My Dream is to Get My Own House - Chapter 117

Episode 117

The moment the light began to emanate from the magic circle.

His confusion, pain, loss, and all his memories up to now began to flow into me like a tide.

He had been an orphan, a young boy with a longing for someone to find him valuable.

“You are a vessel for dark magic.”

“Do I have any worth?”

“You have tremendous worth.”

Constantly, the magic circle of dark magic was drawn on his body.

In this way, the endless abuse continued, but he was happy.

He received constant validation that he had value.

While using him, the man in the mask spoke.

“There’s a rumor that the daughter of Saboia has the ability to reverse time. You will cause chaos in this empire alongside that child.”

“Chaos?”

“Yes, chaos. You just need to do as I command.”

The brainwashing continued thereafter.

Finally, the boy cried out behind him as if calling out to something.

“…But something is strange. You’re the Emperor, aren’t you? So why are you trying to destroy the empire?”

“Chaos and public enemies are the seeds of dictatorship power.”

“….”

“We are doing good things, and Saboia’s daughter will cooperate gladly. Ah, that child will become your only friend.”

“Only… friend?”

“Yes. You’ve always longed for a friend, haven’t you?”

‘Friend’ was a trigger for the boy who had been alone.

As the boy pondered the word ‘friend’ dazedly, the man under the mask revealed himself.

Surprisingly, his true identity was someone even ‘Diana’ knew.

He was the gentle emperor embedded in the memories of young ‘Diana’.

After absorbing his memories, I gasped for breath and regained consciousness.

“So the mastermind behind all of this was the gentle emperor?”

“Yes. No one would believe that the ‘gentle’ saint would engage in such vile deeds from behind the scenes.”

He was right. The gentle saint was a figure widely known in the empire as a kind and loving patron of the family.

But he was also the one who confined my son in a small cabin, subjected him to abuse, and eroded his self-esteem under Grand Duke Castilla’s rule.

I answered with a trembling voice.

“Believe me.”

“What…?”

“I knew the gentle saint was a piece of trash.”

He was different from the angelic image widely known to the world.

He tormented young Dylan, kept him in a small cabin and the grand palace, subjecting him to endless suffering.

“Grand Duke Castilla was cursed, but he was still of direct bloodline. He probably thought that as his presence became more prominent, it diminished his own prestige.”

“….”

“So, the gentle emperor needed a distraction from the duke, a figure that would divert his attention. Along with a powerful secret society that would move according to my will.”

“Yes. The gentle emperor despised dark magic, but at the same time, he was fascinated by it. That’s how <Red Castle>’s inception began.”

With a sly smile, Lotvart continued,

“So you see, all we need to do is turn back time.”

“Isn’t turning back time the emperor’s wish? Are you willing to fulfill that person’s desire?”

“You don’t know why the emperor wanted to turn back time, do you?”

“…What is it?”

“If time is turned back, only the person who turned it back will remember the past timeline.”

“…So that person wanted to see the future first and then go back.”

“Yes. But the gentle emperor is already dead. So, I’ll turn back time, go back through those memories, and properly kill the gentle emperor.”

“….”

“Then, both you and I can live happily.”

The pure sincerity in his words caught me off guard, leaving me breathless for a moment.

“But you see, it’s just one chance, so you must be cautious.”

“…Wait a moment. You’re saying there’s a single opportunity to turn back time?”

I chuckled with a sense of resignation.

“It’s impossible.”

“Why?”

“Because opportunities come just once.”

“Yes, once.”

“I already died once and then came back to life.”

I don’t know the exact reason, but that’s what happened.

“Why on earth? How did you die in the first place?”

“I just died from overexertion, I guess?”

…To be precise, it’s like collapsing from exhaustion while paying off a debt, if I put it that way?

I still don’t know how I managed to return after collapsing like that without even a magic circle.

Anyway, what’s certain is that I diligently paid off my debt and then keeled over and died.

You could say it was a very straightforward death.

On the other hand, Lotvart seemed very bewildered.

“If, if you died and came back to life….”

I wondered if he realized that everything he had done so far was like building a sandcastle.

His words trailed off, and his face turned perplexed at the same time.

“No, I don’t believe it. This could just be a lie to avoid the situation, right?”

