I’m Hunting My Enemy - Chapter 76
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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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76. Crown Prince (5)
Agasa drew in a breath.
Finally, she understood.
Ryuie, who had already been suspicious of Glem, was willing to turn a blind eye as long as there was no evidence.
As long as Glem remained Glem.
Just as Agasa had criticized, Glem could have remained Glem forever and continued to enjoy Ryuie’s love.
But because of Agasa herself, that boundary had crumbled.
Making her certain that Glem was Yosua, while simultaneously ensuring evidence of his deception was secured.
Realizations burst forth one after another.
‘She called the nobles to the swamp to confirm whether the Crown Prince, whose appearance had changed, would try to contact them in his original status!’
Ryuie hadn’t specifically suspected Glem from the beginning.
She simply believed that the Crown Prince, needing allies, would ask for help when he saw nobles.
They had power, money, and were cooperative with the Imperial Court.
That’s also why she had suspected Benito, who had befriended the nobles early on.
Power only responds to power.
She probably never expected the Crown Prince to refuse the nobles’ help until the very end.
If it hadn’t been for Agasa, who truly loved Ryuie, Glem would never have approached the Saintess as the Crown Prince.
‘My goodness.’
Agasa felt suffocated by the rapidly rising guilt.
If only she hadn’t been there.
Ryuie could have continued to think of Glem and Yosua as separate entities.
‘To think everything was exposed because of just that!’
Yet Glem never blamed her at all.
“…It’s my fault.”
At Glem’s words, Ryuie nodded dryly.
And holding the sword, she tried to go back down the stairs.
“Ahhh! You mustn’t!”
“Miss, please! Put down that sword!”
“If I return to Yosua’s body and meet you, the marriage vow will be fulfilled immediately.”
Glem stopped Ryuie’s steps more effectively than all the other subordinates’ words.
“But if you marry me, you’ll immediately lose all freedom and become my puppet.”
“What?”
“Your Highness, is that true?”
“It’s a vow guaranteed by Rkultu God.”
At Glem’s words, Ryuie exploded again.
“What’s so important about that that you left me! You should have told me from the beginning!”
“I couldn’t do that.”
“Why on earth?!”
“Because Ryuie, what you gain in return is the power of immortality.”
Agasa, pale as a sheet, spoke with all the blood drained from her face. She wanted to defend Yosua with all her heart.
“…What did you say?”
“Since you love Yosua, how could he not think that you wouldn’t want an eternally happy ending?”
Ryuie finally lost her words and stood there dumbfounded.
“…So what are you saying?”
After a long silence, Ryuie burst into hollow laughter. She couldn’t help but laugh.
“You tore apart my love for the sake of my freedom?”
“I wasn’t doubting you.”
Glem felt a little resentful that his chest still couldn’t produce a loud voice.
“I didn’t even want you to know. It might be childish, but… I wanted to return proudly with the best thing I could give you then.”
Ryuie lifted her chin toward the broken ceiling and exhaled several times.
“Right. You and I were only thirteen then.”
Fairy tales always ended with happy lovers living happily ever after.
Even if the vow had been made, Yosua would have treated Ryuie very well. With respect and love. As his most cherished doll.
A world decorated with tenderness.
Yosua had rejected that.
The sight of Ryuie standing with Yosua’s body on the stairs and Glem dragged down to the floor with the nobles formed a tragic contrast.
Glem wanted to somehow bridge that gap.
“When I met you again, I was happy.”
Everyone had stopped their commotion and was listening breathlessly to one person’s confession.
“You, who didn’t want to be constrained by anything… seemed like you would truly accept what I had been searching for all this time.”
Glem admitted with difficulty.
“I’m truly sorry for adding betrayal you didn’t need to feel by staying by your side out of my own greed.”
“Is that what you were worried about, Yosua?”
Glem’s chest rose and fell evenly. Having confessed everything, his wounds were almost healed too.
“As expected of the Crown Prince. Even engagement gifts can’t be ordinary things. You can’t be satisfied with normal ones. Ha…”
Ryuie’s voice was much calmer than before, so others expected that she had forgiven Yosua.
He left because of love, and returned because of love.
To think he had sacrificed everything to find freedom because of love – what story could be more touching than this?
Ryuie finally put down the sword and pressed her blood-stained palm under her eyes.
Her fingers swept downward, downward like falling tears, flowing along until they stopped at her red lips.
‘I remember a joke people used to make.’
Who would you love, who would you marry, and who would you kill?
A fun game of choosing between the worst and second-worst options.
If asked to choose among those at least possible for her, Ryuie could now answer without hesitation.
“I’ll marry a corpse.”
“…Ryuie!”
“The dead can’t give me orders forever.”
Between the bloodstained face, indistinguishable red eyes blazed.
“I’ll be grateful that you became Glem. I’ll marry the dead Yosua and kill you. Immortality? Good. That should be enough for alimony.”
“What?”
Glem shouted with disbelieving eyes.
The answer Ryuie gave was one no one had expected.
Looking at the stunned Glem, Ryuie burst into mad laughter.
“Ahaha! Hahaha! Look at that expression, that face! That’s what I needed!”
“Are you serious, Ryuie? It’s not just your freedom toward me that gets taken away. After marriage, if there’s no one to give orders, you… no one knows what will become of you!”
“Mmm~ I heard you.”
“That thing lying on that altar over there could be you!”
Glem shouted desperately.
The nobles were equally dumbfounded.
“Yeongae, are you really insane?”
“Marrying a corpse!”
“Why are you all like that. He’s still warm.”
Ryuie’s eyes flashed with madness as she clasped her hand over the lying Yosua’s hand. Bringing the unresisting wrist to her ear, Ryuie smiled enchantingly.
“It’s beating.”
“!”
A duller pain than when stabbed by the sword pressed down on Glem’s chest.
The choice he had feared most was taking clear shape before him.
Ryuie’s sense of betrayal would never be soothed even by his confession.
She would walk toward destruction.
The realization that his love had failed to change Ryuie even a little whipped Glem, who was already overwhelmed.
“…Ryuie!”
Anguish and frustration mixed together and erupted from Glem’s chest.
He staggered to his feet. It felt like the world was going dark. Shaking off the nobles who tried to hold him back, Glem stepped onto the stairs.
“Did you really not love me at all?”
“How dare you ask me such a question.”
The smile instantly vanished from Ryuie’s face.
“You! Of all people, you! How dare you ask me that!”
“Look at me, Ryuie!”
Glem’s voice began to rise as well.
“I love you! When I was Yosua, when I was Glem! I’ve always loved only you!”
“You can’t justify everything by saying it was for my sake!”
“I didn’t want to make you a slave!”
“Then why did you suspect me!”
“What?”
Ryuie bit her lips with a face that suddenly flushed with emotion. Dark red droplets formed on her bitten lips.
“You suspected that I might love you so much that I’d want to become your slave.”
Glem’s breath stopped.
This time, even though nothing had pierced him.
Glem, now frozen, looked up at Ryuie with disbelief.
Ryuie looked pained, only lacking tears.
“But you know what? You were right, Yosua. You weren’t wrong. I loved you that much.”
Glem, now rigid, still couldn’t move.
For a long time, he had suspected.
That Ryuie might truly give up all her freedom for love and become his woman alone.
Ryuie’s love had been that blind, and her revealed sincerity had been too hot to accept.
…Once upon a time, it had been so.
“Don’t worry anymore, Yosua. Now I regret that love.”
Ryuie, who had declared she would no longer offer her freedom to him, revealed her white, fine teeth once again.
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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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