12 Chapter 10 (1/2)

Alright, before we get started, there is one question I want to ask…

Have you ever been in jail, or should I call it a prison?

Well, I have, I've been there once for beating my ex-wife and her lover. I never regretted it. Rather, I felt proud of it. At least I had earned my place with every punch in that asshole's face, especially after I made his face unrecognizable. But now, can I say the same thing in this situation? In this creepy room?

What was the point of a prison anyway? Typically, it was a place where criminals were locked up to atone for their sins and crime. Yeah, to atone their sins and crimes… but what was my sin? My crime? For me to be locked in this underground jail just sitting there like an idiot… no, jail is not the correct word. Let's use the word ”Dungeon”.

Why use the word dungeon? I was in a dungeon, duh! Not a jail or a prison… a dungeon! A freaking dungeon!

You don't know what a dungeon is? Use Mr. Google to save your sorry ass or read some Isekai novel. How about you play Dungeon Siege, that's my favorite game… too bad I lost my save data.

Anyway, my previous ”dungeon” could be considered a luxury compared to this place. At least they provided me with food, linen, and a basic clean room. Hell, we could even watch TV. That wouldn't leave me bored, at least.

But here, this ”cell” of mine was very dirty. The smell of rotten corpses made this a very creepy place. I had to sleep on the dirty floor and I'm pretty sure the people who sent me here won't provide me food. But you could find a skeleton here easily, so that's cool! Hey, look over there, there are a bunch of skeletons in that room! Hell, I even can see one of their fresh rotting arms from here.

That's great, right!? That can be considered a luxury, right?! In certain meaning, that can be luxury.

Hahahaha… that's funny, right?

”...….”

Like hell it is! It's not funny! It's scary! This place is so fucking scary!

As a former soldier, this place shouldn't shake me as I'm used to seeing corpses and I have witnessed many torture scenes. A few times back, I faced torture myself. I'm not scared to this ”room” or that ”room” over there, but what I was scared of was this…I was alone here… and this place was… very unhealthy and disgusting…

Come on, if you're going to torture people, can you not leave the torture room in plain sight? At least clean the blood off the equipment! That's just simply unhygienic! Especially the rotten smell is very strong… I don't want to catch a strange disease in this dungeon.

And of course, the floor is made of mud… oh god, I hoped it was mud. I wouldn't put it past this place if the floor was composed of the leftovers from the previous inhabitants. I'm not just talking about their waste here, I'm talking about what's left of the inhabitants too when they inevitably died!

I have been here for days already and I haven't seen a meal since I had been in this place. Did they expect me to eat the rats? Don't answer that, I already know the answer, and I wish I didn't know the answer. Thank god, I can endure the hunger but if I can't… Fuck! Just imagining it already made me want to vomit.

Why did this happen to me? How did I end up in a dungeon with a life sentence and no chance of parole? Ah, I guess it began when I had the stupid, stupid idea to return to this world in the first place.

————————-

We teleported back to Evelyn's world.

The whole process took barely fifteen seconds. In those fifteen seconds, I went from in front of my dining room table only to suddenly find myself in another familiar place. This place was the exact place I had teleported to before. Directly under the massive giant tree, the Tree of Life. That's where we were.

”Ah!” The seat Evelyn had been sitting on no longer was there and thus she fell back on to her butt.

Evelyn looked around as she was seemingly stunned, and the pair of us could only stare at each other in silence, Evelyn on the ground and me on one knee kneeling before her, my hand still held out.

I looked at the giant tree…

So, we're back here, huh…

She had called it the Lieben Forest. Looking at this forest it kind of took me back to when I first came to this world. It was only three weeks since then. My first meeting with Evelyn. The time when she had trying to kill me for seeing her naked and when we were chased by Cylopeses.

...….

Cylopeses? Wait, if we returned here, that would mean… that monster would still be around. My first instinct was to look for the Cyclopses that I had blinded. However, I didn't find it. The monster had disappeared, removed in the intervening time we'd been gone.

Was it still there somewhere? I hoped not. We would be killed for real this time if we met that thing again. Since we come back just like before, I came here completely unprepared, no weapon or armor. How are we supposed to defeat it? With the power of plot armor? I don't have such a thing.

