<Wasn’t This a Strategy Game? Chapter 145>

Ha, Eden finally exhaled the breath that had been filling her mouth.

‘I can’t believe this was the answer.’

Eden stared blankly into space, shocked at her success.

‘What is this Pact of Death?’

Amidst the confusion, the phrase about reaching favorability of 100 made her heart ache a bit. If this was the case, what I did was truly miserable.

If I restore emotions this way and then leave in an instant… will it be okay? Is this really a proper development?

A thought suddenly hit her like a ton of bricks—maybe I’m dragging the game into an odd direction. Emotional stimulation doesn’t have to mean love.

Eden looked at Hagen’ti with a face that couldn’t smile or cry and parted her moist lips.

“I’m sorry, Hagen’ti.”

“…Why?”

Hagen’ti asked quietly, looking as if he really didn’t understand anything at all.

“Because I shook you up…”

At her faint response, Hagen’ti slowly reached out to stroke Eden’s hair.

Warm sunlight reflected in his gray eyes, carrying a warmth he had never held before, as if borrowed from the sun.

“It’s okay. You can shake me up as much as you want.”

After saying that, Hagen’ti leaned in again, as if to prove his feelings.

When their moist lips touched, the world that had been frozen in place for so long vibrated uncontrollably.

Hagen’ti decided to willingly accept that sweet vibration.

That night, after receiving the reward for the hidden quest, Eden immediately went to find Asmun.

Although she had promised to stay with Hagen’ti, the reward was too tempting to resist seeing Asmun directly.

“Your Majesty!”

With the help of Priest Roman, Eden was able to move to Asmun’s study.

Thankfully, Asmun was still awake late into the night, so Eden wasted no time in meeting him.

Now, his study was located in the Imperial Palace. Without the time to admire this obvious fact or to explore his new study, Eden dashed to stand before Asmun.

“Saint!”

Asmun greeted Eden without any sign of displeasure or fatigue, despite being disturbed late at night, but there was also no hint of joy in his expression.

Asmun knew that whenever Eden came to find him in such a hurry, there was always a reason behind it.

And he could probably guess that the furious expression she wore was…

“I found it!”

“…”

“I found a place where Sereman might be!”

At Eden’s cheerful voice, Asmun felt a chill settle in his stomach. Excited, Eden didn’t notice his expression and pulled something out of her pocket.

“Here, it shows the traces of Sereman.”

What Eden pulled out was Hesmor’s Map. That map was the reward for this hidden quest.

This was truly a hidden item.

Not only does it clearly identify Sereman, but the map showcased his footprints, as if stamped all over, trailing off at some mountain range beyond Mavellios.

As far as Eden knew, this was a dangerous place that ordinary people could not enter. However, such taboos meant nothing in front of the Emperor.

“We need to send an army here to capture the Dark Sorcerers and Sereman!”

Doing so would clear this quest, and at the same time, they could prevent Hagen’ti’s rampage. The cruel game involving their lives would finally come to an end.

Just thinking about it brought a bright smile to Eden’s face as she looked up at Asmun, but then her expression froze when she caught sight of his face.

“……”

Asmun was looking at Eden with a cold expression, as if he had no interest in such an astonishing map whatsoever.

Finally, he couldn’t possibly think of a joyful reaction at the thought of catching the wicked dark sorcerer that would be an obstacle to his path, his Empire.

“……Your Majesty?”

Feeling something off in that coldness, Eden hesitantly called out to him, just as his gaze slowly dropped to the map in her hands.

‘Did I misread him…?’

Eden was in the middle of feeling puzzled when Asmun lifted the map that lay sprawled on the desk.

An unknown tension filled the study.

“Saint, you always have wonderful things.”

The slight chill at the end of his low voice felt ominous.

“It just happened to be that way… Anyway, you must send the army as soon as possible. If Sereman gets away again, it gets complicated…”

“So if we catch Sereman, that will stop the Great Mage’s rampage.”

