After I died, Everything Changed - Chapter 40

This was getting dangerous.

Henry had tolerated me crossing the line more than once, but there was no guarantee that patience would last forever.

“You really do know me well.”

“If I overstepped… I apologize.”

At least I’d gone far enough. There was no way he’d press any harder now—not with his pride on the line.

Unless he lost his temper and tried to take revenge on Mergen. That, I couldn’t rule out.

Still, it was time to clean things up.

“I plan to become the heir of Mergen. I intend to take over as head of the family.”

“The head of Mergen.”

A flicker of interest passed through Henry’s eyes.

“I’ve danced around it, but that’s the real reason. So I’d prefer if we didn’t keep going back and forth about the engagement.”

“Am I getting in the way of that?”

“Yes. You are. For me—and, frankly, for your own goals as well.”

Henry’s gaze deepened at my answer.

“If I do become the head of Mergen, I’ll be useless to you—just like Deborah was.”

“……”

For the first time, a crack appeared in Henry’s usually calm expression.

We both fell silent.

We held each other’s gaze for a while before Henry’s lips curled into a faint smile.

“You’re mistaken.”

“…What?”

“You act like you know me, but it’s clear you don’t understand me at all.”

“I…”

“I don’t let go of what I want. Ever. So no—I’m not giving anything up.”

“You’re far too greedy.”

“That’s why I plan to take the seat where I get to rewrite the rules.”

Rewrite the rules?

“In that seat, what I say will be the law, the order, the system.”

“…That’s something I would’ve preferred not to hear.”

“So don’t worry. In my version of the rules, things like that ridiculous law about bloodlines won’t exist.”

The head of Mergen cannot marry an emperor.
It’s a law. A long-standing tradition.

But Henry talked about breaking that law as if it were nothing.

Maybe…

He and I aren’t so different after all.

If a hundred people long for the same thing, they’ll each have a hundred reasons why.

And yet, somehow, Henry and I…
felt like two people caught in the same kind of situation.

“Why are you going this far?”

“Hmm… maybe because it doesn’t matter to me whether that pretty hand of yours holds a flower… filth… or blood.”

His voice was light, almost playful.

But unlike before, I couldn’t bring myself to tease him or push back.

Why did he suddenly feel… sincere?

Henry was not someone who ever revealed his true feelings.

Did I miss something?

But in the end, what Henry’s intentions were didn’t matter.

It had been an unproductive day.

Vermont’s death had done more harm than good.

The annulment talks with Henry were still going nowhere.

The only thing I’d gained any clarity on was the situation with Irene.

Not that any of it makes a difference.

I couldn’t even mourn the girl properly.

Her gravestone still bore my name.

Under the starlit sky, the grave sat quietly—lonely.

I found myself lingering there, unsettled, for no real reason.

“You clearly ignored my advice.”

The sudden voice startled me.

I turned quickly.

“Abel.”

“Your wound hasn’t even healed. And the night air is cold. You shouldn’t be walking around in your condition.”

Abel was holding a soft-looking white blanket in his hand.

“Did you bring that for me?”

He didn’t answer. Instead, he placed the warm blanket gently over my shoulders.

“Are you trying to let go of something tonight?”

“Did it look that way?”

“You’ve been circling the same spot for a while now… like a squirrel.”

“Ah…”

My gaze drifted to the windows of the mansion.

One of those windows must belong to Abel.

“Did the funeral end well?”

“Who knows? I’m sure someone grieved.”

Technically, Vermont had been in the same camp as Abel.

So did Abel really feel nothing about his death?

“Do you suspect me, too?”

Not that I could blame anyone who did.

Lately, I’d been moving too boldly, too recklessly.

“I don’t.”

“Why not?”

“Because I know who did it.”

“…”

My hands, which had been adjusting the blanket to keep it from slipping, suddenly froze.

I looked at Abel, trying not to show how startled I was.

“You know who did it?”

“I did it.”

The blanket slipped from my hands—or more accurately, I let it go.

For a few moments, I couldn’t even find the words to respond. While I hesitated, Abel stepped closer.

Should I step back?

The thought crossed my mind.

“What are you trying to achieve by telling me that?”

“If the information’s useful, feel free to use it.”

“…You’re saying I should go out there and announce you’re the killer?”

I couldn’t read him at all.

Even now, Abel’s behavior was impossible to understand.

