The Only Witness
Kanna barely managed to squeeze out her voice.
“What are you doing here?”
“That’s what I’d like to ask you.”
Orshini tossed his straw hat onto the bottom of the boat with a dull thud and muttered.
“What the hell are you doing?”
Kanna slowly turned her head, her face drained of all color.
The island had already receded into the distance. An endless stretch of sea surrounded them.
On this tiny boat, isolated like another world entirely, there were only the two of them—Orshini and her.
How was this even possible?
This made no sense.
“Were you expecting to meet that other bastard instead? Is that why you look so shocked?”
Orshini smiled in a deliberately crooked, insolent way, clearly savoring her horror.
“He’s probably passed out in some back alley on the island by now.”
“……”
“Sorry to disappoint you.”
Kanna stared at him blankly.
She had no idea how this had happened or where things had gone so wrong. But one thing was painfully clear.
I failed.
She was supposed to die on Riben Island.
Everyone had to believe that. No one could even imagine she was still alive somewhere, breathing.
Yet Orshini had seen her.
It was all over…
No!
Kanna clenched her teeth. She forcibly pulled her crumbling mind back together.
No. It’s not over yet.
It was too early to give up.
Everyone on that island still believed she was dead, didn’t they?
Only one person—Orshini—had gone off script.
So I just need to deal with him.
If she took care of Orshini, everything would be perfect again.
If only Orshini didn’t exist.
For a fleeting moment, a dangerous thought flashed through her mind.
They were in the middle of the ocean, after all. If one person disappeared here, no one would ever know…
Kanna swallowed hard, her throat painfully tight. Then she forced her voice to sound calm.
“How did you know I would be here?”
“Who knows.”
“So what are you planning to do now?”
“Who knows.”
Orshini answered carelessly. Unlike her, who stood at the edge of a cliff, he looked unbearably relaxed—almost bored.
“I’ll think about that later.”
“……”
“Going back to Adis doesn’t sound so bad.”
Kanna balled her fists so tightly it felt like her bones might shatter as she glared at him.
“I’m not going.”
“Looks to me like I’m the one rowing, though.”
That damn bastard! Rage surged up inside her.
She was furious enough to want to slap him across the face, but Kanna’s expression remained perfectly blank. Her mind raced.
For now, she would try persuasion first.
Orshini had been strangely compliant lately, unlike before. If she begged, he might actually listen.
Kanna moved closer and dropped down right in front of him. His face immediately twisted into a deep scowl.
“What are you doing?”
“I don’t want to go back to Adis.”
Kanna put on an extremely fragile, vulnerable expression.
“I was so unhappy there. I’ve never been happy even once. And I never will be.”
If Orshini would just listen to her. If he would quietly let her go and leave her alone—
I won’t have to kill him.
Not long ago, she had killed Crescent without hesitation and felt no regret for it.
But this was different. Unless her life was truly in danger, she didn’t want to commit such a horrible act again.
Orshini stared at her in silence before answering.
“I’m not going back to Adis.”
Kanna’s face brightened instantly. She couldn’t believe he was being so cooperative…!
“As for what I’m going to do with you… I’ll think about it for a while.”
“What?”
Think about it for a while? What did that even mean?
“Don’t tell me you’re planning to keep me with you?”
“Then what do you think I’m doing here right now?”
Kanna was completely speechless. It took her a moment to continue.
“Orshini, please let me go. I’m begging you.”
“Begging?”
“Yes.”
“Then you should be a little more polite about it.”
“What?”
“Kneel.”
Orshini cut his words short.
He gave the oar a powerful stroke and tossed out again.
“Get on your knees.”
“……”
With an expressionless face, he commanded her.
“Kneel and beg properly.”
Kanna slowly lifted her head. Their eyes met.
His gaze flickered with blatant hostility and a savage desire to dominate.
This was the old Orshini.
The Orshini who had hated her, despised her, and wanted nothing more than to break her.
She hadn’t seen this side of him recently…
Why now, all of a sudden?
The last time she had seen him, Orshini had looked like a wolf that had been hunted down.
Hadn’t she witnessed his helplessness—his inability to do anything to her—multiple times?
Yet the Orshini before her now had completely reverted to his former self.
“Can’t do it?”
After a brief moment of hesitation, Kanna slowly lowered herself onto her knees.
“Good. Well done.”
Orshini praised her in a flat, emotionless tone. He looked down at her as if appraising a work of art.
For an instant, a storm of complicated emotions crossed his face.
Strange satisfaction, twisted rage, warped guilt. The chaotic mix looked almost like self-loathing.
But he didn’t stop. Instead, he pushed even harder.
“Lick it.”
Orshini was taking revenge for a past humiliation. He was returning exactly what she had done to him on Pailon Island—when she had shoved her shoe in his face while he was locked in that prison cell.
