‘I suppose this is what he was preparing before.’

Lyla glanced at the documents Zich was holding. She could almost feel the emotions that the writers must have felt as they wrote each page and letter, and that made her rage intensify. Although she had a slight bit of sympathy for Condel in the corner of her heart, knowing that he had committed his crime for the person he loved, all traces of that disappeared with the diaries and letters that Zich pulled out now. She glared chillingly at Condel.

“I’m sure your love was precious and amazing— at least to you. I admit it. A person is free to think however they like, and I won’t argue with you about that. But you know, as someone who values love so, so much, don’t you think these people would have also valued their love as much too? Yet, you mercilessly stomped on all these people’s hearts and broke them into pieces. So, how could you say that you simply wanted to see the person you loved one more time?” Zich handed Condel several more diary entries and letters.

“Why aren’t you saying anything? If you are so confident, why don’t you blabber on like you did before?”

“…” Condel couldn’t say anything. His eyes, which were only filled with loath and hatred for Zich, turned to the letters in front of him. He saw the page filled with letters written in pretty handwriting. Emotions dripped out of each word and letter—it felt like they would pop out of the page and pierce his eyes.

“Isn’t the reason why you only targeted lovers is because of your jealousy? You were angry that other people were enjoying their time with their partners while you lost the love of your life.”

“…”

“Seeing that you can’t even answer, it seems that I’m right. You really are trash.” Zich struck Condel’s head, and Condel made a small groan. “You should just quickly die.”

“…Yeah, maybe that would be better,” Condel laughed heartlessly. His voice that sounded like it would run out of breath returned to normal now. Condel’s injuries were connected by shadows, and he was barely holding onto his life. “If I really think about it, this is what I should have done. If I can’t meet her while alive, I should have sought out Sia by dying,” Condel said with a deep sense of longing. As if he had given up on everything, Condel closed his eyes like he was going to naturally accept death.

This was the end. If Condel died like this, the kidnapping incidents that had brought chaos into Janmalpi would finally meet their end too.

‘Do you think I would let you?’ However, Zich didn’t intend to end this just yet. Normally, he would’ve just let Condel go since he had enjoyed himself tremendously until now. Yet, this time, there were other factors that changed his decision.

‘…I mean, after bothering Joachim and Evelyn?’ Zich placed the letter and diary entries back. He blocked the hands of his companions who were trying to approach him. He also ignored Lara running to Glen’s side to support him. Then, he said to Condel, “Do you think you’d be able to meet Sia Rubrent just because you died?”

“Kuh, kuh! Are you saying that I’ll go to Hell?” As if he had already expected what Zich would say to him, Condel chuckled. “There’s a high possibility. Nevertheless, we would both be in the afterlife. Even if I can’t see her face to face, I am satisfied with being even a bit closer to her side. Who knows? What we know of the afterlife might be completely different from what we believe. Even if the Karuwiman guys always sing songs of Heaven, no one has seen it in real life.”

Perhaps, it was because he had already given up on the situation completely, Condel didn’t waver. However, Zich also didn’t plan to make Condel fall into despair just with these words. “Who said Sia Rubrent was in the afterlife?”

“…What?” Condel opened his eyes. His eyes were questioning and displayed a glint of anxiety. This was what Zich had wanted to see. Now, all he had to do was make Condel’s anxiety explode.

“Your lover is here.” Zich stretched out his head and pointed at Sia Ruebrent’s corpse nearby.

“If I die, the effects of my ability will disappear.”

“Well, I expected that. If your ability had that great autonomy, your body would have moved on its own even after a hole formed in it. But you know, isn’t your lover a really special case? She might remain even after you die.”

“There’s no way.”

“How are you sure? In the first place, the robed figures were the ones who gave you your ability.”

Condel was surprised. He didn’t expect Zich to know that much.

“Do you really think you know everything about an ability that wasn’t even originally yours? I don’t think so. There could be another factor that you don’t know about.”

“There’s none!”

“You don’t know until it happens. Thankfully, we have someone amongst us who knows your ability through and through.” Zich pointed at Glen. Although Glen wasn’t dead, Lara had to support him to raise him up. Condel was taken aback when he saw Glen.

“If your ability was to really resurrect a person from the dead, wouldn’t there already be a soul inside Sia Rubrent’s corpse? Then, even if you go to the afterlife, there’s no chance that you would see her there.”

Condel looked towards Sia. She was staring at him blankly while standing. He wondered if her soul was really in there.

Zich smiled in his mind after checking that Condel felt conflicted. ‘That’s right. I won’t ever let you die a peaceful death.’

“Do you know what I will do from now on?” Zich asked Condel.

“What…”

“I’m going to learn from Mr. Zenard about your ability in detail. Then, I’ll do all kinds of experiments with your lover.”

Condel’s eyes burst open. “Don’t make me—! Cough!” As if the shadows that had blocked his wounds burst from his agitation, Condel spurted out blood. However, Zich remained unbothered. Condel didn’t need to speak anyways, and he just had to have his ears open to hear the rest of Zich’s words. Zich could do all the talking.

