Chapter 177
[Attack that man and conceive a child.]
Upon hearing those words, Mary was horrified.
She had to doubt her ears about what she had just heard.
However, Sigrid's eyes were sincere.
How could Sigrid give her such an order?
Sigrid and she had shared love with the same man all their lives.
Arthur Gramalte.
To give such an order to her, who had loved the same husband and whispered sweet nothings to him, was absolutely intolerable.
[Sigrid, no matter how much, I-!]
[Mary.]
At that moment, Sigrid called out to Mary in a commanding tone.
When startled Mary looked at Sigrid, there wasn't a hint of emotion left in her eyes.
[Surely you don't think you're the same as you were before, do you?]
The words that deeply penetrated her heart dug into her emotions recklessly.
However, Sigrid had no intention of stopping her words.
[The former you surely deserved Arthur's love. I could even willingly permit it. But does the current you have such value?]
Mary's eyes trembled violently.
That she didn't have such value anymore was something Mary knew all too well.
[Si-Sigrid, still, I, I only have Arthur! Please, just this one command—can't it be withdrawn? I'll do anything else.]
[Ha.]
Sigrid looked at Mary with a dumbfounded expression.
Then she slowly brushed her hair aside and crossed her arms as she looked at Mary.
[Mary, there's nothing else you can do now.]
Even with the talent for assassination and the memories of regression, she was now at the point of needing to take supplementary exams for the midterm.
To anyone, she was now truly a human being without any value.
[But for someone like you, the only thing left to do is use a woman's weapon.]
Conceive a child.
If she succeeded in that, it would become a definitive weapon to bind Kraush.
[And this is something Arthur also agrees with. Arthur himself directly ordered that the Cursed One must be brought in.]
[A-Arthur? You're saying Arthur really gave me such a command? That, that can't be.]
[Are you still denying reality? This is also the last chance Arthur is giving to you, Mary.]
A faint smile of amusement appeared on Sigrid's face.
[Regardless of the means or methods, isn't that what Arthur is like? If we don't support Arthur's thoughts, who will?]
Mary, like a mute who'd swallowed honey, simply opened and closed her lips.
But there was nothing more she could say.
[Now, I have a gift prepared for you.]
Sigrid handed Mary a gift as she stood there blankly.
[It's an item called the Charm Scent. Just spreading it in the room will make that person feel immensely attracted to you.]
Mary, still dazed, accepted the item that Sigrid handed to her.
[If you spread this, the Cursed One will come to you and attack. At that moment, make sure.]
Sigrid's finger extended and lightly touched in front of Mary's stomach.
[Keep it in mind.]
With that, Sigrid stood up, leaving Mary behind.
Then, as always, she smiled brightly.
[Then I'll leave it in your hands. Mary Diana.]
Sigrid, who now only called her by her full name, left the room like that.
Hearing that command, it took a long time before Mary came to her senses.
Only when night fell did Mary, finally coming to her senses, leave her dormitory room as if possessed.
The final command.
Arthur's request.
A self who now had nowhere left to go.
The only thing she had left, a woman's weapon.
The Charm Scent.
After countless thoughts swirled in her mind, she eventually found herself at Kraush's room.
And now.
Behind her, the Charm Scent was spreading inside the room.
Kraush's nose twitched faintly.
He felt the sweet scent slowly filling the room teasing his nostrils.
'This.'
As soon as Kraush smelled the scent, he realized what Mary must have been thinking.
It was clear she had used the drug Darling had mentioned during his absence to fetch tea.
Kraush let out a sigh in disbelief.
He had suspected she would try something stupid.
But to think they would use Mary to commit such an act was beyond his imagination.
'How far have you fallen?'
The dignity that had once radiated from her spear was nowhere to be found.
The sight of Mary trying to seduce someone with something like this was truly pitiful beyond measure.
Creak—
Maybe that's why.
Of the two dials set to isolate Mary in the Black Hood's Excel, one—
[To 'isolate' Mary]
—began to crack.
"Mary."
When Kraush called her name, Mary's shoulders shook greatly.
As if she had already imagined what was about to happen, Mary's face turned bright red.
Her shame, embarrassment, and pride had all shattered, leaving not even a speck behind.
"Do you really think all the things that happened to you are your own fault?"
At the next words that followed.
Mary's head snapped up.
The man she detested.
To have to bear a child with a man she hated, Mary too was exposed to the Charm Scent.
Maybe that's why.
Kraush in her eyes didn't seem as repulsive as before.
"It's not... my fault?"
Mary cautiously responded to Kraush's question.
After the series of events, Mary's mind had been twisted and ravaged.
Perhaps that's why she didn't care how Kraush knew what had happened to her.
It was simply that Kraush had touched a horrifying thought she had been harboring deep in her heart, causing her to react instinctively.
"Since entering the academy, I've been your rival."
Kraush responded to her with an attitude no different from before, despite the Charm Scent.
"No one knows your skills better than I do. At Rahelrn Academy, you're probably the only one who can fight on equal footing with me."
Mary's shoulders trembled at Kraush's words.
No matter how desperately she tried, there was no one who respected her.
Only oppression and cold stares awaited her.
Even when she tried to assassinate the 4th Princess, she had truly given her all.
Though things had gone wrong, she had done her utmost.
But reality was harsh.
Her efforts were mocked, belittled, and disrespected.
"Think about it carefully."
Before she realized it, Kraush had risen from the bed and approached Mary.
Mary slowly looked up at Kraush, as if entranced.
