Chapter 53
Chapter 53. The Thirty-Fourth Regression, That Despair
The thirty-fourth regression. Vinea and Tatar left behind an indelible despair in that life, the most horrific of their seventy-seven lives.
* * *
Vinea’s eyes opened slowly in Balak’s embrace. Was it a dream or reality? Her hazy eyes, intoxicated by drugs, gradually focused like clouds clearing.
“Are you alright, Vinea?”
“…Balak, was this the thirty-fourth time?”
“If you mean the number of nights we’ve spent together, I think it’s more than that.”
“Ah…”
When you’ve experienced so many regressions, your sense of time naturally dulls. Without the sunlight coming through the window, she might not have been able to distinguish day from night, just as she often pondered which regression it was when facing similar scenes.
As she staggered to her feet, the thin blanket slid down her soft, bare skin. Balak supported her with his sturdy body.
The woman’s soft scent filling his arms caused his lower body to begin hardening, just as it had the night before.
At this reaction, Vinea pushed Balak aside with a slightly nauseated expression. Though disappointed, he seemed delighted even to be touched and willingly began to attend to her.
Balak skillfully wrapped a robe around her body and began massaging her neck and shoulders. Though her pale breasts peeking through the barely closed robe caught his eye, he pretended not to see and swallowed his thirsty breath.
“Is it alright not to check on the trading company? You’ve been in the palace for quite a while now.”
“It’s fine, but I should probably go soon. I’ve finally found a gift for you.”
“A gift?”
“I’d like to surprise you, but…”
He lightly kissed the small mole on her round left shoulder.
“I should tell you in advance so you can consider its use. I’ve found the knight of Veshnu that the Emperor Emeritus was looking for. I can bring him without any trouble, so please let me know whenever you need him. I’ve left the related documents on the table.”
She didn’t thank him. Vinea lightly pulled Balak’s neck and kissed his lips.
Balak immediately grasped Vinea’s face and pushed his tongue deep into her small mouth. As their bodies quickly heated up from the passionately intertwined kiss, an unexpected knock on the door interrupted them.
“—Your Majesty the Empress. It’s Deron, His Majesty’s aide.”
“Haa…”
A languid sigh escaped, though it wasn’t clear whose it was. The silver thread that had been stretching between them was broken by Balak’s light kiss. Balak wiped Vinea’s wet lips with his thumb, his eyes filled with regret.
“Please go. I’ll tidy up here.”
Balak smiled as he looked at the wine bottles scattered on the floor. Vinea, having hastily dressed with his help, left the room. Deron, looking tired, bowed his head to her.
“What is it?”
“Last night, the daughter of Baron Digorke was sent to His Majesty’s bedroom.”
“So, is she dead?”
“Not yet. But if the lady ends up leaving as a corpse this time as well, the nobles will begin to seriously oppose His Majesty. Please help, Your Majesty.”
“Hmm…”
It wasn’t a particularly appealing proposal. Strictly speaking, the women who had died in his room until now weren’t really dead, so was there any need to prevent it? They would all be alive and breathing again when they regressed anyway.
After a moment’s consideration, Vinea concluded that this third life with Balak wasn’t too bad. Nodding her head, she followed Deron to the Emperor’s palace.
“Your Majesty, Her Majesty the Empress has arrived.”
There was no answer. At Vinea’s signal, Deron opened the locked bedroom door with a key. Inside was a blonde lady kneeling naked on the bed, her face tear-stained and trembling, with Tatar pointing a sword at her.
He raised his arm. The startled lady, unable to even scream, bowed her head as if about to faint.
“—Stop.”
Like a lie, the sharp blade stopped just before touching the woman’s neck. Deron hurriedly carried away the woman who had collapsed foaming at the mouth.
Click.
The door closed. Vinea walked across the messy bedroom floor and arrived in front of Tatar.
“Can’t you refrain from killing? What if this leads to a rebellion?”
“We can just turn back time.”
“For someone who knows better than anyone how troublesome it is to rebuild relationships from scratch, you speak so easily.”
“You seem to be quite pleased with your third encounter with Balak?”
“And you don’t seem to be pleased with your forty-sixth woman.”
“No matter how good it is, it’s not as good as the Empress. I thought similar hair and eye color would be enough, but…”
Tatar reached out and pressed hard on the red mark on Vinea’s nape. It was once a place full of his marks.
“…It turns out that’s not all there is to it.”
“It was Your Majesty who first suggested meeting other people.”
“Because I told you to devise another way to end the regression.”
This method doesn’t seem right either.
A weary emotion flashed in Vinea and Tatar’s eyes for a moment before sinking back into the depths. There was no point in dredging up the despair hidden in the abyss.
“How long will you stick with Balak? It’s starting to irritate me.”
“What’s there to be irritated about? He’s keeping his place and staying out of Your Majesty’s sight.”
