Chapter 144. Madness Resembling Love

The feeling of regret always begins with reflecting on the past.

The assumption that if I had done that then, if I had made a different choice in the past, wouldn’t I be living a different life now?

Everyone harbors such regrets in their heart while reminiscing about the past, but that was a story far from Enoch Bayern’s life. He had never once regretted the path he had lived. He was born perfect and had never failed to achieve anything he set his mind to.

Enoch was accustomed to such a life. A life too easy and trivial. Therefore, sometimes a terribly boring life.

Even when interesting things happened in that life, even when beings that aroused curiosity appeared, he thought nothing would change.

It was the same when he first met Ellen.

On that night of the ball, Ellenore Lopez was merely a passing acquaintance, a brief interest to glance at and then discard.

It wasn’t much different when they encountered each other in the library. At that time, Ellen wasn’t someone who could shake him. If anything, he was the one who shook her.

But when exactly did the situation reverse?

The more he looked back on the time he spent with Ellen, the clearer it became that the power of magic was merely a decoration in this relationship. That insignificant thing had interfered, preventing them from fitting together, and ruined everything.

As expected, he was sick and tired of magic.

But what angered him more than magic was his foolish past self. Perhaps this was the price to pay for the arrogance of daring to think he had everything in the world in the palm of his hand. Enoch bitterly mocked himself.

“Don’t you resent me?”

He asked with a pained smile. With bloodshot eyes, in what was clearly an unsightly state.

“I’m the one who’s making you die. I’m the one who…”

Was the foresight magic really necessary?

No, even without such a thing, Enoch would have won in any situation. He might not have been able to kill Navaroa. But does that matter? All those things that now seem utterly useless. Victory in war, diplomatic gains, business profits… Even if all of these were combined, they could never be exchanged for Ellen’s life.

Her existence had somehow become so heavy and important. As if the central axis maintaining his life had shifted to her.

“…Enoch, I don’t resent you.”

Ellen said as she gently wiped his tear-stained eyes and cheeks. Her faint voice, almost a whisper, was deeply imbued with a bleak sadness.

“It was my choice. That was the contract.”

“Ah, right. That damned contract.”

He spoke, spewing out his frustration and gritted his teeth. In his blazing golden eyes, despair and anger were tangled like a lump.

“There was no need to make such a contract. I grasped it out of greed even though it wasn’t particularly necessary. This is the result of attaching all sorts of reasons like your usefulness and whatnot. Just say you resent me. What changes if you show magnanimity? The fact that I’m a damn fool who made the woman I love die remains unchanged…”

It felt like sinking endlessly into a swamp of despair. He was at a loss for how to save Ellen. What should I do? He felt like he would sell his soul to the devil if only he could save her. That’s how desperate and urgent he felt.

I can’t lose you so quickly, and so pointlessly. Absolutely not. So he had to find some way immediately.

“…I can’t lose you like this.”

“Enoch—”

“I’d rather die than lose you. When I think of you dying, it feels like my heart is being torn into ten thousand pieces, how am I supposed to endure that? …I’ll do anything to save you. Even if… I have to lay my hands on taboos.”

Ellen’s eyes widened at those words, and she hurriedly grabbed his arm to stop him. Her voice, clearly showing signs of panic, trembled finely like the resonance of a string instrument.

“What nonsense are you talking about? Taboos? Come to your senses!”

“No, I’m already out of my mind.”

He picked up the protesting Ellen and carefully laid her on the bed. Her ankle was still shackled, and this villa was under the iron-clad surveillance of knights standing guard in shifts day and night. Therefore…

“There’s no way for you to escape from here, Ellen.”

This place was a fortress to confine her and a comfortable cradle. The finally caught bird was caged. In fact, anywhere, not just here, even after returning to Freuden, he intended to confine her and bind her for life.

Because if he didn’t do that, he’d go crazy with anxiety.

“Stay here quietly. I’ll definitely find a way to save you.”

“Enoch, please, promise me you won’t do anything dangerous like breaking taboos.”

“I’ll do anything to save you. And you can’t stop me, Ellen.”

He slowly lowered his head and gently kissed her forehead. Then, when their eyes met, Ellen witnessed a fierce affection that could be called madness. A passion so intense and terrifying it took her breath away. Unable to believe that it was all directed at her, she moved her lips blankly.

“I’ll sacrifice myself as an offering if that’s what it takes to save you.”

“……”

“If I can’t save you, I’ll want to burn everything in this world to ashes.”

He raised the corners of his mouth in a savage smile as hot tears flowed. As if he would trample the world if he couldn’t save her. That violent affection was no different from a calamity.

“I love you.”

“……”

“I love you, Ellen.”

The man who dared to name this eerie obsession as love embraced her tightly as if to crush her and savagely devoured her lips. With a twisted will that could never be considered normal, he seemed to say that if he couldn’t save this woman, he would die too.

