimes. After the reading, the man was shot through the chest with arrows, and he fell forward into the Black Water, dying from blood loss and the icy pain.

Talli saw the young mage with his head lowered in the execution squad.

He was soon forced to kneel on the city wall by the officers, and the judge took out a piece of paper.

It was a blank piece of paper.

He glanced at the young man in black beside him, then reverently tucked the paper away, stretched out his right hand, and swung it down.

In an instant, Talli cast a spell, narrowing one eye and firing a magic bolt that accurately deflected the arrow. The scene quickly descended into chaos after a brief moment of silence.

Along with the chaos came the thunder. The color of the magic bolt Talli used resembled the flash of lightning, causing confusion among the onlookers who couldn’t see clearly.

Some tried to take the opportunity to escape and flee, but the officers quickly suppressed them.

Deritz merely furrowed his brow. In the next moment, he quickly realized what was happening.

“Execute them all!!”

Before His words could fall, Talli had already swiftly dashed into the chaotic crowd and ran up the city wall.

She helped the mage up and heard Deritz’s anxious, urgent voice: “Don’t shoot arrows at her!”

He took long strides toward her, and Talli only glanced back at his grim and wrathful expression before quickly turning her head away.

She quickly tore off the blindfold and the ropes binding Alex’s hands, whispering in his ear, “Get ready.”

As she spoke, before the young man reached her side, she pulled the young mage forward, leaping towards the edge of the wall, rolling off without hesitation.

A scream erupted from the crowd, exploding in a loud commotion.

Deritz was only a step too late.

He reached out, attempting to grab her sleeve, but her hem only brushed past him before she completely vanished from his sight. He didn’t even realize it. By the time he reacted, he had already jumped down, following that shadow without hesitation.

“Your Highness—”

“Ah, Your Highness!…”

“Keep those commoners steady, don’t let them run wild!”

“Your Highness, Your Highness has fallen into the Abyssal Black Water!”

A thunderous boom.

The thunder brought by the heavy clouds finally struck the last note, and the torrential rain poured down, washing everything away. The stagnant air slowly began to move, and the once-deadly quiet execution ground finally began to boil like water on a hot stove.