Chapter Seventy: Shadows (Part One)
The cold wind howled, a sharp chill biting at my face.
Bella awkwardly helped me down from the beast’s back. I smoothed out my tousled hair, tucking the stray strands back behind my ears.
Beneath my light blue skirt, the not-so-clean hem fluttered in the breeze, only to be gently pressed down by my hand. In the shadow of the night and the glow of the fire, it almost blended with the pristine white snow.
Perhaps it was my appearance that clashed with the bl**d-soaked earth behind me. The noisy hunters fell silent, the smiles on the guards’ faces gradually faded, and the atmosphere grew quiet.
With nearly everyone staring at me, I walked straight up to Edward.
I bowed my head to look at him.
Edward turned his face away and softly called my name: “Pepé…”
I remained silent, coldly staring at him. After a moment, Edward lifted his head.
A smile, almost like a plea, spread across his face.
“You understand, right?”
“…Understand what?”
Maybe it was the cold, or the pain, or the terror seeping from my bones, but his lips trembled.
“Your brother has gone mad! He wants to k*ll me… He wants to start a war! You don’t want that, do you?!”
Edward looked utterly terrified. His status and image? Both forgotten in this moment. He crawled a bit closer in the snow, desperate.
“Many people would d*e, so many… and the Church! The Church would never allow this to happen. They want to completely control this country, and they won’t just sit back and watch! You’re a Pope Knight; you should understand this!”
“……”
“When that time comes, Shanter Castle will face pressures beyond your imagination. You’ll be at a disadvantage. You can’t win… No matter how skilled you are, or how skilled your father is. You can’t k*ll them all… There are people in the Church who are even stronger than you, those bishops—”
“They’ll send over even stronger Pope Knights, and that Saint… You know this; you can’t win…”
Edward was rambling, his words lacking logic. It seemed he was clinging to the last glimmer of hope for his life, throwing out everything he could think of that might make me waver.
“Your brother doesn’t understand these things. You’re smarter than him; you must get it, right?”
“I’ve been praying for you for these three years… I really don’t want you to d*e, so you definitely don’t want me to d*e either… Just talk to him, explain this to him…”
Looking at his pleading, woeful face, I found myself nodding almost against my will.
“Okay.”
Edward paused, seemingly caught off guard by my prompt agreement. There was disbelief in his eyes, and his pale lips trembled from bl**d loss, revealing a flicker of ecstatic hope.
“You… you agreed? You can make him let me go?”
“Yeah, I promise you.”
Lafael, standing nearby, furrowed his brow and opened his mouth as if to say something: “Pepé…”
Of course, Edward wouldn’t give him the chance to speak; he immediately grabbed my skirt.
“Great! Great! I knew you liked me! You really like me—”
…Like you?
I raised my small hand, extending my five delicate fingers made of sheep fat jade—
Smack!
One slap across Edward’s face.
His expression, which had been mix of joy and relief, morphed in an instant. With a loud thwack, the left side of his face transformed, lips, nose, eyes bending dramatically to the right as two teeth sailed out of his mouth, mixed with some bl**d. The next moment, he was yanked by an invisible force, his body flying off the ground in a majestic, albeit clumsy arc.
The crowd gasped in astonished disbelief.
I had sent him flying several meters, and he tumbled through the air before landing with a thud in the nearby snow.
I shook out my arm and walked over to him.
“Ugh… ugh…”
Edward groaned in pain, propping himself on his elbows, trying to struggle back to his feet. His hands and feet were completely uncooperative, and bl**d flowed from his mouth.
“You…”
He shook his head slightly but immediately winced in further agony, clearly injured in the neck.
“I promised you. Lafael, won’t k*ll you.”
I kicked his chest.
“But I will.”
“Ugh!”
Edward let out a muffled grunt, rolling several times before finally coming to a stop, gasping for breath.
His eyes were bloodshot as he clutched his chest, mouth wide open, desperately trying to catch his breath. The mud and snow had turned his once clean attire into a filthy mess. I remained expressionless and stepped closer to him again.
My feelings were hard to articulate… sure, vengeance felt nice.
Yet, gazing at his current state of suffering, I didn’t find much pleasure in it. My heart was filled with a different sensation…
Anger and injustice, perhaps.
For that pure, kind soul who had already vanished.
Or maybe she hadn’t vanished—just changed into an existence I couldn’t yet understand. But regardless, some things had inevitably changed.
Like memories.
Like the soft feelings from the past.
That once innocent and kind girl had indeed died once because of this man’s dull and foolish ambitions.
I stood in front of Edward, simply staring at him.
The surrounding noise had come to an abrupt halt, everyone steeped in silence. Maybe they couldn’t grasp what was unfolding before them, but they could certainly feel the emotion flooding the young woman’s heart.
After a moment, Edward finally caught his breath.
“…Pepé… you’re not mad anymore… right?” He couldn’t even lift his head, but surprisingly, he didn’t beg for mercy. “…If you think it’s not enough… you can hit me again, it’s fine. I know you’re upset… it’s my fault, it’s my fault…”
He had given up trying to stand, laboriously flipping over to lie on his back.
“Three years ago that night… I didn’t mean to… I really didn’t… You know, on the way here, what I said… you heard it, right?”
Bang——
Another kick.
Edward’s body rolled away again, only to be abruptly stomped on by a black leather boot.
Bella’s face was cold, saying nothing. Just like me, she lifted her foot and “bang!” kicked him back in front of me.
“Cough, puke——”
That kick must have landed in his stomach; Edward coughed a couple of times, a foul substance spewing from his mouth.
“Ugh——, ugh——” The vomiting continued for what felt like ages. I watched him until he could expel no more. “Pepé… are you done? It hurts too much…”
I nodded again.
“Yeah, I’m done.”
Crack, crack, crack.
In the next moment, accompanied by a hissing sound like a snake, my right hand erupted in blue light.
The ice scythe gripped firmly in my hand caused Edward to widen his eyes in immediate panic. His gaze reflected sheer terror, yet he awkwardly forced a smile.
bl**d and filth mixed with dirt covered his entire face.
Suddenly, Lafael’s voice cut through the tension.
“Wait, Pepé. He just mentioned three years ago…”
