It's Too Late for Regrets - Chapter 10.6

The half-finished spell began to work, making a creepy sound.

 

Rain and tears blurred her vision. Still, she clearly saw the black mist leaking from the left side of the man’s chest, who was holding both of her shoulders.

 

That black mist slowly settled onto Ines’s thin shoulder.

 

It was a similar feeling to the one that had pulled her back in Gelnor a few weeks ago.

 

“…!”

 

Her heart dropped with a thud.

 

A collection of cursed energy that had been born with her 28 years ago. Something she had once named and called out herself now slithered toward her like a snake, carried by the power of the spell.

 

But it did not enter Ines’s heart. Instead, it was caught by the man’s hand.

 

‘Huh…?’

 

While Ines was frozen in place, the black mist raged as if trying to resist the path set for it.

 

But in the end, it was slowly absorbed under the Grand Duke’s sleeve.

 

Woooosh.

 

The heavy rain did not stop. The magic circle drawn in the grass finally collapsed and lost all shape.

 

The spell had completely failed.

 

At last, the man let out a low sigh.

 

“…Ha.”

 

A slight twitch appeared under his right eye. Rayan’s lips were slightly parted. His breathing was rough.

 

Ines stared at him blankly, then suddenly reached out her hand.

 

Through the sound of rain, she thought she could hear his irregular heartbeat.

 

The vibration was so intense that it passed through his body and even reached her, though they were apart.

 

“Ah… ha, ha.”

 

But just before her hand could touch his cheek, the man burst into wild laughter.

 

Rayan shook with emotion, his face twisted in a way that made it unclear whether he was overcome with joy or suffering.

 

“…You’ve come back… you really came back, Ines.”

 

“….”

 

“What should I do with you now…?”

 

His cheek was wet.

 

As Ines quickly pulled her hand back, she wondered if what soaked his face wasn’t rain, but tears.

 

The vision she had seen earlier still faintly overlapped his face.

 

The Grand Duke who had wrapped her in a jacket far too big for her in the elegant palace of Lezan and the man in front of her now—they were definitely the same person. And yet, Ines couldn’t believe it.

 

‘He seems like a completely different person…’

 

The man in the vision had been expressionless and cold, revealing nothing inside.

 

Though he had saved her, it had felt like a necessary act, not one driven by emotion.

 

But now?

 

A storm of emotions was raging inside him—so many, Ines couldn’t even grasp them all.

 

“I missed you.”

 

He wasn’t hiding his feelings at all. His expression, his entire body, revealed them openly.

 

“I missed you. You, with those eyes. Yes, I missed seeing you like this—this look of yours drove me mad.”

 

The Grand Duke seemed like a man split in two. He was crying and smiling at the same time, filled with uncontrollable joy and deep despair.

 

Even though he clenched his teeth, his jaw and shoulders still trembled violently.

 

Rayan slowly rested his forehead on her shoulder. A crushed voice escaped him.

 

“So this is how we meet again in the end.”

 

As if the fierce inner struggle he had endured all this time had meant nothing—as if this was always meant to happen.

 

Fate had been far too kind to him. When Ines’s cold body vanished, when he found her alive in another form, and even now.

 

There had always been a sliver of hope.

 

That he could find her again.

 

That he could start over with her—that hope wasn’t torture.

 

It had been his way to breathe.

 

Even while drowning in a sea of despair, Rayan had clung to that thin air hole that floated above the surface.

 

And in the end, fate had pulled him back to shore.

 

He buried his face in her slender collarbone as if he could only breathe through her and gasped desperately.

 

My beautiful one, you finally came back. I finally got you back completely…

 

Ines silently stared at the shining silver hair below her eyes.

 

How did this man always recognize her at once?

 

No matter where she was or what she looked like, he never failed to find her. This was already the second time.

 

‘No, maybe even before this…’

 

She had a strong feeling—almost a certainty—that even in past lives she didn’t remember, the Grand Duke had always found her and kept her close.

 

‘…I hate this.’

 

A sudden wave of rejection made her twist her body. Even with that small movement, Rayan noticed immediately and lifted his head.

 

Even though he must have sensed her rejection clearly, he still stared at every part of her face like he couldn’t get enough.

 

“Your eyes haven’t changed…”

 

At those words, Ines closed her eyes. She didn’t want to see the expression he was making.

 

After a brief silence, his trembling hand brushed her cheek, held her shoulder, then slid down her waist.

 

Then suddenly, he seemed to realize just how cold her skin was.

 

“…You’re freezing.”