As the frighteningly cold voice calmly cut off Eden’s words, her eyes widened.

“Are you trying to leave me?”

…What?

Eden gazed at the cold face that looked at her in shock, unable to utter a word. Asmun’s eyes shimmered with a light she had never seen before.

Flickering, on the brink of collapse.

“Did you really think I would…?”

“……”

“Let you go?”

The quietly asked voice sliced through the frozen air, settling painfully on her cheeks. Eden still couldn’t find any words to reply and continued to gaze at Asmun.

Her frozen heart dropped heavily—

“You want to go back to the original world so badly…”

It beat thunderously, wildly within her.

“Is that what all this effort has been for?”

His sunken red eyes shimmered, deeply wounded.

Asmun knew. He knew she was from another world.

And that she had to clear everything and leave.

‘Back to the original world… How on earth…?’

At the same time, Asmun’s strange words muddled her mind and echoed in her ears.

「I will make it a good place.」

「I wanted to make this place, where the Saint should be, better than anywhere else.」

「So good that you would never want to leave, not even for a moment.」

He had known everything.

「…I will make it happen, so watch closely.」

The chill she felt back then was no mere illusion.

But how…?

“How…?”

At the question that edged on fear, Asmun offered no answer. He only looked at Eden coldly, affirming that cruel truth once more.

Eden swallowed the urge to spill everything that threatened to overflow in her throat, and then spoke with a trembling voice.

“I had no choice…”

But that was not what Asmun wanted to hear.

“The Saint cannot leave.”

“There’s no way.”

Eden retorted, holding back her frustration. It was not just Asmun who was crumbling as he searched for a way out.

But what would happen if she revealed such feelings here and broke the man right in front of her even further? Asmun could not fall apart any more than he already had.

Eden’s wish seemed to regain his composure.

“…If the Saint can’t, then I will. So don’t worry and stay back.”

His voice was overly calm, as if he had already completed every plan.

Eden’s heart dropped.

“We have to catch Sereman.”

“……”

At her urgent words, Asmun didn’t respond. Hagen’ti had no place in his plan. He had no intention to capture Sereman for Hagen’ti’s sake.

That’s why he knew she would leaved after all.

Eden burst out in frustration.

“If you don’t stop him right now, Hagen’ti will die!”

At those words, Asmun’s gaze chilled even further.

“That has nothing to do with me.”

Thud, those brutal words dropped her heart to the bottom of despair.

“So don’t waste precious time like this and enjoy yourself.”

Ah… Eden finally realized why Asmun had allowed her time with Hagen’ti.

Because he knew Hagen’ti would die.

Because he knew he would disappear soon…

“It’s not for me! If we can’t stop Hagen’ti’s rampage, the empire will fall to the dark sorcerers!”

Asmun stared at Eden in silence. Even at this moment, her resentment towards the woman who always had something more important than him was strong.

“Promise you won’t leave.”

“……”

“Then I will do anything… whatever the Saint desires.”

At his words, Eden looked at Asmun as though she had been struck speechless. Her expression clearly conveyed she could never agree to that, causing Asmun’s heart to break.

Wanting someone like Eden might have been greed. But if wanting to exist beside her counts as foolish greed, I would have nothing left.

“Really…”

An unusually quiet and heavy voice settled in the study, thick with tension.

“Are you trying to leave me?”

The calm voice seemed to crack with longing. Pleading for an answer that would say otherwise.

Eden knew that Asmun was deeply hurt by her thoughts of leaving…

“Do you really believe you can abandon me?”

That cruel question made a wave of injustice rise in her.

Abandon? That was something she couldn’t do…

Yeah, it was something she had no choice over. She had to leave this world once the game was over. No matter how much Asmun shouted, begged, or looked at her with cold eyes, that fact wouldn’t change.

When Eden continued to withhold her answer, Asmun let out a chilling laugh and slowly reached out to stroke her long hair.

“I thought this was strange from the beginning.”