The Return of Lilietta - Chapter 94

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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 94

…Lillieta?

Who was that again.

In his confused mind, a brilliant scene flashes for an instant.

Blue sky. A river where white petals flutter. Golden hair swaying like sunlight. Violet eyes like dawn, or perhaps like twilight.

A woman holding a silver revolver, smiling familiarly with an unfamiliar face.

It’s been a while.

That was Lillieta. That was Rita Pascal. The real her.

Then, what had just shattered in that nightmare was…

“It’s okay.”

Lillieta extended her hand defensively. The hand approaching him without any power or technique was her left hand.

Left hand.

“Then from now on, let’s decide differently between us.”

The first thing she had given him as a gift.

“Between us, the left hand means something good, and the right hand means something bad.”

The starting point between him and her.

The seed of emotion.

The beginning of something deep-rooted that had grown endlessly since then, binding him and never letting go, something he could never shake off no matter how much he denied it and tried to escape, something he eventually had no choice but to acknowledge as part of himself.

What he had confirmed with ‘her’ every time he repeated his failures.

“Left-handed people look disgusting and strange. The left hand is an ominous hand, and left means something bad. Isn’t that right?”

“Then just keep using your right hand. You were good with your right hand too, weren’t you?”

Days when he lingered around that girl, unable to abandon his attachment even after realizing from that answer alone that she wasn’t her, that despite having the same face she was different, that once again she was ‘absent’.

Days when he only continued to realize that she was indeed different, hoping, being disappointed, hoping, despairing, hoping, getting angry, thinking ‘this time for sure’, thinking ‘maybe’, repeatedly clinging to such foolish expectations, such foolish memories of failure.

Days when he suspected that his reason for searching for her had become distorted and collapsed, no longer any emotion but merely obsession or stubbornness. Days when he was gradually falling apart.

The left hand that came to him, shattering all of that at once. The one and only correct answer he had searched for so desperately.

“It’s good news, Gid.”

The left hand touching his cheek.

“I’m alive here.”

Ah.

This really was good news.

Really.

Really…

“This is the real me. Rita Pascal, and Lillieta.”

If you’re alive, if you just exist here alive.

“Look properly, Gid.”

Whatever form you take, whatever name you have.

“I’m here, safe and sound.”

As long as you’re alive.

Even if the relationship between you and me, who were closer than anyone, even if we who knew everything about each other, have drifted apart through an unbridgeable gap of vast time.

Even if feelings you could never understand have grown grotesquely, twisted and rotted from soaking in failure and nightmares, making it impossible for me to face you truthfully and completely as before.

“So it’s okay.”

Yes, everything is okay.

He breathed while listening to her heartbeat. He embraced her obsessively.

‘Rita. Lillieta.’

He repeated the name. Her real name that he had only now learned.

He suppressed the maddening impulse to possess her even if it meant crushing and destroying her, to somehow get her in his grasp and confine her in his arms so he would never lose her again.

Because this wasn’t the him that she knew.

Because this wasn’t the self he wanted to be.

It’s okay.

He could endure anything…

Suddenly, the nightmare ended.

His blurry vision became clear and reason returned to his confused mind.

Gideon looked up in surprise. He saw Lillieta smiling with blood on her face.

“Are you coming to your senses now?”

He recalled what had just happened to him, what had driven him mad, and what he had almost done because of it.

Chills ran from the top of his head to the tips of his toes.

If anything had gone even slightly wrong, if he had been even a little late in recognizing Lillieta, if he had used power beyond the limits of ‘Gid Pascal’, he might have lost her. He might have harmed her with his own hands.

Realizing this, immeasurable fear struck his entire body like a tsunami.

Gideon pushed Lillieta away and covered his mouth.

“Gid?”

Something surged up from within. His body, unable to overcome the extreme fear, broke down and reversed. He tried to suppress and swallow it, but inevitably some leaked out.

“Gid, why…”

Rita, who had been looking up at him in confusion, lost her words. Dark red blood flowed between the fingers of his hand covering his mouth as he turned deathly pale.

“What, what is it, why are you like this? Are you hurt somewhere? Is it internal injury?”

“…It’s okay.”

