Chapter 93

I blinked my dazed eyes and, on impulse, patted Theo’s back.

Worried about Theo being left all alone with Frey, I had come rushing to find him blindly, and it seemed my premonition hadn’t been wrong after all.

What on earth had happened between the two of them for Theo to react like this?

I couldn’t help worrying about Theo, whose face had carried such a desperate expression.

In the end, I pulled away from his embrace and met Theo face-to-face.

“Are you okay?”

Theo smiled at me and nodded.

That smile was a complex tangle of seemingly sad yet somehow joyful emotions, making it impossible to read his true thoughts.

Pushing away my half-convinced guesses, I spoke.

“If Frey crossed the line and said something rude, I’ll apologize on his behalf. I’ll make sure to give him a strict warning, so you can tell me comfortably.”

“No, if anything, the one who caused a nuisance was me.”

Yet Theo answered neatly, as if it were nothing.

He looked not just unburdened, but downright refreshed.

“Really?”

Still, I tilted my head and stared intently into Theo’s face.

For some reason, a lingering sense of unease remained in the back of my mind.

Whenever Theo smiled this brightly, there was always something twisted beneath the surface.

With a cheerful tone, Theo said to me.

“Yeah. So, am I getting scolded now?”

“……”

This is really strange…

Just a moment ago, he hadn’t looked like he was in a good mood at all, but with his attitude changing so abruptly, I couldn’t possibly take his words at face value.

Besides, weren’t Frey and Theo the type to snarl at each other the moment they laid eyes on one another?

Taking a step back, I slowly scrutinized Theo.

“Can you tell me what happened?”

Theo paused for a moment to choose his words, then replied in an unruffled voice.

“It just seemed like you had grown quite close with those two while we were apart… and out of jealousy, I ended up speaking out of turn.”

“……”

With a light laugh lingering at the corners of his mouth, Theo’s gaze turned toward me.

‘Huh…?’

Catching that gaze, a sense of déjà vu washed over me.

I had felt this similar sensation before.

No, often.

It was the exact same gaze I felt whenever Theo revealed deep, profound affection toward me.

“If you hadn’t come to see me like this right now, I might have ended up feeling much sadder than I expected.”

With those words, Theo brought my hand up to his lips.

His long eyelashes cast delicate shadows across his eyelids.

For a moment, I was utterly lost for words, gazing at him in a trance.

With my hand held near his cheek as he looked up at me, a poignant, desolate aura emanated from Theo.

Thanks to that, I completely forgot what I had even been thinking about just a moment ago.

“I’m sorry. Without even realizing it, I felt a sense of crisis, like I was backed into a corner.”

Continuing in a whisper, Theo spoke to me.

“I don’t want to act spoiled and make things difficult for you. If even a rumor were to spread that a Goddess holds a deep, special affection for someone carrying a demon inside him, bad things would surely happen.”

“……”

Hearing him voice the very things I hadn’t dared to say directly to him made my heart ache.

Not having the courage to meet his eyes, I averted my gaze.

As if pulling me back to him, Theo called my name.

“Iris.”

“Yeah?”

When I looked back at him at his call, an undeniable, heavy pressure emanated from the depths of his dark eyes.

For a split second, I held my breath and stared at him.

“Even knowing that, I keep finding myself growing greedy.”

“……”

“So, I want you to push me away.”

Theo’s hand, which had been holding mine, slid up along my wrist and arm.

Before I knew it, his fingers reached my jawline, and he leisurely stroked my cheek.

“No matter how you reject me, I won’t get hurt. Because sitting right in front of you and being unable to do a thing would be far more agonizing.”

I quietly swallowed my breath.

I was supposed to tell him that kind of thing was out of the question, but it felt as though something was blocking my throat, and no words would come out.

Instead, I instinctively shrank back, terrified he might hear the loud, frantic beating of my heart.

Had my judgment been clouded by Theo’s voice?

I couldn’t properly process his claims about speaking rudely to Frey, nor his plea to cast him aside.

Right at this moment, I was simply agonizing over whether I would actually be able to push Theo away properly.

Of course, I had resolved myself beforehand.

I had thought that at least within the temple, I needed to keep my distance from Theo.

Yet hadn’t I broken that very resolve just now by coming to see him like this?

I wanted to blame it on my destiny of never being able to pass by suffering people, but the impulse that drove me to seek out Theo blindly was undoubtedly driven by my own feelings.

Even knowing it was a necessary measure for both Theo and myself, the mere thought of Theo being left alone and lonely meant I couldn’t bring myself to turn a blind eye.

Putting all other reasons aside, to me, Theo was simply that kind of existence.

Someone I could never just walk past, nor resolve to separate from.

And yet, instead of keeping a proper distance, he was asking me to ‘push him away’…

No matter how I thought about it, it was far too cruel a request for me to handle.

