They Hated Me in My First Life, But Now I Have the Love System
Chapter 342: I Put Her in Danger

Chapter 342: I Put Her in Danger

“I did it to save our lives! Why can’t you see that?” Karen cried, her voice breaking under the weight of guilt and desperation.

“No!” John shouted, his voice sharp with fury and heartbreak. “You did it for yourself!” His eyes were burning now, not with anger alone, but with betrayal. “Take me back to the prison,” he said, turning to the guards, voice suddenly quiet, drained. “The air there is better.”

The throne room went still. Even the guards hesitated.

King Eglon gave a small wave of his hand, casual yet cruel, like brushing away dust.

The guards stepped forward, and John didn’t resist. His eyes never met Karen’s again, but hers clung to him, desperate, pleading, breaking.

She watched until his silhouette disappeared behind the heavy doors. Her lips trembled.

“I did it for the team…” she whispered.

“I did it for us…”

Over and over again, like a broken charm meant to heal a wound too deep to reach. But even she didn’t believe it anymore.

A low, amused sound echoed in the vast chamber. King Eglon chuckled, his eyes gleaming with mockery.

“You’re quite cold hearted,” he said, the sarcasm slicing sharper than a knife. “Maybe even more cold hearted than me.”

His smile faded as he leaned forward slightly, eyes narrowing with dangerous curiosity.

“Tell me, Karen… how does betrayal taste when it comes back around?”

“You knew this mission could end in death, yet you still agreed to it.” King Eglon’s voice echoed through the throne room like a slow rolling storm. “But the moment you saw a chance to save yourself, you took it. I wouldn’t have even blamed you… if you could just admit the truth. That you were scared of dying.”

Karen’s lips tightened, her breathing shallow. The fear from earlier had settled, replaced by something colder, shame mixed with defiance. She took a slow step forward, lifting her chin.

“Maybe I am cold hearted,” she said, her voice low, trembling slightly, but firm. “But you’re worse. You’re planning to execute your own brother and his entire family… just to sit on a throne.”

King Eglon tilted his head, amusement flashing in his eyes. “Ah, but that’s the difference between you and me.” His tone was calm, almost playful. “You still pretend to be good. You want others to see you as noble… selfless. I gave up that illusion long ago.”

He stood slowly from his throne, each movement calculated and regal, the weight of his presence pressing down like a dark cloud.

“I never said I was a good person, Karen. I’m not. And I’m okay with that.” His voice dropped into a whisper, just loud enough to carry across the room. “That’s what makes me powerful.”

He walked a few paces, then turned back to her with a faint smile that never reached his eyes.

“But I’ll keep my word. Any of your people who want to live may go with you at dawn. I’ll release them.”

Karen’s eyes widened slightly in surprise, but he wasn’t finished.

“However,” he added, his tone sharpening, “if any of them are foolish enough to choose death… and insist on standing with my brother and his cursed bloodline—” he paused, gaze dark and cold, “—then I won’t stop the axe from falling.”

“We had a deal!” Karen shouted, her voice breaking. “You said you would let them go! It should stand whether they want to or not!”

King Eglon didn’t flinch. His back was to her now, hands clasped behind him as he walked slowly toward the edge of the platform.

“How can I force a man to live when he’s already chosen death?” he said calmly. “That other young man… I’ll wait for his answer tomorrow. That’s fair.”

“No!” Karen cried again, stepping forward. “That’s not what we agreed on! That’s not what we agreed on!”

She repeated herself, over and over, but the king had already turned to the guards and motioned with a flick of his hand.

“Take her away.”

As the guards moved toward her, Karen stumbled backward in disbelief. She wasn’t just losing control, she had never had it in the first place.

King Eglon’s voice followed her as she was dragged toward the side doors. His tone was quiet now. Cold. Honest.

“I kept my word. You just don’t want to accept what that means.”

“Because if you do…” he paused, turning his head slightly toward her, “you’ll have to admit the truth.”

“That you weren’t saving anyone but yourself.”

There was no mocking smile this time.

His face was blank.

Empty.

And for a second… it felt like he was not talking to Karen at all.

But to the ghost of someone else.

The next day, the guards came in by mid morning.

“Time to go,” one of them said flatly, without emotion.

No one said a word. No one moved quickly. Hope had already drained from their faces, especially after the truth about Karen’s betrayal spread through the cell like wildfire.

Now, they understood.

They understood why John had pretended to betray them…

But in the process of the fake betrayal, one of their own had been betraying them for real, from the very beginning.

From Marka.

Karen.

She had been the informant all along.

There was no explosion of emotion, no chaos or screaming. Just silence. Cold, bitter silence.

They had all processed it in their own way. Nnenna sat in the corner, back straight but quiet. Ekene simply shook his head over and over, not from disbelief, but from deep disappointment. Ruth refused to even look at Karen. And John… well, John didn’t say anything at all.

They were surprised and very angry.

All except for Abuchi.

He was surprised, but he wasn’t angry. Not even a little.

“I put her in danger,” he muttered under his breath. “She did what she had to do.”

He was sad, a bit disappointed, but even that felt pointless now. What good would those emotions do?