"You can’t take it anymore?! What right do you have to say that?! I never did anything to you! I never harmed you! As long as you stayed obediently by my side, no one would’ve dared to bully you! I ignored all those media reports! I ignored all your lies and mistakes! I was willing to forgive everything!"
"Who touched you, Vivienne? Who gave them the right to touch you?! Yes, I’m insane! That’s true! I’m a man who deserves to die! A villain! That’s true! But tell me—when have I, Adrian Voss, ever bullied you?! When have I ever allowed you to suffer even the slightest injustice?! Why did you do this?! After bringing me back to life, you want to leave me behind?! Vivienne Blackwood! What right do you have?! What right do you have to treat me like this?! What right do you have to choose death on your own?!"
"I thought about taking revenge on you. I thought about abandoning you. I treated you coldly and eventually left you behind. I left because I didn’t want to hurt you. But every time I closed my eyes, every nightmare wore your face."
"I want to get rid of you... but I can’t! I can’t! They all say I’m crazy—yes, I know! I’ve been crazy for a long time! I went insane the night I crawled out of that old house!"
"I should’ve died long ago! I should’ve died after getting my revenge! I should’ve been free! But you dragged me into this hell! You brought me back to myself... only to drive me mad all over again!"
Adrian Voss’s hand locked tightly around Vivienne Blackwood’s wrist, while his other hand remained clenched around her throat.
The hatred and agony overflowing from his eyes threatened to drown them both.
His emotions consumed him completely, until he became the very embodiment of a demon.
"Vivienne Blackwood! You hated me from the very beginning, didn’t you?! Then why did you save me?! Why are you doing this to me?! What did I do wrong?! Why are you treating me like this?!"
"Why did you leave me?! What did I do wrong?! Why did you want to leave me?! Why did you leave me?!"
Like a trapped beast driven to the edge of madness by endless torture, his furious roars gradually weakened—until only broken, desperate cries remained.
Vivienne’s face turned crimson.
Her legs, kicking helplessly from lack of oxygen, gradually lost their strength.
"Hng..."
Taking advantage of the moment his grip loosened slightly, she gasped for air.
Her face was soaked with tears from suffocation, and she looked as though she might collapse—or die—at any moment.
A hand brushed against her cheek before striking the mattress beside her.
The grip around her neck finally disappeared.
The scent of blood filled her nose.
Vivienne Blackwood swallowed the blood that had surged up her throat from the violent struggle.
Her eyes were red and swollen as tears streamed onto the sheets beneath her.
She reached out and grabbed the hand that had been supporting her. One by one, she forced apart his fingers—clenched so tightly they were nearly deformed.
Only then did she reveal the bloodied mess hidden in his palm, where crimson had pooled between their entwined hands.
"This is all my fault... I didn’t know. I’ll accept your revenge, no matter what it is. I’ll accept all of it. I’m the one at fault. I’m the sinner. I’m the one who deserves death and pain..."
"Just... please don’t hurt yourself."
Vivienne’s eyes brimmed with tears.
After being strangled for so long, her vocal cords were damaged. Her voice came out rough, broken, and trembling.
Vivienne Blackwood...
She was nothing more than cannon fodder in this story.
A character destined to die in the end.
Someone without a present or a future.
A broken toy fated to shatter eventually.
While Adrian Voss was the protagonist.
The man destined to become this world’s ultimate victor.
That was fate.
Her defiance had brought him to this state.
Her determination to rebel against the plot and seize control of her own destiny had hurt him far more than she ever intended.
If she had known her actions would wound him this deeply...
She would have accepted her written fate in silence.
I’m sorry, Adrian.
I shouldn’t have gone against the story.
I shouldn’t have gotten close to you.
I never should have...
...fallen in love with you.
They should have stayed far away from each other.
Or perhaps they should have ignored one another entirely, waiting for their inevitable deaths with indifferent hearts.
But even now...
Looking at Adrian Voss as he broke down in tears...
The sharp pain in her chest told her otherwise.
The people standing before her were different from everyone else in all the worlds.
She couldn’t bear the thought of abandoning him.
At that time, she had clung to a false hope of a normal and beautiful life.
She had thought of staying with him like that, but the moment the plot completely took control, she realized she could not—there was no future between them.
The other party would be destroyed sooner or later.
Vivienne Blackwood took a deep, trembling breath, her eyes filled with bitter tears. She let her body fall into a resigned posture, awaiting an unknown judgment.
She had completely surrendered.
The darkness that had clouded his vision finally dispersed.
Adrian Voss froze for a moment, his gaze falling onto the fragile, motionless girl beneath him.
He stared at those lifeless eyes for a long time, unable to comprehend what he had just done.
Was she looking at him with pity? With sorrow?
Why?
A chilling bitterness and repressed emotions surged wildly within his chest. Fear and madness flickered in his eyes, struggling for control of his body.
Silence stretched on for a long time.
Vivienne, deprived of oxygen for too long, was in a dazed, semi-conscious state.
Her eyelids fluttered weakly, and she no longer had the strength to speak, as if she might pass out at any moment.
Suddenly, she felt a bite on her lips.
Heat spread violently between her teeth—rough, possessive, angry. It was not a kiss, but something closer to a predator’s bite, clumsy and chaotic, a release of suppressed emotions.
A tingling numbness spread through her entire body.
Vivienne’s lashes trembled violently as a cold hand covered her eyes, plunging her into darkness.
The burning sensation sent a shiver down her spine. Instinctively, she tried to push the person above her away.
But it was useless.
"Ah... mmn..."
She could barely breathe, completely overwhelmed by the suffocating, consuming kiss—more like a beast trying to swallow her whole than an act of love between two people.