I Thought It Was a Common Transmigration - Chapter 113

“You are talking nonsense. It’s not about my will.”

“Have you ever confessed? I mean, you’re the one who’s been with him all these years.”

“I’m not stupid enough to do something I know the consequences of.”

“Isn’t love, just the act of confessing it to someone, an absolute joy? To you, anything that doesn’t work is worthless. I’m disappointed in you, Sophia, if you really think so.”

I said it to buy time, but the more I said it, the more it made me sick.

I added, “I know…… it’s not easy. I haven’t confessed yet either, and I’m hoping to do it before I die……”

“Then it’s too bad. Because you’re going to die here today.”

“Well…… you should at least try to confess before you die. That’s the only way you’ll have no regrets.”

I kept seeing Killian’s face before my eyes.

The way he used to look at me with nothing but contempt, the way he used to sneer at me, the way he used to get angry and impulsive, and the way he used to smile softly at me……

‘I should have at least confessed that I loved him.’

But I didn’t have the courage.

I always took a step back because I knew the original story. If Edith in the original had been coldly rejected after begging for his love, I assumed the same would happen to me.

Killian is no longer the Killian of the original story……

‘If I’m rescued from here and see Killian again…… I’ll confess. Even if he rejects me, it’s still meaningful to tell him how I feel.’

I’d been in a few relationships in my past life, but I’d never confessed my love.

No wonder. I didn’t date men because I loved them, but because I needed them.

I was content with the fact that they liked me, and I drew a line in the sand because I didn’t know when they would leave.

Now, for the first time in my life, I want to confess.

“But I think you’d rather not confess, even if you had the chance.”

Sophia, who seemed to have regained her composure, smiled wickedly.

“You’re not under any illusions that Killian Ludwig is nice to you, are you? It’s all just a play, don’t you know?”

“……what?”

“He ‘advertised’ that he was nice to Count Riegelhoff’s daughter so that he could fight House Riegelhoff later without drawing suspicion.”

“Killian is not like that! Of course, I don’t expect him to love me, but–”

“You’ve been fooled, then. You’re still a fool.”

Sophia giggled. It was a laugh that made it clear she wanted to hurt me.

“We’ve already done the investigation, and the person who made the best use of your ‘billboard’ is Killian Ludwig.”

Sophia clicked her tongue as if she felt sorry for me.

“Sure, he’s handsome enough for you to be fooled, right? How is it now? Do you like the result of betraying your family by giving in to such carnal desires? Do you like it?”

“No, Killian is–”

“You still haven’t come to your senses. It always takes a beating to wake you up.”

And suddenly the whip swung again.

With a snap, my other forearm tingled.

“Ahh!”

I screamed, but before the pain could fade, the whip was on me again.

“Ack!”

“If only you hadn’t betrayed us, Shane wouldn’t have gotten into so much trouble!”

A searing pain shot up my forearms and thighs at the same time as the nonsense.

‘Cliff, hurry up, please!’

I’ve never wanted to see Cliff this much.

But just as I was thinking of him so desperately, there was a loud crash outside.

The sound of something breaking, the pounding of footsteps, like people running, came from the ceiling.

Then the door burst open.

“Sophia, we’re in trouble!”

Only then did the whipping, which had not stopped despite the noise upstairs, finally stop.

Sophia was just getting into the swing of things, and she was irritated to be interrupted and ready to punch the man who had called her.

“I thought I told you not to call me unless it was something serious, what the hell is going on?”

“They’re raiding!”

“What do you mean they?”

“The Duke of Ludwig’s men!”

My anxiety subsided when the moment I had been waiting for finally arrived.

‘The timing is right this time. Thank God.’

Sophia barely managed to contain her incredulity.

“What do you mean? How do they know where this place is?!”

“I- I don’t know about that!”

“Damn it! Where’s Shane?”

“I don’t know, I’m here to tell you…… so the other guy went to Shane.”

“We have to protect Shane! Hurry!”

Sophia shouted, turning to follow him out the door, then looked back at me.

“There’s nothing to be happy about, Edith, your death will only be delayed a little. Just wait a little longer. I’ll kill all of them and then I’ll kill you.”

Then she punched me hard across the face.

