Hiding the Fact That We Are Dating From the Amnesiac Villain - Chapter 41
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 41
Before Freena could even process her confusion, the carriage door swung open.
“Miss Freena, we’ll have to walk from here.”
“…Walk?”
Hadn’t he just said we’d ride the carriage all the way into the Forbidden Zone?
The ground beneath my feet was utterly barren, devoid of any sign of life.
A desolate night wind twisted the gnarled branches into grotesque, writhing shapes.
“First, Miss Freena, would you like to put this on?”
As I descended from the carriage, Decklin Caesar handed me a robe.
‘Why this?’
There’s no one around here anyway.
“Security is tight. It’s best we hide the carriage here and slip in discreetly.”
Decklin Caesar, who had already pulled the robe over his head to conceal his face deeply, spoke in a hushed tone.
‘…That’s strange. The Boundary Line typically has no sentries.’
After all, the Priests stationed in the Morteba Territory’s Religious Order possessed holy power.
Even those with holy power would find it grueling to stand guard near the Boundary Line, where magi hung thick in the air—unless they were high-tier holy power users.
But high-tier users were premium personnel; they didn’t waste their efforts on desolate posts like this.
Likely, there were no guardians here under normal circumstances.
‘It must be because of Decklin Caesar.’
To prevent me from ever entering this place.
To make me plead with him, to bring him to his knees.
“Follow carefully behind me, Miss Freena. We must cross the Boundary Line without being detected.”
In the darkness, Decklin Caesar’s face—usually adorned with an easy smile—was stripped bare of all warmth.
As we advanced, Decklin Caesar scattered premium purification stones lavishly around the carriage to help the tethered horses endure the incoming magi.
With each step forward, the air grew heavier and stickier, as though we were sinking into a swamp.
Beyond the Boundary Line, the sky churned with an inky darkness, as if someone had scattered ink across it.
Dense concentrations of magi collided violently, releasing ominous, crackling sounds. Watching the spectacle, Decklin Caesar turned to look at me.
“Aren’t you frightened, Miss Freena?”
I am frightened.
Not of that land, but of you.
“I’m somewhat afraid, but the Knights are trapped in there, aren’t they? We have to go in.”
“Aren’t you curious why I sent the Knights into this place, Miss Freena? And without the Religious Order’s knowledge?”
…Should she even be hearing this?
In truth, having read the original work, I could hazard a guess at the reason.
“Since it’s something Your Excellency has done… surely there must be a valid reason?”
My honest thought was to demand why he’d committed such madness.
But this was the best answer I could manage.
“The Emperor commanded me to find an elixir of immortality.”
…Just as I’d suspected.
In the original work, Decklin Caesar searches for an elixir of immortality to present to the ailing Emperor, turning the entire Empire upside down in the process.
“According to His Majesty’s intelligence network, there exists an ancient temple buried with records concerning immortality,” Decklin Caesar said.
And those ominous ancient temples were all sealed deep within the Forbidden Zone, where the Religious Order controlled access.
“So I sent my Knights into certain death.”
“….”
I had nothing to say to that. Was he trying to tell me he felt guilty about it?
“What do you think, Freena? Is that a justifiable reason?”
Or was he seeking absolution? How selfish of him.
“…So, do you regret it, sir?”
“…Regret. I suppose.”
Yet in his crimson eyes, sunken in darkness, there was unmistakably a deep remorse.
‘Decklin regretting. In truth, that’s… laughable.’
The original story’s contents flashed through my mind, and my chest grew cold.
Decklin eventually finds the elixir of immortality and presents it to the Emperor.
Deeply moved, the Emperor grants the Imperial seal to Decklin’s mad schemes.
An experimental plan to create powerful sacred artifacts by grinding the life force of living people into them.
Those horrific bioexperimental facilities become legally established throughout the entire Empire.
…All of this catastrophe would unfold within merely five years.
‘As I thought… the day I fully trust Decklin Caesar will never come.’
I knew far too much.
Far too much indeed.
It was when we drew dangerously close to the Boundary Line.
“Hey, who are you bastards!”
We’d been discovered!
Though our faces were hidden beneath robes, I could see Decklin’s eyes darken.
“Do you have any idea whose territory this is, wandering in so carelessly! We have orders to arrest all suspicious characters like you! Reveal your identities at once!”
Decklin’s hand slowly rose toward his sword hilt.
“We can’t do this!”
I grabbed his arm desperately, my face turning pale.
“We came in secretly for a reason, sir. Think about it carefully.”
“Freena.”
“Let’s just run deeper inside instead. Once we’re far enough in, the magi concentration alone will let us lose them.”
As I clung to his arm, Decklin’s gaze briefly touched me before looking away.
“Seize them!”
With that shout, Decklin and I ran.
Into the Forbidden Zone.
‘Gasp! This is exhausting!’
But those pursuing us were also wielders of holy power. They refused to give up, doggedly chasing us deeper into the Forbidden Zone.
We had to go further to shake them off.
“Freena, forgive me for this.”
“Ah…!”
The world inverted around me as Decklin Caesar’s strong arms swept me up effortlessly.
Startled beyond measure, I reflexively clung to his broad shoulders with all my strength.
As Decklin Caesar sprinted at tremendous speed, my legs swung helplessly through the air.
CRASH—!
In that instant, a deafening roar erupted as if the very earth were being torn asunder before my eyes.
“It’s a Magi Storm!”
“Everyone, take evasive action!”
What? A Magi Storm?
Even the Knights who had been relentlessly pursuing Decklin Caesar and me turned ashen, scrambling desperately to flee.
“Your Excellency, we must also retreat—!”
I was about to cry out to Decklin Caesar in panic when it happened.
In the darkness, his eyes gleamed with an eerie, unsettling light as he faced the storm.
‘What?’
Why did my premonitions never fail me?
“Your Excellency? Decklin Caesar—!”
I called out his name desperately, but it was futile.
Decklin Caesar,
leaped directly toward the Magi Storm that tore through everything in its path.
“Those madmen! They’re charging into the Magi Storm?!”
Surely they weren’t entering the Magi Storm just to escape pursuit?
This was suicide. Absolute madness!
“Decklin Caesar, stop!”
I struck his solid shoulders desperately.
My pink hair whipped violently in the savage winds.
“Stop! If we’re caught in the storm, we’ll die!”
The earth seemed to roar like a beast.
A deafening sound that consumed everything tore cruelly at my eardrums.
“It will be fine, Freena. Everything will be alright.”
“It won’t be fine! It won’t! No, Decklin Caesar! Please!”
Listen to me, you madman!
I screamed, nearly losing my mind entirely.
I truly felt as though I were going insane.
YANK.
Desperate to stop Decklin Caesar somehow, I instinctively seized a handful of his neat hair and pulled.
“Ah.”
His head jerked back momentarily, but Decklin Caesar did not stop—he continued running.
‘This can’t be happening….’
Was this how I would die?
But this… it’s different from the future I saw….
“That hurts, Freena.”
I was truly heartbroken.
Enough to clutch Decklin Caesar’s hair and sob.
I didn’t want to die like this….
Through my blurring vision, soil and shattered branches torn apart by the storm swirled chaotically around me.
A few strands of Decklin Caesar’s black hair slipped helplessly through my fingers as well.
“It’s fine, Freena. I’m here with you.”
“That’s exactly the problem, you madman….”
Boom!
Both our bodies were completely consumed by the dark Magi Storm.
This is insane….
I lost consciousness.
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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