Chapter 6 : Confession

I heard soft footsteps behind me.

The scent of roses gently brushed my nose.

When I turned around, her face shone even clearer in the darkness of the night.

In her hand was a cup of tea with warm steam rising from it.

It was she who had bid me good night and left the room just a few hours ago.

“Are you having trouble sleeping, Peridot?”

The voice rang low and softly as if breaking the silence of the night.

The woman’s purple eyes glowed faintly, revealing her worried emotions.

A sweet herbal scent wafted from the teacup in her hand.

She slowly approached me and held out the teacup.

“I brought you some warm tea. It should be good for your insomnia.”

The woman placed the teacup on the small table next to my bed.

She then quietly knelt down and looked up at me.

Her purple eyes shone clearly even in the darkness, and they were filled with deep and intense affection.

As I sipped the tea, the scent of herbs spread faintly.

It wasn’t sweet, but the warmth spread and the warmth spread.

As I poured the tea, warmth spread inside my chest and filled the emptiness.

It was calm and peaceful.

It felt as if my heart was settling down, as if I had put down a heavy burden I had been carrying for a long time.

The full moon was reflected in the teacup.

“How is it?”

The scent of herbs was covered by the scent of roses.

The warmth of the teacup was covered by the warmth of a woman.

She carefully reached out and gently stroked the back of my hand.

“I will always be by your side, Peridot.”

Her touch was warm and delicate.

The warmth from her fingertips felt like slowly melting old ice.

Soon, she carefully kissed the back of my hand.

The feeling of her moist and warm lips remained on the back of my hand as if engraved.

“Call me whenever you need me. I can stay by your side all night, Peridot.”

Her voice was soft, but there was an unwavering firmness in it.

The woman’s purple eyes stared at me as if she was swearing.

Their gaze was serious, persistent, and intense.

I held the warm teacup in my hand and slowly looked at it.

The snow-white skin that stood out clearly even in the darkness, the purple pupils that were as deep as a calm lake, the long eyelashes that could be seen between the pupils, and the sweet scent of roses.

“You.”

I called her quietly.

My voice rang low in the silence of the night.

The woman just smiled brightly and stared at me.

Under this unfamiliar night sky, her presence was clearly felt.

“…What’s your name?”

The woman blinked slightly in surprise at my question, and her gaze wavered for a moment.

A moment of hesitation and concern, as if trying to hide something, passed by, and soon she smiled in a soft curve.

The smile shone clearly even in the darkness.

As if she had decided on something, her lips slowly opened, and a clear and sweet voice flowed out.

“My name is Flora.”

Flora.

I hummed the name softly in my mouth.

It was a name that sounded familiar yet strangely captivating.

Flora Silverwood.

“I would be more than happy if Peridot called me that.”

I chewed on the name.

The name gave off a dreamy feeling, like a red flower blooming alone in the darkness.

But at the same time, I couldn’t stop the eerie rumors that had spread throughout the kingdom from coming to mind.

An evil witch who burned the World Tree with the Demon King and slaughtered the elves.

The memories that came to mind along with the name pierced my mind like sharp thorns.

“…The Demon King’s Army’s witch.”

The words spoken in a soft voice broke the silence in the room.

At that moment, her purple eyes shook subtly.

Regret, sadness, and an unknown pain passed through them.

Flora looked at me silently for a moment.

There was a vagueness in her gaze, as if she was trying to bring up a story that had been buried for a long time.

“Yes. That was once what it was called.”

After a while, she slowly opened her mouth.

Her voice sounded bitter and resigned, unlike before.

The faint smile was pitiful and sad.

It was as if she was trying to embrace the pain of the past years.

Her gaze turned to the sky for a moment.

“I clearly… committed an unforgivable sin.”

Flora slowly got up and approached.

Her gait was still graceful, but a heavy shadow was cast over it.

She stopped and reached out with both hands to wrap them around my cold hands.

I felt warmth.

“But… right now, I just love you.”

…I wonder if her feelings are true.

I know that it can’t be.

There is no such thing as love in the world.

Hypocrisy and pretense, that was the nature of humanity.

The world was always divided into me and others, and I was alone in between.

I stared at Flora with empty eyes.

