The Knight Who Broke Off Our Engagement and Told Me to Never Show My Face Again Still Clings to Me Today, Even Though I Was Possessed and Turned Into a Villainess for Ten Years - 51 - A Past I Didn't Know

After a while, I stopped crying. Then I told Gerald, “Get out.” But Gerald only said, “I’m sorry,” and didn’t move at all.

“…I hate you, Gerald. I really hate you. I don’t want to see your face ever again. I will never forgive you.”

Before I knew it, those words came out of my mouth. It was probably the first time in my life
that I had ever told someone I hated them.

Gerald looked hurt for a moment, but then he gave me a small, troubled smile.

“That’s okay. I did something that deserves to be hated.”

But he also said, there’s no turning back now.

“…Norman and the others… they’re not back to normal either, right?”

“No, they’re not.”

“Why not? You said the magic tool would break soon.”

We all thought that if the tool was used again, it would break, and everyone would return to their original bodies.

But even after Mabel and I switched, nothing changed. I was starting to feel anxious about it.

Gerald said “Ah,” like he remembered something.

“I don’t know the details, but Mabel said she found a way to make the magic tool less tired.”

“Less tired…?”

“Mabel has been doing experiments with the magic tool, right? It seems there was another place—besides where we were—where she gathered people who had switched bodies.”

I remembered what Tabatha once said:

“How many people do you think Mabel used in her experiments and killed?”

I couldn’t believe there were others besides us.

“Recently, a disease spread there and many people died. And when that happened, the magic tool—
which had turned darker each time it was used—started to shine a little again. Mabel noticed that.”

His words gave me a terrible feeling.

“No… don’t tell me…”

“She killed everyone she had switched before. And just like she thought, the magic tool regained some power.”

“No…!”

I started shaking. It was so cruel and selfish, I couldn’t believe it.

How many lives were lost just for this body-switching?

My fingers went cold.

I couldn’t breathe well.

That’s something that should never be forgiven.

And the way Gerald said it so calmly, I finally realized… he’s no longer the Gerald I once knew.

“But it looks like this is really the last time,” he added. “The tool is now completely black, and it’s barely holding its shape.”

If that’s true, then if we use it again, everyone should return to their own bodies.

But now that Gerald has betrayed us, Mabel must be more careful than ever.

It’s almost impossible to find where the magic tool is.

Still, I can’t give up.

Right now, all I can do—trapped in this place—is try to get any information I can from Gerald.

I took a deep breath, held back my emotions, clenched my fists tightly, and turned to Gerald again.

“…Even after we get engaged, will I still stay locked in this room?”

“Yes,” he replied. “But we’ll get married soon. Then I’ll bring Sadie with me to our new house.”

He said it like it was nothing, then smiled with those perfectly shaped lips.

“A world just for Sadie and me, with no one to get in the way… It feels like a dream come true.”

He looked so happy that I got chills. What he feels for me is not love. Not at all.

“Gerald… are you really happy with that?”

“Of course. My happiness is just having Sadie by my side. As long as I have you, I don’t need anything else.”

“…………”

—I’ve been wondering this whole time. Did I ever do anything that made him love me so much?

Back then, in that place, I just lived like everyone else—Eliza, the others… all the same. I never treated Gerald in any special way.

“When did you fall in love with me?”

“Eleven years ago. From the first time I met you, Sadie.”

“…What?”

We met seven years ago in that place. Gerald arrived three years after Eliza and me. So what does he mean?

“I knew about you even before we met in that place.”

“…You’re lying.”

I couldn’t hide my surprise at what he just revealed.

“I’ve always loved you, Sadie. But Rufus Langridge was always by your side.”

“…………”

“That’s why, when I met you there—where Rufus didn’t exist—even if you looked different, I was so happy.”

As I stood there in shock, Gerald continued speaking.

“He didn’t even realize you had switched bodies. He hurt you… even though…”

But then he suddenly stopped.

“Sorry, I think I talked too much. I’ll go for now. Next time I come, is there anything you want?”

“Please… don’t hurt Eliza and Norman anymore.”

“Of course. I don’t plan to.”

Gerald said, “I’m sorry,” and “I love you,”as he left the room.

I didn’t want to hear any of it.

“…What am I supposed to do now?”

I couldn’t breathe. I stood up from the bed and walked toward the window that would never open.

The heavy sound of the chain around my ankle scraped the floor, making me feel like I was going insane.
I could see outside, but no one could see in.

Everything was perfectly planned. It scared me even more.

As I stood there, staring blankly at the sky and the birds flying freely, something caught my eye.

A carriage stopped in front of the Baron’s mansion. It had a familiar family crest.

My heart started pounding fast with hope.

“…………!”

The person who stepped down from that carriage—I could never mistake him.

It was Rufus.