I’ve Decided to Let You Go - Chapter 102

Despair finally broke her.

The resentment and sense of betrayal she had carried for so long now seemed hollow. She couldn’t accept that everything surrounding her had been built on Sieghart Aschart’s suffering.

When had it begun?

She couldn’t tell.

Then, how much of it? Where did the lie begin and end?

She couldn’t grasp that either.

But one thing was certain. Everything was false. Everything was stained.

Even the tragedies she had endured through ten lives and deaths.

“You said you’d do anything. Then I have a request. Bring my family back, Sieghart.”

“Just like you saved me, save them too. Even if it means sacrificing yourself. Somehow.”

“Then… maybe I’ll consider forgiving you.”

Even her hatred for him was built on broken ground.

The sharp words she had hurled to wound him, the ones that once gave her strength, now washed over her like waves made of regret and sorrow.

Why? Why did she have to drown in emotions like these?

She was a victim too. Sieghart Aschart had brought ruin into her life. He had destroyed her home, shattered her nation, and crushed what little hope she had left.

Even if his life had been taken from him by her family, that didn’t erase what he had done.

So why?

Tears burst from her eyes, and a painful groan escaped her lips.

Was this quiet agony what they called regret?

Her nails scraped violently across the marble floor. Kail Letius stood watching her cries with mocking amusement, but she had no room left for shame.

Her palm burned. Her fingers, bleeding now and then, felt like they were on fire.

Smoke began to rise from her skin. Soon, a thick fog encircled her, wrapping her in a barrier that separated her from reality.

She couldn’t understand what was happening. She stood frozen like a fool, overwhelmed.

Then she heard footsteps.

They sounded like a small animal coming down a hill.

Natasha turned her head toward the sound and saw a boy. He had hair as dark as the night sky and was running with all his strength.

She realized not long after that this was a young Sieghart.

Then, was this his life? Just like how her own past had surfaced when she was dying, was she now seeing his?

No, not Sieghart. This was Enoch Callete’s life.

The boy ran into the Imperial Palace, not even aware of what he was saying. Driven by survival, he had vowed to give everything, his flesh and blood, to those monsters.

He survived the hellish dogfighting pits and became a hound of the former emperor. He was given a new name, Sieghart Aschart, and wasted years of his life using his talent for meaningless missions.

The same room. The same clothes. The same schedule. His days were empty and monotonous.

He rarely showed emotion, but one day, something changed.

Reading a letter on the table, Sieghart suddenly stood up and stormed out.

Natasha picked up the letter that had fallen to the floor.

“The charge of treason against House Callete was a lie fabricated by the Charlier royal family.”

That was the moment Sieghart learned the truth. His family had been innocent. His enemy had always been the royal family.

He was overwhelmed, but all he did was walk. He walked and walked, again and again, until the anger inside him had cooled.

The place he stopped at was a graveyard or rather, a place for those who were denied even proper burial.

He paused in front of a nameless grave. It had no surname. The name Callete could not be written.

Sieghart knelt before it. His scream was louder than the sound of rain falling around him as he renewed his vow.

Natasha, unable to approach, could only watch from afar. His roar was lost beneath the rain, but she could guess what promise he had made.

After the rain ended, Sieghart rose silently and went straight to the throne room.

He stood before the new emperor, Kail Letius, and declared it was time for revenge.

And then, on the day of reckoning…

Sieghart Aschart removed his helmet and approached James Charlier.

“Do you remember me?”

“…”

“I’ve suffered every day, unable to forget your eyes. What about you? Do you remember mine?”

James Charlier, the king and Sieghart’s sworn enemy, was too stunned to answer.

Sieghart, growing impatient, grabbed the man’s jaw and forced him to look. He ordered him to see his eyes and waited for the answer.

The Callete and Charlier families both had crimson eyes. Some nobles who once supported the Calletes believed that noble blood ran through them just the same.

“You…”

King James Charlier finally recognized him. He realized that Sieghart was a descendant of the Calletes. And the shock nearly broke him.

Sieghart tightened his grip on the king’s jaw. As James winced in pain, Sieghart shouted furiously.

