Acidity of Regret Ch 103
- Feb 22
- 6 min read
Vanessa scanned the chaos with frantic eyes.
The horse, spooked after its legs had buckled, already galloped into the distance.
She turned her attention to Sir Siden. Though the bleeding had stopped, he remained unresponsive.
Leaving him behind tasted like ash in her mouth, but staying meant certain capture. She drew a sharp breath—a silent apology—and bolted.
[Vanessa] "Huff... huff......"
Clutching her aching shoulder, she plunged into the depths of Mount Siltria. Tommy blocked the path back to the estate; the mountain was her only retreat.
The memory of his twisted letters fueled a terror far greater than her fear of bandits.
Shadows bled across the sky until the world turned ink-black. She thrashed through the undergrowth, fighting against branches that clawed at her skin.
[Vanessa] "Ah!"
Something snared her ankle. Sehe slammed into the dirt. She scrambled to her knees, ignoring the sting of the fall, and reached for her leg. Nothing was there.
[Vanessa] "What in the......"
[Tommy] "My Lady."
The voice drifted from the darkness behind her. She spun around. A sliver of moonlight revealed Tommy standing a few paces away.
Escape was no longer an option. She drew her backup dagger and leveled it at him. His expression crumbled into a mask of sorrow.
[Tommy] "Why point such a thing at me?"
He waved a hand through the air. The dagger vanished from her grip, whistling through the trees before thudding deep into a trunk.
She stared at her empty palm, her mind reeling at the impossible display.
[Vanessa] "You... you used magic?"
[Tommy] "My mother hailed from Garten. My blood is thin, so my skills are paltry—hardly worthy of the title 'mage'......"
[Tommy] "I can only move small objects or snap a flower stem."
His words provided the missing pieces. Now she understood how the letters appeared in her locked room, and why the horse had suddenly collapsed.
She stumbled backward, her legs trembling. Tommy matched her pace, tilting his head with a haunting smile.
Her back hit the rough bark of a massive tree. She sank to the ground, trapped.
[Tommy] "Finally, we are alone, My Lady."
His voice dripped with a nauseating joy that ignited a flare of rage within her fear.
She sharpened her gaze and spat out a question.
[Vanessa] "What did you do to Dina? Where is she?"
[Tommy] "Dina? Who knows? We parted ways a while ago......"
[Vanessa] "Don't lie to me! You sent those letters! What did you do to her?"
[Tommy] "Ah. So you knew it was me all along?"
His smile widened.
[Tommy] "Don't worry. I lack the stomach for killing, so I simply tied her up in the mountains. Perhaps the bandits have stumbled upon her by now?"
A chill raced down her spine.
[Vanessa] "Why? Why Dina......"
[Tommy] "That girl constantly forced herself between us."
She recoiled. He spoke as if they shared some mutual affection. She had never suspected him because he always focused his attention on Dina whenever the three of them were together. Or so she had thought.
[Tommy] "I fell for you the moment I arrived and saw you. Every time you smiled at me, my heart hammered so hard I thought it would burst. I couldn't think straight."
[Vanessa] "......"
The "innocent" interactions had been nothing more than a calculated scheme to eliminate obstacles.
His eyes took on a dreamy, ecstatic quality.
[Tommy] "I crave beautiful things. I love flowers and trees because they are distant from the ugliness of the world. To me, you are perfection. Every inch of you is exquisite......"
[Vanessa] "......"
[Tommy] "We are destiny, My Lady."
[Vanessa] "......"
[Tommy] "Now that the nuisance is gone, we can love each other. Surely you feel it too......"
[Vanessa] "Ha."
A cold, mocking laugh cut him short. He flinched, the mockery in her voice bruising his ego.
[Vanessa] "Your delusions are boundless."
She severed his fantasy with a single blow.
It was absurd. Even Declan, with whom she shared a deep and bitter history, had never dared to use the word "destiny." For this man—a near stranger—to claim it was laughable.
