novelraw Chapter 137 : Chapter 137
Chapter 137 : Chapter 137
Chapter 137. Engagement
“Trust me, Serena. Lord Yohan is someone you can rely on.”
Serin’s perception of Yohan had completely changed.
What had once been a “monster” had become a “trustworthy person.”
The sight of Serin smiling as she spoke Yohan’s name felt strangely unfamiliar to Serena.
A peculiar sense of unease crept over her.
“U, unni. What on earth are you talking about right now?”
Serin drew a gentle smile.
“I mean exactly what I said. Lord Yohan was not a monster.”
Serena was utterly bewildered.
It was far too difficult to accept her sister’s sudden change in attitude.
“……Wait a moment. I really do not understand. What did you go through, exactly?”
Serin opened her mouth, then closed it again.
She looked as though she was hesitating deeply.
In the end, she could not satisfy Serena’s curiosity.
“I am sorry. I cannot tell you anything right now. Serena, just trust this sister of yours. I was mistaken about Lord Yohan.”
Serena stared at Serin with trembling eyes.
An inexplicable chill ran down her spine.
“Unni, were you possessed by something? What happened last night? What were those pitch-black hands, and why are you suddenly acting like this?”
Serin shook her head.
“I cannot answer that.”
Serena felt as though she might go mad from frustration.
She could not even use the Heart-Piercing Eyes.
Her authority could not reach beyond the mirror.
“Please, just tell me! It feels like my chest is going to burst!”
Serin murmured with a gloomy expression.
“I am sorry, Serena.”
Serena let out a hollow breath, as if at a loss for words.
Her expression hardened.
“……Fine. You say Lord Yohan is trustworthy?”
Serin nodded.
“Yes.”
“Then I suppose it would be fine if I became engaged to him?”
A shadow passed across Serin’s face.
In a barely audible voice, she asked,
“Serena, if you were to marry Lord Yohan, you would become the most precious person to him, would you not?”
Serena found it difficult to grasp the intent behind the question.
“Usually, yes, but…… is that really important right now?”
Suddenly, Serin glared at Serena.
“It is important to me! Serena, you are trying to take what little I have again!”
Serena was utterly stunned. Her words failed her.
She doubted her own ears.
“U, unni, what are you even……,”
Serin shouted through tears.
“Why is it always you who gets everything?! Why do I have to give up everything?! There is nothing in my life that is truly mine!”
Serin had always envied Serena’s life.
From the shadowed world inside the mirror, she had longed for the sunlight.
The beautiful dresses Serena wore, the delicious food she ate, the countless gifts she received on every birthday—things Serin had never experienced even once, Serena had them all.
And now, her younger sister would even gain a husband.
Serin’s only friend would become Serena’s possession.
Just like their father, who loved only Serena, Yohan too would eventually push Serin aside.
Everyone would cherish Serena alone.
Tears streamed down Serin’s face.
Serena was so shocked that she could not speak.
Her sister felt utterly unfamiliar.
“……U, unni.”
“I am leaving.”
Serin abruptly turned around.
Her figure vanished beyond the mirror.
Serena stood there, staring blankly at the glass.
***
Serena failed to keep the appointed time.
Though she was supposed to visit the baron’s estate around noon, she arrived only when evening was near.
Inside the reception room of the estate, Yohan spoke.
“You are late, my lady.”
Serena replied with a sunken expression.
“……Do you not already know why I am late, Lord Yohan?”
“I imagine your conversation with Serin lasted longer than expected.”
Yohan referred to Serena’s sister simply as “Serin.”
He used no honorifics, speaking of her as though she were a friend.
What kind of relationship did Serin and Yohan share?
No, before that— How did Yohan even know of Serin’s existence?
Everything was riddled with questions.
Serena spoke calmly.
“That is correct. My sister said some very strange things.”
“About me?”
“Yes. Yesterday she called you a monster, and today she says you are a good person.”
Yohan formed a kind smile.
“I am glad the misunderstanding was resolved.”
Serena stared straight into his eyes.
“……What exactly did you do to my sister?”
Yohan’s expression remained composed.
“What do you mean, ‘did’? I merely became Serin’s friend.”
It was an absurd claim.
Serin and Yohan could never have met.
Not to mention physical contact, even conversation was impossible.
Only the mirror in Serena’s room served as a means of contact with Serin.
That was what Serena believed.
She spoke.
“It sounds as though you are saying you met my sister.”
Yohan replied evenly.
“That is correct. I was with Serin last night.”
Confusion spread across Serena’s face.
“How……,”
Yohan cut her off.
“A great mage I am acquainted with lent me some assistance.”
He was calmly confessing to a crime.
———He knew a great mage.
———He had received help from a great mage.
Both were heinous sins.
Yohan was a criminal who should have been put on the rack.
Serena let out a hollow laugh.
“Are you confessing your crime to me right now?”
Yohan shrugged.
“You could say that.”
“I could run straight to the Order.”
The moment she reported him, Yohan would not survive.
Yohan chuckled softly.
“I doubt you will, my lady.”
The Marcano Family could not stand proudly before the Order.
They had used magic to confine Serin within the mirror world.
If that fact were exposed, the Marcano Family would fall.
Serena spoke in a calm tone.