A flash of light flashed before my eyes, and then I was engulfed in darkness.

***

Wellesley is off the beaten path, even on the outskirts of the capital.

Once upon a time, when the romance of rural life swept social circles, a few farmhouse-style villas had been built, but since the fad had passed, the place had been deserted.

And the villa Cliff was looking at through the telescope now was just as plain, built in the old-fashioned way, and seemed to have been abandoned for some time.

But the path in front of the villa, which should have been covered in leaves and bushes, was clean as if someone had tended to it.

“I guess they didn’t think we’d find it this far out in the middle of nowhere.”

“They were too complacent.”

Cliff waited for the scout’s return, resisting the urge to storm in.

‘If only I had come to the capital a day sooner…… no, an hour sooner……!’

Cliff was already kicking himself for the umpteenth time for not having gotten to the capital sooner.

When he arrived at the mansion, he was greeted with the news that the Duchess, Lizé, and Edith had been kidnapped.

Renon and a few knights had been outnumbered and missed the kidnappers, and Renon was badly wounded and unconscious.

Cliff immediately hired informants and set them loose across the capital and waited. Three hours later, a report came in on the suspected location.

He led the knights in the direction they were headed, and ended up in Wellesley.

He knew he couldn’t change what had happened, but he had to get Lizé and his mother before something happened to them.

“The scout is back!”

Luckily, the nimble and skilled scout managed to get back without being spotted and quickly assessed the enemy’s situation.

“The building looks to be about two stories above ground and an attic, and there are quite a few people inside. It looks like about forty to fifty mercenaries.”

“Weapons?”

“Swords, mostly.”

“Did any of them appear to be knights?”

“From what I’ve confirmed, no, sir. They lost a lot of knights in the territorial war, so they probably couldn’t take them this far.”

After confirming the enemy’s strength, Cliff asked the question he was most curious about.

“What is the status of the hostages?”

“They seemed to be locked up in different rooms, but……”

“What?”

“The Duchess and Lady Lizé’s movements were captured, but Lady Edith was nowhere to be seen.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. The men in the storage room on the first floor came out of there carrying the Duchess and Lady Lizé, but none of them carried Lady Edith.”

“As expected……”

Cliff clenched his fists. “I shouldn’t have trusted that woman, she was suspicious from the start……!”

It made his blood boil, but now wasn’t the time to dwell on it.

“Don’t give them a chance to escape with the hostages. They might try to secure their exit by threatening my mother’s or Lizé’s lives, so speed is of the essence.”

Cliff turned to one of the most skilled and stealthy of the knights and said, “You must save my mother.”

“I will risk my life to save the Duchess!”

“Thank you. I’ll get Lizé out of there.”

He turned to the knights around him. “I command you to launch an attack unconditionally five minutes after I set out.”

“Yes!”

Cliff and the other knights wore black cloaks similar to Shane’s mercenaries, with hoods covering their heads and faces.

“Let’s go.”

Cliff sped off into the dark woods behind the villa, and the rest of the knights behind him began nervously timing themselves.

***

At that moment, Shane was happily looking at Lizé who had finally come into his hands.

“Don’t do this. You’ll be punished.”

Lizé, who had come to her senses shortly after Edith had been dragged to the basement, was frightened, but she didn’t scream or cry.

Shane was tickled to the core by the sight of those big blue eyes shaking slightly.

“Truly, you are a beauty to gaze upon and I never get bored of it.”

His languid smile was creepy, and Lizé pushed herself further into the corner.

But Shane remained calm, studying her carefully.

“The Ludwigs are the ones who stole the dukedom that should have been my family’s, which means that Cliff is just a lucky bastard who got to be the heir to the dukedom. Everything he enjoys should have been mine……”

Count Riegelhoff’s brainwashing from a young age, combined with Shane’s inferiority complex, gave him a reason to rationalize all of his evil deeds.

And it created a little monster called Shane Riegelhoff.

“Of all of them, the one I want the most is you. Lizé Sinclair, the most beautiful woman in the capital.”

Lizé crouched down and shook her head.

Shane smiled, finding even that adorable.

“I love you, Lizé.”

Lizé shook her head again, this time vigorously.