Chapter 101

No matter what has passed between us, morning always arrives.

Just like the dawn breaking right now.

Even while I was confronting a confusing past and collapsing under the weight of shocking truths, time had been flowing on unbothered.

Noticing the light streaming down onto his face, Luciel pulled back from me.

— It’s time to return the body.

His words—that he would surely keep his promise—seemed to be the truth.

“……”

I nodded at him in silence.

Memories related to Luciel were flooding into my mind at random, making it difficult to face him properly just yet.

With the red tint not yet completely gone from his eyes, Luciel carefully scrutinized me.

Yet the words that left his lips were as harsh as could be.

— The wager cannot be undone. It is a vow forged between you and me.

He added in a low voice.

— If we leave it for too long, Ellen and I will become completely assimilated.

For whatever reason, Theo was assimilating with the demon.

It meant I had precious little time left.

Wager or not, if Theo became a demon before then, it would truly be the absolute end of everything.

Did that mean I had no choice but to test Theo…

A heavy weight, like a boulder, settled in my chest, bringing a suffocating pressure.

I felt a paralyzing sense of helplessness, realizing that there was nothing I could do with my own power.

‘What on earth am I supposed to do…’

Yet, that didn’t mean I could just give up here.

Even if it felt like nothing could be done, I had to keep thinking, to devise a way until the very end.

Even if that method meant putting Theo’s life and mine on the line, and putting him to the test.

I didn’t care what happened to my own life.

I only wanted to save them.

Those who had been tormented for hundreds of years, trapped in the past.

And that wasn’t just talking about Theo.

Luciel and Ellen, both ruined by obsession, and even Lilia, who couldn’t leave because she was left watching over them…

It was time for everyone to break free from this.

‘Right. I’ve only heard the demon’s side of the story so far.’

To change that, I needed to regain my composure.

It was true that Luciel had been Lilia’s apostle, and that he had caused all of this because he loved Lilia.

Yet, even taking all of that into account, Luciel was, at the end of the day, a demon who had relentlessly and cruelly tormented Lilia and Ellen for centuries.

To put it more harshly, no matter how much Luciel loved me, there was no telling what kind of lies he might be telling me.

Therefore, I mustn’t be emotionally swayed by him.

‘I was momentarily overly shaken by the memories of back then…’

It was clear that the shackles of the past continued unbroken, influencing even us in the present.

However, just because Lilia had been my past self, it did not mean I was Lilia herself in the present.

Simply put, the past was the past, and it had already entirely passed by.

Just because I felt a pang of pity for Luciel didn’t mean I intended to dance to his tune.

Because right now, the most important thing to me was not anyone from the past, nor the memories and feelings of those times, but Theo.

‘For now, I need to gather more information.’

While the demon’s true identity was important, I still hadn’t witnessed the decisive moment of the wager itself.

I wasn’t foolish enough to assume that a pact with a demon would be transparent and fair.

‘Perhaps a secret is hidden within that day…’

Reaching that conclusion, I sent Luciel away without lingering attachment.

“I will keep today’s conversation in mind.”

Taking me into his field of vision one last time, Luciel slowly closed his eyes.

And soon, the strength drained from Theo’s body as he collapsed, losing consciousness.

I draped a blanket over Theo’s sleeping form and gently stroked his hair.

With his striking red eyes hidden from view, Theo looked remarkably more docile.

Seeing him like this made me keenly realize just how fragile and ordinary a person he was.

‘Ellen was, and Theo is, merely an ordinary human…’

My heart ached endlessly for him, burdened with a weight too heavy to bear as he became entangled not just with a demon, but with a god as well.

The path ahead of him would certainly never be smooth, either.

Without even realizing it, he was assimilating with a demon.

On top of that, the only way to cast away such a demon was to sacrifice his own life.

What on earth was I to do about this pitiable destiny?

I pondered upon what on earth had dragged Theo into such a fate.

His tragic first life, and the demon that had approached him amidst it all.

In a way, everything that made up who he was could be called the cause.

Yet, there was one decisive root.

It was Lilia, who had fallen in love with a human named Ellen.

‘If Lilia falling in love with Ellen was the beginning of all this…’

Then I had to take responsibility.

Just as I had arbitrarily dragged Theo into my life, Lilia must have arbitrarily fallen in love with Ellen.

‘I must verify Lilia’s memories.’

