F-Rank Puppeteer!! But I'll be Queen, and I'm not a narcissist!!!!!-Chapter 231: Truths Without a Right Side

"..." I look at Evelyn. I’ve spent a good while applying medicine to her wounds, even if it wasn’t strictly necessary—it helped with her pain, and watching her body reconstruction in action was impressive.

Her wounds and arm are already fully healed. No marks, no scars. She’s completely intact, like nothing ever happened. I never imagined her reconstruction ability was this astonishing.

But of course, she’s still throwing a tantrum. Because she reeks of blood, I’m taking her to the bathroom, but she’s doing everything in her power to make my life difficult, refusing to be carried. So I had to drag her to the bathroom and toss her into the water.

"..." I rub shampoo into her skin, scrubbing carefully to clean her. I’m also naked, taking the chance to wash off the excess blood on my body.

"Evelyn, at least stay still!" I say, frustrated, as she literally goes limp—which is annoying, because if I let go of her, she sinks straight to the bottom of the tub.

"Pretending to be a broken toy is just irritating, you know?" She still has very little magic left, so her joints still move like a doll’s, and her body is still ice-cold.

"What do you think you’re gaining by frustrating me like this? It’s so childish, taking your anger out on me like this," I mutter irritably, splashing water on her and myself to rinse off the shampoo.

As soon as I’m done wetting us both, I pull her out of the water, drag her to a chair, and grab a towel to dry her off.

"Haa... Haaa..." I pant, exhausted from fighting off my hunger. I want so badly to eat a piece of her, but if I do that, I’ll only make everything worse.

’I’m so hungry...’

"Why are you bothering to clean me so meticulously?" she finally speaks.

"Because I love you and I want you to be well."

"...You could’ve done this much sooner if you’d saved me properly..."

"..." I put her clothes on, ignoring her insidious comment, then start dressing myself.

"If I’d been left with a scar on my beautiful body, what would you have done?"

"That wouldn’t matter, because I don’t just love your appearance—"

"So my appearance hardly matters to you?"

"Don’t twist my words, Evelyn. I just said even if you had a scar, it wouldn’t change how much I love you, and you’d still be beautiful."

"So you’re saying all my effort to maintain my beauty is worthless to the point a scar barely matters? You think keeping this pretty face is easy?"

"I didn’t say that. Stop being so childish. You know exactly what I meant." I pull her toward the bedroom while she trips over her own feet and falls on purpose. I know why she’s acting like this, but it doesn’t change the fact that I want to hit her.

"Get some rest. I need to deal with the issues surrounding your wrongful imprisonment. I’m going to get the rest of your sentence cleared," I say, setting her down on the bed gently.

"That’s so slow of you. The Esther I know would’ve solved this problem already." Her arrogant remark makes me rub my temples.

"...Then I don’t know what Esther you know. But I’m the Esther you have, and that’s not changing. Don’t forget—you’re the one who asked me to be like this with you."

"...You could’ve saved me sooner. Then I wouldn’t be acting like this."

"What is your problem with me taking a little longer?! I did my best." I turn around, pointing at her as she keeps harping on the same thing, over and over.

"You have a blessing that favors you in everything. So I’m just saying—you’ve gotten weak. If, with a blessing that incredible, it took you over a month to come save me, then maybe the problem isn’t me."

"..."

"Is that a dangerous insinuation? You think I had something to do with your imprisonment?!" The hatred I feel swells. How can she imply that I purposely didn’t come save her sooner? My blessing is powerful, but it’s not omnipotent or omniscient.

"I didn’t say anything. You said that..."

"That’s it. Are you really going to say even the blame for your imprisonment is mine? Hahaha. You know how pathetic that is, right? Honestly, it’s like—wow. You’ve reached a whole new level of cowardice." I sneer at such sheer spinelessness.

"Your irony and mockery in this situation is truly unsettling." She rolls her eyes at me, calling me unsettling, as if I’m the one in the wrong for pointing out her hypocrisy.

"Don’t call me unsettling when you’re the one making me act like this! I really did my best, and I saved you as soon as I could. Can’t you just accept that you can’t have everything the moment you want it?"

"...It’s easy to say that when you weren’t the one being tortured day and night without rest."

"Oh really? Then what is this really about, Evelyn? Why does it bother you so much that I took a little longer?" I don’t get it. I really don’t understand why she’s so fixated on complaining about the one thing I had absolutely no control over.

I don’t control time. I don’t know everything. And I really tried to figure out what was wrong as soon as possible. So why—why is the thing I worked hardest on the only thing she keeps bringing up?

"You promised me I’d be your number one in everything..."

"...No... you didn’t say that..." I stare at her with pure disgust. I don’t believe it. I don’t believe this is the main reason behind this whole tantrum.

