Chapter 326

Chapter 326

We were exhausted.

Barbara, me, and even Giselle, who had just woken up.

Vroooom.

The vehicle entered the canyon. Each time we hit a pile of rocks, our bodies jolted.

Clatter.

By the time we exited the canyon, twilight had draped itself over the land.

Before long, even the faintest light vanished, and the moon rose. Along with the darkness, a gentle chill settled across the wasteland.

“Your body’s a wreck. There’s barely a part of you that’s still intact.”

Giselle spoke while applying ointment to the wound on my side. She then held a portable stapler to the cut and pulled the trigger. With a clicking sound, the wound closed.

“……Fighting’s all I ever knew.”

With my eyes loosely open, I stared outside the vehicle. Through the cracked window, I saw the nightscape of the wasteland. Without any artificial light, it was cloaked in darkness.

‘A worthless land.’

That’s why the nations left it alone. If even rare resources or Arcane relics were discovered, they’d fight tooth and nail over it.

“If it were me, I’d get regenerative treatment.”

“Scars give you a sense of intimidation. Not a bad way to assert dominance.”

I shrugged.

“Congratulations, really.”

Giselle grumbled as she packed away the medical tools.

We hadn’t kissed yet.

Even after hearing Giselle’s story and telling mine, it wouldn’t be too late. That’s what I thought.

“……Things started going wrong when some Tajirun businessman woke me up.”

I spoke first. I couldn’t put it off any longer.

Rustle.

Giselle leaned her body slightly away and rested her back against the corner of the vehicle. Wrapped in a blanket, she stared at me quietly.

“I’m listening. Keep going, Luka.”

I began to recount what happened in Border City, one piece at a time.

There was nothing to hide. I laid everything out, honestly.

How Jafa had paid a fortune to buy my information from one of the Tajirun intelligence families, how Kinuan had deliberately earned Jafa’s grudge—everything.

“For something that was handled in a rush, I thought we’d hidden you pretty well…… Didn’t think you’d get exposed. But I guess it makes sense. If it’s the Tajirun intel families, you were bound to get caught.”

Giselle bit her lip, brushing her fingers across them.

“The universe is big. It can’t be helped. Info’s bound to leak now and then.”

I replied like it was nothing.

“Barbara probably rented Tajirun servers from time to time to avoid the Empire’s surveillance. Must’ve left some traces there. You really can’t trust those bastards.”

Giselle spat her words, full of distrust and prejudice toward the Tajirun. Not that I could blame her. Jafa had just been an exception.

I also brought up Anguis Regina.

And... I didn’t hide the subtle tension between us either.

Giselle listened to me with a bitter smile.

…I was walking on thin ice myself right now. But I had no intention of hiding anything. That would only look more suspicious.

“Luka, you’re the kind of person who can make friends and family anywhere. Because you desperately look out for those close to you. You made another family in Border City too. I might be a little jealous…”

“There’s nothing to be jealous about. That bond’s in the past.”

“No, it’s not. If you go back now, they’ll accept you again.”

“That’s only because I’m a valuable asset.”

Giselle shook her head and let out a low chuckle.

“I’m telling you, even if you were powerless, they’d still protect you and stand by you.”

I didn’t argue. I just sighed. Then, as if changing the subject, I started talking about others.

The Accretia Empire, Emperor Ivan Accretia, Kinuan, Mushir al-Kashura, Ilay Carthica…

…And Juppe Custoria.

“I didn’t think you’d leave the final clue with Juppe. That was a bold decision.”

“Juppe and I have been at odds for a long time because of you. Juppe kept trying to hand you over to the Emperor. So it’s not exactly easy to believe I’d entrust a clue to him.”

“It’s only natural when weighing the life of one family member with no hope of waking up against the well-being of the entire family. Juppe did his duty as the head.”

I thought Juppe’s judgment was admirable.

If I had been in his position, I would have done the same.

‘If anything… the foolish one is Giselle.’

Because of her emotional decision, she’d put everyone in danger.

But if I had been in Giselle’s place… I would have acted exactly as she had. I was just as foolish.

‘If I had even the slimmest chance to see Giselle again, I would have risked everything for it.’

There was no correct answer in the conflict between Juppe and Giselle.

“I figured that’s what you’d say. But I couldn’t give up on you, Luka. So I betrayed people.”

…She betrayed people.

I thought I understood what that meant.

But I needed to hear it from Giselle herself.

“Gilda and ‘Gabriel’?”

I emphasized Gabriel in particular.

Gabriel had devoted himself to Giselle for the sake of his friendship with me—and his life had fallen apart because of it.

“I expanded G&G Cybernetics with Gilda. We did some pretty dangerous things, more than once.”

Giselle confessed her wrongdoings in a calm, quiet tone.

So calm that even I was a little surprised.

Giselle had actively used her status as the daughter of Hemillas Custoria. She even asked a few former Imperial Guards she was close to for ‘terrorism’ and ‘assassinations’. And she kept Barbara nearby for information manipulation.

That must’ve been the prototype for what later became *The Empire’s Blade*.

“I had only one reason for building up the company—to gather capital and smuggle you out.”

Giselle couldn’t have cared less about the future of G&G Cybernetics.

