Kay, who had definitely collapsed earlier, was now regaining consciousness. There’s no way Inas would’ve let him wake up this quickly—too quickly.
On top of that, there was something deeply off about Kay now. It was unmistakably him standing there, but his eyes, his expression, even the entire aura around him were completely different. His presence was ragged, vicious, and yet his eyes held a chilling emptiness.
It wasn’t like a seventeen-year-old boy had woken up—but rather, like an old man who’d lived through centuries had stepped into his body.
“No big deal. Other than how you always ignored Inas completely whenever you were starstruck by Etna, Nigel.”
“Kay…?”
“You…”
Kay stumbled, then stood upright. But he was far from okay. Blood trickled from his nose, yet he didn’t seem to care. Raising a trembling hand, he pointed directly at Inas—bold and hostile, as though declaring war.
“I remember. It’s all come back. Inas Idenbach…”
His voice was trembling—but not from fear. What burned in his voice was an emotion so vast and pure, its magnitude was beyond comprehension: rage.
“You killed me. Thousands of times—maybe even more. So many times, I’ve lost count…”
“…”
“And I remember every single thing you did to me.”
That eerie voice sent a shiver down the spine.
Was this the sense of wrongness Inas had noticed before? The perfect manners that didn’t belong to a farm boy fresh off the countryside. The strange, unpredictable actions. If all of that had been because memories from the past were leaking out, then the fury Kay must be feeling couldn’t be measured. Even Nigel, a bystander, felt a surge of fear.
But the one directly facing Kay’s fury, Inas, looked… bored. A far cry from the expression he wore earlier when he’d been delighted to learn Nigel remembered the past.
That unshaken calm only fanned the flames of Kay’s fury. Unable to hold back anymore, Kay’s burning eyes landed on Nigel. His pupils shimmered with something dark and ominous.
“Right. You didn’t just screw me over, did you? You did it to the Duke too. Over and over, even while claiming you loved him…”
“Inas!”
Nigel called out his name purely on instinct. Only after shouting did he realize Inas had already drawn his sword and was aiming it at Kay. Had he hesitated even a second longer—or if Inas had chosen to cast a spell instead—the boy would already be dead.
The killing intent hanging in the air was palpable, making Nigel’s skin sting. It wasn’t just from Inas—Kay, too, was radiating a terrifying intensity. Nigel swallowed hard and looked to Inas.
“Inas, don’t do anything. Don’t.”
“Nigel.”
“Just stay still.”
“Nigel…”
That voice—low and rumbling—was hard to read. Was he angry? Sad? Maybe both. Despite the blazing gaze that looked like it could devour someone whole, Nigel couldn’t help but protect Kay.
Because right now, the one telling the truth wasn’t Inas. It was Kay.
Nigel looked at Kay with worried eyes. As if sensing everything in that gaze, Kay twisted his lips into a crooked smile.
“Don’t trust Inas Idenbach.”
“Shut up.”
With a frosty warning, Inas released a slice of razor-sharp magical energy, grazing Kay’s neck with a long, thin cut. A red line drew itself across his throat and blood began to drip—but Kay didn’t even blink. He laughed.
“You’re really pissed, huh? Bet it’s driving you crazy you can’t just slit my throat like usual.”
“…”
“You’ve killed me so many times. Haven’t you? Not once did I die painlessly. You’ve always hated me. Isn’t that right?”
As Kay mocked him, Inas’s expression darkened. Sure, Kay was the Protagonist, so from Inas’s perspective—knowing the entire truth—this must be insufferable.
But Nigel’s heart swayed more toward Kay. The way he raged after discovering the truth… mirrored the way he had felt before.
Nigel had loved Inas, yet he’d still feared and resented him. So how much worse must it have been for Kay, who’d been murdered repeatedly—along with his comrades, at times? The wrath of a protagonist who had seen countless bad endings was brutal beyond words.
“Your Grace. Don’t you want to know just how much that man’s hiding from you?”
