A Wish to Grab Happiness

Volume 10, Chapter 244: Poisonous Woman

From the white eye that seemed to see through the bottom of my brain to the monocular that gave the impression of pushing a person far away. I blinked my eyelids for a few times, while staring at them.

My gaze was sucked in as if my heart was bewitched. Her eye was white and even unnatural. To be honest, I had those feelings neither because of the unusual color nor because of something strange.

The depths of my memory were screaming at me instead. My memory was saying to me that I might have seen her once. Or did I see her more than once in the past? I was not entirely sure, but I had certainly seen her before.

The name was different and the atmosphere was quite different too. However, it was unlikely that I would meet a human with such an eye and forget about it. I twisted my lips and stared at her facial expressions and actions, while trying to guess. I found that some emotions were squeezing the edge of my chest.

I was staring straight at her without turning my eyes away, so the other party began to notice my gaze. Philos Trait, the owner of the white eye, looked at me right from the front. Her white eye pierced my skull.

On this very moment, I suddenly noticed what I’ve just done. No way. I did something unscrupulous. By looking at her seriously, she must have thought I was curious about her. It felt somewhat unpleasant.

While feeling apologetic for staring at her so fixedly, I moved my lips to answer to her gaze.

「You were not born with that eye, am I right? You don’t have to answer to this question if you don’t want to.」

The owner of the white eye I met in the past acquired it after some circumstances. I didn’t know every single detail since I was only staring from a distance.

So, maybe. If Philos Trait and the person I knew was the same person, then her right eye was not from birth but later acquired.

With that in mind, I just said the words that came to my mind.

The next moment, the air froze as if the atmosphere itself became heavy. Philos Trait’s gaze piercing my eyes was so painful that even my muscles began to quiver. Her expression was mysterious, as she distorted her lips and began to smile. However, it was hard to say if she was laughing from the bottom of her heart or not.

In addition to that, Matia and Ann’s narrowed eyes pierced me from the side. Neither of them spoke a word, but it seemed like they had something to say.

Philos Trait’s two aides no longer turned their eyes to the ground, and desperately tried to divert their gaze from this space.

I see. Did I cross the line with my question? It meant that Philos Trait’s white eye was probably a topic that should’ve been avoided.

Of course, I understood that it was a sensitive topic. Still, even so. I wanted to confirm it directly. Was this woman really the same person? Was she the person I knew during my past journey? I was deeply aware that this was an unpopular question, but I wanted to know if my suspicions were correct.

Even after receiving gazes that pierced my whole body, I kept staring at Philos Trait’s face. She bent her lips with a moment of hesitation, and then, slowly leaked her words.

「You are right. I had an accident a long time ago. At that time, I lost most of my eyesight.」

She opened her mouth while touching her monocular with her fingertips.

I used to see her from a distance, but it certainly overlapped with what I remember. The voice, the tone and usage of sound were the same.

Oh, I see. I knew it. Right from the Gharast Kingdom, huh, I didn’t know what she was doing in this remote city. She even changed her name. However, the behavior and the white eye clearly resembled that person. Yes, she was the person I knew in my past and there was no mistake.

That’s right. I nodded lightly and returned the words.

「I see. You have the same eye as the person I met a long time ago. That’s just it. Because she had a very good and unique eye, I thought you two were the same person. I apologize.」

I raised both hands lightly and apologized. There was nothing else to ask after my suspicion was confirmed. After all, if Philos Trait was her, then she wouldn’t utter falsehood. At least, I believed so. Her reputation was not that good, but Ariene once said that her essence was not that of a person who professed false words.

Of course, I would even laugh if I was told that Philos Trait was a completely different person from the person I knew. They had too many similarities between them.

After hearing my words, Philos Trait raised her cheeks for a moment. Then, she let the shivering lips select the next words carefully.

「No, I don’t mind. However, I was surprised since there aren’t many people who touch this topic. As expected, those who once lived in the Gharast Kingdom, the land whom the Great Devil Vrilligant once resided, have guts.」

It was probably Philos Trait’s way of responding to this sort of unusual talk. Perhaps, it even had a bit of sarcasm or revenge embedded on her words. Still, those words were not as piercing as they could’ve been. I gently moved my lips in order to choose the next words.

The Great Devil. There were many words to explain it. Rather, I didn’t want to talk about it, or maybe, I didn’t even know how to begin.

However, if I dared to say something, that thing was the great devil itself. It was the primary cause of evil. It reigned at the highest level of demons that prevailed in this world.

It was the so-called enemy of God, the enemy of mankind.

A lot of people spoke about such thing. However, the people who lived through that era died long ago, so only myths and rumors prevailed. Yes, it was the mythical era when spirits roamed the earth, a place once full of demons.

The Great Devil Vrilligant, who was said to be the most powerful demon, died when his heart was crushed by the God of the Great Holy Church. Well, I was not familiar with that story, but it was said in folklore that the devil’s flesh and blood splattered the earth and transformed several organisms into demon beasts.

However, even though the demon beasts, which were subordinates of the Great Devil, were a sufficient threat to the human race, they were still a minor problem when compared to the big evil itself. I felt like my chest was walking through thorns. My throat rang and I managed to say some light words in response.

「I am honored to be compared with such a fearsome opponent. I’ll look forward to what you’ll call me next.」

These were the most appropriate words to return.

If I took it too seriously, the negotiations here would collapse. Therefore, it was better to take it as a joke. In fact, a light talk was my specialty. It was not a big deal.

Philos Trait and I stopped talking and showed tightened smiles on our lips.

After all, she was that kind of person. The remarks could’ve been seen as rude, but they ended up being a joke. That was why she gave me that sort of response to see what I would say.

She may be an adult and a ruler, but she was still a girl. I wondered why a girl like her had a very mature look on her face. I noticed a faint darkness hidden in her eyes.

After we both smiled at each other, I felt that the cold space was finally melting.

Philos Trait’s aides exhaled the heavy air accumulated in their lungs, and Matia blinked her eyes a few times while staring at me. From that sharp line of sight that seemed to create a slight degree of pressure, I knew that I had a lot of talk about. Please give me a break for once. In a sense, was it not good because I settled this talk very well?

Moreover, I was not that stupid to the point of awakening my drowsiness. Besides, there was no way that I would uselessly spit out foolish words that could endanger us all.

Still, I was not wrong when it came to this woman’s identify, the so-called ruler Philos Trait. I was certainly right. There was no doubt about it. She was the woman who once made me, and many other human heads hanged in reverence.

She was like a poisonous snake that entrapped the Lords with her white eye.

…She was the illegitimate child of Ameraitz Gharast, the King of the Gharast Kingdom.

There was a woman who took control of the Gharast Kingdom after the catastrophe in the former world. She was a poisonous woman, or dare we say, a demon who wore a woman’s skin. She became known by such due to her notoriety.