Suicide Before Defeating the Final Boss

Suicide Before Defeating the Final Boss – 78

EP.78 The Royal Quarters Part 2

That evening, after completing all the necessary procedures and moving in all his belongings, Jeong-hyeon was joined by Lucia, along with Hana and Miria, who had just arrived at the dormitory. The two of them began unpacking their things and admiring their surroundings.

“This dormitory is amazing! I’ve never seen such a nice place before!”

“Right? It’s definitely nice since it’s a royal dormitory. But Lucia, weren’t you a saintess? Wouldn’t they assign you a good dorm room even if the interior style is different?”

“Well, um… it’s a bit different for me.”

“Different how?”

“It’s a secret!”

As the two girls continued their chatter, Jeong-hyeon interjected to bring them back to focus.

“Let’s save the small talk for later. Miria, could you watch over Hana for a bit? I need to do something with Lucia.”

“Something you need to do? Oh… the second princess? Got it. I’ll take good care of her.”

Miria, quick on the uptake as always, immediately understood what he wanted and agreed. Jeong-hyeon gestured for Lucia to follow him.

“Then, I’ll leave it to you.”

“Wait, why are we going to the bathroom…?”

“Because I need divine power.”

At his mention of needing divine power, Lucia flinched. She then stiffened and said, “W-well, my divine power is certainly strong, but isn’t this a bit sudden? Of course, if that’s what you want…”

Jeong-hyeon, noticing that Lucia seemed to misunderstand something, playfully tugged on her cheek and pulled her into the bathroom before firmly shutting the door behind them.

***

‘Now, shall we begin?’

After installing soundproofing artifacts that he had borrowed from Miria just in case of any accidents, Jeong-hyeon retrieved Karina from the space he had stored her in.

“Ugh…”

He tossed her roughly into the bathtub. She let out a painful groan, squirming like an eel. As Jeong-hyeon watched the vintage bathtub fill with a mix of mud and blood, he turned to Lucia.

“Should I heal her first and then wash her, or wash her and then heal her?”

Lucia looked at Karina with a worried expression.

“It’s definitely more painful to wash her and then heal her…”

She offered him her honest advice in a gentle tone.

Accepting her suggestion, Jeong-hyeon turned on the water and began rinsing the mud off Karina before turning to Lucia again.

“Heal.”

“Yes!”

With a surge of divine power, he was ready to proceed.

Jeong-hyeon watched as all that divine power flowed into Karina while he drew his sword. There were many questions he wanted to ask.

“Ugh… stop…”

Hearing Karina’s painful groans, he calmly posed his question.

“I won’t ask too much. What exactly is the kingdom hiding?”

He deliberately kept his questions vague and abstract, knowing that this approach might reveal unexpected information.

‘Of course, the trust level would drop.’

However, as he continued the torture and repeated his questions, the reliability of her responses would naturally increase.

With that in mind, he lightly pressed the sword against her forearm.

“……”

As the cold metal touched her skin, Karina shivered, instinctively curling up. But, perhaps due to the pride she had built as the second princess, she refused to let complete terror take over. To shake off her fear, she spoke in a rougher tone than usual.

“Ugh… just because you’re torturing me like this doesn’t mean I’ll tell you the truth!”

“What are you saying? So you’re not going to talk? In that case…”

The moment she implied she wouldn’t speak, Jeong-hyeon cut her off, stabbing the sword into her forearm.

“AAAH!”

A loud scream echoed in the bathroom. As he heard her cry, he calmly wiped the blood off the blade on Karina and smiled.

“… I’ve been thinking. I don’t really need to hear anything from you. It’s not my concern what the kingdom is hiding.”

“… T-that’s…”

“So, I think it’s better to just return to you what you did to us before. So…”

This time, he thrust the sword into her thigh as he spoke to her.

“Just don’t say anything. Got it?”

Another scream erupted. Listening to her cries, Jeong-hyeon decided he didn’t want to hear any more. He quickly placed a gag over Karina’s mouth and resolved to start the real torture.

***

Fear dulls with repetition.

Thus, he needed to introduce new and fresh horrors whenever possible.

‘Rather than causing pain in the same way…’

It was better to torment her in various ways. So he decided to target Karina’s weaknesses.

‘Karina’s weaknesses…’

Or perhaps it would be more appropriate to call them her Achilles’ heel.

With a smile, he leaned against the edge of the bathtub, addressing the exhausted Karina.

“I brought a friend for you.”

