“Episode 59”
“Good, let’s see for ourselves!”
“It’s ‘seeing is believing.'”
“Heh, well! You shouldn’t be distracted by such trivial mistakes. This is going to be quite a long story.”
Before Yuliana’s temperament, which was about to lose her mind, flared up, the sparrow quickly distanced itself from her. Then, it tapped its tiny, short legs against the window.
“Take a good look. This is our story. It’s the story of a child I tried to save.”
The sparrow buried its face in its fluffy feathers.
As if trying to suppress tears, Yuliana felt even more incredulous. Before she could say anything more, her attention was suddenly drawn to a figure appearing in the large window.
“That’s…”
The first thing that caught her eye through the swaying window was a small child. The child was huddled, clutching an old rabbit doll, crying.
It was a face she had seen somewhere before.
The tear-stained face, strikingly similar to the face of the girl abandoned in reality by Yoon, looked familiar…
“Oh!”
Yuliana’s surprise was soon overshadowed by an even greater shock.
It was because of the child, subjected to violence by Yoon. The child cried and screamed, pleading for mercy, even though she hadn’t done anything wrong, to escape the violence.
“I-I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”
A man under the influence of alcohol had hit the child. The little one, crouching and murmuring, was grabbed by the man’s cruel hands as she tried to flee under the bed.
Dragged by the ankle, the child screamed until she eventually lost consciousness. The only one witnessing it was the rabbit doll, its neck torn, staring at the scene.
“What is this?”
Yuliana forcibly turned her head away from the window. Her face pale, she raised her voice.
“What are you asking?”
Although it was a glimpse into the past, the small sparrow seemed to barely lift its face from Yuliana, as if it was terribly scared and sad.
“The friend I couldn’t save.”
“I-I don’t understand what you’re saying.”
Yuliana shook her head. Then, she turned around to avoid the horrifying sight.
At that moment, Yuliana’s gaze was once again drawn forward, not by the sparrow’s voice. A heavy bed creaking—the sound of a young child exerting all her strength to lift it.
No, she was just trying to lift the bed. But it was impossible. With feeble strength, the bed only trembled helplessly.
Eventually, the child gave up and flattened herself out. As if believing she could slip into the small gap under the bed. And even Yuliana, seeing that sight, wanted to believe it. The child was too small and thin.
“Ugh… Just a little more…”
As a child struggling with all her might, she didn’t know, but the rabbit doll’s head moved slightly. Just enough for Yuliana to notice, a very slight movement.
“Ugh…”
As if wanting to go to Yoon, the rabbit doll’s ears twitched slightly from the dust pit.
It was a remarkable sight. A small miracle, yet so pathetic that even the one witnessing it could shed tears.
The sparrow watching it all fluttered up. Then, it lightly landed on Yuliana’s tear-soaked fingertips.
“…Unlike other animals, humans know how to lie. Unlike other animals, humans share not only ‘facts’ but also give meaning to falsehoods. Like Yoon did to me. I was just an old rabbit doll, but Yoon treated me like family. As if he gave me meaning…”
The sparrow hopped up as if refreshing the topic, and then fluttered up again. It gently touched Yuliana’s cheek with its beak, still sticking to the window.
“…I wanted to show you why I had to save her.”
Yuliana shouted as she couldn’t contain her emotions.
“Tell me your true identity!”
“At first, I was just a doll. But because Yoon desperately wanted me, I could become her friend and family. But that was all. I couldn’t save her. Because when Yoon needed me the most, I couldn’t save her. As she grew older, she stopped believing in miracles, and I lost my power…”
“What?”
“Before Yoon completely abandoned me, I tried to save her. But back then, I was just a feeble being, a torn and worn-out doll. So I decided to create a fictional world. Oh, do you know why humans survived as humans?”
The sparrow, clinging to the window, jumped up and down like it was trying to cool off. Then it fluttered up to Yuliana’s tear-stained fingertips.
“…Because of lies. Unlike other animals, humans can lie. Other animals only share ‘facts,’ but humans are different. They give meaning to falsehoods… Just like Yoon did to me. I was just an old rabbit doll, but Yoon treated me like family. Gave me meaning… So, based on that, I started weaving a story. Of course, I had to give meaning to more people. So I decided to publish it online. Oh, a publisher contacted me after just five episodes! Platform review was also quickly completed!”
“…Nonsense.”
Even as Yuliana cried, she laughed too incredulously.
To hear that a rabbit doll, brought to life by Yoon’s belief, wrote a ‘novel,’ was unbelievable. But with her situation itself filled with disbelief, she couldn’t deny it altogether.
As the bewildered Yuliana chuckled, the strange being, born from Yoon’s belief, shook its head.
“Don’t cry, Yuliana. I’m sorry. I’ve been wondering when to tell you the truth.”
“And then, as the sparrow, sitting at the tip of the tapestry rod, watched every gesture of hers without blinking, it added a remark.
“No, Yuriana. Yoon has always wanted a savior. I wanted to be that child’s savior, but it’s too late. As you said, I’m just a doll. Even though I gained the power of miracles and learned how to steal the ability to imagine human falsehoods, still… But a doll is just a doll, isn’t it?”
“What do you want to say?”
Yuriana asked, gripping the armrest tightly, her palms sweating from tension. The sparrow, also nervous, spoke softly.
“Yuriana, you are Yoon’s chosen savior.”