While thinking that, Evelyn removed her hand then stood. She just stood there with a shocked look on her face. Her mouth was open and she was trying to speak, but no words seemed to escape her mouth.

Her eyes darted around as if she was hoping we weren't back to her world. Once she was sure that we were… Her face immediately turned dreadful. She turned to me and gave a wide-eyed look as she came to this realization.

”Wh-what is it?” I asked, confused by the complicated look she was giving me.

She shook her head in fright, as if she was trying to deny reality, but couldn't.

We stared at each other in silence.

It was Evelyn that broke the silence as she finally opened her mouth.

”Kyou…” Evelyn started.

”What?”

Soon her ruby eyes turned moist and tears soon rolled down her cheeks as her voice became weak. Wait, she was crying? Why was she suddenly crying?! I was surprised because I never saw her crying like this. It was in sharp contrast to her usual strong, composed and dignified behavior.

”We shouldn't be here… Kyou.” Evelyn shook her head. ”Please, can you take us back home?”

”You want to go back to my house, but we just got here…”

”Please, Kyou… just take us back, now!” Evelyn moved forward and grabbed my shirt, her eyes looking somewhat scary.

”I-I don't know how?

”I told you this is a bad idea… now… you have to try. Kyou, just clear your mind, and imagine home. Bring us home.” Her strange attitude confused me, but the desperation in her voice moved me to act.

I closed my eyes immediately, clearing out my mind. I tried to remember what I was thinking when it suddenly send us here. I was desperate. I really wanted to be productive. I thought about this world. I thought about taking Evelyn here. Now… reverse it! I want to go home. No, remembering Evelyn's sad eyes, I NEED to go home!

”D-did it work?” I opened one eye, and then the other.

Evelyn was looking up at me, her entire body starting to shake as tears fell down her eyes. ”No… no… no… try again. I'm sorry… Kyou, try again. We don't have much time!”

”What do you mean? And why are you apologize and crying like that?”

”You have to get us out of here. Please. This isn't my world anymore! You have to!” Evelyn early shouted, her hands hitting my chest a few times as if I was a machine that would spring to action with a little push.

”Evelyn, I can't… I can't do it!” I said, my expression tense. ”Maybe there is a cooldown or something, I don't know.”

Evelyn broke down, her cries turning into sobs. I continued to try to think of home, but no matter what, it didn't happen. Seeing Evelyn crying silently like that made me wonder. She has always been cool and calm… now, she cried like a little girl. I tried to understand her through our bond, but I only felt her emotions being shaken greatly.

There must be a reason why she didn't want to come back here. Hmmm… now, if I think about it, a few days ago, I asked her about whether she wanted to return here and she immediately rejected it. She said she didn't want to come back here and gave a vague reason. Of course, I wanted her to tell me the reason, but I was too busy with job hunting so I just let it go and forgot.

But a reason, huh? I was curious; I knew I was not in a position to say that, but… This piqued my curiosity…

”…Is there something you kept from me?” I finally asked her, my voice low.

Hearing that question, she pulled her hands of my chest and covered her mouth. Her shoulders were shaking. Her body shuddered as if I was asking something taboo from her. I could feel her emotion shake more, more than before. No, there was something about these turbulent emotions… what is this? What is with this reaction? You know, I asked this question in a playful tone… but I didn't expect her reaction would be so severe. She was not hiding something from me, right? She slowly shook her head as if she denied my question.

After seeing her breakdown like that, I knew I did something terrible…But, it was too late. The damage was already done and I couldn't take it back.

”I'm sorry… I'm sorry…” Evelyn continued to apologize to me.

”I'm sorry… I'm sorry… I'm sorry… I'm sorry…”

Over and over again, Evelyn kept apologizing in a sobbing voice while crying.

I quickly held her shoulder and directed her eyes to me. ”I don't know what you're going through in this world. I know it isn't easy… but you can't cry like this without telling me anything. Please tell me…”

Evelyn who looked me in the eyes slowly broke her eye contact and shook her head while crying…!

”Shh. Don't cry. It's not that I don't believe you or trust you. I want things to be as good as possible. If I can do something better, that's all I want.”

That didn't help, and she curled up, crying harder than ever.

”I…I…can't,” she mumbled I lifted her chin more and re-established eye contact.

