"Let's talk."
I said it plainly as my eyes locked onto hers.
She glared back at —again. Or maybe she'd been glaring this whole ti and I was only now noticing it properly. Hard to tell with her. That cold stare was practically carved into her face whenever she was looking at .
Without waiting for a response, I reached out and grabbed her arm, pulling her out of the room. But the mont we were out, I cast Sloth on her again. Just to be safe.
Alongside that, I used Durathiel's strange ability to block mana flow—cutting off not just her mana, but her prana too, just in case. I didn't push it too far; I didn't want to fully assimilate with Sloth. But honestly, I didn't need to do much. She already seed weakened.
Probably Nevia's spell, I figured. Getting tossed not just into another world, but into a different tiline altogether… that had to leave so aftereffects. It had done a number on Leon, after all.
Either way, her weakened state worked in my favor. Because if she had been at full strength? I wasn't so sure I could've held her down.
As soon as I removed the gag, she snapped.
"Y–You bastard, what did you do to ?!"
Roda's voice rose up imdiately.
She felt it, of course. What I did to her mana, her prana—everything. I didn't bother lying.
"Relax. It's just a precaution," I replied, eyes narrowing slightly. "You've already stirred up enough drama. The staff's starting to get the wrong idea—and by wrong idea, I an they think you're my prostitute. Save whatever sha remains of you in this hotel."
Roda's face imdiately flushed with a mix of sha and anger, and I didn't hide the irritation in my voice.
"Seriously, what were you thinking, saying that?" I sighed. "You clearly thought I was the sa trash as Leon and figured it'd give you easy access to my apartnt. And sure, it worked—but co on, you could've picked a better excuse."
I rubbed the bridge of my nose, already dreading the fallout if Layla caught wind of this. Explaining that ss to her? Yeah, not looking forward to it.
Finally, I reached out and undid the bindings on her wrists.
"You're free now," I said. "Not that you can do much to anymore."
Truthfully, after learning who she really was, it didn't feel right to keep her tied up like that. Yeah, she tried to kill —but from her point of view, I was Leon. And if I were in her shoes, I might've done the sa.
She was Roda Moonfang—a Main Heroine of the Second Ga. She was one of the good ones, soone noble at heart, despite the wild streak you'd expect from a werewolf. No matter what, she didn't deserve to be tossed into a closet like so rabid animal.
"Alright, take a seat," I said, stepping aside and motioning toward the bed.
She glanced at it, and then sothing strange happened. Her whole body stiffened. A noticeable shiver ran down her spine, and before I could even question it, a rosy blush crept up her neck and blood across her cheeks, reaching all the way to her pointed fluffy white ears.
"…What?" I blinked. "Why are you looking at the bed like that?"
"N–Nothing," she replied a little too quickly, her voice shaky as she looked away, visibly flustered. "I'll stand."
Her ears gave a sudden twitch, then another. Honestly, it was kind of adorable. Those fluffy ears had always fascinated in the ga in real life, but I'd never dared to actually touch them. I an, I couldn't just go around groping werewolf ears like so creep. That's a fast-track ticket to getting called a pervert. And touching a guy's ears? Yeah, no thanks—I like living without confusion.
Still, her ears were practically dancing now. Twitch, twitch, twitch. Like they had a life of their own.
"You okay?" I asked again, raising a brow.
"I said I'm fine!" She shot back, finally turning to glare at —but even that glare had sothing off about it. It wasn't just anger. There was… embarrassnt? Like she'd just rembered sothing she really didn't want to.
Wait a second…
Don't tell she heard that.
Oh no. That would explain the weird look she gave the bed, her blush, the awkwardness—everything. If she really heard what happened earlier in this room…
Nope. Not thinking about it. Not going to bring it up either. Safer for both of us if we just pretend like nothing happened. Yeah, let's do what she's doing—total denial.
I cleared my throat, trying to steer things back to normal.
"You sure you're really Roda?" I asked, this ti a bit more seriously as I scanned her face again.
At that, sothing in her expression shifted. Her teeth clenched, and her white eyes narrowed along the slits inside them. Like sothing had snapped.
Okay… maybe I was pushing my luck asking again, but it was hard not to. She looked like Roda, sure. But sothing about her felt… different. More intense. Fierce. The Roda I rembered had a gentler presence, even when she was angry. This one? She felt like she might punch for blinking wrong.
Or maybe I was just overthinking things.
"I an, the Roda I rember was… more disciplined. Collected. I'm pretty sure she wouldn't even think about pretending to be a prostitute just to assassinate soone," I said, mulling over the thought aloud.
Bad move.
The words barely left my mouth before I saw the fire flare in Roda's eyes. Without warning, she lashed out, fist flying straight toward my face.