“Now I am certain what kind of person you are, Lord Yohan.”
Yohan lifted the corner of his lips, intrigued.
“I would like to hear it.”
Contempt gathered in Serena’s eyes.
“You are a cunning demon. One who toys with the weaknesses and emotions of others.”
Yohan slowly clapped his hands.
“As expected of Lady Marcano. You have the correct answer.”
He was acting shamelessly.
The sight of it was utterly repulsive.
Serena bit her lip.
“……That grotesque demonic hand was also related to you, was it not?”
The pitch-black grasp had abducted Serin.
After that, Serin had changed.
Surely Yohan had done something to her.
Yohan nodded.
“That is correct. It was my hand.”
Serena frowned.
“What do you mean by that……,”
Yohan said calmly.
“I turn into a demon at night. It was night then, and you witnessed my nocturnal form.”
Nonsense was spilling from Yohan’s mouth.
Serena could not follow the conversation at all.
“Have you lost your mind after being bewitched by a demon?”
Surely Yohan served some demon.
That was all Serena thought.
Yohan chuckled.
“I am not one who is bewitched. As I said, I am a demon who does bewitching.”
Serena let out a dry laugh.
The Watcher of the Abyss was a madman.
“Enough with these tasteless jokes.”
Yohan replied with an easygoing expression.
“Jokes? I am speaking nothing but the truth.”
The conversation could not continue.
Serena was unbearably frustrated.
The fact that she could not use the Heart-Piercing Eyes wrapped around her heart like shackles.
“You truly are the worst kind of person.”
Yohan fell briefly into thought.
He tapped the table lightly with his index finger, then spoke.
“Very well. I will allow it, just this once.”
“……Allow what?”
“What you are thinking of. The Heart-Piercing Eyes.”
Serena looked at him in disbelief.
“You are serious?”
Yohan shrugged.
“Use it quickly, before I change my mind.”
Up until now, Serena had dismissed everything Yohan said as wordplay.
If she continued with that attitude, the conversation would go nowhere, so Yohan made a bold move.
He permitted the use of the Heart-Piercing Eyes.
The moment Serena heard Yohan’s true intentions through her authority, her attitude would surely change.
Serena stared intently at Yohan.
She was gauging his intent.
Of course, merely observing his expression could not reveal his thoughts.
“You permitted it. Do not change your words later.”
“Of course.”
Immediately afterward, an unusual light settled in Serena’s pupils.
Blood flowed from her nose.
The Heart-Piercing Eyes were activating.
A torrent of information poured into Serena.
Her expression shifted moment by moment.
Confusion, shock, disbelief—countless emotions surged through her.
Yohan waited quietly with a faint smile until the authority ended.
Quite some time passed.
Eventually, the strange light faded from Serena’s eyes.
Without even wiping the blood from her nose, she stared blankly at the floor.
Each fragment of information etched into her mind was utterly bizarre.
Could everything she had just seen truly be real?
It was far too difficult for Serena to accept.
“……How could such a thing be.”
Yohan spoke in a calm voice.
“The Heart-Piercing Eyes convey only the truth.”
They filtered out all falsehoods.
Everything Serena had perceived was truth.
She knew that fact well.
“You truly are……,”
“The sun will soon set.”
Yohan looked out the window.
Twilight was settling in.
Serena swallowed hard.
Silence followed.
No words were exchanged.
An oppressive tension filled the room.
Just as a bead of cold sweat dropped from Serena’s skin, the sun disappeared completely.
The world sank into darkness.
Yohan’s figure transformed into black smoke.
Serena sprang to her feet.
“Y, you!”
Her pupils dilated.
As Yohan’s form dispersed completely, a vicious being took its place.
Crimson eyes gleamed.
Mapheltan slowly approached Serena.
Serena staggered backward, gasping for breath.
“Serena, do you believe me now?”
Her eyes shook violently.
In a trembling voice, she murmured,
“O, oji-man.”
Mapheltan paid no heed to her fear.
Lifting the corners of his lips, he stepped closer.
“Do you dare look at the one who will become your husband with such eyes?”
Serena shook her head frantically.
“N, no! I do not want this! Stay away!”
Her retreat came to an abrupt halt.
She had hit the wall.
There was nowhere left to run.
The distance between Mapheltan and Serena vanished.
He gently brushed her black hair.
“Do not fear me so.”
Serena squeezed her eyes shut.
“Hii!”
Mapheltan lightly took her hand.
Serena was so terrified that she felt she might lose her mind.
What on earth was about to happen to her?
Her reason was numbing.
She could not even scream.
In the midst of that overwhelming fear, Serena felt something foreign on her finger.
Something was being slipped onto her hand.
A chilling voice reached her ears.
“Open your eyes.”
His words transformed into the Ancient Demonic Tongue.
『Open your eyes (Ka’ruun thal).』
A Verbal Command Spell was being inscribed.
Serena could not resist.
Her eyelids slowly lifted.
“N, no. Please.”
“I wonder if it suits you.”
Mapheltan gently raised Serena’s hand.
Her facial muscles twitched.
“W, what is this……,”
Mapheltan stretched his lips into a long smile.
“An engagement ring.”
On Serena’s long, pale ring finger, a crimson ring had been placed.