"You’re not serious, right? Evelyn, no way—this whole tantrum isn’t really about that, is it?... "

"..."

"HAHAHAHAHAHA YOU’RE FUCKING WITH ME, RIGHT?!" I scream at her. She had so many reasons to complain, and she chose this garbage as her reason.

"So many things, Evelyn. So many things you could say—and you’re really pulling this shitty attitude just because of that?"

"You just said that... hahaha... I don’t believe this. Is this for real? If you wanted to make me furious, congratulations—you did it! Have you completely lost your mind, Evelyn?"

"I’m sure that’s not the thought process of someone whose mind is still fully intact!!" The reason for this whole tantrum is simply because she feels she wasn’t the "number one." Because in one month, I had other priorities that weren’t her.

In other words, the act of me being at war, the act of me leading, the act of me killing, the act of me walking, eating, breathing, talking—and even the act of coming here to save her.

She categorized all of it as "priorities" placed above her. She’s literally saying she should be above even the biological functions of my body.

She’s actually comparing the time it took me to come save her with me placing her as a lower priority—as if the fact that I spent that time focused on her doesn’t count as her being the priority.

"You’ve completely lost perspective, Evelyn..."

"I haven’t lost perspective... That was our agreement..."

"THAT WASN’T OUR AGREEMENT, YOU WENCH!" I scream at her. She’s taking that agreement literally, in the craziest sense of the word. Yes, I said I’d make her my number one in everything, but it’s literally impossible to put her ahead of absolutely everything. I’m not some omnipotent goddess capable of that.

"...Wench? I’m a wench for hopefully waiting for you—the person I love—to come save me? That’s pretty pathetic of you... I’m just your wife, waiting for emotional reciprocation."

"Throughout my entire time in prison, all I thought about was you. When would you come save me? Was it taking too long for you to save me? Why hadn’t you come to save me? Why were you abandoning me in that horrible, painful place?"

"Why weren’t you there to see me? You were all I thought about. Every action I took was directed at you. My heart stopped beating to wait for you."

"I stopped breathing for you. My body went cold because all the warmth I have is for you. So I ask you, Esther—if I’m capable of making you my number one all the time, every second I’m alive—why did you, who promised to do the same, fail?"

"...Aaghhh!" She screams in pain when I climb onto the bed and punch her in the face. She looks at me with tears, confused and hurt by the sudden violence.

"..." I raise my hand to hit her again, but my hand trembles. She looks at my hand and gives a sad smile, like she’s disappointed. Disappointed that even when it comes to violence, I can’t make her my number one.

"You’re insane," I say, lowering my hand—which I’ve clenched so hard it’s starting to bleed.

"I’m not insane, Esther. I’m just... someone who has nothing left to lose except you. Esther, in this world, the only thing I have is you."

"You’re the only one like me." When she says that, I look into her eyes. I can’t believe this wench is using the same words I once said to her.

"Urghh!!!" She starts choking when I grab her throat and begin to strangle her. She cries, but even as she cries, she wears that sick, twisted smile. Her skin starts to grow warm, her heart beginning to beat again.

"Are you happy, Evelyn? You’re fucking with my psyche. Does that make you happy? TELL ME—DOES DESTROYING ME PIECE BY PIECE MAKE YOU HAPPY?" She knows this hurts me. She understands perfectly that she’s destroying me, just as I’m destroying her.

"Yes..." She moves her hands, caressing my cheek.

"Because, Esther... I’m emotionally dependent. Because I’m a parasite who can’t live without latching onto something. And you’re the only one who would accept who I am now..." She speaks as I release her neck.

The marks of my fingers deeply engraved on her throat. I shed tears of hatred for this wench who’s doing this to me without taking any responsibility.

"Congratulations... you won, Evelyn. You proved you can make me your one and only number one. You proved that if I try, I can have you all to myself... So let me tell you, Evelyn."

"I won’t forget this betrayal. You deceived me. That’s what this is. You’re a goddamn parasite." I grab her tail.

"You really got what you wanted. I can’t live without you anymore. This past month was hell, and now that I’ve found you, true hell has been shown to me."

"You affect me too much. And I can’t not have you anymore. I’ll go insane if you ever disappear from my sight. I need you to feel alive again." Yes. Evelyn succeeded.

Without her, I’ll never feel complete again. She proved that to me. I need this girl in my life for eternity. Even if she hurts me like this, I can no longer see my future without the one person who’s both my equal and my opposite.

"This will be the first time I eat you without taking a piece first. I hope you don’t regret what you’ve done, Evelyn. Because now, I’ll never let you disappear like you did this past month." I put her tail in my mouth, ready to sate the hunger I’ve been holding back.