But I caught her wrist mid-swing. Her knuckles froze inches from my nose, trembling with anger and again embarrassnt as I kept bringing up her embarrassing idea to reach my room.
"I guess you've been through a lot," I said quietly, holding her gaze.
Her arm relaxed a little, and I let go. She lowered her hand and turned her face away, but not before I caught a glimpse of sothing raw in her expression. That pain… it wasn't the kind that ca from a punch not landing—it was deeper. Wounded. Haunted.
Nevia had told a bit about what Leon had done in his tiline… but hearing about it and witnessing the consequences on soone like Roda were two different things.
"The one who hurt you… that was Edward, yes," I said, "but it wasn't really him. Or at least, not the Edward you knew. He had soone else's mories jamd into his head—a man nad Leon Grimlock."
She didn't react right away. Just stood there in silence. Maybe she was trying to make sense of what I was saying… or maybe she was fighting not to rember.
"Leon was the real reason behind what happened. His influence—his rage—twisted everything. Edward might've been the body, but the actions… they were Leon's," I added.
Roda's lips didn't move. No questions, no accusations—just silence.
"As for myself." I continued. "Sa body, different man. I'm not Leon. I don't have his desires, his hate. I'm not here to destroy Sancta Vedelia, or to hunt down Victor, or Cylien, or any of the others. Hell, they're my friends."
Roda shook her head, almost like she was rejecting the idea on instinct. "It was the sa with him…" She muttered. "He joined our academy. Acted like one of us. Laughed with us. Ate with us. And then…"
Her fists clenched tight again, nails digging into her palms.
So Leon had infiltrated the academy too… just like in the ga. That ant Nihil didn't invent the story—it just copied his tiline.
Still…
"I'm not him," I said. "And deep down, I think you know that. Even if you don't fully get the 'sa body, different soul' thing… then think of it this way—we're from different tilines. Different worlds. Different choices."
She was still looking down. Like she was fighting to suppress the mories, to hold them back before they consud her again.
"Look at ," I said strongly.
She hesitated… then slowly, hesitantly, raised her eyes.
I stared back seriously.
"Do I look like the Edward who destroyed your life?"
Roda held my gaze for a long mont. Then, at last, she gave the faintest shake of her head.
"Do you rember what happened? The last ti… in your tiline?" I asked, watching her.
Roda's eyes clouded over with mory, and her voice ca out low, shaky. "We fought him… and everyone died. I—I was dying too. But then… sothing happened. And I woke up here."
I nodded, already knowing the answer. "Nevia used a spell. She beat Leon, in her own way. She didn't kill him… instead, she sent him into this tiline. My tiline."
As soon as I said it, Roda flinched like I'd struck her. Her shoulders stiffened, ears twitching, breath catching in her throat. She stared at , wide-eyed.
"H–He's here…?" She whispered, almost unable to get the words out.
"He is," I confird, "but for now, he's weakened."
She opened her mouth, but no sound ca out. Her whole body was trembling. Just hearing about him again had shaken her. She didn't need to say it—I could see it in her eyes. Trauma. Deep, lasting trauma.
"I guess you got caught in Nevia's spell too," I said. "Whatever the case, she managed to weaken him enough that he's been quiet these past few years. That's bought us so ti—to prepare. To stop him."
"He's… a monster," Roda whispered, fists trembling in her lap. "Once he recovers… he'll… he'll do it again. He'll destroy everything."
"Oi…get a grip," I moved quickly, gently guiding her toward the bed before she collapsed under the weight of the panic rising in her. "Sit down. Breathe."
She didn't resist.
I poured another glass of water, walked back to her, and placed it in her shaking hands.
She drank it in one go, as if trying to swallow the fear with the water. But her hands still trembled, her eyes still flickered with images from another world—hers. One that Leon had apparently shattered beyond repair.
What the hell did that bastard do to her world?
How could anything justify it? How could Gladys, of all people, stand by his side…?
-Thud!
The door slamd open behind .
I turned around instinctively, eyes narrowing as I spotted John standing in the doorway, breathing hard. His gaze zeroed in on Roda, sitting on the bed just behind . Her form was partially obscured by my body, but he seed to sense sothing.
"I knew it…" He growled.
His eyes locked onto her—and then slid over to , darker than I'd ever seen them.
Roda tilted her head, confused, trying to see who was at the door. She leaned just enough to peek past standing in front of her and wiped her lips from the water that had trickled down. But in John's eyes, that image twisted into sothing else entirely.
"Knock first," I said annoyed.
At my words, John's expression darkened instantly.
"You're going to die today, Edward."
User Comments
0 comments from readers