Chapter 07
If that were the case, he had clearly chosen the wrong person. The one who had to be offered as a sacrifice was someone innocent. And how great was the sin Kanna carried? How foolish. Even if he killed Kanna, the man’s wish would never come true.
The man slit Kanna’s throat. She could hear him humming under his breath. Once again, Kanna put lyrics to the tune he was humming. She wished for the man’s most miserable death.
If that was too much to ask, then at the very least she hoped that her death would be of no help to him. That whatever he had summoned would grant none of his wishes.
And then, salvation appeared for Kanna once more.
With a thunderous crash, the door was blown apart. Moonlight crept in through the wide-open entrance. The door had opened. Even if it wasn’t the window her sister had spoken of, it was unmistakably hope.
A woman dressed in pure white, bathed in moonlight, appeared—no different from the angel the man had described.
‘Unni!’
And when her sister stepped out from behind the woman, Kanna felt as if her heart had stopped. Just seeing her sister was enough to make her relax; all the strength drained from her body.
The woman was none other than Evangeline Rohanson, the one who had given holy water to her sister.
Realizing that, Kanna was stunned. Had she really felt inferior to that person? No—was she even human to begin with? The man called Donau firmly believed that he had summoned Evangeline Rohanson himself. In truth, Kanna had no choice but to believe it too, seeing the sight before her eyes.
“You’re Kanna, right? What shall I do with Donau?”
The moment Evangeline looked at Kanna, other eyes stared at her as well. Dozens of eyes bloomed open around them. A clustered mass of spherical flesh blinked.
The sight of countless eyeballs closing and opening in unison made them seem like a single organism. Eyelids? No—since they pulsed, they seemed closer to lumps of flesh than mere lids.
And it seemed only Kanna and the man could see them.
Behind Evangeline, Donau was suspended in the air, his throat gripped by an invisible force. When an eye blinked right in front of him, he writhed as if he were about to suffocate. It seemed Kanna’s sister could only see the man. If she could see the cluster of dozens of eyes, she wouldn’t be standing there so calmly.
“Shall I imprison him forever?”
It was Kanna—not the summoner—whom the summoned Evangeline asked for a decision. Kanna shook her head.
“How’s your neck?”
“It’s fine!”
The eyes turned toward the man’s throat. When Kanna gave her affirmative response, Evangeline nodded. The eyes curved brightly, as if delighted.
The man’s body began to creak as it moved. He struggled desperately against the invisible pressure trying to control him.
He had looked so thrilled when holding a blade to someone else’s neck—but now that the tip of the knife he held was turned toward himself, he looked ready to crack at any moment.
His arm bent inward while he tried to force it outward. Unable to overcome the opposing force, his bones twisted. As his resistance weakened under the pain, the knife moved without hesitation.
The man pierced his own throat. Though he had no will of his own, it looked as though he had done it willingly. Countless spectators—everyone except Evangeline—watched the scene.
‘More, more!’
As Kanna urged on, the act repeated as if answering an encore.
“Did you see?”
“Yes. He stabbed his own neck.”
It continued until the man could endure no longer.
“Sorry. He ended up dying.”
Evangeline reproached the man for failing to satisfy Kanna. Kanna decided to feign modesty.
“It’s alright. This is enough for me.”
More than enough.
She fully understood why Evangeline had made the man stab his own neck. Suicide was a grave sin. Those who cast aside the life granted by God are not permitted mercy.
The man abandoned by Evangeline would also be abandoned by God. There was only one place left to claim his soul.
Fire ignited behind them. The flames of hell had come to greet him. The heat washed over Kanna’s face—warm as her sister’s embrace, as warm as the midday sun.
Donau stood within brilliant light.
‘Our house isn’t this bright.’
There was only a single candle. It couldn’t possibly produce such radiance. Come to think of it, the chandelier in the Rohanson estate had shone like this—multiple candles perched upon its splendid branches.
Right. This is chandelier light. It’s Evangeline Rohanson. The demon Donau summoned has granted his wish! His wish had come true, and now he stood beneath the chandelier of the estate. To gain such wealth and glory in exchange for the life of a mere girl—it wasn’t a bad deal at all.
Donau thought about what he would do next. There were countless things he had wanted to do if he became a noble. But one idea came to mind first.
He would go find Count Rohanson, the man who had taken his title, and beat him just as he had once been beaten—casting the same scornful gaze upon him. Humming, Donau walked toward the chandelier’s light.
The floating sphere blinked its eyes as it watched his retreating figure. Had Donau turned around, he might have seen the eyes watching him—but that never happened.
As I was watching Donau’s house burn to ashes, the surroundings grew noisy. Perhaps the neighbors had noticed the smoke and evacuated. Or maybe not? Seeing them simply staring at the flames, perhaps they had just come out to watch the fire.
Still, whether someone with a conscience had reported it or knights had spotted the smoke during patrol, they arrived swiftly and began organizing the area.
Perhaps because this was a romance-fantasy world, their white uniforms and flowing white capes were far more splendid than armor. Among them, the most dazzling man approached me. When Henna stepped in front of me protectively, I tapped her shoulder, signaling it was fine.
“Excuse me.”
As he bowed politely, his jet-black hair fell smoothly. When he lifted his head, blue eyes and strikingly handsome features were revealed.
What? Why is he so handsome? Though his voice was blunt and his impression cold, he was so ridiculously handsome it could create memories I never had.
Wait… I’m feeling uneasy.
A handsome, cold, black-haired knight? If the Crown Prince is middle-aged and there’s no Grand Duke of the North in this world, then the next likely male lead would be the Knight Commander… Right? No. I shouldn’t jump to conclusions without knowing for sure.
“I am Gabriel, Commander of the Pharos Knights.”
You’ve got to be kidding me—he’s the Knight Commander. He really is the male lead!
“May I ask what brings you here, my lady? It doesn’t seem like a suitable place for a stroll.”
My lady? Surely we don’t already know each other? Trembling inwardly, I hesitated before remembering he had just introduced himself. Whew… So we’re not acquainted yet. Since I had a maid with me and Evangeline clearly looked like a noblewoman, he must have addressed me that way.
Besides, if he knew Evangeline personally, he wouldn’t be this polite. Male leads usually despise villainesses. In regression stories, villainesses getting their heads chopped off is practically routine.
The only villainess a male lead likes is the reincarnated, repentant-female-lead type. Wait—does that include me?
I am reincarnated, and I am on a repentance route. Do I just need to shout, “Why do you like me instead of the heroine?!” to complete the set? It was finally starting to feel like a true romance-fantasy possession story. Thinking of him as the male lead suddenly made his cold expression seem full of hidden depth. But no matter how handsome he was, maybe because he originated from text, I didn’t feel any romantic emotions. Does that disqualify me from being in a romance fantasy?
The male lead furrowed his brows
