The Man’s 101st Bad Ending

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“Are you… really going to do that?”

Yuria, who had struggled to move her lips, asked back.

It would be difficult for her to understand that answer.

Putting off talking to her, the Young Lady, and choosing to go back with me.

It sounded like she was completely taking my side.

Of course, Miragen had probably said it on a whim because she was feeling unpleasant. But it must have been quite a shocking statement for Yuria.

“Yes, I have something left to discuss with Lord Robert.”

“I thought you had something to discuss with me too.”

“We can do that later. I don’t think it’s urgent enough that we have to do it right now.”

Miragen, who seemed to have guessed what Yuria wanted to talk about, answered in an even lower voice.

She probably thought it was quite awkward to talk about that matter too.

The imperial family’s position was on the opposing side regarding the southern subjugation, so wasn’t it obvious what Yuria had come here to talk about?

Yuria, who had bitten her lips tightly for a moment, glared at me.

She looked like she wanted to say something, but she couldn’t do that in front of the princess.

Moreover, since the princess also seemed to be taking my side, she would be confused in many ways.

As I grinned and shrugged my shoulders, Yuria’s fist trembled.

…Certainly, connections were good.

I didn’t expect the situation to be reversed like this, but when I made eye contact with Miragen, she winked at me and smiled slightly.

In the end, the one who backed down first was Yuria.

Since Miragen had refused, there was no more justification, so she would try to find another opportunity later.

Yuria, who bowed her head to the princess, then made eye contact with me and opened her mouth.

“Then I will take my leave first. I hope my brother doesn’t cause you any inconvenience.”

“It’s alright. Lord Robert is not that kind of person.”

“…I understand.”

Her eye muscles, trying hard to feign calmness, trembled for a moment, then Yuria turned around and immediately disappeared, riding the carriage.

By the time the sound of the horse grew distant and out of sight, Miragen stuck out her tongue and grinned at me.

“Hmm, how was it? I was quite helpful, right?”

“Can you handle it?”

“Yuria Taylor was probably desperate to talk to me in the first place. She’ll probably try to make a move to smooth things over regarding this subjugation. It seems she was on the opposite side from you.”

“I’m asking about what you just said, not that.”

She had declared that she would borrow an outsider man all day long.

Any other time would be fine, but wasn’t the current time completely dark night?

When I casually pointed at the moon, Miragen, who had been blankly staring at it, blushed slightly.

“Ah.”

I knew this would happen.

As I let out a small sigh, Miragen’s wavering eyes met mine.

What she was imagining… even a fool could probably tell.

***

Miragen’s attitude as she reached out to me was quite bold.

With a resolute expression and a resolute tone, Miragen, who had reached out her hand as if to touch my chest, opened her mouth.

“First of all, don’t misunderstand. No matter how light-hearted I may be, I do have a line I know to keep.”

“I see.”

“What’s with that tone, as if I don’t know anything? Anyway, when I said I would borrow Lord Robert, I didn’t mean it that way. Hmm, you can think of it as me throwing you a lifeline.”

A lifeline, it wasn’t wrong.

If it weren’t for her, I might have argued with Yuria, and she might have said something that crossed the line.

Moreover, it felt like she had taken a jab at Yuria.

My feelings towards Miragen were purely gratitude.

She, who was busy taking in what she had done, eventually asked me as if something was strange.

“But you don’t seem to get along very well. I didn’t hear everything, but it felt like she was deliberately getting on your nerves.”

“I don’t pay much attention to that now. I was going to retort too, but thanks to Your Highness the Princess helping me, I was relieved of one worry.”

At those words, Miragen seemed to be in a slightly better mood, staring at me with twitching lips.

It was an expression that said it was okay to praise her more.

If she made that expression, I should stop praising her now.

As I stopped talking, Miragen’s spirited face gradually turned sullen.

“…Well, I’m glad it was resolved well. So what are you going to do now?”

“What do you mean?”

“When I said I would borrow you, I meant to help you. I can’t keep you with me late at night, are you going to go back to the ducal estate?”

“I don’t mind staying outside. Anyway, there’s no one who cares much whether I’m there or not.”

She looked like she wanted to refute something at those words, but Miragen, who knew my situation to some extent, soon shut her mouth tightly.

My situation could be said to be quite unfortunate in a way, so from her perspective, she probably wouldn’t want to bring it up readily.

In fact, I didn’t really care where I stayed.

If she wanted, I could stay at the palace for a day, but it was better to avoid that.

I didn’t think Yuria would go around gossiping about what the princess said, but unnecessary rumors could arise.

If I was going to return to the ducal estate anyway, it was better to go back early.

There was no reason to avoid Yuria in the first place.

If asked who was more confident between Yuria and me in the current situation, wouldn’t it be me who had shown the princess’s support?

“I think it would be better to just go back.”

“I thought so too.”

“There’s no need for you to go through the trouble because of me. If it’s in return for the advice earlier, I’ve received enough with what just happened.”

