Thought It Was 'The End', Only to Return to a Changed Genre - Chapter 162
As Genevieve untied the rope around Adeline’s waist, she spoke.
“He’s alive.”
“…Yeah.”
“Someone like him doesn’t die easily. I’ve seen it a lot. They go right up to the gates of heaven and still manage to come back.”
Adeline decided not to ask what Genevieve had seen.
“No matter how fatal the injury, as long as they’re breathing, I can save them. I promise.”
“…Then, we’ll have to make sure we get out of here safely first.”
Genevieve patted her chest confidently and said,
“Just trust me. After all, I’m the chosen one of the gods.”
“…Mhm…”
“Your answer isn’t very reassuring.”
“Well… it’s just that, coming from someone who was just betrayed by her husband, it doesn’t sound very convincing…”
“…”
“I’ll believe you if you promise to slap that bastard yourself.”
“I promise. I’ll do at least that.”
Genevieve, who had briefly looked flustered, smiled boldly.
“By now, His Grace must have realized what’s going on. Lucian Cole has likely been keeping an eye on things near the house, so it won’t be hard to track us down.”
“Even Lucian’s involved?”
“…Given the circumstances, I’ll just say it—there’s no one who knows you who isn’t angry right now.”
“Why would Lucian be angry…?”
“I think even the fact that you’re asking that might be why he’s angry…”
Genevieve thought of Lucian Cole.
Her meeting him had been purely by chance. Though she didn’t know him well, it was obvious to her just how special Adeline was to him.
Adeline had always described him as someone who would do anything as long as he was paid.
It was true that Lucian Cole was infamous as a cold-blooded man who would do anything for money, but he was also smart enough to never get caught in something that would expose him. Even Edwin had given up trying to fully dismantle his network.
The tasks Adeline asked of him were often dangerous, even for Lucian.
Recently, she’d heard that it had become difficult for Lucian to operate out of Delmuz due to Shane’s surveillance. Yet, despite that, Lucian continued to follow Adeline’s requests, and yet she didn’t even know why he would be angry.
Genevieve shook her head, clearing her thoughts, and said,
“If we can find somewhere to hide and hold out, His Grace will come to rescue us soon.”
“…He’ll come, right? Especially since you’re with me…”
“Why are you dragging me into this?”
“Shane probably thinks I ran away,” Adeline muttered bitterly.
This time, he might finally be so fed up with her that he gives up on her entirely.
*
Adeline and Genevieve found an empty cabin to hide in.
It was an ironic twist of fate that the cabin happened to be right next to the one their captor was using.
“I should have killed that girl first!”
“If you’d killed even one of them, the Crown Prince and the Duke wouldn’t agree to the deal.”
“What do you expect to get out of this deal?”
“The survival of Brubewein. And your life.”
“I don’t care about that damned country. I just want to kill those two women.”
“So, the Saintess is your sworn enemy, but what grudge do you hold against the Duchess?”
“…”
“Looks like Keith left this half-finished business behind.”
“Shut up, Harrison. Have you forgotten who saved your life?”
“It was Keith who saved me. Not you.”
“Keith is me, and I am Keith!”
Harrison laughed, clearly in disbelief.
“Keith planted me in the Imperial Palace over ten years ago to one day kill the Crown Prince. I was part of his long-term plan. Not yours.”
“I know. And that’s why you betrayed me, choosing to follow Keith’s orders instead of staying with me!”
For a moment, Harrison looked at the woman who had once been his lover. He spoke coldly.
“If you’d succeeded in killing the Saintess five years ago, I wouldn’t have had to get close to her.”
“It wasn’t my failure. It was Keith’s…”
“Keith’s plan was for me to eventually kill either the Crown Prince or the Saintess from the closest position possible. That was my mission.”
Even if he couldn’t kill her, becoming her husband meant he could hurt the Saintess in other ways.
He could cheat on her, or leave with their child if they had one. There were many ways to wound her.
That was why Harrison had devoted himself to loving Genevieve. It had been his mission.
To create ‘Harrison, the Saintess’s husband and Imperial Guard’.
“Keith is dead! That plan is meaningless now!”
“Right. That’s why I’m risking what’s left of my life to help you. I poisoned the Duchess’s tea and kidnapped her for you. Keith is dead, so I’m repaying the favor to his twin—you.”
“…So, in the end, you’re still with Keith.”
“…”
“You and Princess Mia too.”
Kaitlyn pulled her knees up and rested her forehead on them. Harrison sighed and said,
“You claim Keith is you, and you are Keith.”
“…”
“To me, it’s all the same.”
As the two of them kissed, Genevieve, who had overheard, tried to recall the face of the man who, just hours ago, had been her husband and closest friend.
What kind of person had he been?
Who was he, really?
