I Want To Die One Day Before You - Chapter 66
Rufus silently watched the direction in which the sparrow had flown.
Iruel was off to poison Prince Tarek’s cup. All preparations were complete.
Tonight, Prince Tarek will die.
At this moment, what should Rufus be thinking? Or what should he be feeling?
Chillingly, no thoughts or emotions arose. Only the longing to see Sarubia blossomed.
‘You will not die until the subjugation is over.’
Sarubia, with her light-colored hair fluttering, declared that to him with her kind smile. Now, all he could think about was holding her again.
‘I’m truly a lost cause.’
A bitter, self-mocking smile appeared on the man’s lips.
Rufus collapsed onto the makeshift bed in the tent.
He hadn’t slept properly for days. He was exhausted from the accumulated fatigue.
“You seem terribly tired.”
Beyond the squeaking cries, a woman’s voice was heard.
It was the Witch Odr.
“You’re to carry out a major task today, yet you’re so fatigued?”
Odr, in the form of a gray mouse, giggled as she looked down at Rufus. Glancing at the mouse sitting on his bed, Rufus sighed.
“Please, Witch Odr. Cast a healing spell on me.”
“Oh dear, healing magic is the domain of saints, not the power of witches.”
“Then anything. Use your magic to relieve me of this fatigue.”
“There’s really no need for magic, you know? Just sleep. A good night’s rest will set you free.”
Odr snickered.
She was right. What Rufus needed was sleep. He had to sleep. He needed to rest, even if just a little.
His body felt like it would tear apart from fatigue. His legs, overworked from hours of continuous training, were unbearably heavy.
“Shall I sing you a lullaby if you can’t sleep? I can sing the one my dear little son Iruel liked.”
The mouse by Rufus’s head squeaked.
“No, I’d rather not.”
Rufus pressed his throbbing head and closed his eyes. It was already unbearable.
By day, he lived as the lieutenant of the demon subjugation army, and by night, a traitor to the kingdom.
His life was a tangle of contradictions and lies.
He kept trying to save lives.
He guided his squad members so they could survive the battles against the demons, assuring them they wouldn’t die and offering encouragement.
At the same time, he sought to take lives.
He conspired with the demons. He designed the appropriate times and opportunities for them to ambush humans.
Can he really go on living like this?
Now, he no longer knew what was right or wrong.
In fact, he wasn’t even curious why one should discern right from wrong.
Questions with no answers kept arising in his mind.
Are good and evil as distinctly opposite as light and dark? Or can committing evil acts to thwart a villain be considered good?
Unsolvable problems. Unanswerable questions. Riddles without solutions.
His forehead throbbed as if wearing a crown of thorns.
He didn’t want to think deeply.
Because he couldn’t live without Sarubia.
So.
He would eliminate everything that posed a threat to Sarubia.
He would kill the king who killed her.
He would kill the king’s children as well.
Not leaving a single one.
All of them.
“You seem unable to sleep? What are you thinking about?”
The witch by his bedside whispered.
“Let me guess. You’re thinking about your saintly lover, aren’t you?”
“…….”
Rufus didn’t argue against the Witch Odr’s point.
“Was her name Sarubia? Do you want to see her?”
“…Stop asking unnecessary questions.”
Unnecessary, he said. At Rufus’s brusque reply, the Witch Odr chuckled once more.
Odr had once fallen in love too. Although it was a tragic love, she had surely loved. Therefore, she could understand Rufus’s feelings all too well.
The ashen mouse giggled and frolicked on Rufus’s bed.
“That’s how it is, you know. When you fall in love, you keep thinking about that person until it drives you crazy.”
“…….”
“No matter how much you try to suppress it, you just can’t. It’s like being under a spell, unable to do anything but think about that person. Love is a curse. I know it all too well.”
