The Obsessive Maniac Is Trying To Confine Me - Chapter 148
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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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Episode 148
I couldn’t take my eyes off the woman.
Was this what she meant when she said she would appear again, that she would return?
I reflexively looked at Dillen. I don’t know why I looked at him of all people.
He too was staring blankly at the woman, just like the other nobles.
‘No.’
I don’t know why I had such a thought.
“Rose Herthas? I think I’ve heard that name…”
“Isn’t that the young lady who went missing five years ago?”
“Yes. That’s right. But why…”
People harbored doubts, but soon their eyes changed.
The face of Rose looking at them now, the face of the woman bathed in sunlight streaming through the broken wall, was truly the embodiment of a savior.
“Look over there! The demon worshippers are fleeing!”
Ridiculously, as soon as the woman appeared, the demon worshippers took to their heels. As if it had been planned from the beginning.
The nobles who had been suffering terribly just moments before mocked the fleeing enemies as the tide turned.
At the same time.
“The Savior has rescued us!”
They praised Rose.
Then Dillen looked back at me with wavering eyes. As if demanding an explanation from me.
“Dillen…”
Instead of responding to my call, he turned his back on me.
Without looking at me even once, he approached the savior—no, Rose.
“Rose?”
“It’s been a long time, Dillen.”
I don’t understand why such a situation is unfolding.
“…Are you really Rose?”
“Then if I’m not Rose, who would I be?”
The woman embraced Dillen very naturally, as if she were familiar with him.
The nobles cheered at the reunion of family members who had been separated for so long.
Fake.
It seemed like such mockery was directed at me.
I stood there blankly, watching the scene.
* * *
Rihardt was equally bewildered by the current situation.
Though he didn’t show it on his face, he was dumbfounded. At the same time, it was somewhat amusing.
A woman with the exact same face as Roji. He had already met her once in the North.
“That woman is the Savior?”
“Rose Herthas, who had disappeared…”
“Could it be that she came to save us…!”
The sight of the nobles making their own assumptions, being moved, and uttering praise was also amusing.
【I’m going to take away all of that child’s place. Without leaving a single trace.】
Rihardt remembered his last conversation with the woman.
Was that what she meant back then?
While everyone couldn’t take their eyes off the savior, he turned his head to look at Roji.
Even Roji was completely distracted by the savior, unaware that he was watching her.
‘Rose Herthas.’
He had harbored doubts about Roji’s identity, though he hadn’t asked about it.
He had even thought that she might be ‘Rose Herthas.’
Seeing what the woman with the same face was claiming now, it seemed his prediction was correct.
‘Ah, she ran away.’
Perhaps the current situation was too difficult for Roji, as she couldn’t bear to look at the savior anymore and turned away.
* * *
Unable to bear the suffocating sensation, I escaped as if fleeing.
I crouched under an arch where people wouldn’t notice me and watched the unfolding situation.
The injured and dead were cleared away, and the collapsed building was sealed off.
Questions haven’t stopped since the moment I first met that woman.
Who is that woman exactly? Is she really Rose?
If she’s the real Rose, then who am I? How can there be two of us?
Surely one of us must be fake…
“Roji.”
“…”
“Or should I call you Rose now?”
I turned around, pressing my throbbing head.
The silver hair that had been swept to one side when the event was just beginning was now naturally flowing down, disheveled from the fight.
Even in this situation, his appearance was captivating—truly a man with unparalleled looks.
His blue eyes curved.
“Rose.”
“…Did you come here to mock me?”
“Why would I mock you?”
A surge of emotion welled up.
“You don’t know why you’re asking?”
I felt like grabbing him by the collar, but instead I clenched my fists and glared at him.
“You said you’d let me meet the Savior? Then you knew all along.”
“…”
“And yet you pretended not to know anything—was that fun for you?”
“Rose.”
“Stop using that ridiculous title.”
I had been deceived.
If he knew the Savior was someone with the same face as me, he could have at least given me a hint.
But why…
“The promise is still valid.”
“Promise?”
“The promise that if you come to me, I’ll let you meet the Savior.”