”Yes, you can; you must; something is eating away at you.”

”NO! You will hate me! …and just thinking that it would kill me,” she said before she broke down in tears again.

When she finally regained her composure I again made eye contact and said in a stern voice ”I will NOT HATE you. Now, tell me.”

She still remained silent, shaking her head as if she was a child that was being scolded by her parents. Well, since I have been taking care of her for a whole 3 weeks, I was basically like her parent, and I'm 20 years older than her and that makes me her father or her guardian? Wait, if I saw myself as her father, then we had an incestuous relationship? HELL NO! I don't commit such taboo, disgusting and forbidden relationship!

OH MY GOD! Now, I saw Kirino's naked body in my mind! I can imagine her developed body slowly turned into a sexy girl! No! GET OUT! GET OUT OF MY MIND, MY FORBIDDEN LUST! YOU ARE UNNEEDED! I take that back! I'm not her father! I am her lover!! No, that sounds misleading and it will cause misunderstanding! Evelyn is my lover! I'm talking about Evelyn, okay! Not Kirino!

Sigh… What the hell am I doing thinking something stupid like that while hugging Evelyn? Let's just put that aside… I should try to figure out the situation, this situation looks like a cheap drama… trust me, I hate drama. And I never had been in a situation like this, with Grace or Yuriko. I was still feeling annoyed with Evelyn as I could tell she was hiding something from me, but by looking at Evelyn's current condition, I guess she wouldn't talk anytime soon unless I could make her confess when I brought up something related to what she hid from me.

But since Evelyn still wouldn't answer and respond to me, let's bait her then. For the past three weeks, this is the only way to agitate her and to defeat her in an argument. It 100% works and was basically cheating.

”Evelyn, my dear.” Evelyn looked up while still sobbing.

I asked, ”Don't you love me?”

Evelyn's lip started to quiver, but it was clear that she was cried out.

”I love you more than life itself,” she mumbled.

Yup, her usual answer. And I can sense, she started calming down a little. Let's tease her little.

”What? I don't think I heard it?” I asked mischievously with a smirk on my face.

”You know I do!” she said louder, more exasperated.

”And I love you too.” I held my arms out to her, and she came to me. I held her as she cried on my chest.

Yes, I do love her… these three weeks were heaven to someone like me. We had a great relationship, one of deep love and complete trust thanks to our bonds. Because of our bond, I thought I knew everything about her. What she's like, her favorite foods and etc? But now, seeing her like this, I realized that I really didn't know anything about her… Yes, we may be lovers with an Eternal Bond that binds our souls… but in the end, we're still just acquaintances that have only known each other for three weeks. Yeah, I thought about it, but I didn't really know Evelyn from this world. I loved her and got on well with her, but I didn't feel like she really opened up to me beside opening her legs. She never really spoke about herself or her past in this world and I also didn't ask about it because I wanted her to tell me about herself on her own.

…. Damn, just stating this fact already made me sad. So, I tightly embraced Evelyn as I could only hear sobbing and the wind blowing by. Also why did our conversation shift so much? From job hunting talk to this sort of drama?

She sniffed a few times before finally stopping. Tears continued to roll down unconsciously from her eyes her face still wrought with some measure of fear.

”...” She looked at my face but still wouldn't say anything. No, she opened her mouth and tried to say something but still couldn't.

”Please, Evelyn… Tell me,” I begged her sincerely. ”Was this about me or what I did?”

”It wasn't like that!” She stomped her feet in aggravation. Wow, that's quite a change. Her voice didn't carry sadness like before.

”Just tell me then! Your silence is killing me, you're trying to hide something from me?” I growled.

Ah, dammit, I almost did it again… Two years ago, I let my anger get the better of me and it ruined me, although I don't regret beating the bastard. I have to be patient and not let my anger control me.

Her eyes teared up again ”It wasn't about you, Kyou. I swear you're all I've ever wanted. You are a wonderful lover. Don't ever think it was about you! Spending eternity with you in your world is the best thing to happen to me!” She gripped me fiercely, sobbing.

There was a very pregnant pause between us, which eventually I broke, ”Look, Evelyn, I don't know why you can't just talk to me. Would it help if I told you I can guess what you're thinking?”

