Read Novel Full Chapter 324: Klaus vs Love [4]
Chapter 324: Chapter 324: Klaus vs Love [4]
Chapter 324 – Klaus vs Love [4]
"The worst thing he can do to me...is die."
At those words, Klaus was visibly taken aback, eyes widening slightly. He stared blankly at Love, the sound of the river flowing in the background, trying to make sense of what she’d just said.
From the very beginning, Love had been the one swearing she’d kill him someday, all as revenge for his attempted murder.
Hell, she’d sworn it to his face, and had genuinely seemed to mean it. So how, now, did she claim she didn’t want him dead?
"What do you mean by that?" He asked, voice edging.
"I spoke Bambara, the main language of this continent. If you can’t understand it, that’s your problem."
"No shit, of course I don’t understand what you just said in that. Wait..." Klaus paused, "is that actually a lie?"
At that question...
The Rune said flatly,
Love sighed inwardly with disappointment, realizing she’d failed to find a loophole in the rules.
She shook her head, unwilling to voice the full truth aloud. Simply admitting this much had already set her heart alight.
She couldn’t manage any further.
"I won’t." Love decided.
"> <Noted. Deliberately withholding part of the truth constitutes a form of lie and can compromise the credibility of the remaining truth.>
"> <Verdict: You have lied.>
Love flinched, and the Rune said nothing further about it. It moved directly to Klaus, demanding he answer the same question.
Klaus sighed inwardly, wondering, for the nth time, why he was even here.
The question proved difficult to answer, and after watching Love’s failed attempt to trick the Rune, he knew there was no point trying the same.
He looked at Love, once again struck by how visibly she’d aged.
Klaus was genuinely stunned.
Wanting to win a duel was one thing. Sacrificing your very life for one that would gain you little was another entirely.
Why was she pushing this hard?
What Klaus didn’t know was that this had never simply been a duel for Love. This was her chance, her opportunity, to prove to herself she was worth something.
An overwhelming amount of fear, inadequacy, and insecurity had been burning inside her heart since she’d left Emrys.
It felt as though she’d lost something profoundly important, despite ending a toxic, unhealthy relationship. Her chest felt constantly tight, her mind paranoid, endlessly asking the same question: what would she do now?
Love genuinely felt as though the sky might collapse on her at any moment, as though the gods themselves had turned against her.
An unreasonable feeling, but that was exactly how it felt, having officially, mercilessly walked away from the Chosen One’s side.
A feeling she refused to accept, because buried within it was a quiet, subtle urge, born purely of fear of the unknown, to go crawling back to Emrys.
She could never allow that.
So this duel was her act of defiance, proof of her willingness to do whatever it took to reclaim the confidence and autonomy she’d lost, living so long in Emrys’s shadow.
Klaus didn’t know the full story. But he respected what deserved respect.
He refocused on the situation and answered the question, voice slow and low,
"The worst thing she could do to me...is lose her hatred and distaste for me."
’Because that’s the only thing still connecting us.’
The Rune said after a moment of silence."> <Truth.> The Rune said after a moment of silence.
Love stared at him blankly, mouth opening and closing uselessly, trying and failing to say something.
It took nearly 30 seconds before she managed to force the words out,
"Why?" She asked, voice tightening, "Why, Klaus? Is all you want just hatred? Is all you care about that I hate you more and more? But why?"
Klaus didn’t answer, simply looking at her.
"Aren’t you tired of all this?" She pressed, wanting some kind of answer, "This whole mess? The bickering, the fighting, the threats, the blackmail, with no end in sight?"
"No one would want to live like this, and you know that." Klaus replied, "It gets exhausting eventually."
"Then why??"
"Sometimes, unfortunately, that’s the only way we humans manage to hold onto a relationship." Klaus smiled, and for the first time it wasn’t his usual arrogant, prideful, condescending smile, "Sometimes all you have left is hate. So you learn to love the hate, because it gives you something you didn’t know you needed."
Love fell completely silent, pink eyes widening.
"Isn’t that ironic? Through hatred, you learn what you...love. Now that’s some Natalia-level bullshit right there." He shook his head, mock self-pity in his tone, hiding his own shame and embarrassment, "I don’t even recognize myself anymore."
"No, wait," her heart lurched, "you mean that—!"
"> <Second question.>
The Rune gave them no time to continue.
"Fuck! I was talking!" Love snapped, temper flaring.
Klaus sighed in inward relief.
The Rune, unbothered by their protests, continued.
"> <You now have 5 seconds to answer. Failure to do so counts as a lie.>
Both of them snapped their heads up in unison, mouths already curling around some curse, but the next question rang through the strange world, silencing them instantly.
"> <Second Question: What have you wanted from the other, that you would never willingly ask them for?>
’Oh Vorn, drag this fucking shit straight into your Gate!’ Klaus cursed instantly, heart trembling.
’This is bad.’ Love thought in turn. Having already lied, or half-lied, she knew risking another lie would doom her outright.