To see the malice of humanity that I had experienced countless times over a long period of time.

To see through the other intentions that she must have been hiding.

However, I didn’t feel any malice from the woman standing before my eyes now.

I was confused.

The compliment that she was beautiful, the incomprehensible act of kidnapping, and the incomprehensible kindness.

I couldn’t understand the real intention hidden behind all these actions.

‘Could it be because of the warrior?’ One day, before he was called the Hero, he would go around to those in power, asking for support, saying he would defeat the Demon King and bring peace.

I became a Duke and acquired a huge fortune, but that fortune meant nothing to me, so I supported him.

Thanks to the relationship that started that way, he had the opportunity to meet me several times, and at least to me, he was one of the few relationships that I could call an ‘acquaintance’.

If all of Flora’s actions were intended to blackmail the Hero by using me, then I could understand it.

In the world I knew, love was an illusion filled with hypocrisy and pretense.

“Why do you say I’m pretty? Why do you say you love me? Is it because of the Hero?”

Flora’s red eyes sparkled at my question.

A complex mix of embarrassment, sadness, and resentment flashed across her face.

She stared at me for a moment, her lips quivering in silence, and finally, she slowly opened her mouth with a trembling voice.

“Peridot, why are you saying that?”

She carefully reached out and cupped my cheek.

The touch I felt was not cold.

“I… I couldn’t take my eyes off you from the moment I first saw you… That lonely yet beautiful appearance.”

Flora came close to my face.

A subtle tremble was transmitted every time her breath touched my cheek.

“I meant it when I said you were beautiful. Peridot, your white hair, those pure white eyes, and any expression you make are so precious and beautiful to me.”

I took a deep breath and looked at her.

The longing I felt in her words was so hot and intense.

My heart raced.

“A warrior… means nothing to me. In my eyes, I only see you, Peridot.”

Flora held my face with both hands.

Her purple eyes were moist, and her fingertips were trembling.

“I… just want to keep you by my side forever.”

Her eyes were not telling lies.

My heart, which was not mine, was beating.

Flora’s face came closer and closer.

Her moist breath brushed past my lips.

Her hands, her voice, her eyes.

Everything was directed only at me.

I was overwhelmed by a feeling of tightness in a corner of my chest.

It was an unfamiliar and unpleasant sensation.

Love, kindness, warmth.

To me, they were always other names for hypocrisy.

The kindness that humans gave me was all just a mask.

I thought of the Sage, the Knight Commander, and Sister Fiora.

When everyone pointed their fingers at me and despised me as a ‘bastard duke’, they were the ones who embraced me.

They always treated me with warm smiles and affectionate words.

However, there was pity and sympathy mixed in that kindness.

I was always a pitiful being who needed to be protected.

I always felt that I was not considered an equal.

The wall between me and Sister was invisible, but it could never be overcome.

It was.

As if someone was coming in from a distance that was not allowed, she did not know how to deal with the hands trying to climb over the wall.

The shackles were uncomfortable.

The cold, heavy metal felt unfamiliar against her bare skin.

A heavy pressure seeped through her ankles and into her chest.

An discomfort that she had never felt before, even after spending countless nights on the cold stone floor of the duke’s mansion, weighed down her entire body.

“Please take these shackles off.”

Flora was silent for a moment.

Her purple eyes wavered.

The light that had been clear even in the darkness momentarily dimmed.

She slowly lowered her head.

“…Why are you doing this, Peridot?”

She turned her gaze to my ankles, and quickly reached out and grabbed the shackles.

She tried to look calm as she met my eyes and asked.

But her slightly trembling voice was full of embarrassment and anxiety.

I could feel her fingertips shaking so thinly that they were invisible.

“These shackles are uncomfortable.”

My voice flowed out in an emotionless, hollow, monotonous tone.

That’s what I thought.

My voice was trembling.

The feeling of cold metal digging into my skin.

The feeling of warm warmth digging into my heart.

The weight that squeezed my legs.

The kindness that made my heart tremble.

The obsession that kept me here.

The love whispered in my ear.

It was all uncomfortable.

“To me, it’s just an uncomfortable lump of metal.”

I firmly rejected the emotion she called ‘love,’

the shackles that wrapped around me.