Please Kill Me - Chapter 167
Her body began to stiffen rapidly.
“Is the spell causing this rigidity?”
The first to notice Yekaterina’s body hardening was Leonid, who was holding her. A moment ago, his expression had been calm, but now anxiety spread across his face.
“Yekaterina? Yekaterina!”
Leonid grasped Yekaterina’s arms and called her name, but she couldn’t respond at all. In fact, she couldn’t even twitch a fingertip.
Her tongue and body had completely frozen.
However, the rigidity didn’t stop there. She felt her breathing becoming increasingly labored, as if her lungs were stiffening as well.
If that happened, Yekaterina would soon die, at least unless Dmitry released the spell.
The shadow of death loomed over her more vividly than ever before.
Strangely, though, Yekaterina felt a sense of relief.
‘Maybe this is better.’
Whether Dmitry had indeed cast a spell intending to kill her or not, she no longer wanted to harm Leonid.
The one who broke the promise was her, and thus the responsibility rested solely on her shoulders. If this situation caused Leonid to suffer again, she wouldn’t be able to bear the guilt.
Gradually, her consciousness began to fade.
Yekaterina slowly blinked her eyes. She saw Leonid desperately holding onto her, trying to keep her body as it stiffened.
“Focus! …rina!”
Leonid’s voice echoed in her ears, growing more sporadic.
But strangely, even though her rigidity had clearly progressed, her body felt comfortable. In fact, it was almost soothing, as if closing her eyes would allow her to rest peacefully.
“Leonid, no!”
Thud.
She heard a scream from Yuri, and a familiar sensation washed over her. Yet, even that realization came too late.
Yekaterina lifted her eyelids again, which she had almost let fall.
The sensation she felt from her fingertips, which should have been completely frozen, was all too familiar.
It was the feeling she had experienced countless times during her time at Offenbach.
The sensation of flesh being torn by a blade.
Splash. The sound of a heavy liquid pouring out echoed. A familiar scent, almost like her own perfume, filled the air—a smell of blood.
Blood.
The moment that thought crossed her mind, Yekaterina’s foggy brain suddenly cleared.
Her unfocused vision finally captured the scene in front of her.
Yuri was gripping his lower abdomen, soaked in blood. And Leonid was staring at both Yuri and her with wide eyes.
Lastly, she noticed the dagger in her own hand, stained with fresh blood.
‘What is going on…?’
Was she seeing things?
Hadn’t her body been rigid just moments ago?
From the looks of it, it seemed she had intended to attack Leonid, but Yuri had jumped in and taken the blow instead.
‘But how?’
She had felt her body stiffening, struggling to breathe…
Her swirling thoughts abruptly halted.
Just moments ago, breathing had felt so difficult, yet now she realized it was no longer a challenge at all.
However, her body remained frozen.
It was as if she had lost control and become a puppet.
“Yekaterina, what are you—”
At the end of the silence, Leonid opened his mouth with a look of horror. In that instant, her vision sharpened. The distance between her and Leonid closed in an instant, and she could see the dagger cutting through the air.
Even without a mirror, she easily understood her state.
The sensation of being a puppet was not merely a feeling.
Rather than just being a doll, it felt more like being a marionette.
Whoosh. The dagger violently chased after Leonid, carving another large arc in the air.
The hand gripping it was undoubtedly hers.
Tears streamed down Yekaterina’s stiff face as they fell.
This was hell.
* * *
“Cough, cough!”
The shoulders of the young man with neatly combed silver-blue hair shook violently with a fit of coughs. Only when the coughing subsided did Dmitry lift his lowered head.
The handkerchief that had covered his mouth was already soaked darkly with dried blood.
Dmitry hurriedly folded the crimson-stained cloth, but anyone who saw him cough would have easily recognized that he was in a poor state of health.
‘If I had delayed a moment longer in leaving the place, I might have given myself away.’
Considering this was a grand banquet hall filled with all the nobles, it was truly a stroke of luck.
Just a moment ago, while continuing a conversation with other heads of families, Dmitry had hurriedly excused himself. An unpleasant sensation he detested had suddenly overtaken him.
It was the reason he had grown to despise even the thought of cherry tomatoes, and it was also tied to the magic that lingered beside him even after time had turned back. If he felt this way without doing anything, there could be only one explanation for it.
‘…Sister has broken her promise.’
In the end,
Dmitry was left to bear the consequences of that breach. The mana within him, which had barely been able to sustain its flow, surged out all at once like a dam breaking and was flooding out uncontrollably the moment the promise was shattered.
midori
thanks! ohhh shite, that’s dramatic! i WAS wondering what would happen if she broke her promise, but it’s this? she becomes a marionette who attacks everyone?
luna
I think this is the safety net that Dmitry had put in her so she won’t break her promise, so she would have a repercussion if she ever broke her promise? iykwim