System vs Rebirth

While reminiscing about the past, she also remembered the few pieces of information Noel gave in the end.

"There's no need for that corrupted kingdom to continue. Do you think they were willingly fighting against the demons? You're too naive."

"I always thought of you as my archenemy this whole time, but I realized that you were just a mere puppet controlled by the demons. I lost my interest in you."

"As long as you leave this land and stop getting controlled by the demons, I will spare you and your family."

"If you don't disappear right now, I won't hesitate to fight you. After killing you, I will destroy your family."

"I see. He used me this whole time."

"You were right. I should have trusted no one."

Anna also thought about it during the expedition. There were a few things that made her doubt her current condition.

"The corrupted kingdom… The Muivell Kingdom is indeed corrupted, not about the money, but the way of their thinking. But there is something weird about the second part. They have spent a lot in order to stop the demon invasion…"

"But if we're talking about the past life, the demon invasion was caused by the Supreme Devil Organization. They had used their research to cause the demons to attack them. And the Demon Banner Army and the Royal Family joined hands, fighting together to stop their invasion."

"What if… the Royal Family was only acting this whole time? The real reason why they stopped them was because they were related to the invasion itself. This way, the Demon Banner Army and the Tower Association would be weakened… When I thought about it, I remembered that the Royal Family spent a lot of money to recruit more soldiers to stop the invasion."

"However, their core strength remained intact. The royal army hadn't been deployed the whole time. In other words, when the two influences got weakened, the royal family would crush and absorb them, becoming the absolute ruler of the country. And the Supreme Devil Organization would be there to do all the dirty work."

"Then, I was just a controlled puppet who worked for the Royal Family. That was why he told me to leave this land."

"When I think about it, and that my father wants me to change… I have realized that he has been kind to me this whole time. He is trying to change me and protect me. It might be due to my father and the relationship between our families, but it didn't change the fact that he was trying his best to make me leave the kingdom."

"This way, I could live happily with my family. But because of my stubbornness, I died… we died. After all, if I didn't leave, he would kill me and my entire family."

"Getting killed by our own friends head-on might be better than having someone backstab you…"

After thinking about it, Anna wanted to repay Noel's kindness. He had shouldered everything. It must be painful, it must be heavy.

That was why she told him about the bet. She kissed him on the cheek.

Just for a moment, she wanted to thank him. When she gave a little peck, she muttered inwardly, "Thank you for everything, Noel."

That gratitude had two meanings. The first one was pure gratitude for his sacrifice. And the second one was her determination.

From that point onward, she was going to move forward.

That was right. One of the biggest causes of the future chaos was the mysterious facility and its drugs. Now that the drugs could be seen and used by a lot of parties, it would mean that future change might be irrelevant to the past event.

There might be some relevance, but it wouldn't be that useful. Hence, she presented the bet.

She couldn't think about it by herself. That was why she wanted to give this information to Noel.

Of course, telling Noel for no reason might cause Noel to be confused or even suspicious of her. That was why she made this bet. She just wanted a reason.

Even if she ended up winning and getting Noel's secret, she would still share about her past life.

Anna tried to close her eyes again, recalling some other parts. But there was one thing that made her flustered.

Her face reddened and she started rolling around as her body couldn't remain still. She was too embarrassed.

"Still… there should be a way to thank him, right? Other than the kiss…" Anna clutched her head while looking down. "That's right. There are many ways to thank him, but why did I kiss him? Did my instinct… my instinct…"

Anna suddenly fell silent. She couldn't help but ask herself, "Did my instinct actually make me kiss him?"

When that question entered her mind, a few scenes flashed in her mind.

There was a scene where Noel almost hit her with his sword, but she parried her sword and overwhelmed him.

"I will kill you." Noel glared at her, full of killing intent.

"I dare you to try." Anna smirked confidently.

Another scene was when they discovered the secret of Ardagan Family's execution as well as when she dared to use the bed because she didn't find anything to restore the sheet.

Back then, there was no meaning other than spite in that action. But when she thought about it, she had once slept with Noel on the same bed.

Finally, she arrived at the scene where she celebrated her adulthood with Noel. It was just a simple celebration, but the winter at that time felt so warm. From killing each other to experiencing a wholesome moment together… it somehow made her smile.

At the same time, it also made her more and more embarrassed.

"Ugh… Don't tell me… No, no, no… That's not right… right?" Anna tried to deny it to the best of her ability.

And it looked like her savior came as she saw a person carrying a message for her. She tried to distract her thoughts by getting the message.

Little did she know, she would fall into a deeper embarrassment as that message contained Noel's message that could easily be 'misunderstood.'