Regina Lena – To the Unforgiven - Chapter 42

The world around Rena changed the moment she recited the last verse.

 

The sound stopped and even the flow of air stopped. All senses were dulled, so she was no longer afraid or sad.

 

Her heart was calm, as if her cries until just now were lies.

 

‘Am I dead…?’

 

The moment Rena thought blankly, several scenes came to mind in front of her eyes where she could not see anything.

 

It was the memories of her past that Rena had seen and experienced.

 

‘This is a flashback…’

 

Rena looked at the memories unfolding, recalling what she saw as if reading a book.

 

The moments when Rena felt various emotions quickly passed. Her favorite nanny, the big dog in the yard that was so scary, when she fell and felt embarrassed, and feeling proud of her father’s praise as if flying in the sky.

 

Every moment arose like the wind and brushed past Rena. Rena’s, who faced it head-on, heart fluctuated once.

 

But that was all for her. She just thought it was like reading a book that wasn’t that interesting.

 

Rena Ruber’s life, as seen from a distance, was very poor. She always worked hard on something, but she never did anything she liked. Rather, she did it mostly in the hope that someone would like it.

 

Rena Ruber lived like that. She lived such a short and foolish life.

 

Ah, if she knew this would happen.

 

‘I should’ve read as many books as I can.’

 

What she liked the most was reading books. In fact, she couldn’t do much about it because she was self-conscious.

 

It is useless for a girl to be smart, and it is better to sharpen and refine her dance or performance skills than reading a book. This was stated in a secretly hidden book she read in the light of the moon.

 

‘There were a lot of things I wanted to read.’

 

But it’s too late to think about this now. It’s already over.

 

Rena Ruber’s shabby life ended with her father selling it.

 

Rena accepted it and waited lonely for death.

 

She waited.

 

And waited again.

 

‘…Why am I not dying?’

 

But no matter how long she waited, it didn’t end.

 

She imagined the feeling of her neck sent flying or the pain of her limbs falling off, but nothing happened.

 

“Am I already dead?”‘

 

It was such a plausible hypothesis.

 

Rena gently opened her eyes, doubting whether she was alive or not.

 

‘Hiiyy!’

 

Then she closed her eyes again immediately.

 

There were still the dead right in front of her in their demonic shape. Rena freaked out and closed her eyes, and thought something was wrong.

 

‘Why are they staying still?’

 

They were acting like they were going to cut her to pieces at the moment.

 

Rena, who had been hesitant, took courage again and opened her eyes.

 

‘It’s creepy…’

 

Rena frowned as she looked at the dead. Looking at it again, they looked hideous. But since they did not move, she could endure it just fine.

 

Rena stared at the dead, who had stopped moving like stone statues, and realized that their claws and tentacles were still winding around her limbs. In addition, a large toenail like a sickle was hung on her neck.

 

She didn’t know what happened, but the dead stopped, and Rena seemed to be still alive.

 

The moment she saw it, she knew she had to run away.

 

So Rena first lifted one of her legs to shake off the snake that was wrapped around her ankle.

 

‘Uwaa!’

 

At that moment, the dead, who had been frozen like still life, flinched again, tightened around Rena’s body, and suppressed her limbs.

 

Rena froze in surprise at the re-applied force. Then the wriggling dead stopped again.

 

‘What?’

 

Rena looked at the dead who stopped like a painting again, and moved her arm with hope. Then the dead began to wriggle again, and when Rena stopped, they stopped again.

 

‘What’s going on?’

 

Rena moved slightly in a confused mood and repeatedly stopped. Each time, the dead moved and stopped together with her. Rena eventually reached a conclusion.

 

The dead moved only when Rena moved, and stopped when Rena stopped. She didn’t know why it happened, but it did anyway.

 

But that didn’t mean she could control it. All she could do was hold her breath and watch the stopped dead. She could not control the will of those who tried to tear her apart.

 

‘What is this…’

 

Rena realized her situation and cried inside.

 

The situation did not change. It had only stopped for a moment.

 

So Rena had to make a decision. Will she remain immobile as it is, or will she move and face a terrible death as scheduled?

 

‘Why am I only given these options…?’

 

Rena got upset.

 

Normally, she would say, ‘No, let’s not think like this,’ or, she would have comforted herself by saying, ‘I’m fine!’ but when it came to this point, she felt it was unfair that all the situations could not be endured.

 

She wondered what she did so wrong. She was sick and tired of looking around anymore.

 

There’s no one who’d take care of her just because she’s conscious, so why bother?

 

With that in mind, Rena tried to shake off the things that wrapped around her arms and legs with desperation.

 

It was then.

 

— Stop.

 

An overwhelming voice pierced through Rena.

 

— Don’t move.

 

An unfamiliar voice… No. An unfamiliar will resounded in her head, not in her ears.

 

— Don’t move. Focus on me.

 

The order was so full of dignity.

 

If it was the normal Rena, she would have fallen down on her own under the influence.

 

But the situation is a little different now.

 

It was the moment when she looked back on her life right after she had been shattered, broken, and completely crumbled.

 

Usually, it’s a situation to give up, but Rena, who had always given up, was rather on fire.

 

So instead of being more surprised by the unknown situation that happened one after another, she bit her lip, and when the order was given again, she suddenly exploded.

 

— From now on, you…

 

“No.”

 

— What?

 

“I don’t want to.”

 

Ah, has she ever said she doesn’t want to do something? No, never. This was the first time.

 

Rena, who clenched her teeth and muttered, even felt a strange pleasure at the unfamiliar pronunciation.

 

So Rena shouted with all her might that she didn’t want to.

 

“No, no, no!”

 

— Don’t move…!

