Chapter 31: Kill Me…

“Eek!!!”

Ivy instantly screamed out, struggling fiercely with her bound legs, then quickly curling back inward into her previous posture.

“Frosy, you!!!”

Ivy’s words were incoherent, each time she tried to speak a painful ordeal.

“What’s wrong, little Ivy? Don’t you like the gift I prepared for you?”

Frosy gently stroked Ivy’s belly, the ticklish sensation and her body’s instinctive reactions making Ivy extremely uncomfortable.

Her toes curled even tighter, and the magical ropes biting into her wrists caused sharp pain.

But Ivy seemed numb, wildly rubbing her wrists against the ropes; the sting forced her to suppress the sensations again.

“F-Frosy, you… you lunatic.”

“L-let me out!”

Ivy spoke brokenly, her voice unsteady, each word accompanied by muffled groans.

Frosy looked at Ivy, who had to be suspended just to meet her gaze, and sighed.

“Ivy, why didn’t I realize before? Beneath that fragile mask you wear, your true nature is so…”

Frosy paused, unable to find the right word, but Ivy’s strange stubbornness struck her as oddly fascinating.

She gently caressed Ivy’s face, tracing from cheek to chin, then lightly pinched Ivy’s chin and lifted it.

Ivy’s neck appeared before Frosy, glistening with fine beads of sweat.

Frosy toyed with Ivy’s head as if she were a plaything.

Though Ivy wanted to resist, at this moment her struggle would only worsen the burden on her body, so she refrained.

She let Frosy examine her like livestock.

“You really haven’t got the situation figured out, have you?”

Frosy released Ivy’s chin with a seemingly helpless tone.

Her hand slid from Ivy’s neck down, slipping beneath the clothes to touch her body.

Passing over her chest, her belly, and finally resting on Ivy’s stomach.

“No, don’t, please no!!!”

Ivy immediately understood what Frosy intended and spoke out before she made a move.

“No, no!!!”

“Frosy, only this—this is not okay, really, no!!!”

Ivy twisted her body, trying to escape Frosy’s covering palm.

But she was under Frosy’s control the entire time, and such struggles were futile.

“Shh, be quiet.”

Frosy’s free hand reached out and gently pressed against Ivy’s lips, muffling her voice.

The next moment, Frosy’s hand began to slowly apply pressure.

Blackness flashed before Ivy’s eyes, a nameless despair and pain assaulting her body and soul simultaneously.

Ivy began trembling, tears slipping uncontrollably down her cheeks.

“F-Frosy… I was wrong, please don’t…”

“Please, I won’t resist anymore, stop…”

Ivy sobbed and begged.

But her cries and pleas did nothing to make Frosy stop.

“Oh dear, my hearing’s been a little off lately; I just can’t hear you clearly.”

Frosy’s voice rose, her tone unusually tinged with amusement.

At that moment, all of Ivy’s strength seemed to drain away; her curled toes relaxed.

Her clenched fists lost all power.

Her legs, once tightly folded inward, returned to their rightful places.

The room was filled with a steady dripping sound.

Silent tears fell from Ivy’s face onto the floor.

That must be the sound of tears.

Ivy thought so.

But she could not deceive herself.

“Oh dear, our little Ivy, what’s the matter? Why are you crying like this?”

“Look at you, such a pitiful little thing.”

Frosy spoke in the same tone and style as Emilia, as if she had just discovered a new world.

For the first time, Frosy truly understood Emilia’s constant tormenting of herself.

And it really was quite amusing.

Next time she saw Emilia, she’d find a reason to give her a good beating.

Frosy thought to herself.

Meanwhile, Ivy felt as if something inside her heart was shattering once again.

Her little face twisted in pain.

That feeling from the meeting earlier returned.

Her head ached badly…

Had she caught a cold?

Ivy wondered.

She felt as if her head had been blown on by a cold wind all night, an unbearable sensation that refused to leave.

It was like a stabbing pain, but not quite.

As if someone had thrown ice cubes into her head—cold, with a hint of frostbite.

Tears still slid down Ivy’s cheeks; she was so sad.

She was really, really sad.

The things she wanted to hold onto seemed to have failed once more.

Though Ivy had known from the start she would fail.

But when the moment truly came, she still couldn’t bear it.

Ivy didn’t understand.

She didn’t understand what she had done wrong.

I just want to live, I just want to live peacefully in this world, what’s my fault?

Being inexplicably transmigrated into this world, was that my choice? My previous life was already hard enough—why is my rebirth no different?

Just because I ended up in this body, I have to suffer all this?

Why, why???

Why is my life always so monotonous?

Why is my life always full of pain???

I’ve worked so hard, I’ve really tried so hard to live—why won’t you people just leave me alone???

Countless voices screamed in Ivy’s mind, breaking apart—but in the end, Ivy realized all those voices were hers.

All the shouts she never dared to voice.

In her mind flashed painful memories she had long buried and forgotten.

Those who bullied her, those who tormented her just for fun, those violent acts vividly replayed like they happened yesterday.

The faces of those who once tormented Ivy had become blurred, but what they did to her was forever engraved like a slave’s brand on her skin.

Unlike the slave brand that was only on her body, those pains were etched into her soul.

Gradually, the shadows of those people became hazy, slowly overlapping with the Frosy before her.

I’ve already… I already forgot…

Why am I remembering this again? I clearly forgot before, during my merging with this world’s Ivy, I was supposed to gradually forget the past.

Why did these things refuse to be forgotten?

Why must I recall these things again?!!

Ivy could no longer control her emotions, letting sadness and cries swallow her whole.

At first, her sobs were soft; she still subconsciously feared making Frosy angry, so she cried quietly.

But little by little, Ivy stopped caring—she was already like this, so why should she care about Frosy’s feelings anymore?

Slowly, Ivy stopped suppressing her sorrow, stopped holding back her tears.

She let herself pour out all her sadness, indifferent if Frosy would become angry from her crying.

If Frosy did get angry…

Then kill me…

If I die, I won’t feel pain anymore…