Thought It Was ‘The End’, Only to Return to a Changed Genre - Chapter 181

Harrison wasn’t the only one taken aback by Shane’s icy voice.

Adeline, Edwin, and Genevieve all stared at Shane in shock.

But Shane’s face remained unperturbed, gazing at Adeline with a detached expression, as if he truly didn’t care whether she lived or died.

“Do you think I’m bluffing? That I won’t kill a helpless woman in my grasp?” Harrison pressed the blade tighter against her throat, his gaze as cold as his heart was frantic.

“Of course not. If you were the kind of man who couldn’t kill, the Crown Prince of Green Windsor would have lost his life long ago.”

“So you really don’t care if your wife dies? That’s impossible! I’ve seen it with my own eyes… how much you obsess over her…”

Shane tilted his head slightly, narrowing his eyes at Harrison.

“Haven’t you already proven that no one can truly know what someone else is thinking?”

“Then why—”

Why had he come with such fearsome determination?

At sea, unlike on land, there was no way to block off escape routes in advance. They’d thought that, at best, they’d have until dawn before any pursuit would arrive. But the chase had come much faster than anticipated, as if they had known exactly where to find them.

“Because she’s mine.”

“……”

“Whether she lives or dies, that fact doesn’t change.”

Shane gave a smile, beautifully drawn, like in a painting.

“If the Saintess were dead, she’d be useless. But ‘she’ is mine, dead or alive.”

It was neither the time nor place for jokes, yet his face and voice carried not a trace of deception or bravado.

That bright smile, paired with his eyes devoid of light, revealed nothing but an obsessive possessiveness, as dense and inescapable as a swamp.

An unyielding determination to never let go, a devouring desire to claim every piece, even if lifeless.

This was Shane Blanchard’s true nature.

To those who knew of his long-standing fixation on Adeline, his words seemed like the most honest expression of his feelings. Edwin and Genevieve frowned, and even Lloyd didn’t hide his disgust.

Harrison himself held his breath.

Sensing the shock his words had caused, Shane’s lips curved slightly, his gaze lowering toward Adeline.

“In a way, killing her might finally grant her the wish she’s always had to run away from me.”

“…I didn’t run away.”

Adeline managed to speak.

Harrison thought it was a lie, meant to put him off guard.

But as she spoke more, calmly and steadily, he couldn’t find any trace of deceit in her words.

“I didn’t run away!”

“I know.”

The blue eyes that had been fixed on Harrison turned to her. She thought that meeting his gaze would let her glimpse the truth in his feelings, but his eyes remained as cold as ever.

She couldn’t hold back the resentment welling up inside her.

“What do you know? You know, yet you’re still like this? You don’t care if I live or die?!”

“Adeline.”

“Don’t call my name like we’re close, you madman!”

If she cried now, she’d be losing.

Adeline didn’t want to cry. She didn’t want to show such an undignified side.

But the surge of emotions refused to settle.

She understood why Shane couldn’t trust her.

Of course he couldn’t. She, too, would have found it hard to trust a liar.

No matter how hard he pressed, she’d never revealed her secrets. He must have wondered what was true, what she was hiding. She knew her words and actions hadn’t earned his trust.

But Adeline had carried her secret alone for over a decade.

She’d believed it was best to stay silent, to keep others from getting caught up in her burdens.

She knew better than anyone that her nightmares weren’t just bad dreams. Even if she’d wanted to unburden herself, she couldn’t have done it at the cost of endangering those she held dear.

She hadn’t shared it because she’d been trying to protect them.

She’d chosen to swallow it alone, which only made it harder to speak of later.

And, after all—

How could I say it?

‘That I’d always felt you might be the one to kill me someday.’