"What do you want from me, Anna Stargaze? You must want to toy with me."
Hearing this question from Noel, she regretted for telling him many things. After all, if she didn't open her mouth, she wouldn't be in this situation.
With the current Noel, he would surely half-believe her no matter what kind of thing she said. But she couldn't tell him the truth. If she knew the future and Noel would become dependent on it, there would be too much of a problem. She had changed a few stuff and would surely affect the future. If she told him about the future itself, Noel wouldn't hesitate to use it to his advantage. But what she was scared the most was the future affecting his rational mind.
Noel now had judging eyes on both the third prince and the royal family. Knowing the truth would give him unnecessary thought to the point it would affect his belief.
'But what should I say in this situation?' Anna thought hard since she didn't have much time left to respond to Noel's question. After a while, she opened her mouth. "Can't someone change? Making a big step of their life?"
"You can. But what you did completely was the exact opposite. So, it didn't make sense."
"Didn't make sense, huh? You also don't make sense too, Noel. How do you know about the Sword Saint Tomb? It's clearly that you're ignorant from everything, but you suddenly gain all that knowledge. You even know how to use Runes."
"…" Noel's expression became cold. "It's none of your business."
"None of my business, huh. Then why are you interfering with my business? Is it fun for you to take control of everything?"
"Your business is interfering with my life and has turned my life upside down."
"You and I know it… We both know it now that everything is arranged by your father. You wouldn't even hear me asking for the execution of your parents if not for the plan making it blow up."
"…" Noel narrowed his eyes and took a step back. "Fine. I'll think you have your own secret and you can't tell me anything about it."
"Fine… Do you like to toy me that much, Noel?"
"Toying with you? You're the one toying with me."
"I always want to make it up for you because I know I'm in the wrong. But you also have been playing with me this whole time, right? What? You think you're right because the other party is at fault? You're the same as me, Noel. The only justification you have is because I'm at fault. Other than that, you're as evil as me." Anna snorted.
"And that's the truth," answered Noel with a poker face.
"See?" Anna gritted her teeth and pushed Noel to the shelf, placing her hands on the shelf so Noel couldn't escape. "I'm sick of this. You can be the judge! And now, judge me. What's my punishment?"
"…" Noel remained silent.
"What's wrong? Your tongue is tied now?" Anna seemed to have been frustrated after getting a constant pay back from Noel for the last eight months. She pulled out her sword and pointed it at her heart. "Here. Kill me if you think that's the punishment."
This was the first time Anna had this kind of outburst. Even Noel felt a bit overwhelmed. Anna shouldn't have this kind of outburst since he hadn't done too much to her. However, he didn't know that Anna had been carrying this emotion from her past life. It had been accumulating in her heart.
It was true that she changed because of Noel and she felt grateful for it. However, she was a human, not a punching bag that Noel could do whatever.
She wasn't as smart as Noel, so she wanted to be direct.
"Come on, Noel. Do it right now! This is your chance to kill me." Anna challenged him again by handing the blade to him. "Why? Why don't you pick up this blade? It's not that you don't want to, right? You simply can't pick this blade?
"Because I'm still useful to you. When I'm no longer useful, you're going to cut me down and do whatever you want.
"What next? Are you going to tell me that I'm blaming you for my own fault? Then, because I'm at fault, please punish me. What's the punishment?
"You always call me dumb. That's fine. Because I'm dumb, I need to hear it directly from you, Noel. What do you want to do? Kill me? Do it, why hesitate? Torture? Let's go to the torture chamber right now!
"But if you want to know everything, I have the right to remain silent. Just like you who can't even say anything about your secret, why do you demand it from me. I have agreed not to pry of your secret, so why can't you do the same?"
Anna gritted her teeth. She even gave some time for Noel to talk, but no words came out of his mouth. In fact, his mouth was closed the entire time as if he didn't plan to talk.
It just made Anna even more frustrated. Noel was always like this. In the past life, he would always say, 'You don't know anything, Anna.'
It had been a plague in her heart. How could she know it if he didn't tell her? How could she investigate it when she didn't even know what Noel was talking about.
And in this life, Noel had always been doing the same. She could fight some of it due to her past life, but as expected, Noel managed to adapt and change his strategy.
She never said she didn't deserve to be blamed, but when Noel always manipulated her mind with this blame, the frustration gathered in her heart.
Anna's voice became coarse and her eyes reddened. She seemed to almost burst out of tears because of the frustration.
But ultimately, she felt her body become weak and placed her head on Noel's chest. "Please say it whatever you want me to do for your forgiveness. I truly want to change and have a good relationship with you. Please…"