“Aren’t you going to ask why I did it?”

“…”

Abel bent down and picked up the fallen blanket.

My shoulder, which had briefly been warmed by it, welcomed the return of that warmth.

“Why did you kill him?”

“He made a mistake.”

“You killed your own man… just for making a mistake?”

I knew Abel had served on the battlefield.

And I understood, at least intellectually, that military law was far harsher than anything practiced within these mansion walls.

“He touched something he shouldn’t have.”

“Let me guess—he tried to cling to you and became a liability.”

Abel’s hand, still holding the edge of the blanket, felt dangerously close.

Close enough that, with just a step forward, he could’ve wrapped that hand around my throat.

“Don’t get hurt again. No more stab wounds. No more bruises. Don’t let your skin be exposed to cold water either.”

“…?”

What is he saying?

“It’s frighteningly easy to lose your mind.”

Is he saying… he killed Vermont because of me?

“Sister.”

His hand slipped off the blanket and fell away.

Only then did I realize—I’d been holding my breath.

Since when have I been this tense in front of Abel?

I felt my curled fingers start to tremble.

Unintentionally, my eyes lowered to them.

Abel followed my gaze.

“Are you afraid of me?”

Looks like I didn’t manage to hide the shaking in time.

Was Abel… declaring war on me?

“That’s ridiculous.”

Interesting.

I was almost worried Roosevelt and Chloe would fold too easily.

But thankfully, it seemed Abel wouldn’t disappoint me.

“Do you remember the warning I gave you during the rain ritual?”

His gaze cut into me like a blade.

There was a sharpness in his expression, as if daring me to push him further.

“If you don’t want to die, don’t stand in my way.”

Something had changed in Abel—sometime over the past day or two.

I didn’t know what it was, but I could see it clearly now.

And when I gave him that cold, cutting warning—Abel smiled.

A smile that looked, for a brief moment, almost innocent.

“You’re finally looking at me.”

“What?”

“I wish your eyes would stay on me like that a little longer.”

Why does Abel sound amused?

“I can’t believe something this simple took me so long to figure out.”

In the end, I was the one who stepped back.

One step. Then another.

As I backed away, Abel’s figure overlapped with the image of my gravestone in the distance.

‘Abel Mergen.’

The truth is, I had tried to treat Abel as a potential enemy.
But deep down, I’d always been kind to him.

Maybe—arrogantly—I had pitied him.

I saw him as a poor soul, a gentle spirit caught under the control of his mother.

And so, I had this baseless certainty… that Abel, at least, wouldn’t harm me.

Chloe, maybe. But not Abel.

But now… do I have any certainties left?

This was someone who had looked me in the eyes and admitted to killing someone—without flinching.

That’s not something a normal person could ever do.

“Something terrible has happened!”

“What’s with the commotion so early in the morning?”

Just because I was injured didn’t mean I was excused from the morning meeting.

And so, despite everything, I had dragged myself here—only to be greeted by this noisy disruption.

I frowned in irritation.

As I looked up, my eyes met Abel’s from across the table.

Had he been watching me this whole time?

Why did meeting his gaze feel so awkward now?

I quickly looked away, pretending not to notice.

“A monster! There’s been a monster sighting!”

“…What?”

“Monsters? Isn’t that something from ancient history?”

“Is this person still half-asleep?”

The room buzzed with disbelief.

“I’m not making this up! They’ve really returned! There was a sighting in the Mergen territory!”

“Explain yourself properly.”

“A monster appeared in a village near the Hecla border. It killed a civilian!”

“Abel, do you know anything about this?”

Grandfather turned to Abel.

Hecla was under Abel’s military oversight, so it made sense to ask him first.

“It hasn’t been fully confirmed yet.”

“Then confirm it.”

“Yes, sir.”

Monsters…

They were once a plague on this land, long ago.

The last appearance was probably about a hundred years ago.

By now, most believed they were extinct—gone from the Empire.

Maybe one had wandered in from elsewhere. That could happen.

It wasn’t good news—but it didn’t feel that serious to me yet.

We’d had similar incidents before, like wild animals being mistaken for monsters, causing unnecessary panic.

It would probably quiet down in a day or two.

“Let’s continue the meeting.”

Right now, what mattered more was that I was sitting here in pain, clutching my side, trying to endure this endless meeting while still recovering.

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