“Who told you to try so hard?”
Laila stood up abruptly, placed her hands on Sion’s shoulders, and looked down at him.
Soon, Laila lowered her head. Sion’s eyes closed first.
A month later, a new family member arrived at Axid’s ducal mansion.
Her name is Torizabeth.
“Since it’s winter and cold outside, she’ll stay here. Please take good care of her.”
The new member, Torizabeth, who was staying in the bedroom right next to the Duke and Duchess’s bedroom, became immensely popular at the mansion.
“Today, I’ll be the one to give Miss Tori a carrot.”
“Oh no! I’ll give it to her!”
“Both of you, back off. It’s my turn this time!”
Watching Torizabeth’s rising popularity made Laila feel slightly upset.
It was no wonder. After all, Laila hadn’t anticipated that Torizabeth would be called “Miss Tori” or that the servants would argue over who would give her carrots.
‘Well, I guess it’s a good thing.’
Laila watched as the three maids quarreled over giving carrots to the rabbit and then intervened.
‘Sorry, but I’ll be the one giving carrots today.’
To be precise, Sion was in charge of giving today’s carrot to Torizabeth.
With a rather serious expression, Sion handed the carrot, cut to the size of a finger, to the rabbit, which was as big as its two fists.
Torizabeth eagerly accepted the carrot and started eating it. Seeing the faint smile that appeared on Sion’s face, Laila suddenly thought,
I want to remember this moment forever.
‘But I don’t have a memory as good as Sion’s…’
Not long after, Laila summoned a painter to the Axid mansion.
However, the next day, the person who arrived at the ducal mansion was not the painter but someone else.
☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓 ☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓
Count Wigner.
He had rushed to the Axid mansion alone, trudging through the snow, and without even taking the time to dry his wet hair and shoulders, he sat down in the reception room and began to speak.
“It happened a little while ago.”
The story Count Wigner told went like this:
A girl appeared at the royal palace.
The girl had peculiar eyes that shone with a spectrum of colors, but what was even more astonishing came to light afterward.
The girl, whose name and status were unknown, also possessed unbelievable power.
She swiftly defeated the soldiers and knights who stood in her way at the palace and had a private audience with the king.
“…After that, something truly strange happened.”
Count Wigner exhaled a trembling breath and continued.
“After the private audience, His Majesty the King declared that he would appoint the girl as his advisor.”
“An advisor to the royal family?…a girl who suddenly appeared and knocked down all the soldiers and knights, and whose identity is unknown?”
She was a dangerous individual who could have easily killed the king.
Laila, puzzled by the king’s decision, asked again, and Count Wigner nodded.
“At first, I thought His Majesty made the decision out of concern for his safety. Frankly, at that moment, the palace was in no position to stop that girl. So I assumed His Majesty had accepted her demands temporarily.”
“…But?”
“After appointing her as an advisor, His Majesty began acting strangely.”
“Strangely?”
“He’s talking about starting a war.”
“What?”
Laila’s eyes widened. War. It was not a word to be spoken lightly.
“He declared that he would wage a war of conquest. Naturally, many people tried to stop him.”
Count Wigner’s breath trembled once more.
“They were all killed.”
“…”
“Right there, on the spot, those who opposed the king met their brutal deaths at the hands of the girl standing by his side.”
“…”
“His Majesty watched indifferently as they died.”
Count Wigner had been present when more than ten people were killed.
And it was at that moment he realized.
The king was no longer in a normal state.
And the one who had brought him to that state was undoubtedly…
“Please, I beg of you.”
Without warning, Count Wigner got off his chair and knelt on the floor before anyone could stop him.
It didn’t end there. The count bowed his head towards where Laila and Sion were seated.
“Please help us.”
“Please stand up, Count.”
Despite Laila’s words, Count Wigner stubbornly remained kneeling. Seeing the count unmoved, Laila finally spoke.
“I understand the situation. But how can we…”
No.
It wasn’t “we.”
After reconsidering, Laila corrected herself.
“…How can the Duke help you, Count Wigner?”
Count Wigner had not come to ask for help from the Duke and Duchess of Axid, but from the Duke alone.
Still with his head bowed, Count Wigner finally spoke.
“I ask that His Grace defeat the girl.”
It wasn’t an unexpected request. Laila remained silent for a moment before speaking.
“Could you give us a moment?”
Though she asked for time, the answer had already been decided.
The next day, Sion prepared to leave the castle with Count Wigner.
Their preparations were completed early in the morning. Laila, wrapped tightly in a thick blanket—at Sion’s insistence—came outside the castle to see him off.
“Sion.”
“Yes?”
“…Don’t get hurt.”
As if that could happen. Who could possibly harm Sion?
He was the one who had sealed the evil god.
No matter how extraordinary the girl causing chaos in the royal palace might be, she couldn’t possibly compare to someone born with the power to save the world once in a thousand years.
Certainly not.
Laila pushed aside her worries. It was pointless to worry.
Sion quietly looked down at her for a moment before leaving her with a parting remark.
“Take good care of Torizabeth.”
Laila’s eyes widened before breaking into a small laugh.
☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓 ☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓
A girl wandering around the palace grounds suddenly stopped in her tracks.
A moment later, with her eyes glowing in a spectrum of colors, she looked in a particular direction.
Her mouth opened.
“You…”
The girl who was about to say something soon closed her mouth as if she had a thought.
Sion furrowed his brow as he watched her.
At first, he wasn’t certain, but as time passed, he became sure.
“You’re the evil god.”
As soon as Sion said this, the girl also spoke the words she had held back.
“To think you would appear before me again.”
“That’s something I should be saying.”
Sion quietly drew his sword from his waist. As he did, he thought of Laila.
Don’t get hurt.
Had he been unable to respond because, as the descendant of a celestial being, his instincts had foreseen this moment?
The evil god stood still, watching Sion, and finally spoke.
“Are you going to fight?”
“I have to.”
“You cannot defeat me. I know that you also risked your life to seal me away the first time.”
“So?”
“Are you saying you’ll sacrifice your life again here? From what I see, you won’t be able to come back this time.”
Sion suppressed a bitter laugh.
The evil god knew quite a lot.
Well, they had faced off against the descendants of the celestial beings several times, even if it was only once every thousand years.
It wasn’t surprising that the evil god knew so much about them.
“It can’t be helped. If my death is the only way to seal you again.”
“You don’t need to seal me.”
“What?”
“Descendant of the celestial god. Your mission is to prevent the destruction of the world, isn’t it? Just as my original purpose was to destroy it.”
Sion stared into the eyes of the evil god, eyes that couldn’t be defined by any single color. There was something strange about the evil god’s words, just as there was about its eyes.
“What are you trying to say?”
“I’m not going to destroy the world.”
The evil god, wearing the guise of a girl, continued speaking.
“I intend to rule it.”
The girl smiled.
“Don’t I deserve it? I have the power.”
“…Power?”
“Yes.”
The evil god let the silence stretch for a moment before speaking again.
“The weak must submit to the strong. In this world, you’re the only one who can oppose me. The rest are meant to be ruled by me.”
“I don’t know why you suddenly came to that conclusion.”
“Have you never questioned it?”
“Question what?”
“Why you must save the world.”
“…”
“Why something you never chose became your mission.”
The evil god’s gaze pierced through Sion.
“Have you really never wondered?”