“Ha.”
I let out a bitter laugh.
“What meaning does that promise have? The Savior is already right before my eyes.”
The Savior is close enough that I could run over and grab her right now.
“What use is your help now? You help when she’s within arm’s reach, and then act like you’ve accomplished something great?”
“…”
“How ridiculous. You knew the Savior’s face but didn’t tell me. How am I supposed to trust you now?”
“I didn’t know either.”
“You didn’t know? What?”
“That a woman with the exact same face as you would suddenly appear today claiming to be the Savior.”
“Lies. You’re the one who said you’d let me meet the Benefactor! How can you not know that?”
“The Benefactor I know didn’t have a face like that.”
What? What on earth is he talking about.
His words make absolutely no sense to me.
“What if that woman isn’t the Benefactor?”
Not the Benefactor?
Rihardt bent one knee and sat down to meet my eyes.
“You’re saying she’s fake? What do you mean?”
“Hmm. Where should I start explaining. Ah, right. First I should explain from the moment I first saw that woman.”
After thinking for a moment, Rihardt said something unexpected.
As his story continued, I couldn’t hide my shock.
“…So you’re saying you already saw that woman once in the North?”
Rihardt nodded obediently.
“Why are you only telling me this now?”
“When I didn’t even know what her identity was, would you have believed me if I told you this fact? You would have treated me like a crazy person.”
“Sorry, but you’re already a crazy person to me.”
Though I snapped back like this, part of me agreed with his words.
If I hadn’t seen that woman in the North myself, I wouldn’t have believed Rihardt’s words.
“Then you’re saying that woman is a fake pretending to be the Benefactor and the real Benefactor is someone else?”
“That’s right.”
I looked at the Benefactor receiving praise from the nobles in the distance.
Beside that Benefactor was the 2nd Princess, Evangelin.
A princess closely connected to the fake Benefactor in some relationship.
It could be dangerous if handled wrong.
However.
“I need to meet that woman before meeting the Benefactor.”
It doesn’t matter whether the woman is the Benefactor or not.
She’s someone I’ll have to confront eventually anyway.
I need to find out what she’s thinking and what she knows.
“Help me. Please.”
* * *
The event that started in the afternoon continued into the night.
We had wasted quite a bit of time with the commotion, and before we knew it, it had grown dark and the sun was setting.
‘Even in this state, the event continues…’
It was chaos just a moment ago, but the Benefactor’s appearance seems to have lifted their spirits.
The nobles raised their glasses toward the Benefactor, showing no signs of fatigue.
I pretended to be a guest attending the banquet and mixed among the nobles, watching the actions of the woman pretending to be the Benefactor.
Dillen followed beside Rose.
Strangely, seeing that sight left a bitter taste in my mouth.
Soon Rihardt approached her side.
The nobles watched with puzzled eyes as Rihardt approached Rose.
After whatever conversation they had, Rose smiled toward everyone as if asking for their understanding and left her spot.
Dillen moved his feet as if to follow, but was soon stopped by Rose.
‘Success.’
As planned, Rihardt had secured a private moment with Rose.
The man and woman who had been under the brilliant chandelier disappeared into the dark corridor.
I hurriedly followed after them.
“Excuse me, just passing through.”
It was when I had barely stepped into the dark corridor after passing through the nobles filling the banquet hall.
Suddenly a large hand grabbed my wrist and pulled me deeper into the corridor.
“Wait…!”
The corridor was too dark to make out faces.
The man roughly grabbed me and dragged me somewhere.
“Let go!”
I tried to shake off his hand, but the more I did, the more my caught wrist just hurt.
“What are you! Why are you doing this!”
I struggled desperately to break free from the man, but it was useless. At that moment, moonlight streamed through a window gap, illuminating the man’s face.
The strength left my hands.
Dark brown hair tinted by moonlight, handsome features.
And…
Red eyes that made me unable to move.
The brilliantly glowing red eyes were unusually red, spreading like madness, making my head feel numb.
“…Dillen.”
As if responding to my call, the corners of his mouth twisted.
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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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