Chapter 76 : Chapter 76
Volume 1
Chapter 76 : The Love God’s Whisper (Final)
The afterglow of the setting sun stretched the shadows long.
Within the small fishing village, now nearly reduced to ruins, Muen gripped the shovel Ann had condensed and found a spot with the best sunlight. One shovelful at a time, he dug into the fresh soil.
A grave pit quickly took shape.
Once it was only about half a meter deep, Muen stopped.
Because that was enough.
He stepped aside, and Ann walked forward, holding Eluca’s head in her hands.
Eluca’s eyes were closed, as if she had fallen into a deep sleep.
At the corner of her lips was the faintest trace of a smile.
It seemed she had received an answer she was satisfied with, so when she left, she had not carried many regrets with her.
Ann gently placed her head into the pit, then used her hands to cover it with earth, handful by handful.
This time, Muen did not help.
He simply leaned on the shovel, watching the distant sunset while listening to Ann’s murmur.
“I am sorry. I can no longer find the person to bury you.”
Ann lowered her eyes, sorrow written across her face.
When the evil god had descended in person, all flesh had become food for It.
Not even the slightest scrap had been left behind.
In the end, all Ann could do was bring Eluca back to this deserted little fishing village and bury her here.
At least it counted as going home.
That beautiful head was gradually covered by the soil.
After placing the final handful of dirt over the small grave, Ann moved her thoughts, and a metal tombstone rose above the mound.
Ann lifted her hand, wanting to write something on it.
But after hesitating for a long while, she could not write a single word.
If she wrote Eluca’s Grave, it felt too lonely.
If she wrote the name of this little fishing village, then beneath the mound there would still be nothing but a young girl’s head.
“Forget it.”
Muen gazed at the sunset and spoke softly:
“There is no need to memorialize tragedy.”
“Is that so?”
Ann looked momentarily dazed, then withdrew her hand.
“Then I will do as you say, Young Master.”
The fishing village was silent now, without the slightest trace of life left in it.
Ann stared at the blank tombstone for a long, long time, as though she were seriously contemplating something.
Only after she became certain that she could not find the answer on her own did she finally ask, with a trace of unease and great care:
“Young Master.”
“Yes?”
“Was I wrong?”
“Wrong? What do you mean?”
“My love.”
Love is possession.
Love is obtaining everything of the one you love.
Love is remaining together with the one you love forever.
Love is using any means necessary.
Not long ago, that had been how she understood it.
That was love.
Such beautiful love.
And yet, after seeing Eluca’s monstrous form earlier that day, the way she had been so desperately intent on devouring the one she loved, Ann felt as if she were staring into a mirror.
The self in that mirror was just like that monster, whispering of love in a way that was so hideous.
It made one wonder whether that nauseating thing could truly be called love.
“Young Master, was my love wrong?”
“Perhaps.”
Muen nodded, then shook his head.
“Or perhaps you merely mistook possessiveness for love.”
“Possessiveness?”
“The desire that is born when you desperately want to possess something.”
Muen said:
“Possessiveness is often derived from love and resembles it very closely. Although the two are fundamentally different, people can easily confuse them.”
“Young Master means that I confused possessiveness with love...?”
“I do not know either.”
Muen spoke softly:
“Everyone carries different thoughts in their heart. Whether what lies within is love or possessiveness is something only you yourself can truly know.”
“And yet the one person most incapable of telling is oneself.”
Ann laughed at herself.
She turned to look at Muen’s profile.
His handsome face, cut into silhouette by the sunset, traced out lines so striking that they made her heart race and her cheeks burn, making her want to pull that face fiercely into her embrace.
At that moment, what filled her heart—was it love, or possessiveness?
“What is love, really?”
For Ann, a question that should once have been the simplest of all had, in a single night, suddenly become the hardest question in the world.
But perhaps... if she changed her angle and approached it from somewhere else, she might come to understand.
The thought made Ann feel a little shy.
“Young Master, I remember you said it before, did you not?”
“Yes? What?”
“You said...”
With a faint blush on her cheeks, Ann said softly:
“That you could date me as a normal couple.”
“It does seem like I said that.”
Muen suddenly remembered.
He had said it back when he was imprisoned, just to keep Ann steady.
But why was she bringing that up now?
Muen’s brows twitched slightly. He realized at once that things were not so simple.
“Since you said that, Young Master, then can we start over?”
“And by start over, you mean...?”
“I mean becoming an ordinary couple, like ordinary people.”
Dating.
Marriage.
Even having children.
Through that, they could search for what true love really was.
