I’m Not a Regressor - Chapter 198

Chapter 198: Fake Kindness And Lawful Good (2)

-Hehe, Kasia! Look at this!

I recalled a memory from when I was young—a page out of a faded album that I could barely remember.

It was a memory of giving a small crown made of wildflowers from the garden as a present to my sister.

-Oh my, it’s so pretty.

My sister, who was born with a fragile body, received the small crown of flowers as she rested in her wheelchair.

She affectionately stroked the crown and then gently placed it on top of my head.

-I made this for you!

-No. I think it looks much better on you, Bella.

-Really?

She patted my crowned head with a smile on her face.

I wonder if she was already aware at that point that she would never wear such a crown...

-Hehe. You're the best in the world!

I sat on her slender lap and smiled brightly.

-My little princess, you shouldn't hurt your sister.

-I'm not hurting her!

My father approached the garden.

His sweet smile and his hand as he patted my head were warm like sunlight in spring.

-It's fine, Father.

-Kasia?

-I want to be with Bella for a little longer.

Kasia embraced me with her fragile arms.

-There... probably won't be much time we can spend together like this.

-Kasia, are you going somewhere?

-Fufu, no.

I couldn't understand what my older sister was talking about when I was young.

All I did was rub my cheeks against her because I loved how my sister hugged me so affectionately.

A page of the faded photo album turned and unfolded the next.

'No.'

I desperately reached out, but I couldn't stop the page from turning over.

'Stop...'

I crouched down and plugged my ears like a young child.

However, no matter how hard I tried, the voices seeped in.

-Why?! Why?! Why does Kasia have to be exiled from the family?!

-...It’s the rules of the Household.

-So what about some stupid rules?!

Crash!—

I threw an expensive ceramic and cried out in a desperate attempt to prevent it.

My father chewed his lips and shouted at me.

-They aren't stupid rules! It's a tradition that has been followed for several hundred years and has protected the prestige of the 'Colagrande' name!

-I don't need it! Hurry up and bring back Kasia!

-I already told you that's impossible!!

My father shed tears with a distorted expression on his face.

-I didn't chase out Kasia because I wanted to!

-Then why?!

-If... If we do not follow the rules, the tradition of the Colagrande Household disappears! Those from the collateral line will chew away at us like starving hyenas!

I saw my father trembling as he hugged me.

-Then we just need to leave this stupid household! All I need is Mother, Father, and Kasia!

-...

My father's expression grew fierce when he saw me cry out.

Slap!—

My head turned.

I tasted blood from my torn lips.

-Leave the household? Whose money do you think was used to buy the clothes you're wearing? What about your luxurious food? No, what about this property you're currently standing on?!

-That's...

-Everything! It’s all the wealth of the Colagrande Household that has been accumulated over several hundred years!

My father shouted at me in a desperate manner.

His kind and charismatic nature was nowhere to be seen, and all that was left was a shabby middle-aged man that was scared of losing his authority.

'...'

With the taste of blood spreading through my mouth, another page of the faded album was turned.

Starting from the door leading to the Demon Realm on the North Pole, the world was covered in monsters.

I met the celestial of a Black Star during my journey to find my sister.

After obtaining the stigma of Hirudo, my thirst made me spend my days ravenously coveting blood.

Normally, Roberto would have organized the schedule and informed Isabella, but he couldn't because she had sent him to monitor the "Sword of Justice”.

Isabella clicked her tongue and checked what was after that.

* * *

Translator - Maccas

Proofreader - ilafy

* * *

"Come to think of it, I didn't receive a report from Roberto today."

She momentarily forgot about it because of her disturbing dream, but she would normally receive daily reports on Damien Salvator's movements and whereabouts every morning.

Strangely, there was no contact at all that morning.

"...What's going on?"

Isabella furrowed her brows and contacted Roberto.

Beep, beep, beep—

His phone was turned off.

Even when she tried sending waves of mana that could only be detected by a communication star relic or an Awakener of Lyra, the result remained the same.

"..."

Uneasiness ran down her spine.

Isabella narrowed her eyes and cautiously started moving.

When she tried to leave the residence—

Rumble!!—

—a protective barrier that was prepared for terrorist attacks descended and blocked the entrance.

"What...?"

Isabella turned with a bewildered expression.

Rumble!—

The ceiling of the residence collapsed, and concrete debris poured down like rain.

"Ugh!"

Isabella furrowed her brows and dodged the debris.

The hazy gray dust and pungent smell were unpleasant enough on their own, but what bothered her more than anything was the scorching sunlight that shone down from the collapsed ceiling.

"Ah, ugh."

Throb—

The curse of the Forbidden Purple Enclosure that was eating away at her stigma began to run wild as she was exposed to direct sunlight.

"Huff! Huff!"

Insatiable thirst burned her throat.

‘Blood, blood, blood!’

She needed fresh blood flowing through a living human’s veins to quench her thirst.

If she just grabbed someone, choked their throat, sank her fangs into their carotid artery, and gulped down their blood...

‘Just...’

Would her tongue melt at its sweetness?

Would it dissolve her brain with bliss?

"Huff, argh, ugh."

She clenched her chest and suppressed the boiling urge.

At that moment, a sharp smell of blood flowed into her nostrils from beyond the rubble—it was the familiar scent of a blood pack.

"Where...?"

When Isabella instinctively began searching for the blood pack among the debris—

“Is this what you’re looking for?”

—Paulo revealed himself from the wreckage.

With a sly smile on his lips, he tilted the blood pack and splashed blood all over the floor.

"Father...?"

Isabella looked at Paulo with a confused expression.

"’Father’? Did you just call me ‘father’?"

Paulo furrowed his brow and gave her a cold glare.

"How dare you call me ‘father’ with those disgusting lips."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Your true identity has already been exposed, you dirty witch."

"..."

—Dirty Witch.

Those words from Paulo’s mouth left a deep wound in Isabella's heart.

Isabella looked up at him with bewildered eyes.

‘Since when was my true identity revealed...?’

"Isabella Colagrande..."

Thud, thud—

A young man walked out from behind Paulo.

"I will punish you."

The young man with messy brown hair who gave off an innocent impression glared at Isabella with eyes containing bloodlust that didn't quite match his rustic appearance,