 

His face hardened in an instant. He quickly threw his cloak over her.

 

The thick cloak wasn’t wet inside, so it still held a little warmth.

 

Suddenly, a terrifying sense of comfort rushed in.

 

Ines hurriedly tried to pull the cloak off, but when Rayan stood up while holding her, she had no choice but to lean on him.

 

His arms wrapped tightly around her, as if he would never let go.

 

Rayan whispered in a husky voice as he hugged her tightly.

 

“I’ll take you somewhere safe. I’ll take care of things here.”

 

The surroundings were as dark as midnight. It was the time when darkness fully ruled.

 

When she looked around, she saw the seven magicians who had stood at the points of the magic circle were now frozen like stuffed figures.

 

Just like she had once been, their shadows were caught and they couldn’t move an inch.

 

Grrr…

 

A creepy growl came from somewhere, like a beast rumbling in its throat.

 

When she turned her gaze over Rayan’s shoulder, Ines met eyes with a giant beast covered in red fur.

 

Her face filled with shock.

 

“…?”

 

It was the red wolf—an exotic creature from the central continent, which she had seen among the Jenaire delegation.

 

The beast opened its mouth wide and let out a long roar. Its sharp teeth looked like they could crush bone with the lightest touch.

 

“Ines, what’s wrong?”

 

When Ines turned pale and stiffened, Rayan glanced back. Seeing the beast baring its teeth at him, he chuckled softly.

 

“You’re surprised? You don’t need to be.”

 

He pressed a kiss to her pale forehead as if he couldn’t contain his affection.

 

But his voice, aimed behind him, was sharp and cold like a blade.

 

“Hold it tight. I’ll be back soon.”

 

As if to respond, the tense air surrounding the forest let out a ripping sound. Black mist swept through the clearing and tightly coiled around the wolf’s massive body.

 

Rayan turned his back on the scene without emotion and started walking.

 

Ines, feeling his wildly beating and unstable heart, parted her lips.

 

“What about Caesar…?”

 

That child is probably alone. Is it really okay to leave him like that?

 

At the very least, shouldn’t his father stay by his side? Ines pushed him firmly.

 

“Not somewhere else—take me to where the boy is. Jenaire used him as an excuse to lure me here….”

 

But before she could finish her sentence, Rayan answered.

 

“You don’t have to worry about our son, Ines.”

 

“Why not…?”

 

“As long as I’m breathing, that child will always be safe. Anywhere, anytime.”

 

His tone was firm. Even though Ines knew she shouldn’t trust a single word from this man, she couldn’t help but feel relief.

 

He whispered kindly,

 

“There’s nothing you need to worry about, Ines.”

 

“….”

 

“Everything’s going to be alright…”

 

But it was exactly because of you—holding me this tightly like you’re tying me down—that I can’t feel relieved.

 

Where are you taking me now? She wanted to ask, but only a shaky breath escaped her lips.

 

Ines repeated silently in her head:

 

‘…I’m not relieved. Not at all. Never.’

 

The spellcasters and the Grand Duke were all the same—people she couldn’t trust.

 

But she had no control over her body growing limp in his arms. A dizzy spell hit her.

 

As she felt him stepping deeper into the dim forest, Ines closed her eyes in helplessness.

 

 

Lezan Imperial Palace

 

The foreign delegations invited to the founding festival of Lezan, the sun of the northeast, stayed in the left wing of the imperial palace.

 

The royal family offered luxurious accommodations to most guests, except one—Jenaire. They were given the most remote and shabby room.

 

As soon as they crossed the border into Lezan territory, imperial knights surrounded them completely—not for protection, but for surveillance.

 

Since arriving at the palace, the Jenairens had not been allowed to step out of their room even once.

 

Sending out a single spellcaster just before entering the capital’s walls had been the only move they managed.

 

The second prince of Jenaire bit his lip in frustration.

 

‘We should have heard something by now…’

 

The spellcaster, and the oldest darkness—that was Jenaire’s last weapon. A power they had sealed away out of fear, unable to wield it for years.

 

But now, with the empire on the brink of collapse, they had no choice but to try anything.

 

Like many desperate people before them, they had finally decided to borrow the hand of a demon.

 

People pray to gods, but sometimes they rely even more on evil spirits.

 

Those who believe the gods abandoned them, those betrayed by goodness, those too desperate to wait for a salvation that would never come—they seek an easier way.

 

And that way was never far.

 

Instead of endlessly repenting and purifying their minds and bodies while waiting for the voice of a god, there was always an easier, faster method circling around weak humans.