“I see. I think I understand what you mean.”
Muen nodded, seeming as if the sunlight had gotten into his eyes, and quietly took a few steps backward.
“But just to be safe, I still need to ask one question—
You are planning to bring me back to the Duke’s estate next, are you not?”
“Of course.”
Ann nodded vigorously and said shyly:
“I also grew up in the Duke’s estate. That is my only home as well... Of course, I am not delusionally hoping to become the mistress of the Duke’s estate or anything. I will still serve you as your personal maid, Young Master. But while serving you, could I perhaps...”
The young girl turned back bashfully, her flushed face full of beautiful hopes for the future.
Building a little nest of love for just the two of them in the Duke’s estate with the Young Master, doing all sorts of embarrassing things together, perhaps even having ten or twenty children... Just imagining it was enough to make her...
WHOOSH—
Ann heard the sound of wind cutting through the air.
The instant she turned back, she saw Young Master’s cold, sharp expression, and—the shovel.
Before she could react, there was a dull thud.
A trace of astonishment flashed across Ann’s face, and then everything went black as she collapsed limply to the ground.
“Hmph. Wicked woman.”
Looking at Ann lying there unconscious, Muen curled one corner of his lips and gave a villainous smile.
“You were actually trying to trick me into going back to the Duke’s estate so you could play imprisonment games with me. Do you really think I am that easy to fool?”
“How could a Saint Seiya fall twice in the same place?”
“The Duke’s estate? Even a dog would not go back!”
The dimming light of day shone upon the man’s arrogant laughter.
A pair of loving waterfowl hid in the lakeside reeds, secretly peeking at the solitary man standing alone in the cold wind.
Their gaze was filled with pity.
...
...
“This is...?”
Ann awoke from unconsciousness and saw a familiar ceiling.
“Head Maid, you are awake.”
The girl waiting by the bedside bent down in surprise.
“How do you feel? Does anything in your body feel wrong?”
“Noelle?”
Looking at the maid-clad girl before her, Ann’s eyes filled with confusion.
“Why are you here, and... right, where is Young Master?”
Ann abruptly sat up and looked around. “Where is Young Master?”
“This is the Duke’s estate, of course I am here.”
Noelle blinked and said hesitantly:
“As for Young Master... after he brought you back, Head Maid, he changed into a different set of clothes and hurried off.”
At this point, Noelle’s cheeks flushed slightly, and she muttered, “Why was Young Master wearing something so shameless? Did he learn bad habits outside?”
“Young Master left?”
Ann’s eyes widened, and then she said angrily, “Then why did none of you stop him?”
“He is the Young Master. How were we supposed to stop him?”
Noelle pulled a bitter face. “Besides, the Young Master said he was going to school, so we had no reason to stop him.”
“I... is that so?”
Ann slumped back onto the bed.
Noelle was right. If Young Master truly wanted to leave, how could ordinary maids stop him?
“Then... then I will take my leave first. Head Maid, please get some rest.”
Noelle curtsied and hurriedly withdrew.
Head Maid felt strange somehow. Better escape first.
...
After Noelle left, Ann rose by herself and walked to the window.
She looked out at the scenery beyond it.
In the estate grounds, the maids were busily trimming the greenery into all sorts of pleasing shapes.
And yet, even so, Ann still felt that the vast Duke’s estate had suddenly become cold and empty.
“So you really ran away, Young Master.”
“And it just had to be Saint Marika Academy, where outsiders are forbidden to enter. How sly of you, Young Master.”
Ann leaned her head against the window and looked toward a place far, far away.
Sadly, the person she wanted to see was already nowhere in sight.
“I will not give up.”
Ann pressed her fingers against the glass and suddenly dragged them downward.
The screech was harsh, and her fingers left savage marks across the pane.
“No matter where you run, Young Master, I will bring you back, and then...
I will keep you by my side forever and ever, and we will never be apart again.”
That powerful obsession rose once more in Ann’s eyes, just as it always had.
“But...”
Ann slowly crouched down.
Behind the curtain of fallen hair, her graceful and delicate pretty face turned as red as a ripe apple.
That was a maiden’s bashfulness, and a maiden’s distress.
No darkness flowed there any longer.
There was only a pure and limpid beauty, like spring water.
“It seems I cannot hurt Young Master anymore. What am I supposed to do?”
...
...
I love you, Young Master.
...
...
【Jealousy Progress: 100%】
【Fixed progress reached. Fate interference has begun.】
【Partial memory blurring complete.】
【...】
【Please continue struggling, Muen Campbell】
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