“Don’t worry. I’m not trying to insult your lover. I’m actually doing the opposite. I’m thinking about resurrecting your lover.”

Condel was extremely surprised by Zich’s words. However, judging by Zich’s malicious smile, it didn’t seem like Zich was saying this for his benefit. “I’m going to thoroughly separate you two. Were you thinking about meeting each other in the afterlife and finding happiness? I’m never going to let that happen.”

“This bastard…!” Condol moved his arm, but he no longer had enough strength to shake the ground like before.

Zich easily blocked his hand. “And do you know what I’ll do after?”

“Perhaps…are you planning to tell her all my crimes!”

“Ah, is that what you think is the worst situation? But no. Ah, I mean, I’m going to tell her your crimes, but what I’m saying is that’s not the worst situation.”

“What are you…”

“I’m planning to seduce your lover.”

“…What?”

“As you can see, my face is good, and I know quite a lot of skills about seducing women.”

Condel snorted. “Ha! Do you think my Sia will get seduced by your lowly charms?”

“Yep.” Zich nodded his head. “I can understand your feelings, but there are too many things going against you. First of all, you’ll be forced to separate from your lover. As you know, out of sight, out of mind.”

“A cliché proverb like that doesn’t relate to us.”

“Okay, maybe that won’t be enough, but this situation is much more serious than you think. First, Sia Rubrent will find out about your crimes.”

Condel’s eyes trembled.

“She’ll be extremely sad. Her lover attacked innocent couples and put them through intense pain, all for the sake of seeing her again. Moreover, she has no one to rely on anymore. She ran away from her family, and the only person she believed—you—kicked the bucket. How will she continue living when she lived all her life as a sheltered lady in her noble family?”

“…”

“Ah, perhaps, she might think about suicide. However, I’m going to do my absolute best to prevent that from happening. In the end, she won’t have any choice but to live. I’m going to thoroughly corner Sia Rubrent like this. Of course, her mind and heart will be devastated from finding out the truth. Then, what do you think will happen when I’m the closest person to her during this painful time?”

“…!”

Blood seeped out of Condel’s mouth; it wasn’t because of the injury on his abdomen. Blood came out of his mouth because he chewed the insides of his mouth in extreme hatred.

Condel shouted, “…No matter what happens, Sia will never betray me!”

However, Zich replied as if Condel was being absurd. “Do you really think that?”

“…” Condel would have normally shouted, Of course, but the situation was too dire for him.

Moreover, even though Condel was continuing his conversation with Zich, his injury was extremely severe; it was to the extent where he’d die soon. It was only normal that his brain didn’t work as well as before. For that reason, Condel was not able to reply.

This was the moment that Zich had been waiting for, “Huh? What’s up with you?”

Zich made a benevolent smile and said, “Perhaps, do you doubt your lover?”

“…!”

“I got it right? You doubt Sia Rubrent’s love for you, right? You also think that if you died, she could like someone else!”

“That…!”

“Since you can’t talk, it seems like I hit right on the mark.” Zich’s eyes brightened. “This whole time, you acted like you have complete trust in your love for each other, but you’re doubting your lover because of a few words from me!”

“That’s not true!” Condel denied Zich’s words, but Zich continued to let out a stream of words.

“It’s pointless to lie to me, because what’s inside your heart is the most important. You killed all those people who were precious to their lovers, and now you can’t trust your own lover? Wow, you were even bigger trash than I thought.”

“I never said something like that!”

“It’s pointless to keep lying to yourself like that, you bastard!” Zich replied back in a louder voice and continued, “Good! When your lover comes back alive, I have more things to tell her! That Condel Siede didn’t trust her at all!”

“You bastard! If you say that, I’ll kill you!”

“How are you going to kill me? When that happens, you’ll have long kicked the bucket!”

Zich slapped Condel’s cheeks many times. Condel had no choice but to endure Zich’s mockery.

Zich continued, “I’m saying this just in case, but I’m not joking around! I’m really going to do everything I said if Sia Rubrent comes back alive!”

“You fucking! Fucking shit!” Condel tried to get up with the help of his shadows, but the shadows didn’t listen to him. Did he really have no choice but to stay still as this devil in human flesh continued on?

‘It would be better if Sia actually doesn’t come back alive!’ This thought crept into his mind. Even though Zich had been shouting like crazy, he suddenly stopped talking. His clear eyes that were like glass rolled down and met Condel’s eyes. Condel moved his eyes away because it felt like Zich was directly looking into his heart.

“Just now, you…”

However, Condel was unable to move away his ears to avoid listening to Zich.

“You wished for Sia Rubrent to just die like this, right?”

“!!!”

Condel’s heart plummeted. In order to deny Zich’s words, he looked up at Zich. He couldn’t let Zich continue like this. If he also admitted this thought to himself, everything that he had been supporting himself with would crumble. However, when he saw Zich’s face, Condel was surprised. Zich’s face was full of kindness as if his mockery had all been a lie so far.

“Hey, Condel.” Instead of saying his last name, Zich used his first name and spoke with a gentle voice, “Do you want me to kill Sia Rubrent instead?”

His words were temptation from the devil.