Kay’s whisper felt deliberate, as if he knew exactly how much Nigel was wavering. Nigel flinched before he even realized it, his gaze locking onto the boy’s.
In Kay’s eyes was desperation.
“Your Grace.”
He whispered again, earnest and raw, extending a hand toward Nigel.
“Let’s run away together.”
“Nigel.”
Inas stepped forward at last. He couldn’t hold back anymore—his suppressed magic exploded in a violent wave. The same suffocating force that once nearly killed Nigel.
Since then, Inas had kept his power in check around him—but now, his rage had completely unraveled his composure.
Yet even now, his face remained calm and gentle. That mask of kindness was somehow even more terrifying.
It made Nigel wonder—was all that affection Inas had shown him nothing but a well-crafted disguise?
“Come this way, Nigel.”
“Ugh…”
“Nigel.”
Hearing his name over and over, Nigel stumbled. Inas’s face, his voice, the air around him—all of it triggered buried memories.
Old memories rose from the depths and began to play again—
“Nigel.”
A voice so low it made his skin crawl. Trembling, Nigel lifted his head.
Inas stood there, cloaked in a darkness Nigel had never seen before. It was as if he’d absorbed all the world’s negative emotions—ominous, menacing. The pitch-black clothes he wore made him look like a reaper ushering in death. Blood spattered across his pale cheek only heightened the horror.
“Inas…”
“Get up, Nigel. Let go of that.”
But Nigel shook his head, clutching the thing in his arms even tighter. What he was holding…
…was a corpse. A headless one.
The severed head was still in Inas’s hand.
“Let it go and come to me, Nigel.”
“N-No…”
Trembling before a cold-blooded killer, Nigel resisted with everything he had. But it was useless.
Inas strode forward and snatched the corpse from Nigel’s arms. He couldn’t hold on—it slipped from him helplessly.
“Ah…!”
The man gripping his arm showed no effort to hide his fury. Nigel’s breathing grew heavier.
“All this fuss over that?”
“Don’t call them that!”
“Don’t make me angry, Nigel.”
A warning. Icy, bone-chilling. The killing intent in his voice went far beyond anything Nigel had felt before. Unable to withstand the pressure and fear, his breathing turned ragged. He began to tremble from what felt like a seizure.
Seeing this, Inas’s face twisted in anguish.
“Nigel, please…”
“Urgh…”
Even as he sighed and looked tormented, Inas refused to let go of Nigel’s hand. Without another word, he burned the corpse beyond recognition. His expression was blank, empty, like none of it meant anything.
Watching the body go up in flames, Nigel sobbed silently. No sound—only tears. His strength gave out, and his body slumped like a puppet with cut strings.
Inas picked him up and carried him out. As they exited that unknown room, familiar hallways came into view—it was the castle in the Magnus Duchy.
He walked straight into Nigel’s room and gently laid him on the bed.
“…”
Nigel avoided his gaze, unable to look at him directly. After a moment of silence, Inas sighed and stepped out of the room.
<system: Erasing memory■■>
But just as he was about to leave, Inas suddenly turned back.
<Die, Nigel.>
That voice—metallic and distorted like a scraped blade—rattled the air. It didn’t sound like Inas at all. Before Nigel could even process what was happening, Inas stepped onto the bed with dirt-covered boots and wrapped his hands around Nigel’s throat.
<Die.>
That same corrupted voice. His vision began to warp. The harder Inas squeezed, the more the world twisted. He was killing him. Inas was actually strangling him to death.
His mind blurred. The illusion shattered—
“Nigel.”
Back in the present, Inas reached out his hand.
“Nigel, please.”
A desperate voice. Eyes full of intense, aching love. But everything was chaos inside Nigel. He couldn’t tell what was real and what was just another mask. The memory he’d just seen had shattered his trust.
Filled with dread, Nigel took a step back. He looked around in panic—and grabbed Kay’s hand.
And together, they ran.
