Chapter 35: Female President (11) (2/2)

He was too stubborn, Eshnunna thought That hy he couldn’t understand “Ah…” Of course, she knew stubbornness wasn’t a bad trait, and Yohan was born this way But right now, she was simply frustrated by his inflexibility “Is that what you think? Then, Yohan, are you saying that we should all just give up our lives?” Eshnunna felt strong e up inside her “That we should all sacrifice ourselves for this World? For the future of people we don’t know? Yohan, aren’t you aware of all the responsibilities on your shoulders?”

“That is preferable co now,” Yohan said without hesitation “And I’m sure that if I were in your position, I would never do so like this”

“…What…?”

“Why don’t you just speak truthfully?” Yohan’s eyes shook with betrayal “Just say you did everything because you wanted to live Did you want to live so badly that you used me to rationalize your actions?” The words he then uttered cut Eshnunna’s wavering heart deeply “You dirty coward”

htened e between the silence Eshnunna was startled; she couldn’t process what she just did Her palm was numb Yohan’s face was turned to the side, and a clear red mark burned on his cheek It was only after she saw his cheek that she realized what she had done

“Yohan…” Eshnunna was startled by her own action, but it was only for aher brother across his cheek, emotions that couldn’t be defined by simple disappointment and sadness were ready to burst out from her How could he say these words when he didn’t know anything? When he didn’t knohat those blasted, self-centered recruits requested from them and how truly awful they could be?

“…How could you do this tolips “What do you wantthis? For what reason, because of who laring at her with hateful eyes, his face still tilted to the side “I didn’t tell you to do all that, did I?”

Eshnunna felt all the energy leave her body Her raised arround She no longer had even the energy to look up or say anything The only thing she could do was cry in sadness and disappointhts I also know very well that you can’t be saved” Yohan now called her ‘you’ instead of ‘sister’[1] Even though he had ed the way he addressed her, it left a deep wound on Eshnunna’s heart

“Do whatever you want I’ll do whatever I want, too,” Yohan said coldly and turned around with no consideration for Eshnunna’s feelings

Shocked by Yohan’s statement, Eshununna quickly asked, “W-what do you mean by that?”

“You always did whatever you wanted Is there any reason for ?” Yohan was about to step out, but paused for a moment “What?” He turned back half-way andto hand me over as well?”

Eshnunna couldn’t believe her ears

“Do what you want I won’t even be surprised anymore if you do that” He didn’t say ‘because that’s the kind of person you are’, but it was implied With those final words, Yohan left

“Yohan? Please don’t go! Wait a little bit! Yohan? Yohan!” No matter how much she called out to Yohan, he didn’t stop Her calls died dohen her brother finally disappeared into the darkness Eshnunna reround in a daze

How ained her senses, she was in her place She didn’t kno she got here She hadn’t even thought about closing the door She just stood and stared into the air with a devastated expression, her er even muster the tears to cry Her heart felt so eive up on her life When she slowly regained focus, an to surface her mind one by one Yohan’s face Yohan’s words The ht about these memories, the more the futility of her actions possessed her

‘I…’ Her body shi+vered; she felt as if she had fallen naked into freezing water in the dead of winter for all this tiotten what she’d done However, that hadn’t been her intention No, it didn't use to be like this ‘How did it come to this?’ Her mind was muddled The memories that had surfaced one by one now assaulted her all at once, and it messed with her head She couldn’t tell if it was her vision that was distorting, or if her body was spinning

She looked down at her shaking hands and hugged herself ‘It’s so cold…’ She shook like an ash tree and slowly turned her head She couldn’t look away froreat strain, her hand reached the mirror ‘Me…?’

Was it because she was so confused? Her own face felt strange to her There was no trace of the lovely princess who had been considered the treasure of the Saledom and received all kinds of praise and admiration There was only a woman ept away by harsh circuer ‘This is me…?’

At that htly It was a beautiful smile that blinded people’s eyes Meanwhile, Eshnunna’s eyes widened in shock She blinked like crazy and quickly touched her face Her eyes ide as saucers, and her lips were shut so tightly that her teeth hurt But the face reflected in theThe softly curved eyes had becoely bent and distorted like those of Hahoe masks, and the lips stretched impossibly wide to the tip of its ears Then, in the blink of an eye, the thing opened its mouth wide and burst out of the mirror

“Ahhhhhhhh!” Eshnuna’s scream came out a few seconds later

round and gulped, but before she could calm down—

[Why don’t you be honest with yourself?]

She heard a voice from her left ear “Yohan?”

[Sister, you did it because you wanted to live]

[Did you want to live so badly that you use me to rationalize your actions?]

She could also hear his voice co from above her

[You dirty coward]

When she lowered her head, his voice came from below

[Why? Do you also want to turn me over?]

“No!” Eshnunna screas She shook her head in a frenzy and struggled to move Even then, the voices did not stop She heard the accusations froer even decipher what they were saying She instinctively struggled to fight, and her back hit against the wall

“No…That’s not true” Eshnunna shrunk into herself with nowhere to hide She denied what the voices were saying about her while covering her ears The last person she had held onto for support, her younger brother, had also turned his back on her in an io and nobody to depend on Eshnuna sobbed and subconsciously pleaded in her heart, “Help me” Anyone “Please—Please help me Please…”

“I will”

Eshnunna flinched She had been covering her ears so hard that marks were left on her temples, but finally, she allowed her hands to come loose Before she realized it, the mysterious voices had all disappeared Eshnunna raised her head in reflex, and her tear-soaked eyes looked up in bewilder in front of her was no other than Choi Chi-Woo

Eshnunna’s lips slightly parted “…Why…?”

“You asked for help,” Chi-Woo calaze trailed along his aret up”

She then heard the words she wanted to hear the ht now

“I will help you”

1 A different kind of ‘you’ is used in different situations; in this context, he addresses her like they’re distant or strangers ☜