All that was left was a confession. What more did he need?

Funnily enough, it wasn’t until he was driven to the edge that he finally confessed.

His heart still beat fast even when he was betrayed and abandoned.

The way she tried to fool him with affection was insanely lovely. He was breathless as his possessive desire pushed him to the edge.

But it wasn’t the same feeling of adoration he had before.

If the kind of affection he had before was one where he didn’t even dare to tarnish Ravia’s skirts, now he wanted to tear that nobility apart. He wanted her to feel his misery.

Then, she wouldn’t be able to smile so deceptively or look at him with such a compassionate expression ever again.

He just wanted to destroy his sweet and noble sister. Just as she had destroyed him…

Thus, any affection could no longer bind him.

Thus, any betrayal couldn’t push him into despair.

Tidwell had no difficulty in obtaining information that Duke Leontine was heading to the production site.

He could easily piece things together upon receiving information that the royal family’s agents were seen entering and leaving the site.

Although what he felt wasn’t as simple as that…the situation didn’t even give him time to remain conflicted.

It was when Ravia broke her promise to return at dusk.

Everything was ruined, and there was no turning back now.

Then he heard the unsurprising news of the death of Duke Leontine, followed by Ravia’s scream.

Tidwell felt a vain sense of fulfillment for the second time.

A madman rejoicing at the crumbling sand in his hand.

That joy.

That sadness…

Would it be possible for someone to not become sad after destroying something they valued more than their own life?

Tidwell laughed. No, he cried. That wasn’t the expression of someone who was laughing. Tidwell’s face was so distorted that it was hard to tell whether he was laughing or crying.

“Everything would have been fine if you hadn’t tried to abandon me.”

I can kneel before you as long as you let me step on your shadow.

I can atone for what I have done for the rest of my life as long as you let me walk beside you.

“Isn’t it something that you brought upon yourself?”

The whispering voice trembled. The more he continued talking. The more he could see the emotion in her eyes.

Looking at the sight, Tidwell raised the corners of his mouth. He could vividly see how broken the person he held was.

The person who always looked at him with a calm gaze was filled with terrible emotions.

There was something that Tidwell was sure about.

At last, Ravia felt exactly what he felt.

He was just happy that she knew how it felt to be abandoned.

The moment when the desire to possess her filled Tidwell’s mind.

Tears finally flowed down her cheeks after she’d been staring blankly at him like a deranged person.

After that, she said in a torn voice.

“…Tidwell.”

There was anger and hatred in her voice.

“Tidwell…Tidwell. Tidwell!!!”

Her voice was as rough as the sound of scraping iron. Her dignified demeanor was nowhere to be found, and she acted like an idiot who only knew how to say that name.

Ravia’s expression when she shouted was purely evil. Just as Tidwell had looked on the day she betrayed him.

“You! You messed up everything! You did it!!!”

Her arms held by Tidwell, Ravia viciously grabbed him by the collar and screamed.

“How can you say that you love me after doing this to me!”

Ravia simply couldn’t understand his confession.

Did you kill my father just because you believed I would abandon you? Have you ever considered any other options? Did you need to break everything just to make yourself feel so proud? Didn’t you consider what might happen to me?

You shouldn’t have done that. How dare you!

“Sister. If I don’t love you, is there any reason for me to keep you alive?”

And her train of thoughts were cut off at once by his answer. As if her boiling anger just a moment ago had cooled down. Her reason stopped working.

Tidwell’s voice resounded.

“I can’t imagine a life without my sister. So I’m going to listen to whatever you want. I will give you the head position, and I won’t imprison you either.”

He only wanted Ravia to never leave him.

“All I did was remove the obstruction in our path. If that’s not love, what is?”

Ravia laughed coldly at his justification.

She couldn’t help but laugh at the absurdity of this situation. So it was true that people tended to laugh when their emotions were pushed past the breaking point.

Love.

Yeah, love.

She couldn’t deny that he did love her.

But it was a terrible, greedy love. He loved her so much that he couldn’t help but choke her. Selfishness was also a form of love.

The heart that could only be satisfied when his beloved was broken into pieces and fell into his hand was also a form of love.

If that was so,

This desire to kill him, even if it meant to burn herself, must be love.

The way her chest felt so tight must be because of her affection for him.

She hadn’t been able to wrap her head around the idea of love until just now.

Wasn’t love supposed to be perfect?

Love makes you feel happy, comfortable and full just by being in each other’s company. It shouldn’t be this intense feeling where you felt like you just got smashed in the head.

What she felt right now was closer to anxiety and apathy. So she wondered whether it was really love.

But her question was quickly resolved. Ravia burst into laughter.

Oh yes! This is love! This overwhelming hatred must be affection! My throbbing heart and squeezed chest as well!

“..All of this…because you love me…”

Ravia realized why the Cheshire phenomenon suddenly came to her.

The woman in her dream.

She became painfully aware of what the woman in that disorganized room had felt.

She had reached her breaking point and was unable to endure without going crazy.

She knew exactly why that crazy woman couldn’t endure it without borrowing the arms of the man who drove her crazy.

That woman had a crazy idea to sacrifice herself just to kill that man…

It was obvious why the Cheshire phenomenon had shown her that particular scene.

That was Ravia’s future. The moment when her hatred for Tidwell began.

Ravia remembered one thing as her vision began to blur.

Rette’s prophecy.

She said that her death would bring about his awakening. Only then would she be able to comprehend the process that Summer had not stated. How she died, and how she pushed him into despair.

The answer was the hatred that kept her from taking her eyes off Tidwell even as she collapsed.

The hurried manner in which he held her and his absolutely wrecked countenance.

All roads were lit up.

As she realized that, Ravia lost consciousness.