Acidity of Regret Ch 80
- Feb 2
- 8 min read
Hugging her knees, Vanessa glared at the corner of the bedroom. Hanging where her gaze landed was the wedding dress Alvita had personally crafted.
From the soft fabric to the classically ornate jewels, the dress was flawless and beautiful, signifying a wedding of high and noble standing. However, the happiness and joy befitting a new bride had long vanished from her face as she looked at it.
She lowered her gaze to her wrist. The red marks and scratches from the tape measure had already healed cleanly. It was thanks to Declan, who came every time she was asleep and carefully applied medicine.
A hollow laugh escaped her lips whenever she dwelled on his contradictory behavior. He had kidnapped and imprisoned her against her will, yet he couldn't leave her injuries alone and treated them.
His attitude of giving the disease and then the medicine was nauseating. Even more absurd was that while he tended to her wrist, he hadn't even touched her ankle, which was chafed raw by the shackle.
[Declan] "It’s in a week. Our wedding."
Those were the words he had announced last night after forcing her to stamp her fingerprint on the marriage contract. He added that since it was being held so suddenly, it would be a small and simple affair.
[Declan] "It’s informal this time, too. You know the procedure, don’t you?"
Chewing over those words, Vanessa hugged her knees tighter.
To protect against the chilly weather, the fireplace in the room burned strongly, emitting a warm glow. Yet, she felt colder here than anywhere else. It was a chill she couldn't endure unless she curled her entire body into a tight ball.
When she was first imprisoned here, she thought there would be a way out. But between Declan, who gave no ground like an impregnable fortress, and the relentless flow of time, she felt mercilessly suffocated.
As a result, reality and thoughts sometimes became confused.
I definitely returned to the past, so why am I still suffering, trapped in this place?
Was the regression something that never happened?
Was I never able to escape from here from the start, and that's why I'm still in his grasp...?
[Vanessa] "No. That can't be. It can't be..."
She buried her confused face in her palms. As her knees were released from her embrace, the clank of the object restricting her movement rang out.
Vanessa, head bowed, squeezed her eyes shut, her expression twisting.
[Vanessa] "Damn it... this...!"
Knowing it was useless, she struck the shackle with her fist.
Once, twice. Her hand cried out in pain as it hit the hard iron, but her heart was in far greater agony. The shackle, unbudging no matter how constantly she struck it, was no different from Declan’s attitude toward her.
And then, at some point, the now-familiar chest pain began without warning, like a knife slicing through her.
[Vanessa] "Ugh... ah..."
Clutching her chest, her upper body collapsed, and her eyes burned hot with tears.
What should I do? There's only a week left. But there's no way to escape.
Should I have asked Sophie? Was that the right thing to do?
But if I did, Sophie would have been in danger. I have to get out on my own. I decided not to drag anyone else into this anymore.
But there's no sharp solution...
Along with the unanswerable worries, the throbbing pain continued endlessly.
Whenever she was involved with Declan, she felt as if she were confronting her own powerlessness head-on. His existence repeatedly made her feel like the most useless and weak person in this world.
It was while she was wandering endlessly, submerged in deep despair and sadness.
Creeeak—
The closed bedroom door opened quietly. She flinched and retreated, wondering if Declan had come. However, the face that poked through the gap in the door was Sophie, who had been bringing meals to the bedroom lately.
It wasn't time for her to visit yet. Since all she did after being trapped here was spend time meaninglessly, she could roughly guess the intervals of the meals served at precise times.
However, the expression on Sophie’s face as she closed the door and entered was so determined that Vanessa couldn't take her eyes off her.
Leaning against the door, Sophie scanned the room with eyes full of wariness. Once she was certain that only Vanessa was in the bedroom, she rushed over.
Vanessa stared blankly at her as she approached her feet and rummaged through the inner pocket of her maid uniform.
[Vanessa] "Sophie...?"
Soon, her eyes widened as she discovered the bunch of keys in Sophie's hand. She was busy finding the key that fit the hole of the shackle and seemed to have no time to notice Vanessa’s shocked reaction.
Dumbfounded, she watched her for a moment before grabbing Sophie’s wrist a beat late.
[Vanessa] "What are you doing right now?"
She didn't know where or how Sophie had obtained this, but she felt a sense of resistance. Of course, she was grateful for the intention to help. But as someone who vividly remembered the humiliation Sophie had suffered while helping her before the regression, she couldn't help but be afraid first.
[Sophie] "There's no time, My Lady."
[Vanessa] "You... you can't do this."
She refused adamantly, but Sophie shook her head firmly and inserted the keys one by one.
Vanessa, growing anxious, grabbed her wrist to stop her. At the same time, she kept glancing at the door, terrified that Declan might come.
[Vanessa] "Sophie. I told you not to do this!"
[Sophie] "This marriage. Is it something you want to do?"
Sophie looked up, her wrist still held. Her eyes, like clear glass beads, sparkled. It seemed as if Vanessa's own exhausted face was reflected in them.
The answer to the question was written on her face itself.
She hated it.
She had absolutely no desire to agree to an unwanted marriage.
She barely swallowed the saliva in her tightening throat and spoke stammeringly.
[Vanessa] "But... there is no reason for you to help me."
[Sophie] "..."
[Vanessa] "You don't know me. Why... why..."
[Sophie] "I'm not doing this alone. There were orders from higher-ups, and I am merely following them."
[Vanessa] "Orders?"
[Sophie] "And I don't know why either, but I keep thinking that I must help you, My Lady."
