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Chapter 353 - Escape (1)

Kang-Woo sighed with deeply sunken eyes. Her eyes no longer reflected fear of Fidelio, but...

‘Did I make the right choice?’

He was conflicted. Even he knew that this was not the best outcome. It might have been better for Iris to live on while suffering from nightmares.

- If I can be freed from this fear... this nightmare... I could even sell my soul to a demon.

Kang-Woo recalled how desperately Iris had begged him while trembling. He closed his eyes. This had been her choice, and what she had wished for.

‘I could have erased her memories using the Authority of Subordination, but...’

Kang-Woo thought for a moment, but shook his head.

‘It’s too dangerous.’

The blessing of the high elves on Iris had been powerful enough for her to recognize him under the Authority of Stealth. Making a contract of subordination with her would be far too dangerous.

“You’re... not afraid of Fidelio anymore, right?” he asked.

“Yes!” Iris answered brightly.

Her radiant smile, despite her being covered in blood, was chilling.

‘Even so...’

With this, Iris had completely been freed from Fidelio’s grasp.

‘This has negative effects in its own right, but... It’s at least better than spending the rest of her life being shackled by fear.’

“Sir Kang-Woo, where should we gouge out today~?”

Iris grinned while staring at Kang-Woo with a chilling glint in her eyes. Kang-Woo clicked his tongue.

‘Is this really for the better?’

He had indeed aimed for this to happen, but he had not expected her to break this badly in the span of just a few days.

‘I guess it goes to show the extent of the fear she had for Fidelio.’

On top of that, her baseline gentle and kind nature had likely amplified the effects. Just like how the burst of emotion was stronger the more one bottled them up, the bloodlust that had been suppressed underneath her gentle nature plus her fears had set ablaze beyond control.

‘I never thought it’d get this bad.’

Kang-Woo regretted pushing her so far.

‘I’m sure she’ll get better over time.’

Time could not be rewound. The good news among all this was that Iris was very obedient, meaning that Kang-Woo was able to control her.

‘I think it’s about time that we stop.’

Although Iris had been broken beyond repair, stopping now was better than continuing.

“No, that’s enough.”

“I’m sorry?” Iris asked while wide-eyed as she looked back and forth between Kang-Woo and the unconscious Fidelio. “Umm... What do you mean by...”

“I mean, you can stop now.”

“Oh.”

Iris subtly trembled. She fiddled with the dagger in disappointment.

Kang-Woo smirked and continued, “Revenge isn’t all about stabbing, slashing and breaking, you know? You should be taking back what was stolen from you, one by one.”

“What was stolen from me?” Iris asked in wonder.

“Your power as an imperial princess, and your reputation. They were all taken from you by Fidelio, weren’t they?”

“That’s...”

Conflict glinted in Iris’s eyes. Although it was true that her power as a member of the imperial family had been taken away by Fidelio, he was not solely responsible for her infamy as a witch. Rather, she was more responsible for it because she had vented her stress on her servants.

“Iris.” Kang-Woo caressed the conflicted Iris’s cheek. He asked gently, “It was all Fidelio’s fault, wasn’t it?”

“Ah, yes! O-Of course! It was all because of that human garbage!” Iris energetically answered while furiously nodding.

Kang-Woo nodded with a smile. “Good. Now, it’s time for you to break free from your false charges and get ready to become the empress.”

“Empress...”

Iris blankly stared at Kang-Woo. The word did not seem real. Her father, Emperor Leopold von Arnan, was getting sicker each day. He actually should have died long ago, but he was being forcibly kept alive with magic. Like Kang-Woo had said, Iris would without a doubt become the empress soon.

‘Empress...? Me?’

Iris’s heart beat faster. She could not breathe properly; it felt as if a heavy weight was pressing down on her chest.

“It’s... impossible. You know what the people of the empire say about me, Sir Kang-Woo.”

The opinions of the people were actually of no consequence to Iris becoming the empress, since she was the only one who carried the blood of the imperial family. However, the false accusations against her were almost impossible to break away from. Although there was no proof to such accusations, Iris knew very well how difficult it was to change an opinion that was considered to be the truth by many.

“You can leave that to me,” responded Kang-Woo.

He smiled. He had already thought of a way to wipe her infamous reputation as a witch clean. He turned around to look at Fidelio, who was unconscious while covered in blood.

“Umm... Sir Kang-Woo.” Iris’s eyes shone chillingly as she clenched the dagger. “Shall we... End him now?”

She glared at the unconscious Fidelio with bloodlust. It was a complete flip in attitude from the beginning when she could barely look in Fidelio’s general direction. Kang-Woo stared at Iris with mixed feelings, and then slowly shook his head.

“No,” said Kang-Woo.

“No...?”

“We won’t kill Fidelio.”

“What? Wh-What do you mean we won’t kill him?!” Iris stared at Kang-Woo in bewilderment. Not killing Fidelio was absurd. She bared her teeth, raised the dagger menacingly and shouted, “N-No! I have to kill that human garbage myself!”

