Confined Together with the Horror Game’s Male Lead - Chapter 172
Chapter 172
Translator: Yonnee
—
Dietrich had a secret.
A secret he had buried deep within his memories, even deceiving himself.
His first act of killing happened before he ever entered the temple.
It was one day during his childhood, when he was wandering the streets.
That day, he was fortunate enough to beg successfully and got his hands on a piece of bread.
But as soon as he had it, others who had been watching him ganged up on him and stole it away.
That day, Dietrich was not in his right mind.
The boy, who had been starving for three days, was blinded by the fear that he might die. In desperation, he picked up a rock nearby.
And with it, he bludgeoned a slightly older boy to death, an act witnessed by a priest, who then took an interest in him.
This was how Dietrich became a child of the temple.
“I can’t… live without you…”
How was this any different from back then?
If she were gone, he would desire her, the one who was no longer by his side.
He would be condemned to a miserable life, endlessly begging.
It would be an inescapable hell, where hope was impossible to grasp.
“Charlotte, Charlotte…”
“Don’t even say my name.”
She was deliberately cruel.
As he struggled to speak her name, as if refusing her command, it was as if a stone pressed down on his tongue, and her name wouldn’t come out.
“And when you leave this mansion, you’ll forget everything that happened here.”
No. Don’t do this.
Couldn’t we just find a way to face this crisis together, right here, just in this place?
At this moment, Dietrich regretted his past.
When she had asked him to leave, he should have listened. He should have left with her and found a way to live together.
If he had, this hell, this nightmare, might never have come to pass.
“You will forget me.”
“Please…”
He begged.
But she never listened to him.
“For the last time—”
“Stop!”
He shouted at last. It was rare for him to raise his voice to her.
As the harsh sound burst out, Charlotte flinched and shut her eyes tightly, and Dietrich immediately closed his mouth.
The beads of cold sweat trickling down her forehead revealed just how much she was suffering.
“Please, just stop, please…”
He knelt down before her and pleaded.
Begging her to stop speaking.
As she had ordered, he could no longer say her name. He wasn’t even allowed to shed tears for her.
Now she wanted to erase even his memories.
“…Have I wronged you so deeply?”
He knew that the way he had tried to protect her was misguided.
Looking back, perhaps he had sensed it all along.
That this day would come.
Maybe that was why he had clung so desperately.
But in the end, she would not grant his wish.
“When you leave, this is what you will say.”
“……”
“Repeat after me, Dietrich.”
* * *
Thunk—
Dietrich finally plunged the sword into her heart.
“Waaaah!”
Cheers erupted.
Who were they cheering for? It felt like he was drowning beneath the sound.
He wanted to cry.
But because of the curse she had placed on him, his insides felt dry and shriveled, and no tears came to his eyes.
“Sir Dietrich is alive!”
He wished he wasn’t.
His hand holding the sword trembled violently.
—Don’t worry, Dietrich. Even if you stab me, I’ll come back to life.
That was what she had said.
Dietrich gripped the hilt of the sword so tightly that his veins bulged, waiting for her to revive.
He was afraid that he might be forced by some power to swing the sword again, so he clenched his teeth and held on.
He was waiting for her to get up.
But when she did not move, he slowly knelt down and, with trembling hands, checked her pulse.
…There was none.
…She was not breathing.
Was she pretending to be dead?
…You can’t do this to me.
This couldn’t be happening.
You… who are you?
You are, you must be…
Dietrich tried to force himself to remember, but nothing came to him.
Sha…
He had to remember.
He had to.
The man drew a dagger from his coat and stabbed it into his own arm.
‘Charlotte.’
He carved the name into his arm. Blood flowed, and his flesh tore, but he continued.
He had to remember.
He could never forget.
“Sir Dietrich?”
The people around him watched Dietrich with bewildered expressions. But he paid them no mind.
He only wanted to look at her.
But her spell wasn’t finished yet.
He didn’t want to do it.
He never wanted to say it.
He bit down hard on his tongue, trying not to speak. Blood trickled from the corners of his mouth.
He resisted with all his strength, but in the end, his lips were forced open.
“…Now, we must burn the demon.”
No. This isn’t right.
Why are you doing this to me? What did I do so wrong?
“Burn…”
Please don’t.
“And scatter the ashes over this place…”
He would rather have driven the dagger into his own throat.
“To kill the demon… completely.”
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