Confusion replaced the resolute look on her youthful face for a moment. As if Sophie couldn't understand her own actions either.
Looking into that face, Vanessa couldn't help but recall Sophie from before the regression. She was showing the same attitude now, one that felt almost blindly devoted, just like back then. As if there were a bond that couldn't be severed, even though time had turned back and they were strangers.
So, even as Sophie lowered her head again and hurried, Vanessa couldn't stop her anymore.
At a certain moment, the inserted key made a clicking sound. The shackle that had been tightening around her ankle like a noose was released.
[Vanessa] "Ah..."
[Sophie] "Let's go now."
She supported the limping Vanessa and led her out of the bedroom.
Vanessa, who still hadn't fully grasped the unfolding situation, paused when she saw an unexpected figure standing in front of the bedroom door.
It was Helia Quasar. Next to her, a guard was visible, slumped against the wall as if asleep.
Helia’s gaze fell on her ankle, which didn't look to be in good condition.
[Helia] "Can you run? We need to move as quickly as possible to where the carriage is."
[Vanessa] "How are you here, Lady Quasar..."
[Helia] "Time is tight, so let's go for now. My brother is stalling the Grand Duke, but we don't know when he'll be caught."
Only then did she realize that Count Quasar was also helping with this sudden escape. Did "orders from higher-ups" refer to the Quasar siblings?
But there was no time to think. Vanessa moved like an arrow, supported by Helia and Sophie. Somehow, there was not a single person in the hallway. She could only vaguely guess that the Count's side had taken measures in advance.
They quietly exited, not through the main gate, but through the back door used by servants.
The outside air, felt for the first time in about three weeks, was moving enough to bring tears to her eyes.
Approaching the side gate tangled with winding bushes, she felt a sense of déjà vu. Surprisingly, it was the exact place where she had escaped alone before the regression.
Opening the door and stepping out, she saw a carriage waiting right in front. And someone wearing a hooded robe was pacing anxiously in front of it. She only recognized who it was when she got close. It was Carter, Declan’s aide.
[Carter] "Ah. You're finally here. I never imagined I would be greeting you like this. To think the day would come when I would meet the famous Lady Rohawk in my life. You are indeed beautiful, just as the rumors say."
Carter showed a colorful range of reactions in a fleeting moment. When his eyes met the bewildered Vanessa’s directly, he was mesmerized by her appearance, and afterward, he spoke to her familiarly despite the situation.
His personality, digging in while erasing his faint impression, was quite bright... and seemed oblivious in many ways.
[Helia] "Is this the time for leisurely greetings? Hand it over, quickly."
At her scolding, Carter hastily took something out of his inner pocket and held it out to Vanessa. What she received in a daze was the marriage contract she had been forced to stamp last night.
[Vanessa] "This is..."
Her eyes widened; this had been weighing on her mind the entire time.
After the surprise faded, questions arose. She could understand Sophie and even Helia to some extent, but she couldn't believe that Carter, who was practically Declan’s man, was helping her.
Perhaps her doubt showed in her eyes as Carter let out a deep sigh.
[Carter] "You wouldn't know since you've been cut off from the outside world coming here, but the Ingzella Empire is currently in an uproar. I hear you are the future Crown Princess."
Vanessa nodded. Perhaps hoping for a denial, his face sank even more gloomily.
[Carter] "I knew His Grace would cause a major incident someday. With his heartless and cold personality, it was amazing he hadn't created a diplomatic dispute until now. But to kidnap the Crown Prince’s fiancée...!"
He thumped his chest as if he were about to go mad.
[Carter] "Even if he were to cause trouble, I never expected a catastrophe of this scale. Oh, my poor head... If the two of you were to marry like this, it might cause irreversible national problems. I told him repeatedly that we must return you while explaining this, but he wouldn't listen at all."
[Vanessa] "..."
[Carter] "He’s a man who, although lacking in character, handled work flawlessly. But whenever a topic related to you comes up, his eyes roll back..."
So, he was Declan’s man, but he was trying to stop him because he predicted the massive repercussions of his actions. Just as much as obedience to a master, a necessary virtue of subordinates is to restrain their lord from walking down the wrong path.
[Carter] "Even if he marries you like that, I doubt his lost mind will return. Seeing how he shackled you even before the marriage, it seems his paranoia will only get worse... Ah, oops, the conversation doesn't need to go there."
[Vanessa] "..."
[Carter] "Anyway, it means the current situation is urgent enough for me, His Grace's man, to go this far. The Empire's anger is no small matter, yet His Grace remains unmoving... I keep thinking that if things go on like this, war might break out before the monsters attack, and we’ll all die. I don't want to die young. My motto is to live a long and thin life."
[Vanessa] "But, will you be alright? If he finds out you helped me..."
His gaze turned to Helia.
[Carter] "Count Quasar promised to take measures so my identity wouldn't be exposed, so I'm trusting only that..."
His trailing tone was rippling with anxiety. It was a lukewarm attitude, as if he was helping for now but wasn't sure about his decision.
Vanessa realized that their desired outcome was for her to quietly return to the Empire, so she kept her mouth shut.
[Helia] "Let's go, quickly."
She said as she opened the carriage door. Vanessa, about to board the carriage, looked at Sophie’s hand moving away from her. Sophie stood alone, staring at her, before bowing deeply at the waist.
[Vanessa] "...Thank you, Sophie."
Before, and this time too.
She swallowed the rest of the words, but Sophie smiled gently as if she understood.
After looking at her one more time, Vanessa finally climbed into the carriage.
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