Kang-Woo firmly shook his head despite Iris’s crazed defiance. “Iris.”

“Ngh...”

“I told you that we won’t kill him.”

“B-But...”

Iris stared at Kang-Woo as if she were about to burst into tears at any moment. To her, Fidelio was her mortal enemy that had put her through hell. No, not just her, but he had sucked the life out of countless citizens of the empire. Iris could not accept the fact that such a person would not die for his sins.

“F-Fidelio needs to die,” Iris replied cautiously, pleading to Kang-Woo to change his mind.

Kang-Woo smirked and asked, “Really? Why do you think so?”

“Well...” There was no need to even mention it. Iris glared at Fidelio in madness. “Because nothing else befits the human garbage.”

No matter how Iris thought about it, Fidelio did not deserve to live. Kang-Woo softly laughed at how bold Iris had become after just a few days.

“Do you seriously believe that?” he asked.

“Pardon?”

“If you truly want to take revenge on Fidelio, he shouldn’t end that way.”

“I... don’t understand.”

Kang-Woo tilted his head toward Iris. He patted her head and spoke to her as if he were a teacher teaching a child. “If he dies, that’s the end of it.”

No matter how painfully and miserably one died, it would all end once they died. Their pain, suffering and sorrow would end at the moment of their death.

“Now, think about what you had to suffer in his hands. Didn’t you think every day that you would be better off dead?”

“Ah.”

Iris opened her eyes wide. Kang-Woo was right. She had longed for death in the endless swamp of despair. She had thought that death was the only form of salvation for her.

“Why would you kill him and be done with it?” Kang-Woo smiled widely. Death was nothing. “Keeping him alive would be more agonizing for him.”

Only life was true agony. Iris felt chills running down her spine.

‘Aaaahh, this person is... truly terrifying.’

No, she was not even sure if he was human.

‘It doesn’t matter.’

Iris couldn’t care less whether Kang-Woo was a human, monster, or even a demon. What was important was that he had saved her and had guided her toward salvation. He had not protected her like Reynald or Kim Si-Hun had, nor had he given her a place to hide behind. He had given her a push so that she would be able to stand on her own two feet.

“Okay. I will do as you say, Sir Kang-Woo.” Iris nodded while staring at Kang-Woo hazily.

“Good. We’ll be busy for a while.”

Kang-Woo needed to eliminate those on Fidelio’s side and form a line of support only for Iris. He needed to reconstruct this broken empire.

‘Only then will I be able to focus on Lucifer.’

There was a high chance that people would not fear the advent of the Evil God as much as Kang-Woo hoped in such a situation. People couldn\'t care less about an Evil God or a Demon King when their daily lives were already a living hell.

‘People tremble in fear when they have something to lose.’

And when that fear turned into despair, the continent would reach the brink of collapse.

“I’ll even give you an opportunity to spend some quality time with Si-Hun, so do your best to earn it,” Kang-Woo expressed while lightly patting Iris’s shoulder.

Since she had fallen in love with Si-Hun, there would likely be no better reward than this.

‘Though I feel sorry for my sister-in-law.’

Although Kang-Woo felt bad for doing this to Layla, there was no better bait than Si-Hun to have perfect control over Iris.

“Ah...” Iris exclaimed shortly. “I understand. I will do my best.”

She smiled while gently grabbing Kang-Woo’s clothes. The smile felt awkward for some reason.

***

Fidelio regained his consciousness within the room filled with a scent of blood.

“G-Gaaarghh,” he groaned unpleasantly through his wrinkled lips. “Kurgh! Hurgh! Huff!”

Fidelio panted heavily as he trembled from the lingering pain.

‘H-He’s insane.’

He recalled the young man with the sharp eyes. He could not describe the man with any other word than that.

‘He and Iris are both insane.’

No, the man Oh Kang-Woo had already gone far past the realm of insanity.

‘He’s a demon.’

Fidelio swallowed his saliva mixed with blood. His teeth clattered and he shed tears. He felt like he was swimming across an endless sea of nightmares.

‘I have to run away.’

He needed to get away from that demon’s grasp. But how?

“A-Arghh.” The chains binding him clattered noisily as Fidelio struggled frantically. “A-Aaaahh.”

He twisted around with all his might to get away from that crazed monster’s grasp. The chains dragged on his skin, widening his wounds and blood flowing out from them.

“Raaaaaahh!!”

Fidelio was in excruciating pain, but his fear of the demon was greater. Fidelio thrashed about as if he was having a seizure. And then...

Clunk.

“Huh...?”

The chains covered in blood loosened slightly. Fidelio’s eyes widened. As he moved left to right, he could feel the chains slightly loosening.

‘F-Finally!’

He had finally grasped an opportunity. Fidelio thrashed about even more aggressively to bleed more. The ecstasy of being able to escape overtook the pain of his flesh being ripped apart.

‘I have to run away.’

Before that demon came back... As soon as possible...

‘I have to run!!!’

Fidelio was freed from the chair.