Obsession... What's That? I Just Wish Someone Would Help Me Escape - Chapter 102
“That man… he was only kind to you. To everyone else, he was a monster—so obsessed with slaughter, they called him a weapon of war.”
Her words trailed off, quieter than intended.
Emotion had crept in—personal memories, tangled with resentment.
The Marquis she remembered was ruthless. Cruel.
He was the one who drowned hundreds of thousands in naval battles, who earned the title of butcher of the sea.
But for Kido, he was the doting uncle who would do anything. Anything. Just for her.
The bloodline clans were convinced he liked children, so they pushed their own into his hands.
The kids who approached him under their parents’ orders ended up wounded and deflated by his coldness.
Even so, Grandis had tried to earn recognition from that cold-hearted patriarch.
If that useless girl could do it, why couldn’t she?
Why did the Lord of Sloth only dote on her? What made her special?
It was the question that had tormented Grandis for years.
But in the end, he showed his true colors and ignored Kido too, didn’t he?
Grandis felt sympathy, along with a twisted sense of relief—tinged with satisfaction.
Because it proved Kido was no different from herself.
“That man who swore you were everything to him… he abandoned you in the end.
It’s clear now. Marquis Farsene used us as bait and ran.”
Kido, who had listened silently to Grandis’s accusations, gave a reply she hadn’t expected.
“He’s already dead.”
Even for Kido, who always kept her cool, it wasn’t the sort of joke she’d ever make lightly.
But it sounded like a joke.
He was clearly alive, sitting comfortably in the spectator’s box. Grandis stared at her, as if she’d just been punched.
“What? That doesn’t make any sense—”
“It’s exactly what I said.”
Kido seemed distracted, lost in thought.
She figured this was as good a time as any to kill Grandis and steal her power.
But the moment she willed it, a window appeared in the air.
[Target not eligible for collection – Retrieval will increase karma]
Strangely enough, a message popped up that the conditions weren’t met.
It meant Grandis didn’t harbor enough killing intent toward her.
At the start of the championship match, she’d seemed ready to kill her without hesitation… but it hadn’t been real?
Kido tucked her pink hair behind her ear, letting it settle in the wind, and turned away.
“The bet from earlier—forget it ever happened.”
There was no way someone as prideful as Grandis would admit defeat that easily, and besides, she wasn’t useful anymore.
Originally, Kido had planned to ask about her uncle’s whereabouts if she won, but that information was useless now.
As Kido turned to leave, Grandis called out with another truth.
“Theo. You didn’t kill him. Why didn’t you deny it?”
Through her dead fiancé’s spirit, she’d seen the final moments—and learned the real culprit.
All the past misunderstandings she had about Kido—same thing.
But that didn’t mean her perception of Kido changed all at once.
Even putting aside the misunderstandings, Kido was still undeniably… a villain.
“You’d already made up your mind. You weren’t someone worth explaining myself to. You couldn’t even charge me with anything—there wasn’t enough evidence.”
“You really are insane…”
Watching Kido shake her head with that disinterested look, Grandis realized something.
It really was possible to hate someone for no reason.
“Move to your designated area! And Number 8, for assaulting a guard—you’re going into isolation!”
The hiding guards rushed out and restrained Grandis.
The others fanned out to check the prisoners for signs of life.
They all assumed it was Saintess Justina who had calmed Johann’s rampage.
Scanning the area, Damian let out a breath of relief when he saw Kido alive and unharmed.
Then his face hardened as he began to scold her.
“Why didn’t you get on the warp platform?”
There was a flicker of resentment in his voice.
Kido raised a hand to cover her mouth, putting on a pitiful expression.
“I was worried about the others in my cell.”
“You’re not the type of person I know to say something like that.”
“I have my reasons for trying to be good now. Besides, I can worry about other people, you know?”
Enrique, following behind as Kido bickered with Damian, considered asking her again whose spirit she had seen—but gave up.
The soul she’d spoken with had a vague silhouette. He couldn’t tell who it was.
“Winning would’ve gotten us a deluxe meal. What a waste.”
Johann was just as curious, but didn’t ask.
He figured it must’ve been someone important to her.
Maybe someone she’d promised to marry?
A slight wrinkle formed between Johann’s brows.
Was that how she unlocked her second power—by meeting that person?
Was he that precious?
And seriously, how many people had she promised to marry?
The more assumptions he stacked, the worse he felt.
And the fact that he was feeling this way—that irritated him even more.
Meanwhile, Kido walked across the ruined arena and looked up at the sky.
Her red eyes, tinged with lingering thoughts, slowly deepened in shade.
The spirit that had appeared before her…
Was none other than Marquis Claude Farsene.