* * *

“Have you brought her?”

“Yes, Miss.”

Two burly men entered the warehouse, dragging an unconscious woman. After confirming the woman’s face, Angela smiled with satisfaction. Indeed, it was certainly Ellenore’s foreign-blooded maid.

“Tie her to the chair and administer the truth serum. Mix in some drugs too, just in case.”

“Understood.”

Angela’s loyal servants diligently followed her orders. While Ellenore’s maid was being tied to the chair and a needle was inserted into her arm, Angela stood quietly, watching the entire process with an expressionless face.

“It’s done, Miss.”

“Good, now wake her up.”

“Yes.”

The servants poured ice water on the maid’s head and slapped her cheeks to make her regain consciousness. Finally, with a gasp, the maid woke up and looked at Angela with wide eyes, panting heavily.

Angela, wearing her usual benevolent saint’s smile, asked kindly.

“Hello. You’re Laila, aren’t you?”

“…Lady… Besnard…?”

“Yes. I brought you here because I have a few questions to ask you.”

Her voice echoed as if from a distant place. Laila tried to keep her head straight, fighting the constant urge to collapse. However, her consciousness was hazy and dizzy, as if endless sleep was pouring over her. She couldn’t even distinguish whether this situation was a dream or reality.

“I heard that Ellenore suddenly disappeared. And that Enoch went after her… They say you were the last person he interrogated.”

“……”

“Tell me everything — where Ellenore went, what secrets she’s hiding, if there’s anything that could be her weakness.”

The voice whispering while caressing her cheek was as sweet as delicious honey and carried an irresistible charm. So it felt even more dangerous, like a deadly poison. But Laila, unable to maintain a clear mind, moved her lips as if wandering in a dream.

“Her Highness…”

“Yes, yes. That’s good. Tell me everything.”

Words flowed out automatically, without even knowing what she was saying. A voice of reason in a corner of her mind cried out that this shouldn’t be happening, that she should escape even by using magic, but it was soon buried under the unknown force that had taken over her entire body.

Only after confessing everything did Laila finally faint.

“What should we do with this maid?”

“Administer more drugs and dump her near the Grand Duchy. Someone will find her and take care of her.”

“Yes. Should we inject enough to cause short-term memory loss?”

“Of course. She shouldn’t remember seeing me. …Ah, I should have worn a mask.”

Angela muttered nonchalantly, realizing she hadn’t thought of that, and waved her hand to dismiss the servants.

After the servants disappeared carrying the maid, Angela returned to her hotel room, finished preparing to go out, and headed to the Public Security Bureau of Ortez City. Her exact destination was the Unauthorized Mage Management and Supervision Department.

“What brings a Lady like yourself to a place like this?”

A mage dispatched from the Mage’s Tower asked, seemingly puzzled by Angela’s perfect appearance as a noble lady. Angela, feigning an anxious look, answered as if whispering a secret.

“I have someone to report…”

“Pardon? Someone to report? An unauthorized mage, you mean?”

Angela nodded with a tearful expression. As if she had ‘accidentally’ come to know this fact and was terribly scared and bewildered.

“Well, you see…”

The mage from the tower listened to her words with a serious expression. Angela inwardly let out a silent cheer, certain that everything was going according to plan.

* * *

“Your Highness!”

“Jasmine…?”

The person who came in right after Enoch left the room, saying he would assign someone to serve her, was none other than Jasmine.

As soon as Jasmine saw Ellen, she started to sob and eventually burst into tears. While Ellen was at a loss for what to do, Jasmine cried her heart out, then wiped her face with a handkerchief and spoke, mixing in sniffles.

“Laila is under disciplinary action… so I came alone. Your Highness, what on earth happened? His Grace the Grand Duke has been out of his mind, it was so frightening. How intense of a marital fight did you two have…”

“……”

Ellen, suddenly branded as a Grand Duchess who had a fight with her husband and ran away, let out a deep sigh. Well, there was no choice but to use that excuse…

“Please don’t disappear a second time… We were so scared that His Grace might go mad and shoot us. I’ve never seen His Grace so angry before.”

Hearing this, it seemed that the servants of Evitern Castle had suffered greatly after her disappearance. Ellen offered a heartfelt apology with a complicated feeling.

“I’m sorry, Jasmine…”

“No, you don’t need to apologize to us. It’s a matter between you two as a couple. Anyway, His Grace is completely smitten with Your Highness. To a rather serious degree…”

At Jasmine’s quietly added words, Ellen blinked in surprise. She wasn’t sure what expression she should make.

“Come to think of it, I have something to tell you. I told His Grace as well, about that silver-haired mage.”

“Ah… The one named Silver…”

“Yes, that pretty person. Before I came here, they suddenly visited Evitern Castle, but when told that Your Highness wasn’t there, they just left without saying much. I wonder what business they had…”