“That’s just it. The way he leaves such obvious marks and then hides behind the Empress like a rat…”
His gaze turned fierce as he glared at the mark on her nape. Vinea twisted her body, shaking off his hand pressing on the mark.
“…It’s contemptible.”
“If it really bothers you that much, just say so. I’ll keep my distance from him for a while.”
“For how long?”
“Well, how many regressions do you think it will take for Your Majesty’s mood to improve?”
Tatar carelessly threw the sword he was holding onto the floor and pulled Vinea by the waist. He laid her down on the bed, climbed on top of her, and took off the shirt he was wearing.
“No matter what, it’s uncomfortable to do this on a bed you shared with someone else until this morning.”
“Didn’t you understand from what you saw earlier? I didn’t sleep with her.”
“The lady’s state seemed to suggest otherwise.”
“She crawled into the bedroom naked, so I thought she liked showing off her body. I made her dance in front of me all night.”
So that’s why there were red footprints all over the floor. It must have been quite something. Vinea clicked her tongue lightly.
“Keeping a distance for a while isn’t enough. This isn’t about placating a child, Empress. There needs to be more compensation to improve my mood.”
His hand delved under Vinea’s skirt. The light dress, suitable only for wearing inside the room, easily lifted under his hand.
The sheer black stockings made a ripping sound as they tore lengthwise under his fingertips.
“There’s a bite mark on the inside of your thigh. It’ll last quite a while.”
His hand traveled up her thigh. His hand that emerged from above firmly grasped Vinea’s pale breast. With his other hand, he began to fondle her slender waist and buttocks, tracing the marks left by Balak.
“So, you said you chose him because it might help in obtaining information about Sefitiana…”
Lifting her skirt even higher, he sank his teeth into Vinea’s flat stomach. A red flower quickly bloomed on the clean skin untouched by Balak.
“Did you get any information?”
“Ugh…”
Swallowing the moan that escaped, Vinea answered.
“He seems to know something, but I didn’t pry.”
“Why not?”
“Because time is infinite for us, and he’s just revolving around one axis in that infinite time. He’ll love me forever, so I can find out anytime.”
Meanwhile, Tatar had undone his pants and grasped his stiff member in one hand.
Foreplay wasn’t necessary. Her body quickly relaxed at his brief touch, as someone else had already sufficiently loosened her body the night before.
Just as he was about to lower his waist, someone dared to open the Emperor’s bedroom door without permission.
“—Brother!”
The uninvited guest who entered the room covered her mouth with both hands, shocked by the scene before her.
Tatar, his face crumpled, pulled up his pants and helped Vinea to her feet.
“I thought I told you not to enter carelessly, Eurene Castallo.”
“T-That’s…”
She had been on her way, having heard that yet another unknown woman had entered his room.
Eurene, who had been staying in the palace guest room under the Emperor Emeritus’s protection, looked at Vinea standing beside Tatar with trembling eyes.
‘The Empress!’
After all this, it was that woman again. Weren’t all the women he had brought into his room either blonde or blue-eyed?
Unfortunately, Eurene, who was born with neither of these traits, had never been allowed into his bedroom. Even though she was certain that just once, just one time would be enough to completely captivate his heart.
Eurene glared at Vinea with tears filling her large eyes before turning away.
‘I can’t forgive this. What’s so great about her, what makes her better than me!’
As she was returning to her room like this, Eurene encountered an unexpected figure.
Another person who had been staying in the palace guest room for months like her. Balak Utar, the head of the Valita Trading Company, rumored to be the Empress’s lover.
Seeing Eurene walking out of the Emperor’s bedroom with tear-filled eyes, he spoke with an amused voice.
“Why did you go to see such an unpleasant sight, my lady? You should have used your head a bit more.”
“Don’t speak so carelessly. I’m different from you.”
“So, have you ever even entered the Emperor’s bedroom once?”
Eurene pressed her lips together, her face flushed with indignation. Balak looked down at her and took out a small pouch from his breast pocket.
“Since your situation seems even more pitiful than mine, I’ll give you this. Make the Emperor drink this tea.”
“Do you think I’d accept something so suspicious?”
“It’s Arpanium flower. It blooms from new shoots that sprout in early summer from soil where a viper’s corpse is buried.”
“Is it poison? Are you telling me to kill His Majesty?”
“Haha, calling such common tea leaves poison? You’ll find this tea even in the palace reception room. However, what you’re holding is a bit special.”
Balak stepped closer to Eurene and grasped her left hand. Though she knew in her mind that she should avoid him, Eurene ultimately couldn’t ignore the pouch he placed in her hand.
“What… effect does it have?”
Balak leaned close to Eurene’s ear and whispered with a kind smile.
“The Emperor will forget everything. All memories related to Vinea de Tessibania.”
