After I died, Everything Changed - Chapter 69

“Love? Just a mere crush? That’s all it was?! Don’t tell me everything fell apart over something as foolish as affection!”

Chloe’s voice rose into a scream, nearly a wail.

The bow was still clutched tightly in her hand.

She looked like she might lose the string at any moment.

“You could’ve had Mergen! You should’ve become its master—and made them pay for all the scorn and abuse I suffered!”

Her pain spilled out with every word, raw and trembling.

“I failed to be the perfect piece in Mother’s game, then.”

“Yes! That’s all you ever needed to be—my pawn!”

When had her motherly love twisted so fully into betrayal?

“Do you really think you’ll be happy, now that I’m gone?”

“I never longed for that.”

“Of course. You’re a monster. You’ll never know happiness.”

It was no longer just anger—it was a curse.

Then—Chloe burst into laughter.

A broken, almost deranged laugh.

It sounded unhinged. Like something inside her had finally snapped.

“Haha… It’s hilarious. Absolutely hilarious.”

Tears welled in her eyes, spilling as she laughed harder.

“Do you know? You’ve been living on her blood all this time.”

“…!”

Her words hit me like a bolt of lightning.

That’s right—Chloe used to take Irene’s blood regularly.

But… was it for Abel?

My eyes flicked to Abel—but all I could see was his back, cloaked in black.

“Well, good. That just means killing her kills two birds with one stone.”

Chloe shifted sideways in an instant.

The bowstring snapped.

“Damn it!”

It was instinctive—my curse as the arrow flew.

Thunk!

But just then, something exploded out of the sand in front of us.

It was massive—like a wall—and it shielded us, pushing us backward.

“Ah!”

“Watch out!”

The force of it all made me shut my eyes tightly.

“So… now you’re controlling monsters too?”

“You keep misspeaking, Mother.”

Chloe had been knocked down by the sudden black curtain that rose from the earth.

Still on the ground, she snatched up a fallen arrow that had tumbled from her quiver.

“You could’ve had it all. Everything. Why… Why would you make that choice?”

“…A monster has no place among humans, Mother.”

Abel’s voice was soft—like a sigh carried on the wind.

“But you could rule them. If you’d just taken your place as the head of the house, there wouldn’t be any of this!”

“It’s all in the past now. Mother.”

Abel’s calm, resolute reply struck like a closing chapter.

Chloe gave a bitter laugh.

“Ha… ha… But now she knows, doesn’t she? That you’re the reason she was used—bled dry.”

“…”

“And you call that love? Love?! Ha! Ahahaha!”

Her laughter twisted into something guttural. Broken.

“You will always be something foul. Disgusting.”

Abel stood still, watching her—saying nothing.

The harsh desert wind tore through, lifting the edges of his cloak and hat.

“You think that thing you call love is real? No—it’s just your body responding to her blood.”

At those words, Abel’s silver lashes lowered slightly.

He glanced down, then gently brushed a scar on the back of his hand with his fingers.

“…Perhaps. Maybe I am drawn to it. To her blood. Instinctively.”

“Then live with that doubt for the rest of your life. Never knowing if what you feel is real—or just the ugliness of your nature.”

Chloe raised her bow again.

Her hands trembled violently.

Abel didn’t move.

He stood there, unmoving, his violet eyes cold.

Chloe bit down hard on her lower lip, glaring at him.

Then she let go.

Thwip—!

“….”

Maybe her hand had trembled too much.

The arrow only grazed Abel’s cheek, slicing a shallow line across it.

He touched his face.

Blood beaded slowly under his fingers.

“Kill me. Because as long as I live, I will kill you. And her.”

Her voice was hollow now. Resigned.

It was over.

Everything she had carried from the moment she stepped through Mergen’s gates—her ambitions, her sorrow, her twisted desires, and the bitter remains of vengeance—all ended here.

In the end, she left Mergen with nothing.

“Isn’t the world cruel, only to me?”