 

“Don’t give me orders, you bastard!”

 

 

Harsh words that could not have reached the lips of a cultured woman resounded.

 

Rena Ruber, her first rebellion in her life.

 

It was the worst rebellion as she chose in a situation where she didn’t know when her neck would fly, and the best rebellion she chose after a complete reflection of her life.

 

And it was also a rebellion with a very long lifespan compared to other stormy roads that are still in progress.

 

.

.

.

 

After the first explosion that day, rebellion became an important key to Rena’s life.

 

For example, when gangsters threatened innocent girls, when a high-status master poured champagne on her face, or when the knights committed mutiny for reasons that were not even funny, Rena did not hold back.

 

She had already endured everything she had to endure for the rest of her life in her childhood, therefore she did not intend to do so in the future.

 

However, the reason why Rena did not become ferocious like a lion or stand thorns like a hedgehog was also because she memorized poems.

 

Rena did not turn a blind eye to the poems she loved when she was vulnerable even after becoming stronger.

 

The poem, which Rena hung on at the last minute and protected her from fear, was not only friendly but also tough.

 

Rena, who had already approached death once, realized how shabby her life was, and wanted to spend the rest of her life living like that poem.

 

That’s why.

 

The reason why Rena grabbed Clavis’ hair and didn’t pound his face on the table right now and the reason why she smiled at his nonsense was because she remembered a poem in her mind.

 

However, this person in front of her was laughing slyly without knowing it, so Rena found it ridiculous.

 

“I’ve shown you this much, do you mean you need more confirmation?”

 

At Rena’s cold gaze, Clavis took a step back.

 

“That’s right, it’s rude to doubt Sir Rena anymore. I wonder how you came back, but I can listen to it slowly.”

 

“Who are you going to listen to slowly from?”

 

“Of course it’s our cold and cute Sir Rena… Alright, calm down.”

 

As Clavis’ puns were about to get longer, Rena’s gaze grew colder.

 

When Clavis realized that the boiling point had been reached, he finally brought up the subject.

 

“Now that I have confirmed the scene has been completed well, I will make a formal request. Kill the emperor.”

 

But his voice was so calm and monotonous that Rena didn’t understand the last words properly.

 

“What did you just say?”

 

“I asked you to kill the emperor.”

 

Clavis once again said calmly. Since he had already revealed that he was the culprit who tried to kill the emperor once, it wasn’t very awkward to ask her to kill the emperor.

 

What made Rena startled was rather a different part.

 

“You seem to be a little mistaken, but you’re not in a position to ask me for anything.”

 

Rena responded to Clavis’ blatant request as if it were ridiculous.

 

“Just because I give my father a chance doesn’t mean you have a chance either. I’m leaving you alone because I don’t feel the need to deal with you, but that doesn’t mean you can request anything.”

 

The request wasn’t a normal request either, but to kill a person.

 

Clavis tilted his head as Rena showed her refusal. Then he asked as if he didn’t believe it.

 

“Don’t you have any experience?”

 

Somehow, Rena asked back because of the strange nuance.

 

“If I am prepared to kill, who do you think will be the first?”

 

“I don’t know who it is, but I’m jealous. To be able to be Rena’s first.”

 

Crazy guy. The harsh words came up to the root of Rena’s tongue.

 

“Are you cursing with your eyes now?”

 

Clavis, who read the sign, giggled.

 

Then he changed his mind and calmly spoke again.

 

“I guess you think I’m crazy, but you misunderstood something. Hmm… Since you don’t believe me, I’ll tell you how reasonable my request is now. First, it is a disaster for Nihil to act as an emperor. For the continent, for the Empire, for the East, West, North, and South, and for the common people.”

 

“…Are you the kind of person who cares about that?”

 

“Well, it depends?”

 

At Clavis’ light reply, Rena stopped laughing. It’s absurd for a party organizer of the Imperial Palace to say something like this.

 

Clavis himself was well aware that it was not convincing, so he came up with a more serious rationale.

 

“Secondly, if Sir Rena doesn’t kill the Emperor, you will be killed by the Emperor, because sooner or later I will tell Nihil what happened with Ruber.”

 

Rena’s eyes widened at the threats, but Clavis’ attitude was still the same.

 

“Then Nihil will cleanly kill the people related to Sir Rena. I don’t know what will happen to the Southern Duke, but the maid you brought and the cute young Angie are definitely one of those people.”

 

“If you do something like that…”

 

“Mm-hmm, that’s the third thing. I won’t die anyway.”

 

When Rena was about to ask if Clavis was going to be okay, he intercepted her.

 

Then he said casually as if they were talking about trivial stuff.

 

“Because as a favorite of the Emperor, I’m quite different. I didn’t die even when I poisoned her, and even when the West was ruined, I still became a cardinal. Even if I break down the Empire, she won’t touch me.”

 

“…I envy you. You’re so loved by Her Majesty.”

 

“Mm-hmm, correct. Sir Rena doesn’t know how it feels to be loved, right?”

 

Rena’s molars engaged silently at Clavis’ provocation.

 

After accurately poking someone else’s sore spot, Clavis smiled cheekily.

 

Rena glared at him and asked, unable to understand.

 

“Then why are you trying to kill the Emperor?”

 

“Because the Emperor didn’t kill me.”

 

Clavis’ voice was light. However, the following explanation did not.

 

“I really want to die.”

 

Clavis said with a bright smile.

 

The smiling man’s face was still as beautiful as an angel, and the smile on his face was as sacred as that in the torch.

 

The man whispered with such a divine face.

 

“Even now, that’s all I can think of.”

 

 

The author’s words:

Clavis, age unknown. Distinct characteristic; wanting to die.