Gid swallowed the metallic-tasting mass and waved his hand at her. Then he turned around.

He could see the main body of the Doppelganger, still alive and writhing while engulfed in flames. He swung his hand as if venting his anger.

The shape of something black and massive flickered briefly, then the mass of slime was crushed as if trampled.

Graaah.

The Doppelganger, already boiling and unable to withstand any more shock, let out a death cry. Soon after, its movement stopped completely.

Then he lifted Rita with one arm and stood up.

“Gid?”

“The fire is getting bigger. Let’s get out first.”

“Wait, we have to take those people too!”

Rita tapped the shoulder of him who was about to stride out. Gid looked in the direction she was pointing. Two Special Agents. One of them was the red-haired one who had attacked her earlier.

He wanted to kill him. He wanted to tear him to pieces and put him on display. He wanted to show everyone what happens to those who dare bare their teeth at her.

He playfully packaged his surging murderous intent.

“Hmm, wouldn’t it be okay if we just left them behind?”

“Don’t joke around in a situation like this!”

“But Rita, that bastard tried to attack you without thinking. I really almost had a heart attack.”

“Gid, do you think I’d be taken down by a rookie like that? Don’t you trust me?”

“No, that’s not it, but…”

“Then why the hell were your eyes open like that! You scared me!”

“I’m really sorry about that. It was a mistake.”

Gid sighed and reluctantly grabbed the collars of the unconscious Special Agents. He dropped them carelessly onto Is’s deer summons that were hesitating nearby, and the deer quickly escaped from the greenhouse.

He headed outside the greenhouse following the deer, still carrying Rita.

Rita looked over his shoulder at the greenhouse they had escaped from being consumed by flames.

With the struggling Doppelganger completely dead, the flames spread without restraint. Slime boiled up, burning vines turned black, glass shattered, and ash and smoke soared.

The distorted shape of vines in the violently surging flames looked like shadows writhing in pain.

That sight reminded her of something. Something she had just seen.

She tapped Gid’s shoulder. He looked back at her. The burning flames reflected and rippled in his yellow eyes.

“Gid.”

“Yeah?”

She asked in a whisper.

“You’re hiding something from me, aren’t you?”

“…What?”

“Was my death that much of a shock to you? Or did something else happen after that?”

“You call that a question? Whether it was that much of a shock, damn it…”

“No, I mean, that’s not what I meant, so…”

As Gid ground his teeth, Rita quickly shook her head and continued.

“It’s just, you seemed to be in so much pain just now…”

“…”

“Why did you cough up blood? You don’t seem injured anywhere.”

“…”

“If you have something troubling you or something you’re worried about, tell me. Don’t suffer alone like an idiot.”

Gid couldn’t help but smile.

How could I tell you that the problem is I’m rotting away because I contain you, Rita. How could I tell you that I want to devour you and trap you inside me. What if you end up despising me or avoiding me.

He answered smoothly with that same smiling face.

“It’s a bit embarrassing, so. I’ll tell you later.”

“Later when?”

“When I become a little more shameless?”

Rita looked exasperated, but couldn’t press further. Gid frowned as he grabbed her left hand and changed the subject.

“More importantly, why is your hand in this state?”

“I got hurt because of you.”

“Because of me?”

“Earlier when you weren’t in your right mind, I got scratched by your Oaths.”

“…Damn it.”

“Are you both okay?”

Isaiah, who had approached them at some point, asked worriedly. Rita pushed Gid away and got down to the ground as she answered.

“We’re fine. More importantly, senior, it looks like the fire in the Greenhouse might spread elsewhere.”

“Hmm, the Doppelganger is definitely dead, right?”

Gid, who had been staring intently at Rita, turned to look at Is and nodded.

“I confirmed its breathing had stopped before coming out.”

“Then we need to clean up.”

Is snapped his fingers. Blue eagles came flying in a line from somewhere, clutching large glass bottles in their talons.

“It’s an alchemical fire extinguishing agent. Since it’s a fire started with oil, we need to use the medicine.”

He added the explanation with a bitter smile.

“Good work, juniors. I’ll handle the cleanup, so you two rest.”

Finally, the situation was over.

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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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