The moment the company got on track, she revealed her true intentions. She committed embezzlement severe enough to shake the company’s foundation, and made a series of irrational decisions all for the sake of extracting me.

“Gilda treated the employees like family. But to me, subordinates were nothing more than tools. Eventually, even Gilda couldn’t take it anymore and tried to oust me.”

Gilda had tried to abduct and confine Giselle—

At least until the company stabilized.

‘But Giselle was one step ahead. With Barbara by her side, she must’ve had the edge in information too.’

Gilda wasn’t the type to excel in scheming.

Giselle paused her story to take a sip of water.

As her lips moistened, color gradually returned to them—and from that soft pink, I almost imagined a sweet scent drifting off.

I held back the impulse and focused on the story.

“Luka, I won’t lie to you. So listen closely. I… tried to kill Gilda.”

Giselle looked straight into my eyes as she spoke.

I didn’t need Akies Victima’s intuition. That look in her eyes, that firm declaration—it was the truth.

“I see.”

I answered flatly.

Back then, Giselle hadn’t been fully prepared.

The many variables now in play were likely because she had rushed the plan.

“I had planned to hold onto control of G&G Cybernetics until it collapsed. Chaos creates opportunity, after all. But Gilda defended her position well on every front. She even countered the ‘assassination’. Eventually, control of the company started shifting to her.”

I frowned.

‘Assassination.’

Giselle had tried to assassinate Gilda. *That* Gilda…

If Giselle had killed Gilda, could I have forgiven her?

A sadness washed over me.

Because I knew I would’ve forgiven her in just one day.

At first, I would’ve been furious. I would’ve hurled curses at her.

But in the end… I would’ve held her.

I had no right to speak about forgiveness.

I’d killed innocent people too, for my own goals.

I’d used and discarded distant lives countless times to protect those close to me.

‘Giselle lost the power struggle to Gilda. Wasn’t Giselle supposed to be the superior schemer?’

It was unexpected.

Because of that, Giselle had accelerated her plan—

and used Gilda’s attempt to detain her as a chance to vanish.

The kidnapping had been Giselle’s own scheme,

and it marked the beginning of everything.

From that moment on, even if the gears misaligned, she couldn’t stop.

Chzzk, click.

A headache pulsed at my temple.

Akies Victima’s way of thinking was trying to connect the clues and traces.

‘I’m close to catching something.’

The branching paths of thought, like spiderwebs, stretched out endlessly—then unraveled.

My head was a mess. Just turning it made me nauseous.

I’d pushed myself too hard in a row, and now my thoughts wouldn’t flow smoothly. But my brain kept trying to force itself into motion, which only made the pointless headache worse.

“Do you know what happened to Gabriel after your staged act?”

Giselle shook her head. I closed my eyes briefly before continuing.

“Kinuan had been watching you the whole time. He probably didn’t know your plan exactly, but he’d been intervening here and there.”

Gabriel had been caught in the crossfire between Giselle’s scheme and Kinuan’s conspiracy—and he’d been left broken.

Giselle couldn’t even manage a bitter smile after hearing what had become of him.

Gabriel had supported Giselle in the struggle between her and Gilda, despite how much it pained him—out of friendship.

“Giselle, I know it’s meaningless to say this now…

But instead of betraying people in silence, you should’ve talked to them—asked for help. Gilda would’ve helped us. I’m sure of it.”

Even as I said it, I understood the confusion Giselle must’ve gone through.

Just like I had during the Storm Era, she likely hadn’t known who to trust.

Interests were tangled up beyond recognition, and everyone had their own agendas and motives.

To speak realistically, even if they had worked together, there was no guarantee that the outcome would’ve been any better than betrayal.

‘Ironically, it was probably *because* of that chaos that Giselle could trust Barbara. Because Barbara’s goal… was Giselle herself.’

Giselle didn’t agree with what I said.

Well, I had only heard things from Giselle’s side. I had no real idea what the atmosphere had been like at the time.

We were bound to clash in the future. We’d feel uneasy when our values didn’t align, maybe even find each other unfamiliar at times.

…But it didn’t matter.

I knew love was a fleeting thing.

I wasn’t even sure how long my feelings for Giselle would last.

There might come a day when we see our devotion as nothing but a wasted passion.

But now as ever, we humans can’t reject this feeling.

Throughout history, mankind has agonized and stumbled over love.

Again and again, we’ve made the same mistakes without ever learning.

And today’s choice…

Is one of those countless mistakes in human history—

just another link in the chain.

Let’s bury, just for a moment, the unhappiness and sin born of our selfishness.

“Well, I guess that’s the end of the story?”

I said, pulling Giselle by the arm and wrapping my other hand around her waist.

“Haha.”

Giselle let out a soft, wet laugh and wrapped her arms around my neck.

I laughed with her.

Our skin met warmly, and our breaths mingled as if they’d been one from the start.

…Why is this meaningless act of our lips touching so sweet?

And why do our hearts keep changing with every passing moment?

Until yesterday, I’d cursed the world.

But today, I was grateful for it.

Just this one moment made my life feel meaningful, worth something.

Though this moment and this feeling won’t last forever, I wish they could.

And that contradiction—that’s what it means to be human, isn’t it?

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