MIIS 2

Chapter 2

“Did you wait long?”

The end of my trembling voice cracked slightly.

Of course, it was deliberate acting—but it was also a reaction that naturally slipped out under extreme tension.

If I make a mistake in this play, I die.

Despite my life-or-death performance, Azel still showed no notable reaction.

“Azel?”

I deliberately narrowed my brows as if puzzled and carefully called his name.

The familiar tone was meant to sound like a gentle reproach—why aren’t you saying anything?

Sure enough, a response came at last.

“Who are you?”

A flat, emotionless reply.

For someone responding to a stranger who knew his name, it was absurdly indifferent.

But from here on out, it mattered.

Because I had no intention of letting that reaction slide.

“…What?”

First, I had to show instinctive confusion, as though I didn’t understand.

Then, as I turned it over in my mind, I slowly realized something was wrong.

My expression, which had held only mild puzzlement, gradually filled with shock.

That progression couldn’t be too slow—or too fast.

“Just now… what did you say…?”

I asked again as if confirming it, deliberately trailing off.

As though I’d realized something—something I should never acknowledge—I hurriedly covered my mouth with both hands.

I held my breath, as if swallowing a scream. When I tensed every nerve to the tips of my fingers, my trembling hands pressed against my lips.

Now!

At the moment a thick teardrop plopped onto the back of my hand, I pretended my legs gave out and collapsed to the ground.

“You… forgot. You forgot me.”

Even to my own ears, my broken voice sounded fragile, as if it might vanish at any moment.

“…So this is it. This is how it ends.”

I didn’t forget to leave a piece of foreshadowing, muttering to myself.

What exactly it foreshadowed—I could think about that later. K-dramas usually wrote their scripts like this anyway.

If it works, it works. If not, who cares? Is that really the priority right now?

When I bowed my head, tears pattered down onto my thighs.

I could feel a piercing gaze on the crown of my head, but I didn’t have the luxury of embarrassment.

He’s probably dumbfounded. But my life is on the line here!

This was the most desperately I’d ever acted in my life.

Pretending I hadn’t recovered from the shock, I slowly raised my head to gauge his reaction—and immediately met crimson eyes.

What… was that?

I didn’t need to hear it aloud to know.

Azel’s eyes looked like those of someone staring at something utterly incomprehensible.

At least he doesn’t look like he’s about to say “What the hell?” and cut me down. That’s something.

Doing a one-woman show was a bit embarrassing, but momentum was everything.

As I swallowed my tears despite his intense stare, a faint crease formed between Azel’s smooth brows.

I desperately hoped it was proof my acting was getting through.

Please. Please. Please!

“You—”

The long-awaited moment.

Just as Azel finally opened his mouth—

“Azel Viots!”

“…!”

Of all times, an uninvited guest appeared.

“What kind of scheme are you plotting this time?!”

It was a thoroughly unwelcome interruption.

“Azel Viots!”

From the moment Bellrod heard that chaos had erupted in the central plaza, he had anticipated this scene.

Smashed vendor stalls, scattered goods, even broken trees.

For something Azel Viots had caused, the damage wasn’t too severe—likely because Bellrod had arrived quickly.

Azel Viots.

The enemy he loathed beyond measure.

The mysterious man who threatened his beloved Yulia and obstructed him at every turn.

As Bellrod glared at Azel Viots, barely restraining his rage, something odd caught the edge of his vision.

A strange woman with pink hair was staring at him with unsettling intensity.

Who is she?

She was a rare beauty, with eyes like a lake brimming with tears and cheeks flushed red.

At first, he assumed she was crying out of fear after being caught up in Azel Viots’s violence.

But the moment their eyes met, Bellrod realized he was wrong.

No… why…?

A woman he had never seen before was glaring at him as if he were her sworn enemy.

It made no sense at all.

That bastard—was he messing with me?! If only you’d arrived a little later!

Just when everything was about to work out, he had to show up at this exact moment.

Bellrod Christian.

A devout and ascetic holy knight with platinum-blond hair and pale blue eyes.

Among the five male leads of this otome game—excluding Azel—he was practically the canonical endgame.

And he was my favorite, too.

Outwardly polite and refined, but secretly proud and fiercely jealous—that contrast was his charm.

Well, to be honest, what I liked most was his face.

But that was when my life wasn’t at stake. Right now, Bellrod’s appearance was anything but welcome.

With the arrival of such a major male lead, Azel’s attention naturally shifted to him.

Just as Azel was about to finally open his mouth, his focus was completely stolen—and I had every right to be furious.

You useless jerk! Bellrod, you idiot! I didn’t even like you that much when I played the game! Boo—!

If that pretty face wasn’t going to save my life, he deserved to be demoted from favorite to bottom tier.

Leaving the wronged-looking Bellrod behind, I quickly changed my expression and turned back to Azel—but he wasn’t looking at me anymore.

Die, Bellrod.

While I hurled childish insults in my head, the conversation between Azel and Bellrod continued.

“Bellrod Christian. You’re late.”

“Why have you appeared here all of a sudden? What are you plotting this time?”

“At last, the time has come.”

“The time for what?”

“To end this cursed fate.”

As their grave exchange continued, the pressure radiating from Azel intensified.

It felt wrong.

The ominous aura surrounding him made it seem as though he were something that didn’t belong to this reality.

“A curse?”

Bellrod seemed to sense it too, his expression stiffening.

But I was the only one who understood what Azel’s words truly meant.

Bellrod didn’t even know Azel was a regressor—let alone that this world was on the brink of destruction.

“A curse? What do you mean by that?”

Bellrod asked again, but there was no chance Azel would answer.

Instead, a dark crimson haze began to writhe around him.

He was awakening the power that would destroy the world.

We’re screwed.

No sooner had I formed that thought than figures cloaked in black robes began appearing one by one.

Azel’s subordinates.

“What in the world—!”

“Do not interfere with His will.”

At that signal, they all charged at Bellrod at once.

They were trying to stop him from interfering with Azel’s awakening.

“You’re the ones interfering!”

In an instant, chaos erupted into a full-blown battle.

Meanwhile, utterly sidelined by the situation, I pondered something seriously.

I really want to run away.

I genuinely didn’t want to get involved in that mess.

But I can’t, can I…?

With resentful eyes, I cursed the world and turned my head back toward Azel—just in time to meet his crimson gaze.

At least he hadn’t completely forgotten about me.

Still, for some reason, his expression looked even more irritated than before.

This damn life.

My motivation was already crumbling, but now was the moment I had to step forward.

Bellrod can’t stop Azel’s awakening. And even if Azel fully awakens, Bellrod can’t defeat him. No matter who showed up here, it would be the same.

In the tense standoff, I finally staggered to my feet.

At least Azel’s subordinates aren’t paying attention to me. Probably because they know I pose no threat to him at all.

It was such an obvious truth that it didn’t even hurt my pride.

But there was one thing they didn’t know.

I was the variable they hadn’t accounted for.

“Stop it, Azel.”

Deliberately wiping away my tears, I took a step toward him.

Despite my unsteady body, my firm voice rang out, drawing everyone’s attention.

But their gazes didn’t matter.

In the end, this story would be decided by Azel alone.

Fixing my eyes solely on him, I spoke with resolve.

“That’s enough now.”

Azel’s awakening was not yet complete.

Which meant there was still time—for the variable to move.