Chapter 85

The stone made from Mari’s ashes was a soft red color. I accepted the necklace Laila handed me and stared at it for a long time.

“I chose the chain for the necklace. If you don’t like it, you can change it.”
“No, I like it. I was just looking because the color is beautiful.”

It looked like Vi’s color. Vi also seemed to like it, chirping as it tried to press its face against the stone. When I hid it behind me, it sat on top of my head as if sulking.

“I’m glad you like it.”
“Thank you, Laila.”

Laila had a frustrated expression, like she wanted to say something. If something about it bothered her, she would usually say it without hesitation, so I waited quietly. Then she took the necklace from my hands and said:

“I’m sorry, Florence.”
“Huh? For what?”
“…For everything I’ve done to you.”

Her eyes stopped on my left shoulder and arm. Laila had seen Jang Hyunji for the first time recently—not “Florence” wearing her shell, but the real Jang Hyunji. She probably felt guilty now.

“I’m fine.”
“…I thought you were a spoiled brat.”

She wasn’t wrong. I had dragged Enoch, Keith, and even Laila into my fight, relying on them while giving nothing in return. I didn’t deny it. Laila continued:

“I thought I could never like you. When I saw you, I saw that woman who looked at dying Alex like a bug. It was hard to control my urge to kill you. Even though I didn’t completely hate you, I didn’t want to laugh or talk with you either. It felt like I was betraying Alex.”

That was why Laila had kept her distance. Even though we ate and slept together, she didn’t try to get close. She made it clear through her actions that we were only cooperating for the same goal. She often acted independently and was quite stubborn.

Enoch and Keith had known this for a while and didn’t push her. Neither did I.

“But from your perspective, I must have been an arrogant person who tried to kill you while completely misunderstanding everything.”
“No. You were someone who hated the same person I did. From the beginning.”
“……”
“Do you know how happy I was to find out there was someone else in the world who wanted to kill her too?”

Laila stepped closer and spread her arms. I realized she was going to put the necklace on me and lowered my head slightly. As I placed my face near her shoulder, she said:

“When you came to find me, Florence…”
“Yeah.”
“You said you couldn’t die anymore.”
“……”
“You said you wanted to enjoy every moment you’d lost and become happy.”

With Mari.

I had wanted to live so that Mari could do what she wanted and live happily. That was the truth.

“Don’t forget that.”

Laila whispered softly for me not to forget.

I couldn’t answer. Instead, I pressed my face into her shoulder as she embraced me. Today, I finally felt like I truly understood Laila Green.

While Enoch was recovering, I went with Laila to the Mariv River.

It was hard to find the location based only on a line from the novel, but it was easier than the Kelligria plains. Other than the settlements along the river, there were few places in the northern area where relics might be. Laila told me to use the power I had “gained” and learn how much I could use it.

“You need to give spirits very specific instructions. It’s better to think of them as machines.”
“I get it. Because they don’t have a will of their own, they can’t interpret commands on their own, right?”
“Exactly. And magic isn’t about how you use it but how effectively you use it. If you’re not fighting one-on-one, the difference in power doesn’t matter much. You understand that, right?”

Father could never have imagined being taken down by just a 1st-class Lightning spell. I nodded.

Unless it was 7th-class Hellfire or 8th-class Meteor, no battle would end with a single spell. The key was how quickly and in what situation you used it. I was inexperienced, so I would have to rely on strategies that caught the enemy off guard.

“If you decide to kill someone, act without hesitation. The moment you hesitate, you’ll be the one who dies.”
“Okay.”

“The person you need to kill can’t be harmed by long-range magic, and in close combat, no one can kill him. But if you stab him with a blade, his flesh will still tear and he’ll bleed. The question is how you’ll get close to him and still survive….”
“I probably won’t be able to kill him, right?”

“The commander isn’t stupid. He won’t fully open his heart to you. We’ll think about this step by step. We need a plan.”
“First, we’ll cut off his hands and feet.”
“We need to get rid of his loyal followers first.”

“But aren’t they your old comrades?”
“Comrades? Please. Other than Alex, none of them even tried to talk to me. They just worshipped the commander like fools. I was shocked he could date someone normally, and even more shocked he was such a womanizer. True love and physical love are separate things, I guess.”

“……”

“Some of them were good-looking, though, so they became targets of the commander’s jealousy. Those who flirted with the marquis’s wife disappeared, and I’m sure they’re dead.”

Jealousy was used as a tool to show off the male lead’s possessiveness, further solidifying their twisted love.

“There were rumors they returned to their hometowns, quit the knights, or married the daughter of some country noble. But when I checked, they had all disappeared without a trace. No bodies were found. The commander really is a bastard, isn’t he?”
“Yeah…”
“This is all possible because he’s powerful.”
“Because he’s from the Lindquist duchy.”

Linus Lindquist—the second son of the Lindquist duchy and the Baldwin marquis. A knight and swordsman trusted by the royal family and loved by the people. Everything about him was impressive.

“The Lindquist family is one of the oldest in the kingdom. Some even say they’re more powerful than the royal family. It’ll be hard to bring them down with just a scandal.”

In that case, we needed to separate Linus from the Lindquist family. The Lindquist family wouldn’t risk their lives to protect the second son. If Linus was caught in a scandal he couldn’t recover from, or if the heir’s life was threatened, it would be easy to turn them against him. With Laila’s skill—she had even cursed Linus before—it was possible.

“That’s a good idea. Sounds fun.”
“But we don’t know how they’ll react….”
“As long as we can expose the commander’s true nature, it’ll be worth it. Of course, some followers will stay.”
“And those followers….”
“They’re obsessed. They can’t see anyone but the commander.”
“That’s love…”
“Yeah, love.”

They might be even worse than Jang Hyunji.

I shared all my thoughts with Laila and organized our plan.

I couldn’t lose anything. But they had to lose everything.

When we safely obtained the “Blessing of the Archangel” at the Mariv River, Laila and I shared a secret.

A few days later.

We released “Lishi” into the streets of Redamas.