Of course Burn knew what Man set about.

  Not because she found out that Burn had killed aen two mythical creatures, or that it made him despised by the elves. It was because the man she called ‘husband’ in front of them was a real vilin who indeed killed and ate two mythical creatures.

  She was angry that this was the man she held hands with in front of the elves, who called her “Her Holiness”.

  Oh, she wasn’t angry that he made her lose her appetite after they told her that he ate the flesh of two se beings, she was disgusted that the man she made love with ate two se beings.

  And so, she couldn’t even touch her meal.

  And so, she cried.

  And so—“Caliburn… do you even know what you’ve done?”

  She questioned him.

  “I know what I’ve done,” Burn, his face dark and cold, tinued in a voice as deep as the abyss, “And I don’t feel an ounce of guilt for it.”

  Her defense crumbled to pieces as she wept silently in front of him. Only the image of her in this state had ripped his heart apart.

  She finally saw the glimpse of void inside him.

  But as much as he wao embrace her, hiding her broken form from the world, he knew she would push him away in disgust, knowing what he had done.

  So he sat in front of her, witnessing every sed of tears rolling down her cheeks, knowing full well he was the one who caused it. Knowing full well he was tortured along with it.

  “Why didn’t you tell me…?” she begged to know once again.

  “If I told you, would you e this far with me?” Burn coldly asked.

  "What do you mean? What are you talking about… Caliburn? If you had told me, I would've done something about it—" Man sobbed, her shoulders trembling vulnerably. "Why didn't you tell me that you used to have Soulnaught Syndrome...?"

  Burn stopped breathing.

  Something was nht.

  He then remembered how she had held his hand the eime the revetion unfolded. Unsciously, he must have thought about his illness when the uni and the merfolk king were mentioned—and Man had read his mind.

  "My Burn—" Man bawled as she hugged Burn's head, f him to bow to her height. "Did you suffer so much...? I didn't know, and I cursed time under your name—"

  Between her soft weeps and whimpers, in her embrace, Burn froze.

  “It doesn’t matter,” Burn said when he slowly regained his voice.

  Hearing that, Man sniveled, “Did you bme me?” she asked. “Your soul seemed fine, so I didn’t know—”

  “I’m fine. My dition was cured after I ate the uni and the merfolk,” Burn whispered.

  “But what if you repsed?” Man started to bawl again. “Did you even realize what you’ve done? You’ve forsaken your humanity ond ate two se creatures, and you said you’re fine…?”

  “Of course I’m fine. I’m alive thanks to it,” Burn stroked her back, feeling her frustration.

  “Don’t lie to me. When was it?” Suddenly, she turern and released her embrace, f him to face her. With a face red and stained with tears, she demanded, “Tell me.”

  “It was 15-16 years ago, I fot,” Burn answered, not ting the time he spent in the loops.

  “You were ten?” Man almost broke down once again, her eyebrows creased, and her blue eyes watered with more tears, but she held her sobs and squeezed his hands. “You were a child…”

  “I was at least eleven. It just happened. I’m fine now,” Burn insisted gently, even though traces of fusion still lingered in his eyes.

  “You are not,” Man said, her voice trembling but firm. “You stupid... ugh—fod’s sake…”

  Witnessirying to stifle her tears and stop her own whimpers, Bur dull. He was lost. Everythihought about her was false, and everything he predicted she would say or do was wrong.

  He thought people operated under a clear set of rules, predictable in their perspective and view.

  But Man, in her ultimate kindness, only saw the truth. And her respoo it was simply... insane.

  “I thought you were going to leave me,” Burn said expressionlessly.

  Man tearfully scoffed, “I am about to if you keep this up. I’m going to break the curse and leave.”

  Burn didn’t realize it, but his eyes faltered. “Are you threatening me?”

  “Don’t tell me you’re fine now that I found out that you killed and ate two people when you were ten just to survive your illness,” Man’s st tear fell to the ground. She sighed, “God—”

  She took a long, deep breath and, after a long silence, firmly said, “I won’t let this curse harm you more than this. After this loop, I will fix the spell and break it.” tinuing her pn, she added, “Don’t worry about the mythical unities. I’ll tell them that you heir flesh to survive. I’ll go to the Merfolk Kingdom and speak to them too.”

  “Are you leaving?” Burn asked again. Now, his voice sounded somewhat i and light, but still deep and dark.

  “Do you even uand what I said?” Man asked, frustrated.

  “Do whatever you want, but don’t break the curse,” Burn said.

  “What do you mean?!” Man couldn’t help but yell.

  “If you break the curse, then you have to marry me. I want a full magical tract. I’ll make Yvain officiate it,” Burn calmly said.

  Man eechless. Why did it feel like they weren’t talking about the same thing sihe start?

  “Or, don’t break the curse, and also… marry me,” Burn slowly, softly said, “I love you.”

  Now those repeated loops became a regret for him. If he had stopped being so stubborn much earlier, he would have e to know her much faster.

  His Man.

  “Please don’t break anythiween us,” Burn said. “And if we die, let’s just die together.”

  Man was never disgusted by him, nor did she reject him. She cried for him, felt anger on his behalf, and sensed betrayal that he hadn't disclosed the most important thing—about himself.

  “Caliburn…” Man closed her blue eyes, now filled only with sadness. Her hand slowly moved to her face, a vivid dispy of her pain and frustration.

  But Burn just wao smile.

  It was strange.

  The feeling that someoually cared for his perspective, the sensation that someone uood his side of the story without him needing to articute it… was amazing. He had never eaihe idea that such a persoed for him.

  “Are you leaving me, Man?” he whispered.

  He asked three times. First, when he feared she might leave, sed, when he wished her to stay, and third, now that he knew she wouldn’t leave.

  “This is so unfair,” Man whispered back.

  “Good. Life is unfair. You 't leave even if it's unfair,” so what if Burn was about to rob the rest of her eternal life just for him?

  He didn’t know that Man was talking about how unfair it was to be born with Soulnaught Syndrome, while she was born with an infinite soul. Even if he knew, he wouldn’t care.

  As he said, life is unfair, after all.

  “I know that you’ve decided to help the elves and the other uoo. I’ll help them too, as long as they don’t cross the line like today,” Burn said. “If any of them dare to pry into something unnecessary again…”

  Like something that led to his past illness or other pathetic things about him—or something that would upset her—

  “For example, what the Inkian said to the elven princess,” Burn’s face darkened. “Just then, I’ll do the easy way aroy everything.”

  Expining himself took too long. Talking to them to coax them to his side took too long. It was easier for him to be a vilin in the end.

  The elves had a succession problem. The queen only had two daughters; the first one was ill, while the sed one was too radical in her liberalism, thanks to her fasation with human society and her enrollment in the academy.

  It was quite a miracle that she hadn’t seeten side of Inkian society, believing everything they said. Or maybe someone was deliberately maniputihrough her, they attempted to manipute the elves to go against him too.

  Burhat there were at least two ways to solve this problem. Ohey cured the first daughter somehow, or sed, they opehe sed daughter’s eyes to reality.

  But that could wait until tomorrow.

  Right now, he had one pressing matter to solve. "You haven't answered any of my questio," Burn stated.

  Man raised her fa.

  "You haven’t even respoo my one importaion," he tinued.

  She still refused to say a sihing.

  "Fine. I’ll just make you speak," Burn sighed, his patience running out. He lifted her up his shoulder, and she squealed in surprise before he brought her to his tent.

  Looking around, Burn closed the tent's entra was a good thing his men had enough tact to stay away from the quarreling imperial couple.

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  Chapter 85,5 is out for free on Patreon!