Chapter 350: Walking Past the Back (2)

Oh Kang-Woo had thought brainwashing magic to be the most likely. If not, he had also thought of the possibility of Fidelio having taken advantage of Iris's unstable mental state and put her through chronic hypnosis.

'Turns out it was nothing like that.'

Fidelio was controlling Iris through simple and primitive violence. It was so simple that Kang-Woo felt like an idiot for having thought of complicated possibilities for this long.

'Crazy old fucker.'

Even though Fidelio held the true power in the empire, laying one's hands on an imperial princess was absolutely insane.

"Hurgh... Sniff. Waaaahh."

Kang-Woo stared at the crying Iris. After taking a closer look, there was fluid smeared on her mouth, and it reeked like organic waste.

'... It reeks?'

Kang-Woo looked at the fluid staining the bed sheet again while tilting his head.

'Oh.'

It was vomit. Kang-Woo used the Authority of Transparency to take a look at Iris, who had covered herself with a blanket. Although her top was loose, her bottom was left untouched.

"Fuuu," Kang-Woo sighed in relief, unbeknownst to himself.

However, he grimaced and shook his head moments after.

'No, this isn't something to be relieved over.'

Just the fact that Iris had been struck to the point that she vomited was crazy enough. It did not change the fact that Fidelio had laid his hands on an imperial princess. Kang-Woo recalled how pale she had gotten whenever the imperial capital was mentioned, and how she had trembled as if she was freezing.

'I see. I see why now.'

Kang-Woo slowly closed his eyes. He recalled the sorrowful Douglas. His words echoed in Kang-Woo's head.

- I at least want you to know that it is not entirely her fault.

Kang-Woo's thoughts were jumbled. An unpleasant feeling lingered around him.

"Wh-What? Who's there?"

Possibly having heard Kang-Woo's feigned laughter, Iris wiped her tears and looked around.

Kang-Woo turned away from her, thinking that she wouldn't want others to see her in this state. Just then...

"Oh Kang-Woo?"

"...!"

Kang-Woo's eyes widened.

'How?'

He was currently using the Authority of Stealth. It would have been a different story if he had been noticed by someone with extremely heightened senses like Kim Si-Hun, but there was no way that Iris would have been able to sense him.

"You're Oh Kang-Woo... aren't you?"

Kang-Woo turned his head. He saw that Iris's eyes were shining gold.

'The blessing of the high elves.'

There was nothing but the power to detect the demonic, which was passed down through imperial blood, that would have allowed Iris to be able to detect him.

"Yes, I am."

Having no choice now that he was discovered, Kang-Woo dispelled the Authority of Stealth. Kang-Woo appeared in the dark room.

"Wh-Wh-Wh-Wh-Wh-Why are you..."

Iris stared at Kang-Woo with shaking eyes. She glared at him with slight bloodlust while pulling in the blanket to cover her bruises.

"Since when were you here?" she asked.

"I only just arrived."

Deathly silence fell.

Iris mumbled while lowering her head, "Get out." She screamed while holding back her tears, "Out! Get out!! Get out right now!!"

Kang-Woo felt pity from her mad screams.

Kang-Woo looked up to the ceiling.

'What should I do? How should I handle this? Should I console her first? Ah, you must've been in such agony until now. Fidelio, that fucker, he's a piece of shit. That must be why your personality is so shit. Yeah, I understand it all. It can't be helped since you had to go through something like this.'

She must have gone through a very hard time.

'Fuck that.'

Such empty words were a pointless form of consolement. Consoling her right here and now would be nothing but a way for him to lighten the burden in his heart.

'Considering the state she's in...'

The problem would not be resolved even if Kang-Woo were to eliminate Fidelio. Her memories of Fidelio would not vanish just because the person himself did; Kang-Woo was sure of it just from the fact that Iris was barely able to look at Fidelio in the eyes. Her fear of him had already been deeply rooted in her soul.

'It won't disappear.'

The fear that had been branded on her soul would not disappear. She would have to live on with that horrifying agony for the rest of her life. It was already far too late for Kang-Woo to do anything about it.

Kang-Woo stared at the trembling Iris; she was bawling her eyes out while scrunched up. Did that mean she would have to live this way forever? Would she have to stay imprisoned by fear, covered in unhealable scars for the rest of her life?

Kang-Woo slightly opened his eyes. There was one way to eradicate the deeply-rooted fear in her heart.

'But...'

Conflict momentarily clashed in his mind. It was difficult to eradicate her trauma through normal means; in other words, the method that he had thought of was not a normal means. Hence, the aftereffects would be massive. Kang-Woo closed his eyes.

'What should I do?'

Should he leave Iris to be imprisoned by fear for the rest of her life?

'Or...'