‘But if that’s what Theo wants, and if it brings him even a little bit of peace of mind…’

In the end, I nodded to him.

If trouble had to be faced, it was better that I bear it.

Adapting to the temple would be overwhelming enough for Theo; I didn’t want to burden him with petty emotional turmoil.

“If that’s what you want, I’ll do it. In return, promise me you won’t ever clash with those two again.”

Only after hearing my affirmative response did Theo look at ease, wearing a relieved expression.

“I promise.”

And smiling shyly, he gave me his word.

Watching him, I offered an awkward, halting smile in return.

My heart had grown far too turbulent watching Theo smile at me, making it impossible to act naturally.

It was a strange phenomenon that had started the moment I reunited with Theo.

I had thought I was already used to him coming close to me or speaking with deep affection, but the one doing the accepting—myself—had changed.

I had always thought of Theo as just a young child I needed to take care of, but…

With a wavering gaze, I looked down at Theo.

Why was it that whenever it came to Theo, my heart fluttered so uncontrollably?

I could no longer pretend I didn’t know the reason.

It no longer ended at simply wanting to help him.

I found myself constantly anxious, terrified that he might get hurt or wounded, and endlessly pondering how I could make him happy.

It wasn’t merely wanting to save him.

‘Not just saving him—I want to keep him by my side.’

I wanted to be with Theo once he returned to being an ordinary person.

To the point where saving him felt almost like a mere stepping stone toward that ultimate ending.

I couldn’t yet precisely define what this feeling in my heart was, but I at least knew that it stemmed from my own deeply personal greed.

I forcibly calmed my churning heart.

Right now, I mustn’t let myself be swayed by personal emotions.

At least until I eradicated the demon, I had to maintain my composure.

I couldn’t afford to waver when facing the demon that had devoured Theo’s body.

Though, of course, making sure such a thing never happened in the first place was my priority…

“Well, I should really get going now. If anything difficult comes up, make sure to tell me.”

Parting ways with Theo, I headed back toward my chambers.

A tangle of complicated thoughts filled my head.

‘That gaze was definitely…’

When my eyes met Theo’s as he grabbed my hand and begged me to push him away, a familiar sense of déjà vu had struck me.

It was the bizarre, unsettling sensation of something binding and wrapping around me.

That was unmistakably dense, suffocating obsession.

Until now, I had believed that such obsessive behavior belonged to the demon, not Theo.

Yet the demon had clearly withdrawn from Theo’s mind, and still, Theo had displayed an obsession so intense it felt as though it would swallow me whole.

It seemed he had tried to hide and rein in his emotions in his own way, but…

‘It was so obvious it was completely useless.’

Leaning against the window, I fell deep into thought.

If it was because he had spent far too long bound to the demon that he had come to resemble its nature, it wouldn’t be entirely incomprehensible.

He might have assimilated with it without even realizing it himself.

However, what if the demon was trying to open its eyes once more…

— Let’s live here together forever.

As that sweet, cloying voice surfaced in my mind, goosebumps broke out across my arms.

The obsession radiating from the demon was a madness incomparable to anything Theo could produce.

‘What on earth happened between the Goddess and the demon?’

Returning to square one, the unresolved question filled me with a stifling sense of frustration.

In the end, I closed my eyes and began to pray to the Goddess.

If only she would reach out to me, I would surely find the answer to this mystery.

‘Please. Tell me your story.’

I attempted to harmonize myself as much as possible with the divine power lingering within my body.

It was an effort to summon the Goddess residing deep within my psyche.

I had been trying to meet the Goddess like this every single day, but every attempt had ended in failure.

Each failure drained my divine power, leaving me utterly exhausted, yet I refused to give up and knocked on that door time and time again.

Because Lilia’s memories would serve as the key to unlocking every secret.

“……”

A long, long time passed, yet I heard no reply from the Goddess.

Focusing for such an extended duration made me feel my physical strength draining away.

Even my divine power, which had once felt boundless, finally seemed to be scraping the bottom.

‘Is it a failure this time too…?’

My head spun with a sudden wave of dizziness.

At this rate, I might lose consciousness.

A sense of crisis gripped me—not knowing what might happen to me if I passed out—yet I didn’t stop calling out to Lilia.

And just as I sensed I was reaching my absolute limit, my consciousness began to drift away.

***

Dark, reddish-black clouds blanketed the sky.

As if refusing to allow even a shred of hope, not a single ray of sunlight reached the people below.

Standing at the epicenter of it all, a man leisurely curved the corners of his lips as he gazed upon a landscape that could easily be called hell.

His black hair swayed in a chilling, bone-chilling wind, and his red eyes—resembling pools of fresh blood—reflected the devastation sweeping across the land.

It was Ellen, the mastermind who had brought forth this entire catastrophe.