My Past Life is Riddled With Many Sins - Chapter 48
Regina genuinely had no interest in the topic.
The topic was uncomfortable in itself. No one wants to get into a heated debate about their own death. Nor does she want to see people raising hypotheses and having discussions about it.
Why were people so fascinated by the deaths of others? Why was it so crucial how and by whom someone might have died?
After all, it was all in the past, especially a past that stretched back more than 200 years. What was the point of digging it all up now?
“Who do you think was the culprit, Regina?”
“I don’t know. I’m not really confident in making such guesses.”
Regina replied to Arthur with a smile.
“Then who do you think the Great Empress Yekarna loved the most among the ‘Seven Guardians’?”
Hailey was persistent. Regina’s eyebrows raised.
Who did she love the most?
“Why is that not possible?”
“You won’t regret that choice?”
“It would be better to be killed by your hand, Your Majesty.”
“Please, let me die by Your Majesty’s hand.”
“How wonderful it would be to carve out all memories related to Your Majesty from my mind.”
“It seems meeting you was the biggest mistake of my life.”
“Was there ever a moment, even just one, when you truly loved me?”
These scenes flashed through her mind one after another.
Swallowing a rising sigh, Regina spoke.
“Perhaps she loved no one.”
If she had truly loved someone, she wouldn’t have looked at others. She wouldn’t have hurt one while being with many others. No matter how beautifully anyone dressed up those relationships or justified them, that was the essence.
In the end, Yekarna—or rather, her past self—had not truly loved any of them. That was the conclusion Regina had reached.
Hailey nodded thoughtfully after a moment of reflection.
“She seems like a playboy on the surface, but deep down, she’s an Empress who didn’t understand love. That’s an interesting character analysis. Hmm, tasty.”
…Am I a meal? While Regina was dumbfounded, Hailey shifted her attention.
“What about you, Arthur?”
“Umm, I’m not sure. Maybe she loved all seven?”
“Wow, you’re secretly a flirt?”
“What, what are you talking about? I’m completely devoted. I’d love only one woman!”
“It’s always those who say that, who end up cheating.”
As Arthur jumped at the teasing and Hailey gleefully provoked him further, Regina folded her arms and watched.
‘It’s a good time.’
She had the thought of just letting them continue to be more surprised. But if this goes on, it would just be a waste of time.
As she was about to step in, a chilling sensation crawled up her spine.
A familiar, ominously unmistakable aura.
Regina swiftly stood up and exited the reception room. Then, clenching her teeth, she threw a butter knife infused with explosive mana. The knife whizzed through the air with lethal speed and struck its target accurately.
With a stern face, Regina walked to where the target had fallen. A black bird, impaled by the butter knife, was writhing. However, it soon disintegrated into black smoke and vanished.
She had not been mistaken.
“Why…?”
Why was a monster at the academy?
Long ago, well before the empire was established, the Middle Realm and the Demon Realm had signed a non-aggression pact.
Creatures from the Middle Realm were not to invade the Demon Realm, and vice versa. This treaty had brought an end to wars between the two realms and ushered in peace across the continent. Yet, now, monsters had reappeared in the Middle Realm.
As Regina bit her lip, the butter knife, unable to withstand the mana it had been charged with, exploded. Stepping back, she coughed a few times from the dust.
‘That was academy property.’
The thought crossed her mind briefly, but since the item was now destroyed, she decided not to dwell on it. It had been borrowed, she intended to be cleaned and returned after dealing with the phantom.
But the real issue wasn’t the butter knife.
The non-aggression pact had been broken.
While no devilkin had appeared in person, monsters acted as their proxies and wouldn’t venture into the Middle Realm on their own initiative.
Creatures from the Demon Realm can be categorized into three main types:
First are the monsters, comparable to animals, plants, and beasts of the Middle Realm, and are considered the lowest class in the Demon Realm.
Second are the devilkins, occupying a status similar to humans in the Middle Realm.
The third category in the Demon Realm is the devil themselves, more powerful than the demons and about whom very little is known. They are speculated to be akin to the dragons of the Middle Realm, occupying the higher species.
The war was waged between humans and both devilkin and monsters, ended in a non-aggression pact.
However, the appearance of a monster in the Middle Realm might signal the precursor to a second war between the Middle and Demon Realm. This needed to be reported.
‘But to whom?’
The imperial palace? The temple?
Would they believe a mere commoner girl without any proof?
At best, they might think she was delusional. At worst, they could brand her a heretic. Being marked as a heretic by the temple could endanger not only herself but her family as well. She couldn’t act rashly. She needed to gather solid evidence first.
‘What if I reveal my identity and inform Skyler and Friedrich about this…?’
After pondering for a moment, Regina shook her head firmly.
“I need to ensure my own safety first.”
That was always the last resort.
When she returned to the reception room, Arthur and Hailey greeted her with alarmed expressions.
“Regina!”
“What happened? You left so suddenly, we were worried.”
“It’s nothing. I just misunderstood something.”
Both Hailey and Arthur felt inwardly that this was not the whole story. The look on Regina’s face when she had dashed out was unlike anything they had ever seen. It was terrifyingly intense, almost like that of a reaper from myths.
But they chose not to press further and passed it on .
“Is that so? Well, I’m glad it was nothing.”
Their reaction was awkward, but Regina, who was preoccupied with other concerns, did not notice.