“I didn’t do it with that intention… but I have no choice. If you need a carriage, let me know. I can call one for you.”

“It’s alright. Don’t I have the carriage I rode to the palace?”

When I pointed to the carriage standing alone, Miragen finally nodded as if she realized.

Yet she looked a bit curious about my affairs.

Even though she knew my reputation was bad, she had probably seen for the first time that my relationship with Yuria was not good.

I had appeared with Yuria in public, but it was all just to accompany her as her assistant.

From others’ perspective, it would have looked like a younger brother assisting his older sister who had become the Young Lady.

Even though I was incompetent, there were rumors that we had a good sibling relationship because I tried to assist my sister.

From my point of view, there was no more absurd rumor than that.

“Will you be okay?”

Miragen said, looking at me getting on the carriage.

After pondering for a moment at the voice that contained many meanings, I smiled slightly and nodded.

“It’s fine. And this.”

I lightly tapped the artifact on my chest.

Originally, I had no intention of contacting her privately, but I had received help in many ways.

It would be fine to occasionally give her advice about the northwest.

Miragen, who understood my actions, waved her hand with a noticeably brightened expression.

“I’ll be waiting for your contact. It’s okay to chat sometimes, you can just do it occasionally.”

Bowing my head slightly to her brazen response, I entrusted my body to the carriage.

As the carriage jolted and moved, I saw Miragen heading back to the palace.

I had always thought that I often got entangled with Miragen in many ways.

Our first connection was made when we met at the ball, and in this run, I couldn’t meet her because I was busy meeting Adele and Adriana.

I always met Miragen for the first time on her birthday.

At first, I considered it an honor to have met her, and later, I tried to seduce her to use her.

When I think of the time we became lovers, I don’t think it was bad.

Because I found some comfort in the fact that she was the one who grieved the most when I died.

If even she had betrayed me, my regression might have stopped there and been stuck forever.

Even when I was insane, it was also Miragen who directly took up the sword, and she always had a sad expression then.

As if she knew I was not someone who would do that. She had an expression that looked like she was about to cry at any moment.

So in this run, I wondered what would happen if I avoided her.

I had questioned what would happen if we became completely unknown to eachother and erased our connection.

But in the end, we met like this, so that too could be considered a failure.

I didn’t believe in fate. But if connections were predetermined, I thought there was a high probability that Miragen and I were connected in that way.

In the end, didn’t we have quite an interesting relationship in this life too?

Fiddling with the artifact on my chest, I put it back in with a bitter smile.

“…Winter is coming soon.”

To be precise, there were not many days left until I headed to the north, but there were definitely things to finish before that.

Raising my support within the ducal estate could be done slowly without any problem, but Yuria’s attitude was an issue.

She thought everything I did was wrong and was simply moving forward according to her own will in the current situation.

Even if she did that, she would stumble on her own mistakes, but that was not the ending I wanted.

She had to think of me a bit more seriously.

She had to feel like I was a serious competitor to her, enough to be bothered by the path I was taking.

What I wanted was for her to fall from the highest place.

When she became complacent, thinking she had obtained everything on her own, when she thought she had finally reached the peak through the plans she had set up.

The fall that happened then would be true despair.

While I was away, she would prepare in her own way, but by the time spring arrived after winter ended, wouldn’t I be preparing even more than that?

I thought I would be able to finish the preparations to bring her down by then.

I didn’t think Yuria would regret her past actions.

There was a high probability that she genuinely believed all her actions were right.

Recalling her actions, my brows furrowed for no reason.

When I was at an age where my feet didn’t even reach the floor under the chair, I was locked in the basement and had my nails pulled out.

They stuffed my mouth full of cotton, and I felt the pain fully while suffocating and coughing.

The thick pliers grabbed my nails, and each moment they were pulled out was engraved in my mind.

I had begged them to pull them out quickly.

Even if I asked them to stop, I knew they wouldn’t listen, so I thought it would be better to feel the pain quickly if possible.

Even as they sprinkled salt water on the spots where my nails had been pulled out, I suppressed my screams, believing I could be forgiven next time.

Blood flowed from my clenched teeth, and my teeth shattered, with fragments circling inside my mouth.

I think I was probably 10 years old.

I knew quite well how Yuria viewed that incident, so I never had the slightest thought that she would regret it.

My aim to become the family head was just a preparation process for rebellion.

But at the same time, one thought occurred to me.

What expression would Yuria look at Lord Robert Taylor with?

If the family she cherished so much was taken away by the younger brother she always considered pathetic and tainted by rebellion.

What kind of face would she make then?

What I wanted was not for her to regret her own sins.

I just wanted her arrogance and carelessness, which she had harbored herself, to ultimately grab her ankles and crumble everything into futility.

Wouldn’t that be a fitting end for a woman named Yuria Taylor?

It was time to plant a seed in Yuria, just as I had done to Theresa. A seed that would someday sprout more brilliantly than anything else.

[T/N: Wtf…]

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