Her eyes still filled with tears and kept silent, I guessed she was worried about what was coming next. However, Evelyn responded with a single nod.

Whatever she hid from me, I really had a bad feeling about it and I didn't like it… No, she told me about her family wouldn't accept our relationship just a moment ago. That's normal and I understood that. A divorcee especially 42 years old like me is not fit for her. But with that reason alone? That seems completely strange to me. Is that even the reason? It's not like her parents owned this world… unless… Shit, some guess come into my mind and I already hate it. Even I shuddered with the thought.

When I about asked the question…

At almost the same time, an Adamline stone on the necklace she gave to me suddenly burst into a bright light. Wait, I brought it here? It should be on the table.

It started bursting light out in a strange wave pattern. Evelyn watches it in horror face. Then as the light settle down, we heard loud shout, a voice shouted from very far distance.

”Ohhhh, I finally found you, my dear Evelyn!”

A man's voice boomed so loud that it caused the birds to fly out of the canopies in a panic. Are you some kind of beast? Wait… What did he just say? It just a glimpse but I was sure that I saw Evelyn's body twitch after she heard that voice.

I glanced in the direction of the voice. There was a man sitting on a steed a bit of a distance from us. He was a handsome man with golden haired wearing silver armor. He sat upon a massive white horse while his white cape blew with the wind leading the group of knights looking people behind him. He looked to be the very definition of a white knight. He was surrounded by a grouping of soldiers, although none of them were dressed as fine as he was.

”Who the hell is this clown?” I asked Evelyn, not able to keep the irritation from my voice.

”....” Evelyn looked up at me briefly and shook her head.

”Run, Kyou…” Evelyn said in hurry

”Run? Why? Is this guy your brother or something?” I replied, then my eyes narrowed. ”A siscon?”

Evelyn's eyes were big and her mouth had started to quiver as she watched me. ”This is not time for this! I'm telling you to run! Before it's too late! Before he's here!”

”And where am I supposed to run!?”

”ANYWHERE! JUST GO! USE YOUR POWER OR JUST RUN FROM HERE!” shouted Evelyn, her voice getting louder.

”Is he-” I began, but I was cut off by the noise of galloping horses. I glanced and saw a cloud of dust rising from distance.

”….no…no” Evelyn said in despair.

The riders pulled into the forest, sending up clouds of dust with their arrival. While I watched, stunned, the men reached us. There appeared to be quite a few more than I originally expected. The first wave appeared to be ordinary soldiers, but behind them were the better dressed knights, including the white knight himself. When he saw the pair of us, the man showed extremely happiness on his face. What? He was happy? No, his eyes are not directed on us but… on her. His eyes were filled with passion and longing for her.

”EVELYN!” the man shouted again. ”You're alright, thank the merciful creator!”

”Evelyn, seriously, who is this guy?” I demanded, cursing out of the side of my mouth.

”I'm sorry… I'm so sorry…” She murmured. ”I didn't want things to turn out this way. I didn't want you to find out this way.”

”Find out?” My insecurities, my previous wife cheating on me, all of it flashed through me in a heartbeat.

For just a brief second, I felt white hot rage, but I instantly put it under control. Evelyn looked hurt, but I could feel understanding through her bond, along with waves of remorse. I calmed down, but unfortunately, I couldn't stop an ugly look from forming on my face. The man noticed my expression and immediately lept from his horse, pulling his sword.

”Stand back, ruffian.” The man said. ”You're surrounded. If you even think of hurting my Evelyn, I will make you suffer a thousand deaths.”

”Seriously, who is he!” I demanded one last time, finding myself at the end of half a dozen spears aimed at my neck as I tried to step forward.

”Don't hurt him!” Evelyn cried out, although it looked like the white knight was content having me an inch away from being a pin cushion. ”Kyou… this is… my childhood friend.”

As Evelyn said that, her expression lowered and she grabbed her arm, seeming to hug herself like she was trying to escape this situation.

.........…Shit!

Childhood friend!? That's a lot worse than ex-boyfriend! This dude got more chance! Especially they grow up together. He knows Evelyn better than me! Dammit! I suddenly felt bad premonition is welling inside me again. It seemed so inevitable that it could be the end of whatever it was we had going.

