Chapter 20 : Chapter 20
Volume 1
Chapter 20 : My Choice!
“Leave?”
Muen’s eyes widened as he looked at the door.
The door no longer gave him that suffocating sense of confinement.
It seemed that it could truly be opened now.
Almost instinctively, Muen grabbed the doorknob and pressed it down.
Click.
The door opened.
Through the narrow gap, he could see the brightly lit corridor outside.
Joy flashed across Muen’s eyes.
As long as the door was open, he could leave this place!
But he was not trying to abandon Selicia—he only wanted to seek help from others!
Only by bringing reinforcements would there be a chance to save her!
“Wait.”
Muen suddenly halted.
Something felt wrong.
“The accomplice guarding outside should know about this too… So why would she let me go?”
“She just said… it is almost over?”
What… is almost over?
Muen suddenly turned back.
And then he saw it.
—The maid, gripping the flaming dagger, raised it like Death lifting its scythe, about to bring it down and reap the soul that remained proud even in the face of certain death.
Forward was life.
Backward was death.
At that moment, time seemed to freeze.
Faintly, Muen thought he heard the sound of pages flipping, as if a story had reached a turning point—waiting for him to decide how it would continue.
…
Selicia's eyes reflected the blade and the flames.
Despair had completely enveloped her, pressing down so heavily that it became difficult to breathe.
Everything in her vision slowed, as if time had been stretched.
But Selicia knew this was not because time itself had slowed—it was her mind accelerating at the brink of death.
In simple terms, a dying flash of memories.
“How embarrassing… to fall in a place like this…”
“That damned Muen Campbell…”
She cursed the man she hated most, yet the earlier fury had already faded.
At a moment like this, anger meant nothing.
“He should have escaped by now…”
“That is for the best. He should not die here…”
Selicia closed her eyes, calmly accepting her fate.
Thud.
The sound of a blade piercing flesh rang out as expected.
Scalding blood sprayed forth, splashing across Selicia’s face.
Yet she felt no pain.
Instead, she felt a familiar warmth surrounding her.
“What—”
She opened her eyes in shock—
—and found herself staring directly into a pair of clear, azure eyes. They were just like the moment he had invited her to dance at the banquet… only now dimmed.
“Cough… giving up now is a bit too early, is it not… my princess…”
Muen lay over Selicia, forcing out a tragic smile as he coughed up mouthfuls of blood.
The crimson stained her pure white dress into a shocking red.
“Why…?”
Selicia’s eyes widened in disbelief.
The icy cold within them melted away, revealing something she had never shown to anyone before—panic, confusion, like that of a lost young girl.
“Muen Campbell… why did you save me…?”
“Why? Cough… I would like to know that myself…”
Muen struggled to breathe.
The dagger of death had pierced through his lungs from behind, and the flames—capable of opposing even divine law—were now raging through his body, bringing unbearable agony that seemed ready to tear his consciousness apart.
“If I had to say… maybe… it was just a moment of impulse.”
“A moment of impulse? Who would act on impulse at a time like this…?”
Seeing that Selicia clearly did not believe him, Muen could only shake his head weakly.
But in truth, he had not lied.
At that moment, he had only needed to take one step forward to escape death.
Yet the instant he turned back and saw the dagger raised—
every thought in his mind vanished.
His guilt toward Selicia.
His regret over his own weakness.
His fear of death.
His desire to live.
All of it disappeared.
He simply did not want Selicia to die.
He did not want this character he had once loved… this girl who now stood before him so vivid, so real, so beautiful… to die.
Especially not because of him.
And so, he turned back.
And so, he stood before Death.
So this was what “obsession” truly was.
Perhaps it had only ever been self-deception.
“Looks like I really do have some kind of intermittent brain failure… always acting up at the worst possible moments.”
Muen could not help but laugh bitterly.
Just like that night at two in the morning, when he had recklessly pulled for a gacha—
only to get so excited over five SSRs in a ten-pull that he was hit by a speeding truck.
“So this time… it ends the same way?”
After experiencing death once, it was no longer quite so terrifying.
“But before that, let me at least act cool one last time… otherwise it would be a waste…”
Thinking this, Muen endured the pain, forcing himself to stay conscious.
He gathered what remained of his strength and, like a true son of a Duke, gave Selicia a calm and elegant smile.
“So now… do I look like a man? My princess?”
“You…”
Unfortunately, Muen never heard her answer.
Darkness swallowed his consciousness.
…
【……】
【Progress loading…】
【Pride Progress: 50%】
【Envy Progress: 99%】
【Greed Progress: 0%】
【Lust Progress: 0%】
【Sloth Progress: 0%】
【Wrath Progress: 0%】
【Gluttony Progress: -90%】
【……】
【……】
【Please continue to struggle】
【Muen Campbell】
【My ■■■■】
Deep within Muen’s consciousness, a black book trembled faintly.
…
“You—bastard—!”
Seeing Muen suddenly appear and block the attack with his own body, the maid’s eyes erupted with devouring fury.
It was so close… just a moment more and it would have been over!
Why did you, Muen Campbell, have to interfere at the last second?!
You were never even our target!
“…Strange. Did I… lose focus for a moment just now?”
The maid pressed her forehead, instinctively sensing something was off. But she had no time to dwell on it.
“You think this will stop me? Even if you blocked this strike, with the blessing of my god, Princess Selicia is still nothing more than a lamb awaiting slaughter!”
“At worst, I will just stab her again!”
The maid tightened her grip on the dagger and tried to pull it out—
Hm?
Why would it not come out?
She frowned and looked down at Muen.
On the ornate clothing where the dagger had struck, faint golden light shimmered, firmly locking the blade in place.
“So that is it. There is something special about this outfit.”
The maid sneered.
As the son of a Duke, it was not strange for him to have something to save his life.
But no matter how special… it was still just clothing. How long could it possibly hold?
Channeling her full strength, she finally managed to pull the dagger free.
But something about it felt… wrong.
“Hm?”
The maid stared blankly at the dagger.
It still gleamed coldly, just as sharp as ever.
But…
“Where is my fire?”
That massive divine flame bestowed by my god—Where did it go?