I Became the Keeper of a Suspicious Forest - Chapter 8

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 8

‘I cannot consider the young lady’s confession.’

“Why….”

‘The young lady is still too young.’

“I’m not young anymore….”

She kept denying his words as he stood before her, but Sionel just repeated the same thing over and over.

“Just how long am I supposed to be young…. Until when! Ugh!”

And reality greeted her.

Through the gaping ceiling, she could see clouds hiding the moon.

‘Night? When did I fall asleep?’

I ate the soup, gave it to Sionel, saw him lift the spoon… what happened after that?

And why am I here instead of Sionel who should be in the bed?

“Sionel?”

As she struggled to get up with her unusually heavy body, a cold sensation touched her right hand.

When she lifted the blanket, there were chains fastened around her wrist.

“Huh…?”

Unable to grasp the situation, she looked around and spotted an object on the desk.

It was a small key and an empty bottle.

The key was for the chains and the bottle was….

“Sleeping pills?”

Though it was empty, it was definitely one of the medical supplies from the bag Jerome had given her.

She remembered it because she had used it on Sionel when he couldn’t sleep due to pain.

Ponia, who had been pondering something, suddenly widened her eyes. Then she picked up the plate beside her.

“No way….”

When she stirred through the soup’s contents, she found white powder that hadn’t completely dissolved on the back of the spoon.

Only then could she understand the full story of what had happened to her.

She had been deceived by Sionel.

“I was had….”

Completely and perfectly.

* * *

Sionel walked along the dark forest path.

After spending the entire day with the woman, finding the location of the key to unlock the chains had been simple. He could see her excessively worrying about her pocket every time she looked at the chains.

Plus the carelessness of placing the bag containing the drugs right under the bed.

She was an assassin with terrible skills.

Still, her acting was quite convincing.

Her worried gaze and hurt expressions looked fairly genuine. The way she kept trying to talk to him and feed him food was disgusting.

Even so, he didn’t feel like killing her directly.

And then, he mocked his own weakness.

Even after being deceived like that, part of his heart still wanted to believe that acting.

Pretending to care, pretending to be warm. Even after seeing his uncle who had acted for decades to deceive him.

“….”

It had already been 2 hours since he wandered through the forest after sunset. Only the path continued, while the surrounding scenery around him remained the same.

The pain worsened and his steps gradually slowed. Since he hadn’t even touched any food, it was natural that his body’s recovery was slow.

As he concentrated all his nerves on the act of walking, he realized a bit late that other footsteps had been overlapping with his at some point.

When he stopped abruptly in place, the footsteps heard from behind also disappeared.

Instead, a sound was heard.

Grrrr….

A wolf perhaps.

“….”

No, something was different. It was closer to something else trying to imitate a wolf’s howl. A metallic sound like scraping bones mixed in at the end of the cry.

‘Actually, there are monsters living in this forest. If you go out in your current condition, you’ll only be putting your life in danger.’

Why was he remembering that woman’s words at a time like this?

Even though he thought her words were lies, her voice kept echoing in his head.

As if he had unconsciously believed her words a little.

Grrrrr…

His wandering thoughts had gone on too long. The beast watching him wouldn’t wait for him any longer.

Sionel began to run, and the beast also picked up speed and started following.

Even in the chaos, he chose to run through areas with many obstacles, but the excited beast crashed through all kinds of terrain features while pursuing him closely.

At this rate, he would be caught.

Just when the beast’s rough breathing could be heard right behind him, something caught his eye as he surveyed the forest terrain.

Kraaaang!

In sync with the beast’s roar, Sionel threw himself into the thicket.

When the thoroughly excited beast followed closely behind and opened its mouth, nothing entered its jaws.

Instead, a cliff with no foothold greeted the beast. The beast’s form disappeared without a sound.

“Ugh…”

The situation wasn’t much better for him either.

He had barely managed to grab onto a tree branch extending below the cliff, but he had no strength left to climb up.

‘Is this the end?’

The tree branch couldn’t support his weight either and began to bend, making precarious sounds.