At this unexpected reveal, Karina seemed too drained to respond, lying silently. Jeong-hyeon, intrigued to see if she would remain unresponsive upon the arrival of a visitor, brought in his special guest for this round of torture: the first princess, Charlotte.

“Ugh… you!”

As soon as Charlotte entered, Karina twisted her body in a desperate attempt to escape, her fear revealing itself like a hidden weakness. Jeong-hyeon silently observed Karina’s frantic movements before asking Charlotte loudly, as if he wanted Karina to hear.

“How does it feel, Your Highness? Isn’t it quite repulsive?”

Charlotte grimaced at the smell of blood, not accustomed to it, but she put on a facade of calmness, responding as if looking at a piece of trash.

“Yeah, it’s really… filthy. Maybe it’s because she’s got low-class blood.”

With that short remark, Karina struggled again, trying to rise. But she was already covered in too many wounds, and the divine power had drained her mana completely, so she could barely sit up again before collapsing back down.

“……”

Seeing this, Charlotte seemed uneasy. She tried to turn her head away, but perhaps reminded of her responsibilities, she forced herself to look back at Karina, biting her lip.

‘After all, they are sisters.’

Of course, Jeong-hyeon had no intention of considering that when it came to Karina.

Regardless, he maintained the silence, allowing Karina to feel the humiliation more acutely. When her body trembled uncontrollably, he slowly approached her, a smile on his face as he whispered softly.

“I agree that we must discard useless things. It’s the only way to survive.”

At his words, Karina tried to respond, but he was quicker, whispering the words she dreaded most.

“So, what I’m saying is that the first thing to be discarded in the royal family is… you, with your lowly bloodline. You’re just a seed of discord with no benefit.”

“Lowly bloodline.”

This was Karina’s greatest weakness and the fundamental reason she hated Charlotte, the first princess. It was also the main reason she had joined the hero’s party and obsessed over the throne.

As Jeong-hyeon prodded this sensitive spot, Karina lost her composure and began to convulse again. To calm her, he stabbed the sword into her, then continued speaking evenly.

“So, I’m saying that the kingdom might actually prefer it if you disappeared. They could get rid of the trash that causes unnecessary conflict.”

As he gradually articulated the words she least wanted to hear, her face, once painted with pain, transformed into one of despair. Watching her, memories from the past flooded his mind, prompting him to speak to Lucia.

“Heal.”

As her body began to heal, Jeong-hyeon reflected on the haunting memories of that day, which had continued to plague him in nightmares. He decided to return that trauma to her, marking the beginning of a prolonged torment.

***

Where does a person’s darkness come from?

Karina believed it stemmed from deprivation.

Pain surged through her body, from her thighs to her forearms and hands, overwhelming her to the point where she could no longer shed tears. Yet, the true torment came from the hero’s every word.

‘Why… does the hero know that about me?’

How could he possibly be aware that she bore such lowly blood?

A fleeting thought regarding this quickly vanished when she looked at Charlotte, standing beside her.

‘It must be that wretched bitch, Charlotte, who is behind this!’

Anger and disgust surged within her, flooding her body, but her current condition left her powerless to act, no matter how hard she struggled.

The unrelenting pain, humiliation, and helplessness began to intertwine, mixing into a cocktail of complex emotions that threatened to make her retch. Suddenly, amidst the sourness of her bile, one of her long-hidden thoughts surfaced.

─ If her mother had been of noble blood instead of a lowly commoner, she wouldn’t have to suffer this humiliation at all.

Yes, the ideals her mother had instilled in her were not meant for the noble class but rather for those who had to climb up from the bottom.

Because of those beliefs, she had always found herself cast as the villain. So, all of this was not her fault but rather a consequence of her mother’s influence…

Her thoughts tangled as they spiraled deeper, overwhelming her mind.

It seemed that the pain and psychological shock had overwhelmed her to the point where she could no longer think clearly. In the midst of her turmoil, she struggled to calm her mind to find answers, but—

“Ahhh!”

No matter how hard she tried, the incessant pain made it impossible to untangle her thoughts. As her body gradually became soaked in blood and her consciousness began to fade, one emotion rose distinctly: resentment.

If only she had been born of noble blood.

If only she hadn’t been taught such beliefs.

If only Charlotte, the first princess, didn’t exist…

She pondered whether things could have been different. This overwhelming sense of injustice flooded her, and she directed that feeling toward the hero who loomed over her.

“I haven’t done anything wrong… Everything is… something others created… so please, just stop…”