I Don't Want To Do a Romantic Comedy With a Villain! - Chapter 116

Episode 116

It’s ridiculous. Min-joo awkwardly averted her gaze and forced a laugh.

“…Is there a reason to like me? We weren’t on good terms.”

“Yeah. I just saw you as an experiment.”

Robert leaned back with a calm demeanor, without responding.

Sitting weakly slouched, she looked like a withered vegetable.

“It annoyed me that you blamed me for your incompetence as a non-sorcerer, and tried to persuade me. I also didn’t like seeing you wield power over others as if you were something.”

“Why don’t you just swear at me.”

“Shut up and listen.”

Dark blue eyes, filled with shadows, stared into the darkness.

There was light, but it was only a faint light.

“…I didn’t know you were struggling so much because of me. Saying you died here every time. The Duke is on the verge of madness because of my manipulation of time. Do you know how annoying it is to hear you groaning every night?”

She didn’t know. Min-joo was someone who couldn’t remember what dreams she had when she fell asleep.

Maybe she was groaning.

It seemed like she overheard the conversation they had late at night when Vehen visited.

“If it were me, I would have left you alone. I wouldn’t have anything to say if I could just put you somewhere for research. Just…”

Robert trailed off.

As if carefully choosing her next words, she hesitated without responding.

Her gaze wandered, losing its purpose.

“You brought food, brought cake. You didn’t unnecessarily watch, and told me to be careful of the cold outside.”

A glimmer passed through Min-joo’s black eyes and disappeared. Her wide, surprised black eyes were boiling with a strange excitement.

Robert turned her head awkwardly and muttered.

“…Just treating me like a human.”

Robert brushed aside her light brown hair, revealing her eyes.

Min-joo looked at the end of her eyes, hidden by her hair.

Long scars. They were so faint that they wouldn’t be visible when covered by hair, but they seemed like very old scars.

At that moment, she realized that she hadn’t lived here completely.

She didn’t want to know. She didn’t want to sympathize.

“Sorry. I’m sorry. And no matter how much I research the spell, the caster can’t teleport.”

“…What are you talking about?”

“I can’t go. I can only send someone and bring them back.”

It had been a long-standing dream. For Robert, the hope of returning home was very earnest and long-standing.

Min-joo knew it too. It was something she had longed for deeply.

Although she was grateful and happy that she wanted to send her, she felt anxious, disregarding her emotions.

What if time is reversed again? If they keep reversing time to enable dimensional travel for the caster?

Then Vehen would have to regress again, and Min-joo would have to start over knowing nothing.

With questions burning in her throat, Min-joo pursed her lips. But she couldn’t bring herself to spit it out.

‘What if you doubt yourself and don’t send me back?’

If they kept rewinding time out of spite?

She forced a smile, swallowing the rising anxiety. It felt awkward and stiff.

“…I didn’t want to feel guilty. It’s your fault.”

Robert read Min-joo’s thoughts written all over her face. How could she not when she was blatantly anxious?

Robert didn’t want to elaborate.

The more she spoke, the more miserable she felt.

So, just roughly. Just like that.

“Go. I’ll send you.”

If she didn’t miss her family, it would be a lie.

It was much better to be tasked with a job here, where she was ignored and harassed than to be underestimated.

But a lot of time had passed, and even if time was reversed, Robert was still a different person.

Just memories of a past life that the reincarnated person must bear.

Still, Min-joo was alive. Not much time had passed.

It was just a way to satisfy her conscience and guilt.

Min-joo, an arrogant hypocrite who didn’t even know her subject, was annoyingly kind despite their bad relationship.

She thought about sending her away.

Robert took a deep breath and exhaled. Then, the faint light that had been shining disappeared.

In the dark, silent space, Min-joo and Robert remained silent, holding their breaths.

“Thank you.”

“I didn’t do it to seek gratitude. I did it to repay a debt.”

“Still.”

“Can’t you stop saying such embarrassing things? Okay, okay. Don’t be silly and take care of yourself.”

Robert grabbed hold of the darkness and pulled it.

At the end of the layers of curtains of darkness, Min-joo’s front yard appeared.

Due to the sudden drop in temperature and the loud noise mixed in, Robert frowned.

Her nose turned red in an instant.

As the space disappeared, the chair that had supported them also disappeared, and with a thud, Min-joo fell on her buttocks.

Hitting the frozen ground due to the cold was quite painful.

As Min-joo cried out in pain, rubbing her buttocks, Robert laughed loudly and pointed at her.

“Ahaha! Look at you! Who said you’re going to start a revolution?”

“…It’s noisy. Did I break my butt?”

“Look, I’ll check.”

“What nonsense. This is mockery!”

Laughing to her heart’s content, Robert grabbed Min-joo’s wrist belatedly and pulled her up.

She was so weak that she almost stood up by herself.

Min-joo brushed off the dirt from her buttocks and sighed. Her mind was anything but simple.

“Robert, when can I go back?”

“Soon. I’m rechecking the spell.”

Robert looked around, shivered, and exhaled.

A faint, white breath stretched out for a long time.

It was fortunate that no one was around. If someone had seen, they would have been taken away as a sorcerer.

“I want to eat cake.”

“I’ll buy some later.”

“I prefer coffee over tea.”

“Oh, you’re picky.”

