In This Life, I Will Be Your Dog - Chapter 127

Luhatan, seated across from them, stared at her with a meaningful look. Bellona likewise didn’t bother to hide her hostility.

Then came a sharp voice, light in tone yet edged like a blade.

“You should know if you’ve been through it once. Should I gouge out your eyes this time instead of that wrinkled neck?”

“Judging by the mood, it seems we’ve formed a bond in this life. I don’t recall us being this close before.”

Despite Caelus’s threat, Luhatan leaned back on the sofa with a leisurely smile and casually spoke, alternating his gaze between the two.

“I knew the new Grand Duke of Camirus was you, but I didn’t know the Grand Duchess was the goddess of the sword. Are you still famous for that charming bloodshed?”

“If you’re curious, I can show you right now. Did you come all this way just to die?”

“Hardly. I merely came to retrieve what’s mine. If you used someone else’s possession, you should know to return it.”

“Is this what you’re after?”

Caelus took something from his coat. When Luhatan saw the gem hanging from a gold chain, his expression twisted.

“It’s scratched.”

“Ah, I didn’t do that.”

As Luhatan reached out as if asking for the gem, Caelus closed his hand over it and tilted his head mockingly.

“First, I’d like an explanation.”

“About what?”

“Let me ask you this first. Were you the one who told him about regression?”

Though no name was mentioned, Luhatan immediately nodded and answered calmly, “I did.”

“Why?”

“I only wanted to see if he had regressed. Judging by how things were going, it looked like you two came back to life because of him. Ah, I forgot—congratulations on finishing your revenge.”

As if he’d dug up everything, he seemed to know it all.

When Bellona shot him a fierce glare, the man smiled kindly like a genial old man and asked an odd question.

“What were your thoughts before you died?”

“……!”

“Did you perhaps vow to kill him?”

The sudden question made her frown. Then Luhatan turned to Caelus.

“And you? What were your thoughts before death? Did you also want to kill him?”

This time, even Caelus couldn’t answer easily. After all, it wasn’t Impes who had killed him.

With an unreadable smile, Luhatan posed another question.

“Who had that gem? I’m sure you’re the one who took it from me.”

“It was with that bastard whose head rolled today.”

Luhatan squinted and furrowed his brows, confused. “Who did you give the gem to before you died? Was it her?”

Caelus looked at Bellona and replied, “Yes.”

After Caelus’s reply, Luhatan turned to Bellona. “Then did you also give the gem to him before you died?”

“No. I had it with me until the moment I died.”

It felt unpleasant speaking about the moment of her death. And telling it to the ruler of an enemy nation made her feel somehow mocked. Still, hoping to uncover the truth of the regression, she suppressed the discomfort and answered plainly.

“Then he must’ve taken it from your corpse after you died.”

“……!”

At the unexpected realization, Bellona’s face contorted. Then Luhatan asked another bizarre question. “In the empire, is there a custom of stripping the dead naked?”

“Who would do something so deranged.”

Nodding as if he understood, Luhatan began to rattle off his conjecture. “Then it must be one of two things. Either that late Crown Prince was cradling your corpse and crying and stumbled upon it, or he was just crazy enough to dig through your dead body.”

“You certainly put effort into your lunacy.”

“Either way, the conclusion’s the same. Whether intentional or not, he touched the blood-stained gem. That’s why it ended up with him. Otherwise, it would’ve returned to its original place—in Kellicus.”

Both of them stared at him, unable to understand.

Chuckling, Luhatan muttered an absurd theory to himself, “Maybe his tears really soaked into it. If he cried over losing his beloved, then it would meet the conditions the gem seeks.”

A faint grinding of teeth was heard.

Sneaking a glance, Luhatan chuckled again at the identical looks on the two faces before him.

“I was just covering all possibilities. No need to get so worked up.”

At the words of a man speaking thoughtlessly without knowing a thing, Bellona’s energy grew even sharper.

After only posing cryptic questions for some time, he finally brought up the gem.

“That gem contains the blood, tears, and grudge of Lucetustan, the first King of Kellicus. To protect his kingdom, he cast a spell with his own blood upon the gem. When he lost his beloved, he poured his tears into it. And finally, to punish traitors, he placed a curse upon it.”

“A curse…?”

“What you experienced—reversing time.”

“How is that a curse? That should be called a miracle.”

“It may seem so to you, but to the kings of Kellicus who failed to protect the gem, it is a curse. Just look at me.”

The two, locking eyes briefly, looked at King Luhatan.

“You do look older than last time. Even though you’ve come back in time.”

“Because my lifespan shortened by the amount of time you reversed.”

The unimaginable story made the two widen their eyes. After a pause, Bellona asked what had been bothering her, “Then, you mean we came back by using your lifespan?”

“No, it’s because before your deaths, you gave the gem what it desired.”

“What it desired?”

“Blood, tears, and grudge. Because all three aligned.”

“Then how did you…?”

Unable to finish her sentence, Bellona trailed off. Luhatan gave a bitter smile. Alternating his gaze between them, he clicked his tongue and continued.

“When you invaded my kingdom, the color of the gem had already changed. That’s when I knew—the world was about to be overturned. So I soaked it with my own blood in advance. That way, if you reversed time, I could come back—with all my memories.”

“Don’t tell me—that’s why you handed it over so easily.”

“This isn’t the time to ask that, is it? Seems you didn’t fully grasp what I said.”

Just then, as if she realized something, Bellona widened her eyes and let out a hollow laugh.

“So Kellicus will never fall, huh. As long as the royal line continues.”

Luhatan suddenly burst into laughter. “I’ll have to take back what I said—that you were just a dumb girl who could swing a sword.”

“I wonder if you’ll still be laughing if this gem is shattered.”

At Caelus’s threat, the king froze for a moment, then gave a light smile.

“Don’t say things that’ll cost this old man more of his life.”

“Are you asking me to prove whether they’re empty words or not?”

“You were chosen by the gem. That’s why I came in person.”

“What do you mean by that?”

At Bellona’s question, he took a deep breath and, now wearing a serious expression, looked at them both.

“Isn’t the color of the gem quite strange?”

Caelus held it up in the air and quietly observed it. The gem sparkled with a color not found in this world, shifting with the light.

“Inside it are the blood and tears of humans who died with deep grudges. And perhaps because of that, it became more than just a gem—it became a spiritual artifact. Maybe that’s why it started recognizing the humans it would lend its power to. Like when it changed color as soon as you touched it. But it doesn’t show its power to just anyone. The fact that it chose you means you aren’t as wicked as you might think.”

A gem that could distinguish between good and evil?

Though she found it hard to believe, Bellona stared intently at the gem.

Then Caelus suddenly asked something unexpected. “So the world has been overturned before?”

“Of course. It’s happened multiple times. Humans who know nothing think they’re just living their daily lives. But do you know how sensitive human instincts can be? Haven’t you ever felt like you’ve experienced something before or seen something familiar? They call it déjà vu. That’s because it was experienced in a past life.”

The more they heard, the stranger and harder to believe it all sounded. Bellona stared, almost entranced, at the gem in Caelus’s hand.

“We’ll get into more about the gem later. Let me now tell you the real reason I came here.”

“The real reason?”

The king’s face grew stern as he stared directly at Caelus.