”Please, Evelyn, don't feel embarrassed. My name is Leonardo Taebutopia Rey.Commander of the Holy Vaerian Kingdom's 101st garrison. I am also Evelyn's fiancée.” The man, Leonardo declared proudly.

Ohh, this handsome hero looking dude is the so called childhood friend sweetheart. Wait, what, fiancée? I must be misheard him. Just seeing him already pissed me off. I looked at Evelyn who was obviously terrified. She starts crying again. She said nothing but her teary eyes still told me that I needed to run, even if the act was futile. Furthermore, her tears didn't seem to stop coming, more and more of them as the golden-haired man continued to approach us with his sword drawn.

The man parted from the rest of the group, his look reserved and cautious. Yay me, it's great he didn't gaze at me with a look of passion. It would freak me out if he did so. Rather, his look at me was blank until he noticed Evelyn who still sobbed silently. Meanwhile, it looked like there was a muddy patch where Evelyn had fallen. Her butt was covered in dirt, as were the hands she fell on. She went to wipe her tears away, accidently smearing some dirt on her face. He gave a stunned look, and then his expression grew harder, his eyes narrowing on me. I had a feeling this dude misunderstanding the situations.

Seeing that man getting closer, Evelyn turned to face me. ”Kyou, please run…”

”To where? I have a dozen spears at my neck if you haven't noticed.”

Yeah, we were completely surrounded. The knights that lead by that golden headed childhood friend now surrounded us.

”I'm here to find Evelyn, who has been missing for three weeks. Come, my love, step away from this vagrant.”

Evelyn looked at his hand, but refused to take it. After an awkward moment, he pulled it back and gave a gentle laugh.

”Of course, you're dirty. How rude of me.” He turned to glare at me. ”You, man over there, what are your intentions here? Why are you in possession of my fiancée?”

His fiancée… yeah… I had to hear it a second time for it to really sink in.

......

I was caught off-guard and paused for a moment. What the Fuck! Excuse me. Ahem, what did he just say? I was utterly stunned. He said twice and took me awhile to process those words….

With this revelation, I felt as though I had been punched in the stomach. I was so shocked. I very nearly shouted at her. Even I expected to lose it, but thank god I didn't. After wallowing in my shock, I started to come to my senses and glaring at the golden haired bastard.

Then through our bond, a wave of sadness and regret hit me. With that feeling alone, I can guess, she understood that hiding this from me was bad.

By Evelyn's apologetic looks, I was getting the idea. This guy was her childhood friend and fiancée. When she came to my world and we had sex, I must have ruined those plans. That's why she didn't want to come back. She didn't want me to find out about it. I felt angry that she didn't tell me, but my emotions were more complicated than that. I mean, she didn't even know me when she was engaged with this guy. If you thought up about it, aren't I the other guy.

But her fiancée, huh? Just thinking that already made me want to beat him to a pulp… Wait a minute, this situation almost similar to Yuriko's case! I am not going to be NTR-ed again, right? RIGHT?! Shit, I said it! Is this flag?! No! I still believe I am trusting, romantic, and loving lover! There is no way! But I shuddered at the thought of being cuckolded again…. Ah, Evelyn…

Still, the way this guy looked at me and the newness of this information were too much to handle. I was growing really angry really quick.

”Then perhaps I should tell you what i think?” Leonardo continued to speak after my icy silence. ”She's dirtied. No man with good intentions would have allowed my beautiful fiancée to come to such a state. Her tears speak words that your lying mouth never could. I suspect you are the man who kidnapped her. I don't know how you alluded our magic for the last three weeks, but the gig is up. You there, admit your crimes and I will offer you a swift death.”

”No!” Evelyn cried out.

”Yeah. I kidnapped her.” I responded casually, causing several of the spearmen to tighten their grips on the spears. Geez, don't glare me with that eyes, people.

Evelyn stared at me, her eyes bulging, but unable to say any more. She must unable to cope with what I just did.

”So, you confess?”

”Oh, yeah. Totally. I remember it like it was three weeks ago. I was out for a stroll when I saw this little strumpet bathing naked. Naturally, after soiling her with my eyes, I knew my only choice was to have her.”

”Have her?” Leonardo took a step back, his gaze aghast. His body was trembling. Hah! I love that reaction!