’Why did I even use this Rune? Fuck.’
"> <Love de Bayard, your answer.>
Five seconds. Knowing this, Love abandoned every useless thought crowding her mind.
"His respect." She said, closing her eyes, clenching her fist, then repeated, "I want his respect."
A sharp pause followed, Klaus’s eyes locked on her, before the Rune spoke:
"> <Truthful.>
"My respect?" He blurted out.
Love didn’t answer. She didn’t even look at him. The shame and humiliation churning in her chest was already nearly unbearable.
But Klaus wanted to understand. "What do you mean—!"
The Rune interjected, and Klaus snapped his mouth shut,
Klaus drew a deep breath, shaking his head, setting Love’s answer aside for now to focus on his own.
And in doing so, he suddenly understood her earlier words.
Despite knowing full well the risk of a permanent punishment for lying and losing, Klaus found himself unable to be honest about this particular question.
It was not from ignorance.
The punishment was only a possibility, not a certainty. It existed as a warning, a deterrent, without any guaranteed effect on his immediate present.
But the humiliation and embarrassment he’d feel by telling the truth here and now? That was very real indeed.
Weighing it all, Klaus Silicin Handoff chose to say nothing, letting the 5 seconds tick by.
"> <No answer given. Counted as a lie.>
Love watched him, and a sudden burst of anger surged within her.
"You can’t even bring yourself to be honest?" She spat.
"You’re one to talk. You lied on the first question, and now you dare complain."
"I didn’t lie!" Love’s voice rose, "I told the fucking truth, exactly as the Rune required!"
"Not the whole truth."
"What you did is worse, and even more cowardly. You didn’t even bother offering a lie," she scoffed, deeply disappointed, "You just stayed silent, even though I answered. Even though I let myself be seen—! Fuck! Why am I even shouting at this point? You’ve always been a coward and a dishonest bastard, anyway."
Klaus said nothing. It wasn’t like him to stay silent in a moment like this, but seeing Love age further with every passing second, he couldn’t bring himself to respond.
It was chilling.
She was sacrificing her very life essence to activate this Rune. Somehow, Klaus felt the least he owed her was respect for that dedication, in the form of an honest answer.
But he couldn’t even manage that, not when his own pride was on the line.
’Pride...’ he mused, fist clenched beneath the table, saying nothing.
Love gritted her teeth. She genuinely wanted to know that answer. At the very least, it might have shown her a part of Klaus he’d always refused to share.
But nothing came. Disappointment, as always.
’...I’m tired.’ She thought wearily.
After a few more seconds of dead silence, the Rune chimed once more.
"> <Third and Final Question: What is the greatest lie you’ve ever told yourself about the person sitting before you?>
Once again, Love went first. She wondered whether there was even any point in being honest anymore.
But she shook her head, finding some deep-seated need within herself to answer truthfully, to let the world take a piece of her fear and insecurity.
So she answered immediately.
"That nothing has changed between us." Love said, not even looking at Klaus.
"> <Elaborate.>
’This damn Rune.’ Love snapped inwardly, but quickly regained her composure, knowing anger served no purpose here.
"I don’t know," she said honestly, "I don’t know how to explain it, except that everything has changed between us. I..." she cursed inwardly, avoiding Klaus’s eyes, speaking as though addressing the Rune directly, "...I don’t know how I feel about him anymore. So maybe I’m sorry to disappoint that bastard, but he might not get what he wants from me. Because all this hate and negativity surrounding me from every direction is wearing me down. I’m tired, exhausted, lost, and I don’t understand any of what’s happening to me."
She drew in a deep breath,
"I hate him when I wake up in the morning, I loathe him by the afternoon, and at night...at night..."
Love couldn’t continue, her voice catching. Fortunately...
"> <Answer accepted.>
Love let out a deep sigh of relief.
"At night, what?" Klaus prompted, genuinely curious.
She didn’t even look at him, ignoring him entirely.
Klaus’s lips twitched, but it was his turn now, the Rune calling his name.
This time, lying wasn’t even an option. He’d lose, and face a permanent punishment.
"The greatest lie I told myself about her is that she was as hateful, self-centered, insufferable, hypocritical, and worthless as I believed her to be, back when I only knew her from a distance." He said, "And don’t you fucking dare tell me to elaborate. That’s as clear as it gets."
"> <Truthful.>
"But I want you to elaborate." Love said, something strange stirring in her chest at his words.
Klaus grimaced, "Fuck no."
The Rune declared,
"> <For Love, the lie was partial, having omitted something crucial from her statement.>
"> <For Klaus, the failure was silence, unwilling to voice what lay in his heart.>
"> <You have two choices before you, Love and Klaus: decide a punishment for each other’s concealment of truth, or forgive one another for lying, for reasons you may not fully understand, but can each recognize, given that both of you lied in turn.>
A heavy pause,
Love and Klaus stared at each other.
"> <What will it be?>
—End of Chapter 324—