Min-joo pushed Robert’s shoulder and went into the house.

Feeling unsure whether she was happy or disappointed, she couldn’t distinguish.

* * *

Revolution. The word rolled around in his mouth.

Feeling unfamiliar and uncomfortable, he still felt like a prince.

Tedric entered the small house he had arranged in the capital.

The building, similar in size to the one he gave Min-joo, was neither too big nor too small.

So he could hear Terisha’s tantrums and screams all the time.

The more he heard the painful moans, the more his stomach churned and his head throbbed.

He felt like he was being worn away little by little.

But they were family.

The doctor who came to report Terisha’s condition looked down.

Tedric shrugged off his coat and handed it to a maid.

“What about Terisha?”

“I barely managed to stop her from breaking the window. She kept saying someone was watching, so I covered the window with curtains for now. Her health is gradually improving, but the insanity…”

The doctor trailed off, glancing at Tedric’s reaction.

Tedric looked past the doctor to the room upstairs.

The screams were clear.

As the days passed, while her body improved, her insanity remained.

Her outbursts continued all day, making him feel like she was better off when she wasn’t feeling well.

“You’ve worked hard.”

Tedric patted the doctor’s shoulder roughly and headed straight up the stairs.

Terisha’s harsh breathing filled his ears as he climbed.

The farthest room from the stairs.

As he opened the door, Terisha screamed and then fell silent when she saw Tedric’s face.

“Why are you here now? You should be with me all day to protect me!”

“I had something to do. Did anything happen today?”

As Tedric approached, Terisha quickly grabbed his coat and pulled him closer.

Tedric sat quietly next to his sister.

“The empress’ dogs are watching me from outside the window. They climb the walls to spy on me. How can I stay still? Let’s reinforce our walls and strengthen our guards. Change the doctor, it’s clear he’s the empress’ man.”

It’s all delusion.

Tedric gently smiled and brushed Terisha’s hair aside. The coarse hair stuck to his fingers.

Although she had gained weight compared to before, her cheeks were still sunken and her eyes were filled with anxiety. How could he help Terisha, who was still in the empress’ palm?

Tedric stroked her cheek with the back of his hand.

“The empress is dead. It’s impossible.”

“No, the empress is alive. I know. So she hired mercenaries…”

“Terisha.”

Tedric caressed Terisha’s eye area with his thumb. The rough skin caught on his fingers.

The normally stiff-faced Tedric felt unfamiliar.

Terisha looked at his stern face and chuckled.

“So, you think I’m crazy now?”

“The empress is dead.”

“How do you know the empress is dead?! Her body was covered with layers of cloth, so her form couldn’t be seen! No, did you even make sure? Are you sure the empress is dead?”

The empress’ final moments flashed in his mind.

Her mocking face and lifeless, green eyes. Her body fell limp.

His ears felt clogged.

Tedric absentmindedly gazed into space and then looked at Terisha.

They were being worn down. Continuously worn down until only bones were left.

Tedric smiled gently.

“The empress is dead. I saw it. It’s all delusions. The empress won’t harm us anymore.”

“Tedric!”

“Please!”

He didn’t want to think about Nelsie anymore. It was overwhelming to face it even in nightmares.

Tedric twisted his previously gentle smile and grabbed Terisha’s wrist.

Her limp wrist seemed like it would break with a little force.

“Please stop. She’s gone now, she’s dead. How many times do I have to say it?”

“But…”

As Terisha tried to argue, Tedric cut her off.

“Enough. I’m going to participate in the revolution with the goal of a constitutional monarchy. That way, the nobility’s power will increase even more. Once you’re feeling better, I’ll consider a marriage. I can’t become an emperor, but I can wield power equivalent to that.”

So please get better.

As Tedric looked for a reaction, Terisha grimaced and snorted.

“Are you crazy?”

“…What?”

“Revolution? Marriage? Power? Speak sense. If you participate in the revolution, it’s treason. Do you want to be beheaded?”

Terisha’s red eyes flickered. Her slender fingers began to wrap around Tedric like vines.

Her desperate grip felt chillingly tight.

“Don’t. You’ve ruined everything and then left me. Just live contentedly, giving me everything while feeling sorry for me for the rest of your life.”

“You said you wanted to be ……powerful.”

“I’m nothing now. You made me like this. You took me away from the palace. You took everything I could have enjoyed as a princess. Tedric, don’t deceive me. Don’t even think about getting rid of me by getting married.”

Tedric understood. It must be terrifying to participate in the revolution and be branded a traitor.

Without Tedric, Terisha would be helpless.

Who would support, care for, and worry about the princess who was weak and suffering from insanity?

Terisha grabbed Tedric with a grotesque smile.

“We are destined to live together for life. Nelsie made it so, and you made it so. If you dare to try to get rid of me, I will do it willingly in front of you. Don’t leave me behind. You can’t do that. You can’t do that to me.”

Where did it become so villainous like this?

Why do they have to cling to each other and tear each other apart?

“Don’t marry. Don’t run away. Don’t leave me and go somewhere else.”

Even if they devour each other verbally and constantly nag at each other, is this relationship really right?

Min-joo, what does she think?

Isn’t their relationship strange?

If she says it’s strange and tells him to stop, he’s prepared to believe her and follow her lead if she can show him another way.

He can’t seem to find a way to open up to her.