***
With only three days left until the purity trial, the nobles were cautious with their words, focusing on the visible tension between the aristocracy and the royal family.
In truth, the purity trial was just an old custom. Criticizing the purity of nobles was a stale and outdated topic.
However, this time, the royal family made a big deal out of Yuriana Oben’s purity, and with the support of the empowered zealots, they found grounds to put the duchess on trial. Moreover, her own stepbrother stepped forward as the accuser, drawing the attention of the nobles to the trial.
According to tradition, high-ranking nobles should have attended the duchess’s purity trial, but due to the threat from the ducal family, there were no spectators. Instead, the zealots had to come all the way to the ducal estate. What was expected to be a grand trial in the banquet hall was reduced to a makeshift courtroom with a few old officials and a handful of witnesses.
And there stood Evan Hillchen by the makeshift courtroom near the lakeside. He furrowed his brow, trying to control the ominous energy emanating from the gateway to the abyss he had planted.
Rumors said all sorts of demons emerged from the deepest and scariest mountain in the north, but at the gateway Evan had set up, there was only an eerie unease in the air.
He couldn’t believe what Lucian Bu Ariacne had done, disregarding even the nobles’ authority by dismantling the purity trial. Up until now, Evan had never had to deal with such blatant interference. But this time was different, and it angered him. He had to go through extra measures now.
As the trial approached, his mind boiled with disgust at the thought of his beloved wife, Yuriana Oben, being subjected to the trial by those scoundrels. As her husband, he should have prevented the trial from happening.
“It should have gone according to the original plan.”
He hadn’t anticipated Lucian’s madness, which had blocked the validation of sacred powers. If the validation had proceeded, they would have used it to label the saint who emerged from the gateway as a potential demon, even treating the royal family as if they were in league with the abyss.
In the past, the royal family might have found a way to escape such accusations, but with the recent succession issues, they couldn’t shake off such accusations.
In the process, there would have been minor disturbances with the ducal family being involved with the abyss, but Evan could have handled the inquiries of the zealots.
After enduring a brief period of turmoil, a few examples to the zealots, and his stigma would have been removed.
His father, the former duke, was currently recuperating in the countryside, so Evan planned to take the blame for any minor transgressions.
So, all these plans went awry because Lucian Bu Ariacne didn’t know when to stop. It was an aberration for Evan to dwell on twisted events, but this time, the situation had forced him to reconsider.
As the gateway to the abyss he had adjusted silently exuded a forbidding aura, Evan approached Yuriana, who was basking in the sunlight, reading a book.
Evan forcibly suppressed the curiosity that filled his mind. It was a curiosity forbidden by his wife. Not yet, not yet…
“Yuriana.”
“You’ve been busy these days.”
Wearing a dress with a hint of azure, she smiled lightly.
“You don’t even play with me.”
“You’re the one who doesn’t play with me.”
Evan chuckled and kissed her lips, kneeling by the chair where Yuriana was sitting.
“You’ve been picking up strange birds and never bringing them back.”
“Oh, did I do that?”
Yuriana chuckled and lightly slapped his shoulder. Then, she casually brought up the topic of their therapy.
“Yuriana, lately you haven’t been seeking out Sharo priests?”
“Oh. So, the rumors have reached your ears too? My, my, I haven’t even told the Pope about our treatment yet. Does the Pope know about our treatment?”
Evan shook his head. Yuriana seemed relieved and smiled, focusing on her book once more.
“You’re curious, aren’t you? You helped heal part of my mind with your therapy, so you know it’s improved, but you’re curious if some of my lost memories have settled in properly.”
Evan’s smooth cheek twitched. Seeing it, Yuriana smiled mischievously and lightly kissed his lips.
“You couldn’t ask about the progress of my treatment. You didn’t want to stir up more guilt in yourself. Poor husband.”
As soon as she finished speaking, Yuriana furrowed her brows for a fleeting moment. But it was just a momentary lapse. She leaned back in her chair, looking at her husband with an arrogant gaze.
“I knew. Seeing Sharo priests avoid you, it was natural. I thought you’d feel guilty, so I didn’t tell you. I didn’t want to make you feel worse.”
“You’re kind.”
She continued to kiss him as if rewarding him for his guilt, tempting her husband with her seductive attitude. Evan vowed to address this temptation someday. And today was the day.
“Yuriana.”
“Hmm?”
Now, she was kissing his cheek.
He gently turned her cheek towards him and kissed her lips. He wasn’t always brave in front of his wife. One who had harbored unrequited love for so long could not be anything but cautious.
“Your mind hasn’t been healed.”
“…”
As soon as he finished speaking, Yuriana furrowed her brow for a fleeting moment. But it was just a momentary lapse. She leaned back in her chair, looking at her husband with an arrogant gaze.
“I knew. Seeing Sharo priests avoid you, it was natural. I thought you’d feel guilty, so I didn’t tell you. I didn’t want to make you feel worse.”
“You’re kind.”
She continued to kiss him as if rewarding him for his guilt, tempting her husband with her seductive attitude. Evan vowed to address this temptation someday. And today was the day.
“Yuriana.”
“Hmm?”
Now, she was kissing his cheek.
He gently turned her cheek towards him and kissed her lips. He wasn’t always brave in front of his wife. One who had harbored unrequited love for so long could not be anything but cautious.
“My love.”
