“Sion.”
“…Yes?”
“Promise me one thing. You must never leave me.”
The reason Laila suddenly made this request was because, as soon as she took Sion’s hand, she was struck by the thought that losing the ability to hold this hand would be unbearably painful.
Sion took a moment before responding.
“I swear. If I were to leave you, it would be for your sake.”
“Then there won’t be a need to leave.”
Laila quickly countered with a smile.
The warmth from their tightly clasped hands seemed to spread through her chest.
☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓 ☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓
Passersby on the street glanced at a certain girl.
The girl had eyes that shone in multiple colors. This fact overshadowed all her other ordinary features.
The girl, who stood out the most on the street, stopped walking after a while.
‘It was a wordplay.’
The Evil God recalled what the old woman had said just before her breath ceased in the basement.
She had said that as long as she didn’t destroy the entire world, it was fine.
To leave some parts intact and govern those parts.
When the Evil God heard those words, she imagined the “some parts” to be very small.
Like a single finger joint out of the whole hand.
Or a single branch out of a tree.
However, the detailed ‘contract terms’ that later came to mind showed that ‘some part’ was different.
It meant more than half of the world and its inhabitants. That was the ‘some part.’
‘Half of it? How ridiculous. Rather than keeping such a promise, it would be better to destroy the world until I lose this body…’
The Evil God halted its thoughts.
Perhaps it was because it was her first time inhabiting a ‘human body.’
A thought that she had never had before occurred to her.
‘Why?’
The Evil God looked down at the body she had taken over.
‘Why should I destroy the world, even at the cost of losing this body and being sealed again?’
There was something that the people who feared her power and called her the “Evil God” didn’t know.
The Evil God was not a God.
She was more like a thought form created by the gods.
The god who created the world clashed with another god. The other god expressed dissatisfaction with the god who created the world by creating an entity meant to oppose the god.
The god who created the world naturally wanted to protect the world it had made. Therefore, it created an entity to counteract the being created to destroy the world.
This was the origin of the descendants of the Evil God and the Celestial God.
Unlike the Celestial God’s descendants, who were humans granted power, the Evil God was a conglomeration of thoughts.
The Evil God had always been fixated on destroying the world and killing all humans. That was its sole purpose for being created.
However, as soon as the thought form assumed a human body, it began to think like a human for the first time.
The Evil God stood in the middle of the street, lost in thought. The question of ‘why’ that had occurred to her wouldn’t leave her mind.
“Hey!”
The shout that suddenly broke through the Evil God’s contemplation made her turn around.
A coachman who had stopped his carriage in the street looked at the Evil God’s face with a start before shouting loudly again.
“What are you doing blocking the road like this? Move immediately!”
The Evil God silently stared at the coachman and raised its hand.
If the Evil God flicked its finger, it could immediately crush the coachman’s head or heart.
However, the Evil God decided not to kill the coachman and instead stalled for time.
‘Something…’
Instead of killing, it seemed like there might be another approach worth trying.
As this thought crossed its mind, the Evil God lowered its hand and instead fixed its gaze on the coachman.
“What are you doing, not moving…”
The coachman’s voice, which had been growing increasingly agitated, dwindled as he saw the Evil God doing nothing.
After the coachman fell completely silent, the Evil God spoke.
“Open the carriage door.”
The coachman obediently jumped down from his seat and hurried to the carriage to open the door.
The Evil God slowly climbed into the carriage, reflecting on what it had just done.
‘It must be the power of this body.’
Originally, the Evil God possessed only pure power—power used solely for destruction.
Seated in the carriage, the Evil God pondered for a moment before giving a command audible to the coachman.
“Take me to where the king is.”
☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓 ☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓
“I’m thinking about adopting a rabbit.”
Laila, sitting in front of Sion, spoke with a surprisingly serious tone.
Sion looked at Laila with a puzzled expression, unable to understand her serious demeanor.
“Go ahead.”
“Do you want me to do whatever I want?”
“…Well?”
“Do you want to raise a rabbit too? Do you like rabbits?”
Thanks to Laila, Sion took a moment to question himself. Does he like rabbits? The immediate answer that came to mind was that he neither liked nor disliked them.
“I don’t dislike it.”
“So you don’t particularly like them either. Hmm, then I’ll have to think about this more.”
“This problem? Adopting a rabbit?”
“Yeah.”
“…Why?”
“Well, I can’t adopt a rabbit just because I like them.”
“…Why not?”
Sion’s expression had been the same for a while—a look of not understanding Laila.
Laila then examined Sion’s face, which was a bit higher than her own, and spoke.
“Because we’ll raise it together.”
“…”
“We’re going to do things together, whatever it may be. Because we’re family.”
Laila said the word “family” with satisfaction, fulfilling a promise she had made to herself to say it naturally in front of Sion someday after their marriage.
Seeing Sion’s eyes widen, Laila continued.
“Of course, even if we do it together, you’ll probably tell me to do what I want. I know. But I want to do something you like too.”
“…”
“So, let’s adopt a rabbit when you also want to raise one.”
“…What about the name?”
“Huh?”
“If we adopt a rabbit, are we going to name it Torizabeth?”
Laila’s eyes widened in surprise at Sion’s question.
“How do you know about Torizabeth?”
“You mentioned it before.”
“Torizabeth? I did? When…?”
Laila sighed as she recalled a fragment of a long-forgotten memory.
“…It was ten years ago. Only once. Your memory is really good.”
Laila spoke, and then suddenly her expression hardened. Sion naturally asked.
“What’s wrong?”
“…Nothing, just.”
Laila closed her mouth. Sion followed Laila’s gaze, which was cast downward, and then found her hand.
When Sion took her hand, Laila looked up at him again.
Laila gazed into Sion’s eyes for a moment, feeling a surge of affection from his dark eyes.
Sion brought Laila’s hand to his lips. Laila watched Sion kiss the palm of her hand.
Soon, Sion’s delicate chin and lips, previously hidden by Laila’s hand, were revealed.
“You’re right, Laila. My memory is good.”
“…”
“It’s been good since I was young. I haven’t forgotten a single thing I’ve seen or experienced.”
“That’s…”
Not a good thing. Laila barely swallowed those words.
A good memory isn’t always an advantage for Sion. There must be far more things he wishes he could forget rather than remember.
When Laila couldn’t bring herself to say this and bit her lip, Sion spoke.
“So I remember everything about you.”
“…”
“I’ll remember you until the day I die, even now as I’m looking at you.”
Sion smiled. Laila stared blankly at the gentle curve of his lips.
“It’s a blessing.”
“…I…?”
“Yes?”
“Am I… that important to you?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“……”
“How can I be…?”
“Well.”
Sion answered calmly. There was a time when he had wondered why, how, and for what reason.
But in the end, the answer was that nothing changed regardless of whether he could answer those questions or not.
“To be honest, I don’t know. But does it really matter? It’s already like this, and it won’t change for a lifetime.”
“……”
“No matter how hard I try, I won’t be able to change it.”