Should he erase the fear in her heart while letting her suffer the aftereffects?

"Why... Why..." Iris muttered.

She was trembling with her hand on her swollen right cheek.

Kang-Woo did not have to think for very long. He slowly opened his eyes.

"Did Fidelio do this?" he asked despite already knowing the answer.

"What does it matter to you? Didn't I tell you to get out?! Go away! Get out!!" Iris screamed like a wounded beast.

She picked up a lamp next to her bed and threw it at Kang-Woo. He easily deflected it. Shatter! The lamp broke, and transparent glass shards scattered across the floor.

"Please, please..." Iris sobbed, transparent tears flowing down her cheeks. She begged, "Get... out."

Kang-Woo did not listen; he slowly walked toward her. Step, step. The small sound of footsteps filled the room.

"And then what?" Kang-Woo stared at her with deeply sunken eyes. "What're you gonna do after I get out?"

"What?"

Iris's eyes widened. She was more shocked by the content of his sentence than the fact that he was talking to her disrespectfully.

'Did you think I was gonna console you? Empathize with you? Would shit like that be able to save you?'

"I asked you what you were gonna do after I left."

"Y-You...!" Iris frowned.

"Are you just gonna take it lying down while trembling in fear? Is trembling pathetically all you're capable of doing?"

Iris remained silent. She bit her lip and said in a shaky tone, "Then... What do you want me to do?" More tears flowed down her cheeks. She screamed, "What was I supposed to do?!"

Kang-Woo chuckled. "What did you do until now, then?"

"What?"

"I get that you suffered at Fidelio's hands, but what did you do to get away from it?"

"I..."

"Are you gonna say that you weren't able to? Because Fidelio held all the power?" Kang-Woo smirked. "No, there's no fucking way. All that power wouldn't have gone straight to Fidelio's hands, would it?"

"Th-That's because Brother—"

"Yeah, I get that it happened because Reynald died, but had there been absolutely no one who offered to help you, who held the most right to that power as the one next in line for the throne?"

Iris refrained from answering.

"Well, fine. Let's say that it ended up that way after you kept yielding to Fidelio. But even so, you could've at least told Si-Hun about it, couldn't you?"

Iris had seen Si-Hun's impressive combat prowess with her own eyes, meaning she also knew that he was capable of saving her. However, she did not tell her; she did not beg to grab hold of that opportunity.

"Why? Because you were scared? Of Fidelio? Did you not even attempt to grab on to a sliver of hope because of a crappy reason like that?"

Kang-Woo recalled his miserable and wretched days in Hell. Even though he had been scared, he had fought through it. He drank the blood of demons and devoured their flesh. He abandoned everything purely for the sake of victory.

Iris continued to remain silent.

Kang-Woo clicked his tongue as he stared at her.

'Bullshitting is so damn hard.'

His argument was a fallacy.

'There's no way she would've been able to resist.'

What he had said to Iris was like telling a victim of domestic, school, or any other forms of violence why they did nothing to stop their parents, teachers, or any other perpetrator from beating them up. People became powerless when fear was rooted deep in their hearts.

'But...'

That fact would not solve anything. Sympathizing with such logic would not eliminate the fear that had rooted itself in Iris's heart. Kang-Woo needed to make Iris think of her own accord that she had been mistaken all this time, or she would remain a scarred victim her whole life. For her to overcome her fear, she needed to stand on her own two feet.

"All you did was vent your anger on others," Kang-Woo stated.

Iris had simply tried to make herself feel better by taking her pent-up rage out on the weak.

"Y-You're wrong." Iris shook her head.

"You just complained about how much you were suffering, that's all."

"You're wrong!!" Iris shouted.

A glint of bloodlust shone in her eyes. Hatred began to sprout from within her.

'Good.'

Kang-Woo had waited for this response.

"What am I wrong about?" he asked.

"W-Well..." Iris was lost for words. She trembled while biting her lip. She lowered her head and mumbled, "Then... What should I... have done? What am I supposed to do?"

Kang-Woo tilted his head and asked back, "What do you want to do?"

"Tell me what you want to do most right now."

"You... know what it is."

Kang-Woo did indeed know; he was not stupid enough not to. However...

"I wanna hear you say it."

Iris had been under Reynald's protection her whole life. Even after Reynald had died, she was curled up behind his back, trembling in fear.

'At that rate, she'll never be able to come out from there.'

Silence fell. Iris shut her eyes tightly while trembling.

She whispered, "... enge."

'I can't hear you.'

"I want to... take revenge," Iris answered with her head lowered.

"Really? In that case... beg."

" What?"

Kang-Woo continued with deeply sunken eyes, "I said, beg for my help. Get on your knees, put your head on the floor and plead for it."