[Vanessa] "Had I known such foul intentions lurked behind your face, I would never have allowed you near me."
His face turned ashen, as if she had physically struck him. He staggered forward, his movements erratic.
[Tommy] "Then why did you smile at me?"
[Vanessa] "Because you were a friend to Dina."
[Vanessa] "Nothing more."
She spoke with clinical detachment, making it clear his presence stirred no emotion in her.
His face twisted, warping under the weight of shock and denial.
[Tommy] "Liar! You smiled at me! Your eyes always told me you loved me!"
His scream tore through the silence of the forest.
He is insane.
She scrambled backward, but the tree held her fast. A sharp pain bloomed in her ankle—she must have sprained it when she fell. She racked her brain for a way out, but no plan emerged.
Tommy saw the flicker of fear in her eyes and regained his composure. He closed the final gap between them. Just as he opened his mouth to speak—
Whish!
Something sliced through the air. It grazed his neck and slammed into the tree trunk inches above her head.
An axe. The polished blade glinted under the moonlight.
[Tommy] "Wh-what......"
Her heart plummeted. He clutched his throat, blood pulsing through his fingers in a terrifying spray. He crumbled to the ground like a sandcastle hit by a wave.
The sudden violence left her breathless. As she stared at his collapsed form, voices drifted from the brush.
[Man 1] "Is he dead?"
[Man 2] "I told you not to throw the damn thing."
[Man 1] "Was that a man or a woman? The frame was so slight."
[Man 2] "Check it. If it’s a woman, it’d be a waste."
Coarse laughter grated against her ears. She forced herself up, desperate to flee.
[Vanessa] "Ngh......"
The moment she put weight on her foot, her ankle gave way.
[Man 1] "Oh? There’s more than one?"
A man stepped from behind a tree, followed by several others. Four... no, five of them.
A biting wind swirled through the clearing as the group emerged from the shadows.
She froze. The leader, a bald man with tattoos sprawling from his temple to his jaw, revealed their identity.
[Bandit] "It’s a woman."
[Bandit] "A woman? Let me see!"
They crowded forward, jostling each other.
Her hands shook against the dirt. Of all the people to kill Tommy, it had to be these monsters.
[Bandit] "Wait a minute."
The last man to approach leaned down, peering at her face.
Her blood ran cold as she recognized him from the flower festival. He grinned.
[Bandit] "It’s her, isn't it?"
[Bandit] "Who?"
[Bandit] "The beauty from the village! The one the boss was throwing a fit for us to find!"
The bandits circled her like wolves. She pulled her hood low, trying to hide her pale face.
[Bandit] "Damn, she’s gorgeous."
[Bandit] "No wonder the boss is drooling."
The situation had plummeted from horrific to hopeless. These men lacked magic, but they were a pack—cruel, relentless, and predatory.
Can I escape?
She knew she lacked the strength to fight them, yet she refused to surrender. She glared at them squatting before her with every ounce of spite she possessed.
[Bandit] "Haha! This one still has her claws out!"
[Bandit] "Did she look at you like that last time?"
[Bandit] "Exactly like that. I think the boss likes them prickly anyway."
[Bandit] "Nothing like breaking a wild one to keep things interesting."
They laughed at her defiance, treating her rage like the harmless scratch of a kitten.
Vanessa forced herself to breathe, ignoring their jeers. She watched for an opening.
She had to run, even if it meant ruin for her leg. If they took her now, she would be dragged to their camp, and then...…
She shoved the thought away before it could paralyze her.
[Bandit] "Come along, My Lady."
He patted her cheek with a condescending hand.
[Bandit] "We’ll make sure you have plenty of fun."
She swallowed hard. She waited for the exact moment their attention wavered. Then, she scooped up a handful of dirt and hurled it directly into the man’s eyes.
[Bandit] "Gah! Dammit!"
As he recoiled, Vanessa shoved him aside and bolted. Her ankle screamed in protest, but she ignored the agony and ran for her life.
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