"Was it truly your fault that all your efforts have been in vain?"
"Is it my fault, or whose fault is it?"
As if pleading for an answer.
Mary asked Kraush with desperation in her voice.
Watching her continue to escape from reality, Kraush slowly curled his lips into a smile.
"The one who gives orders to the hunting dog is the master. Do people usually blame the hunting dog for its mistakes?"
Mary's eyes began to widen.
She realized who Kraush was pointing at.
And it was also the doubt that had always been lodged in a dark corner of her heart.
All she had done was faithfully follow the orders given to her.
Though she had failed to succeed in carrying out those orders, it was possible that the orders themselves had been wrong from the start.
"What happened to you isn't your fault. It's because of Sigrid's orders."
The doubt that had always lingered in her heart.
The doubt that all of this was caused by Sigrid's orders.
It was the moment Kraush opened that doubt wide.
Inside Kraush's room, drenched in the Charm Scent.
In her hazy state of mind.
Kraush's words echoed repeatedly in Mary's head.
The Charm Scent has the characteristic of disturbing the mind and drawing the target deeper into infatuation.
Normally, Mary wouldn't have needed to succumb to the Charm Scent.
But her cornered mind clung to the Charm Scent, as if to conceive Kraush's child.
And as a result, in her disoriented mind, Kraush's words burrowed deep like brainwashing.
Without realizing it, she had dug her own grave.
"It's all Sigrid's fault."
Kraush was naturally perceptive.
Perhaps that's why, seeing her vacant eyes, Kraush lowered himself to meet her gaze.
"That guy's orders—has anything ever gone right because of them? The one who gave the orders never takes responsibility, and you've always borne all the blame, haven't you?"
Just as he said, Sigrid had never once taken responsibility.
Everything had always been blamed on Mary herself.
She gave orders and repeatedly humiliated Mary.
The image of Sigrid in Mary's heart began to crack.
The master who had always cared for her and cherished the empire.
But now, she was arrogant, petty, and incapable of even considering her subordinates.
That's how Sigrid began to appear to her.
Tears welled up in Mary's eyes.
They started to stream down uncontrollably as she failed to hold back her sorrow.
Surely, she had made mistakes too.
That's why she had repented countless times and tried so hard to earn Sigrid's recognition again.
But Sigrid had always been cold and unfeeling.
Just once would've been enough.
Mary, you've done well.
She desired to hear just this one sentence.
But Sigrid always treated her as nothing more than a tool and never spoke a kind word to her.
Even though Sigrid was the master to whom she had sworn lifelong loyalty, cracks kept forming in Mary's heart.
"Mary."
Kraush called her name again.
Mary, her face a mess with tears, lifted her head.
The makeup she had so carefully applied with single-minded resolve to follow Sigrid's last order was now smeared with tears.
"You're someone who can stand on your own."
Kraush's next words shook Mary deeply once more.
"What have you gained from following Sigrid all this time? Martial prowess? A title? A position? A lover? Sigrid never intended to give you anything."
Just as he said, Sigrid was an unbearably arrogant person.
Her possessiveness was so strong that it often led to trouble.
Just look at the current state of the Skyborne Generation she had gathered.
Wanting to be loved by everyone, she surrounded herself only with male followers.
That was Sigrid's reality.
And it was time for Mary to confront that reality.
Without a doubt, Sigrid was considered exceptional.
Her martial prowess was undeniable, and her twisted desires, like her possessiveness, were strong, but she wasn't lacking in intelligence either.
However, she wasn't someone destined to save the world.
She was a foolish woman who would willingly offer herself to someone who loved her empire.
"How long will you keep following orders?"
"I..."
Mary had lived her entire life as Sigrid's knight.
She was accustomed to orders and, therefore, longed for them.
Because she wasn't very bright, any independent thinking usually led to mistakes.
"Now, stand on your own. The you I've seen is someone who can stand independently."
Kraush's next words shook Mary once more.
Kraush, who had personally defeated her in martial prowess.
It was true that Mary had not yet regained all the strength she possessed when she was the Divine Spear.
Despite her desperate efforts to win, she had been mercilessly defeated by Kraush.
From the entrance exam onward, Mary had always shown her weakest side in front of Kraush.
Even now, her slumped shoulders and inability to meet his eyes properly were evidence of this.
Was that why?
Subconsciously, Kraush had risen to a position higher than her in her heart.
Originally, with Sigrid above him, she hadn't paid it any mind.
But now that Sigrid was crumbling, Kraush had taken the spot just below her.
Having lived as a subordinate all her life.
The words of someone above her always sounded like truthful advice.
Kraush, someone far greater than herself, had said she could stand on her own.
She had been acknowledged.
Someone like her had been acknowledged.
"Haah..."
For some reason, her body kept tingling.
Her body, flushed red, let out a warm sigh.
Since her regression, Mary had lived consumed by a craving for acknowledgment.
But no one had ever fulfilled that craving.
Not even Arthur, whom she had loved so devotedly, could fulfill it.
Mary's reddened eyes grew even more dazed.
The sweet scent filling the room now seemed to be emanating from Kraush himself.
In Mary's heart.
Sigrid completely shattered as she found herself isolated.
Crack!
Finally, one of the two remaining Dials within Mary began to fracture.
As the broken Dial turned to fragments and fell to the floor.
The last Dial came into view before Kraush's eyes.
[ Subdue Mary ]
The moment he saw that Dial, Kraush slowly smiled.
Mary would never know the reason behind his malicious smile.