Just as she had repaid what he once did to her, he was now doing the same.
Faced with this repeating cycle, she almost felt like laughing.
She was so sick of this.
They kept flipping positions, endlessly trying to force the other into submission.
She had thought the fight had ended in her victory once Orshini changed.
You son of a bitch.
Fine. This was better.
This settled it. There was no longer any reason to hesitate.
With this version of Orshini, she could kill him without a shred of guilt.
Kanna grabbed his ankle. The moment her fingers touched him, Orshini’s eyebrows twitched.
He probably hadn’t expected her to actually do it. He had only wanted to see her suffer a perfect defeat.
But none of that mattered anymore.
Because she was going to kill him.
Now!
Kanna suddenly flipped her hand over.
The ring on her second finger. She slammed the glittering jewel hard into his ankle.
Huh?
She thought she had struck him.
It should have been so easy. All she had to do was turn her palm and press the ring down—
“I knew you’d try something like this.”
But Orshini’s hand was already gripping her wrist.
She hadn’t even seen him move. The impossible situation left her stunned.
“There’s no way you’d suddenly become obedient without some scheme in mind.”
“Let go of me!”
“Ah, sure.”
Orshini flung her arm away. Kanna’s body tumbled backward roughly. Before she could even get up, he was already on her, shoving the ring in her face.
“What is this?”
He pressed down on the jewel with his finger. A thin needle popped out.
“A poisoned needle?”
Orshini let out a short, bitter laugh.
“You were trying to kill me?”
“No.”
“No?”
“That’s right. I wasn’t.”
“Then I suppose it’s fine to test it on you.”
Damn it. Kanna ground her teeth and turned her head away. Her silent admission made Orshini chuckle.
“Yeah, it’s not that surprising. I always knew you’d try to destroy me someday.”
With that, he hurled the ring far out into the sea.
“Ah…”
A sigh escaped Kanna’s lips.
That ring—her poisoned needle—had been the easiest weapon she could use…
At that moment, Orshini grabbed her by the collar and yanked her forward violently.
“What a pitiful face. Are you that disappointed you couldn’t kill me?”
Kanna quietly studied his face, now so close she could feel his breath.
His eyes were murderous. They looked like they would tear her apart at any second.
It irritated her. It made her chest ache with frustration.
Why now, of all times?
Why did he have to bare his teeth again at a moment like this? He really was a useless bastard his entire life.
Kanna let out a long sigh. She reached out and touched his cheek.
The moment her hand made contact, the hand gripping her collar twitched violently. She could feel his jaw clenching tightly beneath her palm.
“Orshini.”
Staring straight into his eyes, Kanna whispered softly.
“You really are a horrible child. Just breathing the same air as you disgusts me.”
She was so utterly sick of him.
“If you’re not going to die by my hand, then kill me instead. If you don’t, I will kill you.”
And then silence fell. Only the sound of waves crashing could be heard between their entangled gazes.
“Really?”
After a long pause, his lips finally parted.
“I’ll grant your wish.”
The next instant, Orshini threw her out of the boat. She had no time to grab anything.
Kanna’s body plummeted into the sea. She was sucked under amid a violent splash.
Splash! A wave crashed down hard over her head. Seawater forced its way past her lips, and Kanna clenched her breath shut.
She had to stay calm. This was exactly when she couldn’t afford to panic. She repeated it frantically in her mind as she swam toward the boat.
The moment she kicked her legs powerfully—
“…!”
It felt like her leg had been split in two. A dizzying pain exploded through her. It was the same spot that had been crushed by the rock not long ago.
Damn it!
Unfortunately, she didn’t even have time to endure the pain. Relentless waves kept slamming into her face.
After several more strikes, her balance finally collapsed.
Her nose, eyes, and head burned as if on fire from all the seawater she had swallowed. She couldn’t think straight.
She couldn’t regain her senses at all…
In a fleeting instant, Kanna met a pair of green eyes. And she saw it clearly.
His face—twisted in desperate, suffocating agony.
You bastard. What right do you have to make a face like that!
The next wave came crashing down and swallowed Kanna’s face whole.
She was dragged into the dark, murky depths. There was no strength left in her limbs. She could no longer resist.
Glug. Her final breath scattered upward in a trail of bubbles.
The moment her consciousness began to fade into darkness—
A powerful force yanked her body upward. She was thrown roughly onto the deck.
But that was all. She lay there exactly where she had been tossed, limp and lifeless.
“Hey.”
Startled by her lack of response, Orshini patted her cheek.
“Kanna, breathe.”
But Kanna couldn’t breathe. She couldn’t even form a single thought anymore.
“Hey, open your eyes! Kanna!”
Her head lolled limply as he shook her.
“God damn it!”
The next moment, she felt something rush toward her.
The firm grip on her cheeks. The breath that touched her lips. That was the last thing Kanna felt before she lost consciousness.