“…”

“Why am I the only one told to let go of my greed? Irene. Deborah. Those pathetic retainers—they all live chasing what they want!”

Tears slipped quietly down her face.

“…There’s something I want to ask you, Mother.”

At Abel’s question, the disheveled Chloe slowly lifted her head.

“Was it you… who killed Deborah?”

In that moment, Chloe saw something terrifying flicker in Abel’s eyes.

A raw, visceral rage—so strong it seemed he might tear her apart if she answered yes.

“……”

Chloe couldn’t speak right away.

“…Yes. I killed her. I took her life.”

Abel’s eyes darkened. A deep, creeping horror stirred in their depths.

“…You truly aren’t human anymore.”

Chloe’s body began to tremble.

It wasn’t fear of death—no, this was something deeper.

It was instinct. A primal, physical response to the being that Abel had become.

“Let me give you one last piece of advice… as your mother. Take her blood. Steal it—protect yourself with it.”

“…I’ll be sure to remember your advice.”

Abel turned his back to her.

“Why? Why are you walking away?! Didn’t you say you would kill me?!”

Chloe dragged herself across the ground, bow still clutched in one hand.

She reached out, trying to grab his leg—but collapsed before she could reach him.

Abel looked down at her one last time.

“The blood I desire… isn’t yours.”

And with that, Abel left her behind.

A cold, final farewell.

Chloe was left alone.

Her gaze followed Abel as he walked farther and farther away… until he disappeared into the vast distance.

Tears slid silently down her cheeks.

“Huuh… ngh…”

Her forehead touched the ground.

Her fists pounded the sand.

And in that moment, her mind was pulled back—to the past.

To the day she walked through the gates of House Mergen, holding young Abel and Nehrzhu by the hand.

She had chosen that place to save Abel.

But the one who became a monster… was herself.

“What in the world happened here…?”

The soldiers who arrived late stumbled upon the scene.

They found Irene and Elliot collapsed, covered in dirt and bruises. Though scraped and battered, they didn’t appear critically injured.

Not far off, they spotted the scattered bodies of the dead.

Riderless horses galloped wildly across the desert.

“Who could’ve done this…? Was it monsters?”

The chaos bore the marks of beasts frequently encountered along the Hecla border.

One soldier approached the bodies.

Among them, he found the corpse of a woman.

“Over here! Look at this!”

The others rushed over. Subcommander Maxim immediately recognized her.

“This woman is…”

It was Chloe—the one who had escaped solitary confinement.

An arrow was lodged in her throat.

Judging from the blood on her hands, she had likely driven it in herself.

“…We’ll… need to report this.”

The scene was gruesome.

“I’m so sick of this…”

“Sick of what?”

“Of passing out every time something happens.”

“Oh, come on. At least you survived!”

“Do you think I faint so easily because I’m weak?”

“Well, Sir Elliot passed out too, you know.”

Karlin dabbed my forehead with a damp cloth.

“You’re covered in bruises. Look at this! You still haven’t healed from the fall last time, and now you’ve been grazed by an arrow too.”

“What about Elliot?”

“He woke up early this morning and went straight out to help sort everything. Apparently, they found Lady Chloe’s body.”

“…So she really did die.”

I’d suspected as much.

When she aimed her bow at me, something in her eyes told me it would be the last time we ever looked at each other.

“What about Abel?”

“Sir Abel? Why do you suddenly bring him up?”

It seemed Karlin didn’t know he’d been there.

“…Never mind. I should get up now.”

“No! Stay in bed! You have to rest this time.”

“But I have things to—”

“The world won’t end if you take one day off, milady!”

Karlin pressed the blanket down tightly over me.

“Wait, hold on.”

“The Lord himself gave orders! You’re not to move an inch!”

“……”

So, Grandfather plans to handle Chloe’s matter himself.

“Well… I guess one day of rest wouldn’t hurt.”

And with that, I finally gave in to Karlin.

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