I stifled a chuckle while looking at him, trying to appear nonchalant.

“If you want, I’ll prove it. That I indeed experienced a regression.”

While proving that I had regressed once, a good idea came to mind – one that might rewire Lotvart’s decayed mindset.

“How are you going to prove it?”

It was when he finally regained his usual arrogant expression.

Leaving him in confusion, I walked toward the altar of the magic circle created by the <Red Castle>.

“You probably know it well, but I’m a bit of a lunatic.”

My previous life when I lived in Korea was a series of crazy actions.

This life was no different either.

I saved Duke Saboia and even went to prison to prevent a bomb terror.

I even openly defied the family in front of the Emperor.

It was something only possible with the heart of a formidable beast.

So, once again, I decided to trust my instincts and jump into a reckless bet.

I stepped boldly into the shimmering magic circle.

There was no time for Lotvart to stop me.

As expected, the magic circle had already completed all its preparations.

As soon as I, the “final sacrifice,” stepped in, flames erupted from beneath my feet.

With a gaze filled with fear, I looked down at the magic circle beneath my feet.

Countless mana contained in the magic circle rushed into me.

It felt as if blunt blades were wildly tearing at my heart.

In that moment, as Lotvart looked at me with an incredulous expression, he asked, as if unable to believe,

“You said you’ve already gone back in time?”

“…Y-Yes.”

I looked at him with a pale, shocked expression.

He was about to enter the already activated magic circle, but he quickly recoiled and stepped back.

“Believe. Believe, so come back down again. Those who have regressed once will vanish once they enter inside!”

His words were correct.

This magic circle was causing my death by triggering a mana rampage.

The explosive mana collected by <Red Castle> began to settle within my heart.

Feeling as though someone was squeezing my heart and shaking it violently, I trembled with a pale face.

Enduring the pain, I spoke firmly.

“I won’t be annihilated.”

Lotvart furrowed his brow and muttered curses under his breath.

However, it seemed that even he couldn’t stop the magic circle that had already begun its operation.

He muttered something again.

It seemed to be an incantation to stop the magic circle.

However, the magic circle started to wrap around my entire body with dazzling and splendid light, as if performing a magnificent masquerade show.

All that array of light shot at me like arrows.

I moved my body in agony like a fish caught on a hook, yet I didn’t take my gaze off Lotvart.

His expression was rapidly crumbling with pain.

However, one final confirmation was necessary.

With all my strength, I murmured.

“So, killing so many… people. Afraid… of killing me, right? Why?”

“Yes, I’m afraid.”

He didn’t cry, but he seemed like a bewildered child unable to grasp his bearings.

Feeling a sensation as if my heart would rend, I raised my hand.

“Come, come closer…”

He approached as close as he could, mumbling,

“…This is the limit. You have no choice but to come out.”

I reached out my hand towards him.

Being within the magic circle, I could touch him.

“You said you were scared, right? Of course. You’re my only… friend, you know.”

“Friend?”

“Yes, friend.”

As the <Red Castle>, he committed numerous misdeeds.

He had to pay the price for his wrongdoings.

But before paying that price, there was something I could do for him.

“I’ll help you break free from dark magic, even without regressing.”

I considered it my final repayment for saving young Diana’s life.

For that brief moment, he and I were ‘friends’ in our loneliness.

Just after concluding my words, my body’s magic circle filled with mana.

Normally, this mana would have exploded throughout my entire body.

If I had died from the mana explosion, the magic circle would have inherited my abilities and destroyed this timeline.

But now, the situation is different.

‘Child, there are various ways to use the power of purification as an offensive magic.’

‘Yes? What do you mean by that?’

‘Gathering mana and explosively transferring it to the opponent. Even the filthiest thing will be purified in an instant.’

‘…I don’t have that much mana to begin with.’

‘That’s a pity then. I should have given you more Mana Expansion Potions.’

But isn’t there mana here that’s crazily exploding?

I absorbed the explosively erupting mana from the magic circle into my body, then applied it to Lotvart’s body.

The explosive mana and the power of purification intertwined and struck him directly.

At the moment when blinding white light enveloped Lotvart.

Suddenly, dirty and sticky black residues began to scatter from his body.