Death was right before him, but he didn’t tremble.

He had already overcome countless brushes with death and had grown accustomed to them.

So wouldn’t it be alright to choose death directly at this point?

Rather, he didn’t want to continue living.

He could no longer remember why he had wanted to live, or what he had tried to do with his life.

He loosened his grip on the tree branch. His body briefly wandered in midair.

The moment passed so slowly it felt tedious. Anticipating his fall, Sionel closed his eyes.

Now, really…

“…”

But no matter how long he waited, he didn’t fall.

He felt a warmth, no, a burning heat in his hand.

When he opened his eyes, he saw disheveled red hair.

That brilliantly blazing red hair. The red-haired woman who seemed to have devoured the entire dark night forest was so dazzling.

He stared up in a daze.

“You…”

“Hold my hand tight!”

The woman from the cabin grabbed him with an expression that was urgent, almost desperate.

* * *

‘I really thought I wouldn’t be able to catch him!’

Ponia gripped his hand firmly and breathed heavily.

It really had been a close call. If she had been even a little later, Sionel would have fallen.

Pushing away the frightening thought, she noticed Sionel looking only at her with a surprised expression.

“See, I told you not to go out!”

You didn’t listen at all, so now we’re in this mess!

“How did you…”

“Did you think there was only one key?!”

It was a good thing she had hidden another key inside her skirt just in case, not just in her pocket, or she really would have been trapped until Jerome came.

“I’ll pull you up now! Hold on tight!”

But contrary to her words, there was no progress. Rather, her body was gradually being pulled by his weight. Holding on was the best she could do.

“Just let go.”

“…What did you say?”

“I said just let go. Even if I survive and return from here, I’ll just end up in a similar situation again.”

His cracked voice quietly pierced through Ponia.

“Even then, I’ll just be helplessly overpowered again.”

“….”

“You don’t need to act like that either. Oh, do you want to play hero before killing me? Then go ahead.”

“Why are you saying such things even in this situation! You don’t want to die!”

“I want to die.”

For the first time, his tone that had been nothing but sarcastic toward her in the cabin became calmly subdued.

“Everything I believed in has crumbled, so what reason is there to live?”

“….”

“Whether I die here now or escape this forest and die, it makes no real difference to me.”

As if proving his words were sincere, Sionel closed his eyes and relaxed his grip.

“….”

It was an attitude of quietly waiting for death.

That sight hurt her more than when he had screamed about killing her.

She hadn’t known. That he was thinking like this.

The Sionel she had seen in the novel was so bright and kind that he couldn’t recall his dark past, so she never imagined he would be this broken during this period.

‘No, I actually knew.’

Ever since reuniting with him, there had been no light visible in those highly saturated sky-blue eyes that Ponia had loved so much.

She had just turned away from it.

“So just let me go….”

“Stop talking nonsense!”

A thunderous shout echoed through the forest.

Startled by the sound, Sionel opened his eyes as Ponia began screaming at the top of her lungs.

“Just let you go?! No reason to live?! You’re crazy!”

“….”

“You asked me to help you!”

Ponia remembered the desperate voice asking for help from within the pile of dirt.

“Someone who wants to die was running away so desperately, hanging onto tree branches and holding on?!”

The reason Ponia could catch up quickly despite her late start was because of the traces he had left while fleeing.

“You did that because you want to live!”

All those traces had looked like pleas for rescue.

“If you don’t know your reason to live, find it now! If you don’t have strength, build it from now on! Then get revenge on the person who made you like this!”

He shouldn’t collapse in a place like this.

“If you’re going to die anyway, you can try something… You can fight back at least once….”

No matter how many betrayals he faced, no matter how many times he crossed the threshold of death, he would overcome all trials and become a duke.

In the end, it was Sionel who would win this fight.

Seeing him look at her in confusion, Ponia steeled her resolve.

Even without me, Sionel would surely rise again. He would reach his happy ending.

But if he can’t get up right now.

“Let’s make a deal!”

I’ll become that first stepping stone for him.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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