Kang-Woo was forcing her to abandon everything for the sake of victory. Iris's expression froze.

"What? Your pride won't stand for it?"

Iris closed her eyes. As she was about to say something...

Shatter!

"Wh-What? Why are you..."

A voice was heard from the door, belonging to an old man who was wearing casual clothes instead of his usual white vestments. Fidelio glared at Kang-Woo after dropping the bottle of alcohol that had been in his hand.

"Your Highness, what is the meaning of this?" Fidelio asked.

"A-Aaaahh..."

Iris turned pale, her teeth clattering as she trembled.

"That's what I want to ask you," Kang-Woo interrupted. He slowly reached out to touch Iris's swollen cheek. "What have you done to Iris?"

Fidelio flinched. After racking his brain, he answered calmly, "It was a lesson."

'A lesson?'

"You could call it... tough love. You know how Her Highness acted during the incident at the imperial castle," Fidelio continued.

"Th-That's—!" Iris expressed.

"Be quiet."

Fidelio glared at Iris, who then lowered her head as she was about to say something.

"Tough love, you say?" Kang-Woo responded.

'You call a beating to the point of her vomiting a lesson?'

Silence stretched out for a moment.

"Pfft." Laughter managed to squeeze out from Kang-Woo's mouth. He let it burst out without restraint, grabbing his stomach. "Bahahahahahahahaha!!! Fuck, man. You have a better sense of humor than I thought."

Fidelio lightly bit his lip and then responded calmly, "This is not for outsiders to get involved in. I had no choice but to do it to guide Princess Iris toward the right path." He continued while grabbing his chest as if the act had truly hurt him, "I did not want to do something so brutal to Her Highness either. But... I had no choice but to be tough on her... All because I love her!"

"Jesus fucking Christ."

'That's quite the poker face you have there.'

Kang-Woo was genuinely impressed by how Fidelio could bullshit so hard in such a situation. His bullshittery was honestly a work of art.

Fidelio glared at Kang-Woo in displeasure. He turned to Iris and said, "Tell him yourself, Your Highness. Tell him why I had no choice but to hit you."

"Princess Iris." Fidelio continued while aggressively clenching his fists, "Go ahead and tell him."

"U-Umm..."

Iris looked at Kang-Woo in pallor. Kang-Woo simply waited for her to speak without a word.

Iris continued while trembling and with her head lowered, "Y-Yes. Prime Minister Fidelio was... g-giving me some... tough love... all for my... sake. He has done... nothing... wr-wrong."

She bit her lip, shuddering pitifully.

"You heard Her Highness." Fidelio approached and aggressively gripped Kang-Woo's shoulder. "Even if you are one of Her Highness's saviors, I cannot let this slide."

Kang-Woo paid him no mind.

"I'm sure you know how grave a sin it is to trespass on Her Imperial Highness's chambers."

Kang-Woo ignored Fidelio. His attention was only on Iris, who was trembling in pallor. There was no point in him trying to give her any more of a helping hand. It was all up to her now.

"Iris," Kang-Woo called.

'If you want to win, abandon it all. What remains of your pride, the fear pushing you down, and that back you're hiding behind... Everything.'

Iris's teeth clattered. Her fear of Fidelio and the horrifying memories dominated her mind.

'Brother...'

The dependable back that had always been protecting her... Iris had spent her days in joy while hiding behind that back. Once that back vanished, she was left fully exposed to hands stained with greed.

- What did you do until now, then?

Iris could not refute the fact that she had done nothing.

- Had there been absolutely no one who offered to help you?

There had been. Douglas and the members of Reynald's party, who had gone on countless adventures together with Reynald, had offered their help, but Iris did not accept their help; she simply shrunk down in fear.

- Why? Because you were scared?

She was scared. Scared of the retaliation worsening, and of more pain. Hence, she said nothing; she was unable to say a word. She did not fight; she gave up on fighting.

- Did you not even attempt to grab on to a sliver of hope because of a crappy reason like that?

"A-Arrgghh." Iris grabbed her head. "Urgh... Arghh..."

She saw Reynald's back. For the very first time, she slowly walked past the back that had always protected her.

"H..." Iris looked up at Kang-Woo with quivering eyes. "H-Help."

Kang-Woo snickered. "That's a rather rude way of begging someone for help."

Iris slowly put her forehead on the floor. She said again while weeping, "P-Please... help me. Please... Please help me!"

'Very good.'

"Your Highness, what are you say—"

Kang-Woo grabbed the wrist of Fidelio's arm that was on his shoulder.

"Tough love, was it?"

'You had no choice because you love her, right?'

"Fidelio."

'I have a confession to make.'

"I love you too, motherfucker."

Bash—!!

Kang-Woo pulled on Fidelio's arm and punched him in the face.