“Why did you do it? Go ahead, give me an excuse. I’ll listen, since it’s a dead man’s last words.”

“…”

“Why did you kill my family? Why did you destroy innocent lives, accuse us of treason, and stain our name? Why!”

“What would a child know? Your family was filthy and selfish. The royal family acted to protect the kingdom. If the royals fall, the nation falls. I had to protect everyone.”

James Charlier had already accepted that he would not survive. He had no regrets. Still arrogant, still justifying himself, he gave no apology.

Sieghart released him and stood up.

He left the rest to Kail Letius and walked out of the palace.

Just like the day he had learned the truth, he walked and walked.

He left behind the ruins of a castle and wandered aimlessly across lands turned to wastelands.

Then, suddenly, he dropped to his knees.

It’s over. Finally.

The man muttered under his breath.

But why… why does it feel so disgusting?

His empty voice echoed around him.

Sieghart knew.

Enoch Callete was never coming back.

He knew that his faded past, his innocence, his hopes, and his dreams had all sunk into the depths with the fall of the Charlier royal family. Everything beautiful he had once held onto was buried forever. He would never get it back.

Darkness rushed in and swallowed Natasha whole.

She opened her eyes inside that darkness and saw the silhouette of a man moving through a snowstorm.

It was Sieghart.

He was holding the sword given to him by the Pope when he was chosen as a knight of honor. He stood before the temple and struck the blade against a giant stone, shouting with all his strength.

Begging them to save Natasha Aschart.

Then darkness came again.

When Natasha opened her eyes this time, she was truly awake.

“Tch. How boring… What a waste of time.”

Kail Letius scoffed and muttered a curse before turning away. He left Natasha lying there like a broken doll and returned to the banquet.

After the door slammed shut, Natasha’s fingers twitched.

It was just a small movement, but it was the beginning.

She slowly pushed herself off the floor. Her body moved sluggishly as she walked toward the couch and leaned against it. The bitter scent of old tobacco stung her nose.

A few moments later, the door to the study opened. Two sets of footsteps echoed into the room and stopped in front of her.

It was Sir Dante and another knight.

“We’ve returned safely.”

They saluted her, then gave their report.

“The secret passage is larger than we expected. It takes about thirty minutes to walk through. We marked the exit. It looks like it leads near the detached palace. During tomorrow’s banquet, we’ll investigate it further while the guards are distracted.”

Their plan was to explore the detached palace the next day, focusing on the area where the secret passage led.

“We’re also thinking about how our knights could use that exit as an infiltration point.”

“Good. Thank you, all of you.”

With today’s mission complete, the knights scattered. They slipped out through the windows, and Natasha quietly followed when the coast was clear.

Tomorrow would be the last day of the royal banquet.

Everything they had planned so far had gone well. All that was left was to strengthen their forces and finish the mission.

Sieghart had said there was a ninety percent chance of success. He sounded confident. And Natasha also believed this plan couldn’t fail.

They were on the brink of victory.

So why did her chest feel so heavy?

She got up from her bed and walked out to the terrace. The cool night breeze brushed her skin as she looked sideways.

The terrace next to hers was empty.

He’s not here yet.

She and Sieghart, though married, had been placed in neighboring rooms. But they had both been busy, and she had avoided seeing him. They hadn’t spoken much at all.

Sometimes she could feel him nearby, on the terrace or in the hallway. But whenever she sensed his presence, she hid her own.

Once she figured out what time he usually came out to the terrace, she started avoiding it completely during that time.

But even knowing that, here she was again. At that hour. Standing in the very place she had been avoiding.

I have no reason to be thinking about him.

Natasha smiled bitterly at herself.

It was pathetic. Of all people, she was thinking about him. Wishing to see him. Hoping he would appear. The man she had once begged to disappear.

It must be because of those damn memories.

Yes, that was it. Just the memories.

Or maybe… maybe it was because tonight’s stars were shining as brightly as they had when Tisha Winter and Sieghart Aschart had looked at them together.

No, no… or maybe…

No.

The truth is…

Support