Chapter 22: Isolda Evergarden VIII (1)
“Huh… haah… heok…”
Yuria gasped for breath as she looked at the dagger that she had deeply inserted.
Not the enemy’s heart…
She had stabbed the dagger deep in the ground.
Seeing that, Isolda said to Yuria with a cold expression on her face.
“What… what are you doing? Stand up! You must avenge your parents! You must get revenge! Ah… you must be hesitating because killing people is scary… ”
“No!”
As if telling Isolda to stop, Yuria shouted in a tearful voice.
“No… you… you are not… Isolda!”
“As I have already said. I am Isolda Evergarden.”“You can’t be that Isolda!”
Yuria cut off Isolda’s words like a sharp knife. After that, while Isolda was speechless, Yuria spoke in a slightly subdued voice.
“There is no way that Isolda… would have acted like that. There’s no way that monster with no blood or tears… would’ve helped me… listened to my story… and even offer her life like this now. There’s no way she
would!”
“…”
Isolda couldn’t give a reply to Yuria’s words.
The girl was right.
In fact, if you took the original Isolda as a standard… the things she did up until now were not really the things she would’ve done.
To repay the favor to those who had helped her.
To empathize with someone.
And things like this… the willingness to lay down one’s life while feeling guilty.
It was something that had never happened before in her life, and it was something she would never have thought of doing.
And, facing her who was so speechless, Yuria screamed with anger and pain.
“You are supposed to be a monster… Isolda is a cruel and ruthless villainess who I can hate as much as I want and not even worthy of sympathy. Then why are you the one who in front of me… why do you look like a person and not a monster? You’re no different from me. Why… do you seem like a normal person?”
‘Oh, I see…’
The moment she heard her words, Isolda could tell that this girl also felt the same way as she did.
Just as Isolda saw a part of herself in this girl.
This girl, too… was seeing a part of her in Isolda.
She admired the person, and sympathized with her, who had felt the same sadness as herself.
But, when the person revealed that she was Isolda Evergarden, Yuria also came to a realization.
The woman she thought was a monster… the woman she thought was okay to kill.
The truth was, she was not that different.
She was not a monster… but a human who had felt the same pain as her.
‘To be precise… I must have changed… and Yuria… it was all thanks to you…’
If Isolda was the same person before she realized her sins, Yuria would have swung the dagger without hesitation.
No, if that was the case in the first place, Isolda wouldn’t have even appeared here.
Maybe she would’ve already killed Yuria, taken her carriage and property while passing through a deserted road to make even a little more profit.
But… she didn’t and came here.
Although it was a short trip. After meeting this girl, Isolda had changed before she knew it.
Not from outside, but from the inside.
They now felt the same happiness, talked about the same pain, and recognized each other as beings that resembled each other.
In the process… Isolda had become a human resembling the girl before she knew it.
She was no longer a villainess without blood and tears. She was a human being who could suffer and shed tears just like everyone else.
‘If… if I could have had this experience a little sooner… if I had fallen from that high place and seen the bottom of my feet sooner… my life might not have turned out to be this ugly…’
However, also because of that, Isolda couldn’t stay the way she was now.
‘I might have realized my mistake, but I have already come too far to go back.’
That was what she thought about herself.
“You still have to do it… Yuria.”
“What?”
With those words, Isolda slowly pulled out the dagger stuck in the ground and put it in Yuria’s hand.
As a result, Yuria made a look of confusion.
Seeing her make that expression, Isolda smiled with deep sadness.
It was an empty yet sorrowful smile.
“I don’t know what I am now from your point of view, but… I was definitely a monster… I was a villainess. I have committed so many sins that will never be forgiven. So… so I have to atone for my sins like this… no… I really want to do it… so…”
Isolda’s voice gave off the feeling of sadness and regret… and even pleading.
While listening to her, Yuria lowered her head for a moment and didn’t say anything.
And…
Thashh!
“…!”
The next moment, Yuria slapped Isolda on the cheek.
The force behind the slap wasn’t that great. There was only a slight sting as it was the strength of a young girl.
But, nonetheless…
This girl’s slap came as a great shock to Isolda.
And looking at Isolda, Yuria said in a cold voice.
“You coward! You’re… a villainess… but you’re so… weak!”
“… ”
Hearing Yuria’s words, Isolda looked at her with a blank expression.
Yuria shed tears and lashed out at Isolda.
“You want to atone for your sins with just something like this? You don’t want to pay the penalty! You’re just going to run away to the other world!”
“Yuria…?”