I needed to uncover the exact terms of the wager and the secrets hidden within it.

To do that, I needed Lilia’s power, which showed the past through an objective lens.

I would shatter the pact with the demon, which they claimed could never be broken.

And I would restore the ordinary life Theo deserved to live, shielding him from trials that demanded his very life.

If by any chance that pact could not be undone.

Then, even if I had to offer up my own life…

Stepping out of the annex where Theo stayed and re-entering the central building of the temple, Ciel, whose face was drained of color, hurriedly called out to me.

“Lady Lilia! Where on earth have you been?”

He showed an anxious expression, as if he had been searching for me for a long time.

“Lord Alios. What brings you looking for me at such an early hour in the morning?”

Judging by his face, it didn’t seem like a trivial matter.

Or perhaps, he had grown even more anxious because of Theo’s existence.

As it turned out, my guess leaned toward the latter.

Seeing not only that I was safe, but that I appeared entirely well as I checked on him, Ciel regained a shred of his composure.

“I went to find Lady Lilia to deliver a message, only to find you absent at this hour… I am just glad to see nothing is amiss.”

Exhaling a small breath with a face that looked thoroughly exhausted, Ciel seemed to finally take a load off his mind.

“A message, you say? What is it?”

When I asked for the main point, Ciel reined in his emotions and began reporting with his usual demeanor.

“This is hardly the place to discuss this, but regarding the ‘faction’ you mentioned previously…”

“If it’s about that, let’s go inside and talk.”

Confirming the importance of what Ciel wanted to discuss, I moved with him to the audience chamber.

Shortly afterward, Frey arrived there as well.

Once everyone was gathered, Ciel formally began to speak to me.

“Just as Lady Lilia instructed, I gathered information regarding the Third Prince. He matched every single condition Lady Lilia specified.”

At my gesture to continue, Ciel went on.

“It appears the recent death of the First Prince at the hunting grounds has heightened his fears. He was reportedly in the midst of persuading the Emperor to make it known that he has no interest in the throne.”

The Second Prince’s burning desire for the imperial throne was potent enough to instill fear in others.

His fiery temperament was well known across the entire empire.

Thus, the First Prince—who normally delighted in hunting—suddenly dying in a hunting accident left behind nothing but suspicions that the Second Prince had harmed him.

The Third Prince would naturally want to avoid being perceived as an enemy by such a Second Prince.

“However, the faction supporting the Third Prince does not seem willing to let it rest. They are reportedly trying to persuade the Third Prince by any means necessary to seat him as the Crown Prince. The Emperor, too, is merely standing by and watching his children tear at each other in order to safeguard his own power.”

“The Third Prince must be in dire need of a place to flee to right about now.”

Ciel nodded at my words.

“Now is the prime time to reach out to our hands to him.”

“Understood. I must meet him.”

The Third Prince—Ian, was it?

The future of the temple hinged on what kind of person he turned out to be.

According to Ciel, his innate disposition was weak-willed, and his presence as a prince fell far short compared to the others.

He was unversed in swordsmanship, and possessed a strongly indecisive aura.

Even so, the reason a faction still backed him was entirely due to the temperament of his rival, the Second Prince.

Possessing a personality diametrically opposed to Ian’s, the Second Prince was selfish and chased solely after his own interests. Because of this, his reputation among nobles who shared no mutual benefits with him was poor.

Furthermore, with open rumors circulating that he had assassinated the First Prince, fear of him grew on one hand, while opposition against him flared up fiercely on the other.

Of course, that wasn’t the sole reason people supported the Third Prince.

Though feeble, he possessed a gentle disposition, and the public achievements he had quietly accumulated without seeking the spotlight had earned him enthusiastic cheers from the common folk.

Conjuring up his image in my mind, I let out a shallow breath and wiped away all my imaginations.

What kind of person Prince Ian truly was would become clear the moment I met him in person.

The time left to me was short.

No one could predict when or how Theo would assimilate with the demon.

During the brief time allotted to me, I had to oust Gale—who sought to permanently seal the demon inside Theo’s body—and break the pact with Luciel.

And to focus on Theo, I needed to drag Gale down from the seat of High Priest as soon as humanly possible.

Until then, I prayed Theo would protect himself and hold on.

I could only hope with more earnestness than ever before that the hand I extended to Ian would be an offer he simply couldn’t refuse…